Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! I never update my stories this fast, but I'm like totally addicted to Camp Rock right now. I hope you enjoy this one. It's longer than the last. Hopefully, it's believable enough, though, honestly, fan fiction isn't supposed to be believable, now is it?
And our inboxes are so going to be flooded when the mailing system starts working again!
Oh, and text messages are going to be in NORMAL english. I hate reading stories where they crucial messages are unreadable cause you don't understand txt/chat speak. It took me forever to realize what b/w was. I think it takes away from the story. But thats just me.
Chapter 3
I managed to stay hidden for the next few days, not wanting to face reality. That Camp Rock was over and I had to go back to my normal, boring life, where I wasn't being pursued by a hot famous rock star. Except, I was. But no one is going to believe me, so I'll simply pretend otherwise. God, I missed Shane. Okay, lovesick teenager moment over.
Unfortunately, I had to get up today and go to school. At least I had my meeting with Mr. Bradley today, so I'd get to see Caitlyn, too. A long bus ride brought me to school, waking me out of my day dreams that maybe Shane would be at the office when we got there. I groaned seeing my school. I really would rather be back at Camp Rock. Sighing, I filed off the bus hoping today would go by quickly. As I walked into school, I noticed everyone crowding around Rosie Maren and remembered why I let Tess get to me so bad. Because it didn't matter that my summer was twenty times better or that she was probably lying. All that matter was that she was the 'it' girl of my school.
Feeling my pocket vibrate, I smiled. I opened the text I'd received, smiling at his words. Good luck at school today. I'll talk to you after school, okay? We're going to be recording all morning. Love Shane. As I began texting him back, my best friend Sierra showed up next to my open locker.
"Hey, Mitchie." She smiled brightly. "How was your summer? Oh! Your parents finally got you a phone?" She had a way of talking and not realizing that she needs to stop.
"Not exactly." I grimaced a bit.
Continuing her questioning, she asked, "Oh, did you finally save up enough for your own?"
"Not exactly." Honestly, how do you explain that your rich, pop star boyfriend bought you a phone after dating for a day? It's bizarre. I know I wouldn't believe it. How could I expect Sierra to?
"Well…?" She'd obviously run out of ideas. I said the first half-truth that came to mind.
"My friend… they're pretty rich, and they don't have many friends because of it. So, they bought me the phone so we could keep in touch." I hoped she didn't see through that. It wasn't a complete lie.
"Oh. That doesn't seem like what a rich friend would do…" I cursed her being so smart.
"Usually. But it's not like I asked for it. They kinda demanded they get me one when I said I didn't have a phone." I smiled, thinking of Shane. "They're pretty needy." I paused before laughing, "And pushy."
"Wow, Camp Rock must have been pretty amazing then, huh?"
"You have no idea." I said looking away a bit.
I felt like I was being interviewed, but that was a bit of an extreme. She would not stop asking questions though. "Were there any cute guys?" Maybe. "Oh, did you sing?" Definitely. "Oh, oh!" Her next question happened to be asked as Rosie walked by. "Did you meet Shane Grey?" Rosie stopped.
"You met Shane Grey?" She asked, back pedaling.
I stuttered a bit. Now, how do you not lie about your boyfriend? Right, you can't. "Uhm, sorta. He was one of my instructors. He was a bit of a jerk though." I laughed to myself.
"Of course you get to meet him." Rosie seemed pretty upset. "You don't appreciate meeting a celebrity." She huffed away.
"Actually, I met quite a few." Shut up, self, I tried to will myself. "I met all of Connect 3, TJ Tyler's daughter. A few higher ups from Lava records." That stopped her.
"Really? Like oh my god, are you friends with any of them still?" It was no secret that Rosie wanted to be a singer. She just wasn't that great. I may not think myself very good, but I was definitely better than Rosie.
"Not really." I shrugged. "Summer friendships." Rosie shrugged before walking away. I will never understand their kind.
"You met all of Connect 3?" Sierra shrieked a bit quieter, not knowing how was listening. I opted to just come clean. I felt so bad about lying to her. She was my best friend after all.
"Sierra, if I told you something that would sound completely unreal, would you believe me?" I asked, unsure.
"Absolutely." She said in all sincerity. This was why I loved Sierra. She was always there for me.
"I…" I paused, before pulling her closer and whispering in her ear. "I'm, sorta dating, Shane Grey. He's the one who got me the phone."
"What?!" She shrieked loudly this time. Very much like Nate did the night Shane told him he loved me.
"Yeah, I know. It sounds… so weird, right?" I was completely unsure of myself at that moment.
"No. No, I believe you." I could tell she didn't, but that's how Sierra was. She'd support you even if you swore there was a pink elephant that totally wasn't there. I sighed, knowing if my best friend didn't believe me, no one would. "Let's get to class." She said, ushering me to homeroom.
That was the longest day of school, ever. Sierra kept giving me weird looks, especially when I was texting during lunch. She didn't believe me that Shane was who I said he was. I sighed for like, the hundredth time that day before hearing my name shouted across the hallway.
"Mitchie!" I heard a familiar voice. I turned around to see Caitlyn standing at the doorway into my school.
"Caitlyn!" We ran toward each other, hugging profusely. "I've missed you!" I laughed happily.
"I know! Every day of each other and than nothin' for a week!" We laughed at our stupidity as Sierra closed my locker we'd been talking at and headed over. I could tell she was a little jealous of Caitlyn, but I didn't care.
"Hi. I'm Caitlyn. You must be Sierra, right?" Caitlyn guessed.
I could see Sierra smile a bit. "Yeah. You're Caitlyn? Mitchie's said a lot about you. When ever she brings up Camp Rock, you're in there somewhere." Caitlyn smiled at me.
"So, what are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at the train station?" I asked, suddenly thinking maybe I'd gotten it wrong.
"We were," Caitlyn drawled, "Until my incredibly cute boyfriend suggested I surprise you at school. Shane said you were having a rough day." I could see wheels turning in Sierra's head. Great. She thought Shane was Caitlyn's boyfriend.
"Aw. That was really sweet of Nate." I felt the need to squash that thought immediately.
Caitlyn gave me a weird look. "Yes. Yes it was." She said in her own special way.
Thankfully, my cell phone started singing to me. Sierra looked a bit shocked to hear both my voice and Shane Grey's. He managed to get a copy our duet and sent it to me on the phone to use as my ring tone.
"No way. He sent that to you?" Caitlyn laughed. "I didn't think he was serious!"
I smiled brightly. "Yup."
Caitlyn pouted. "My boyfriend doesn't send me mp3's of him singing."
"Well, Nate also didn't jump up on stage and sing with you." I said opening the message as quickly as possible.
"Nor do I inspire him quite the way you do Shane." I could see Sierra rolling her eyes. Clearly, she thought this was something Caitlyn and I had thought of together.
"Come outside." I read out loud.
Caitlyn looked at me oddly. "What?" I showed her the text from Shane. "Oh. Okay." Equally bewildered, we headed outside, Sierra walking with us. "Okay, we're outside…"
"I don't know." I said, looking around. I got another message. This time, Sierra and Caitlyn crowded my phone to read it. "Turn around? What?" I turned around, completely confused. Until I saw Shane, standing there with phone in hand. "Shane!" I yelled excitedly, running toward him.
He caught me and spun me around as I heard an equally excited Caitlyn yell "Nate!" Jason was pouting between us two happy couples. Looking at Caitlyn, we mentally agreed.
"Jason!" We launched ourselves on him, leaving our boyfriends to pout. Sierra cautiously approached us. Shane seemed to become quite guarded very quickly.
"Wow, Mitch, you weren't lying." I laughed it off as Shane wrapped his arms around me from behind. Caitlyn snuggled into Nate's side once again, as well.
"Who are you?" Shane asked. I smacked his hand lightly for the tone he used. He was talking to her like Chris talked to Caitlyn and me.
I smiled at him, "This is my best friend since, forever, Sierra." I gestured toward the awestruck girl. "And this is my boyfriend Shane, and our friends Nate and Jason." It felt weird to be referring to the one of the most popular bands around as my friends, but they were. I hoped.
"Nice to meet you." Nate said tightly. Jason waved happily, not really caring.
"So," I asked, whirling around in Shane's arms. He smiled down at me. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.
Smirking at me, he answered, "I told you I'd talk to you after school." He smiled for really when I glared at him. "You two have a meeting, and we thought we'd escort you."
"Yeah," Jason interjected, "We didn't want you going into the city by yourselves." Always sweet that one.
"Uh huh." Caitlyn said. " So, you were being over protective?" We laughed as all three guys blushed a little.
Shane was the first to change the subject. "So, meeting?" he began leading us toward the limo waiting out front.
As we walked away from Sierra, I called back to her, "I'll try to call you tonight!" Though we both knew I probably wouldn't.
Mom was already in the limo waiting for us when we got there. "Ya know, I think I could get used to you dating the Pop Star." Shane just laughed. I smiled happily at how comfortable my mother was with Shane. Dad on the other hand, not so much. He kept grumbling all the time about boys and silly pop stars, and stupid boys. It was kind of adorable.
"Here we are." Nate said anxiously. Caitlyn and I were dreading this. As excited as we were, is how terrified we were then. As we walked into Lava Records, she and I grabbed hands. We made a weird looking off-to-see-the-wizard type of group as we walked. Shane and I were holding hands, as were Nate and Caitlyn. The receptionist smiled at us as Caitlyn and I dropped each others hands.
Mr. Bradley's office was huge. He had a desk, a long glass table, and a small bar in the room amongst the many awards and band posters filtering the room. I smiled as I saw a younger looking Shane, Nate, and Jason on a poster on the far left corner.
"Welcome, welcome!" He said ushering us from behind. He was running a bit late. Milo and a very unhappy Chris were with him as well. "Now, you must be Mitchie's mother." He addressed Mom who shook his hand and introduced herself as Connie.
"Let's have a seat, shall we?" Everyone took seats at the long table, Caitlyn and I still attached to one another, as well as our boyfriends. Mom sat across from us with Jason, Milo, and Chris. "Now, let's start with Miss Gellar. Here," he pulled out a contract, "Is your internship contract. We understand you are in school, so you'll be expected to be here about this time, every day unless there is nothing to be done." At this, Caitlyn's face fell.
"Oh, I, I go to a boarding school about an hour away from here. I don't start until next week, so I was able to come with Mitchie." She looked heart broken.
"Well," Mom interjected, "Can you transfer schools?"
Caitlyn shrugged. "My parents move around a lot. They can't stay in one place, that's why I go to boarding school. I'd have to try to find another boarding school closer." Mom looked at me with a small smile and question in here eyes. I begged her with my own eyes.
"Well, if it was alright with your parents, you could come to stay with us. We live pretty close, don't we, Mitchie?"
"Oh my god. Seriously?" Caitlyn seemed so excited. We squealed together. Nate and Shane laughed at us.
"Well, providing you can work all that out, our offer still stands." Milo said. "I haven't seen anyone with your talent in a long time. Most kids you age don't have this kind of dedication. That's why we love pulling kids from Camp Rock. They are dedicated."
"So dedicated!" Caitlyn replied happily.
"Well, that's settled for now. Miss Torres," Mr. Bradley moved on to me. "We'd like you to record your duet with Shane, put you would have to give the label rights to use your lyrics." I nodded, still trying to understand this. "And we'd also like you to help Shane and the others write the rest of the songs for the new album. You and Shane seem to have created the sound together, and we feel your input would be beneficial to it."
"The fact that he's not screaming at us is a bonus." Milo interjected, while Shane looked away from the table. I never realized that the bad boy image the press had given him was a really for a reason. He really hated his cookie-cutter-pop-star-stuff.
Chuckling, but moving on, Mr. Bradley continued. "Mrs. Torres, your daughter has a lovely voice. If the single gets a positive response for Mitchie, we'd like to record a demo for her. I believe we can market not only that amazing voice, but Shane Grey's girlfriend very well." I felt Shane clutch my hand tighter. "But that's the least of our worries right now. We have a contingency contract drawn up with all the if's in its that I'll allow you to look over before you sign anything." Mom nodded looking a bit lost as he handed her two contracts, letting her look over Caitlyn's as well.
While we were looking over the contracts with Shane and Nate, we heard the 3 Lava Records employees arguing in a small glass room, obviously for this time of thing. Yet the glass did nothing to stop us from hearing them argue.
"They're going to ruin those boys' careers!" We heard Chris yell. "We didn't sign them for their originality. We signed them for their voices and abilities."
"Everyone changes up their sound." Milo argued, much more calmly. "We've already got a good market with the Connect 3 fan base. A new sound will not only draw in their fans, but also even more people. I'm not seeing how this is going to ruin their career."
"Milo is right, Chris." Mr. Bradley said. "However, if you have a major problem with the new sound, we'll reassign you." Chris' face seemed to become blank.
"No, uh, I'll, I'll try out this new sound of theirs." Mr. Bradley seemed really nice, but he really knew this business. That scared me a bit.
My mind was brought back into the room I was in when Mom asked a question. Shane explained that one of the stipulations was I could only sign with Lava if I did the duet, regardless of whether or not they wanted to sign me. If I didn't sign with Lava, I couldn't sign with anyone else for 3 years.
"Is that a chance you're willing to take, sweetie?" Mom asked concerned.
"Yeah. I think. I mean, I still have 2 years of school left, and then college, maybe, so." I didn't really plan on getting signed in the next three years anyway.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about it." Nate offered. "Bradley loves your voice. He can be a cut throat when he needs to be, but he knows his music." I felt better hearing those words come from Nate than if they'd come from Shane. Sometimes I doubted him believing he had a jaded opinion.
"Alright, I guess it's settled." At that moment, Mr. Bradley and the others made their way back.
"Are we all set in here?" He asked.
Mom spoke for us. "As long as we can work out Caitlyn's situation, I see nothing wrong with either contract."
"Perfect. Here we go." He handed Mom and I pens and began indicating where we needed to sign. Caitlyn signed hers, but would have to have her parents sign it, or wait until she moved in with us, and Mom could sign it for her.
When we walked out a little while later, Caitlyn and I where particularly dazed. Unfortunately, we had to get home right away because I had homework to do. Shane laughed, commenting on being happy he had gotten his GED when the band first started touring. Jerk.
Mom headed inside first, leaving us to say good night. Caitlyn was going to spend the night, and then Mom would take her back in the morning. We said goodnight to Jason, and then said goodnight to our boyfriends, contently kissing them goodbye.
"Caitlyn," Mom said as we were coming inside. "Why don't you go call your parents for me, and we can start working this out? If you're going to be transferring to Mitchie's school, we can't waste too much time." Always thinking like a mom. I love my mom.
"Sure thing, Connie." Caitlyn said, heading into the kitchen to get the phone. I laughed as I received a text, not even 5 minutes after the boys left.
I miss you -insert sad face-. I smiled. He was so needy sometimes.
Forty minutes later, we received our verdict from Mrs. Gellar. She said she'd be more than happy to let Caitlyn come stay with us. Apparently Caitlyn has been going on and on about Mom and myself since the whole kitchen-duty fiasco during Camp. I was so excited. Next week, Caitlyn would be coming to school with me. I'd have 2 friends and someone who believed me and understood what I was going through. And who happened to be my best friend from Camp!
Yup. Life was definitely looking up.
I hope I'm not disappointing. And to the death threat, don't worry, I plan on living. ;)