AN: I still have a ton of stuff to clean...I just found out my relatives from out of state are visiting for the next few days, and they're coming TONIGHT!!!! (starts panicking, because my room looks like a tornado hit it, and I haven't cleaned it in, like, forever). So I won't have time to write much, let alone post any new chapters, unless I can get away from them for a while…
SapphireJKH – Aww, I feel loved ;-)! It's so cool that you're in a story (but I'm not really into Twilight). I know…I must be the only non-Twilight fan ever. Speaking of Twilight…it made me think of the Harry Potter movie…which, by the way, was totally awesome! I saw the 3-D version, and the special effects were amazing. OK, not nearly as amazing as the JB 3D Concert Experience, but…
Brown (interrupting): NO BUTS!
Me: OK, OK…No more buts, I promise.
Brown (looking annoyed): We'll see about that, won't we, young lady? (looks at me sternly).
Me (sighing): Yes, Brown.
Brown: I've got my eye on you. And the other one on Shane. And my other two on Jason and Caitlyn…
Me (looking puzzled): Your other two?
Brown: Yes, my other two. I've got 100 campers and 1 me. I've got eyes all over the place! (winces when he hears something break). Gotta go! (Brown runs off)
Me (looking relieved): OK, back to what I was saying…This chapter is dedicated to everyone who's ever read, reviewed, favorited, or added this story to their alerts. You guys are the best!
Disclaimer - I don't own anything, except Liz and my own ideas.
Chapter 19
"BROWN!!!!" Jason cried out, running into Brown's class. Brown looked up, and his students started murmuring quietly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Green. I believe I'm in the middle of class at the moment. Was there something important you wanted to tell me?" Brown crossed his arms, and braced himself for the worst. He was half expecting Jason to announce that Big Bird had just laid an egg, or that he'd started an anti-chicken campaign, and was looking for campers to sign his petition against eating chicken in all its forms.
"It's Liz…she's run away!" Jason broke down, sobbing hysterically.
"She WHAT?" Brown looked alarmed. "Are you sure?"
"Y-yes," Jason sniffled, bursting into tears. "She said she had to go, and then she ran off. And I don't know where she went." Jason started bawling, as the other campers looked stunned.
"OK,I want everyone to go to Theatre 1 immediately (AN: It's the place they were in when they did Final Jam…I'm pretty sure it's called something else, but I don't have time to go back and check). No one is to go into their cabins, or to the dining hall, or anywhere else. Jason, come with me," Brown instructed, his voice calm, despite everyone whispering and looking concerned. "Classes are temporarily postponed until further notice. Class dismissed."
The students filed out, talking quietly among themselves, and occasionally glancing back at Jason.
"Have you seen Shane and Mitchie and the others?" Brown said.
"Right here, Uncle Brown," Shane said, running up with Mitchie. They were holding hands.
"And Nate and Caitlyn?"
"Reporting for further instructions, sir," Nate said, walking quickly towards them and saluting Brown.
"Very good," Brown said, saluting back. "Everyone should be at Theatre 1 soon, so I'll make an announcement there."
"What announcement?" Caitlyn said.
"Whatever it is, just tell Caitlyn. She'll have the whole camp informed in 2 seconds. After all, she's got a big mouth," Shane smirked.
Caitlyn gasped. "HEY! At least I'm not checking myself in the mirror every waking moment. You're such a girl!"
"I am not! You take that back!" Shane shot back angrily.
"All right, ENOUGH'S ENOUGH!" Brown roared. Shane and Caitlyn fell silent, but continued glaring at each other. "Let's go to Theatre 1, and I don't want to hear any more arguing from you two. Is that understood?"
"I won't if he won't," Caitlyn said, getting a rise out of Shane, who looked like he was about to strangle Caitlyn.
"Shane…" Brown warned.
"OK, OK, I got it, Uncle Brown," Shane scowled at Caitlyn as she grinned widely.
At Theatre 1…
Brown walked onto the stage, as the crowd murmured before fading into silence.
"All right, I suppose you're all wondering why you're here. It seems as if one of our camper matettes has run away from Camp Rock. I'm talking about Elizabeth Bell, otherwise known as Liz. She plays piano, sings like an angel, and writes amazing songs. She has long brown hair, blue-green eyes, and is generally reserved, and polite, kind, you get the picture. Has anyone seen her since about…" Brown checked his watch. "10 minutes ago?"
The other campers murmured to one another, but no one had seen her.
"Um, sir?" Nate said uncomfortably, after he'd gone up to talk with him quietly.
"Yes, Nate?" Brown answered.
"Shouldn't we check her cabin? To see if she's been there? She might have taken some of her things…And if anything's missing…" Nate pointed out. "Come to think of it, maybe Mrs. Torres might've seen her. She might have tried to get some food before she left."
"I knew I could always count on you to come up with a great idea," Brown clapped Nate on the back and said, "OK, dudes and dudettes, go and check out Liz's cabin. I'll stay here and arrange search parties until you get back."
"Sounds like a plan," Nate agreed. He went over to his friends and told them what they should do.
"TO LIZ'S CABIN!" Jason announced sadly, his tears still falling down his face.
"Aww," Mitchie said, giving Jason a hug. Jason buried his face into Mitchie's shoulder and cried like there was no tomorrow.
"I'm never going to get my birdhouse!" Jason cried harder. "And never get to hug Liz, or kiss her, or hear her say she loves me…" Jason's shoulders heaved as his sobs grew louder and more heartbreaking.
"Aww," Caitlyn said, coming over and hugging Jason. She glanced at Nate, who elbowed Shane, and they came over to the trio.
"Dude," Nate motioned, tilting his head towards Jason, then back at Shane.
"Fine," Shane groaned. "GROUP HUG!!!!"
"WAAA!!!!" Jason bawled, not noticing it was Shane's first time calling a group hug. "I WANT LIZ BACK!!!! AND I WANT SHANE AND NATE TO MAKE ME A BIRDHOUSE!!!!"
"Not gonna happen," Nate mumbled quietly so that only Shane could hear.
"What was that?" Caitlyn hissed. She'd heard too, and told Mitchie.
"I mean, we're on it, aren't we, Shane?" Nate elbowed Shane again.
"OW! HEY!" Shane winced. Nate smirked. Then noticing Mitchie's expression, Shane recovered quickly. "I mean, yeah, of course we are. 'Cuz birdhouses are COOL! Birdhouses rock!"
"Aww, that's my Shane," Mitchie said soothingly as Caitlyn stifled a giggle. Shane ignored Caitlyn completely, and looked more than pleased with himself. Nate rolled his eyes before Caitlyn grabbed him and started making out with him.
Meanwhile…
Liz stood at the edge of camp, looking sadly around her. She loved this place, and all the friends she'd made. But what she didn't like was that even though it was THE music camp for anyone who wanted to be anyone in music, it made her do things she didn't always want to do, like write classical songs, and sing songs she had no personal attachment to. She felt like a bird in a cage, hoping that one day she could be set free, and spread her wings and fly. She wanted to be as free as the birds in the air, free to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She unsuccessfully tried to wipe away her tears, which were falling hard and fast now.
"I'm sorry, Jason," Liz choked out, as an image of Jason's face entered her mind. "I'm sorry I never got the chance to tell you…I love you too. And I'm sorry we'll never get the chance to be together…And Mitchie, and Caitlyn, I'm sorry for all the times we'll never have, and the memories we'll never make…And Nate and Shane, I'm sorry...I'm sorry I won't get to know you better, how you're really like, when you're backstage and out of the spotlight."
Liz started crying as she thought of all the times Jason had made her laugh, and the times he'd made her feel comfortable being herself. She thought about Mitchie and Caitlyn, who almost instantly became her friends, and Nate and Shane, who were just as nice to her, even though they didn't know her as well as Jason, Mitchie, and Caitlyn. She'd never been able to make many friends, if any, and all of a sudden, she had five. But she knew her parents would be there soon, coming to take her away, all because she tried to make friends. She kept thinking to herself that it really was for the best if she left, even though her heart was telling her otherwise. Her eyes stung as they kept tearing up, and she turned away, not glancing back, although she knew she was leaving pieces of her heart with her new friends.
AN: NOOOO!!!! Liz can't leave Camp Rock. Will they find her? What happens next? Stay tuned…
(The doorbell rings) The doorbell! (goes and gets it, while mumbling under my breath "I can't wait 'till they leave, so I can continue with this story…")