Disclaimer: Do not own Wizards of Waverly Place or Camp Rock. If Hot Tunes Records exists, I do not own that either.
I wish I could have gotten this out on the day I marked as Mitchie's birthday (January 26), but it just wasn't in the cards. I tried, though.
Alex rushed around the sub shop, clipboard in hand. Mitchie's birthday party was only two hours away, and there was still so much to do! She'd gotten her parents to agree to let her have the party in the sub shop (with Justin's help, of course), but they'd refused to close down the entire restaurant for only a few people.
Alex never really had friends in school, and Mitchie didn't have any that lived in the city. So when it came to inviting people over for the party, there was a very short guest list. She'd invited Gabe that one day in the shop and Harper soon after plans started forming. Caitlyn had helped a little with the planning, so of course she knew to come. Alex even gave Justin an official invitation, which he very much appreciated since he helped her to get it okayed with their parents. And, in a last desperate attempt to have at least one more person, Alex had asked Max if he'd like to attend. She'd invited Mitchie's parents via email (which she'd acquired from Justin) but they both said they had to work, but they were having a special birthday celebration that night after they got home and invited Alex to join them, which she thought was very nice of them. Only, they had to suggest that Mitchie ask Alex to come to dinner so she wouldn't suspect anything about the party.
So, counting herself and Mitchie, there would be a total of seven guests at the party. Her parents were going to be working and supervising so they didn't count as guests and she didn't really want them to. She was still mad at them. It had been Hell getting them to agree because they didn't want the party to interfere with business. They didn't see why Alex couldn't bring Mitchie out somewhere.
But she really couldn't. It wasn't part of the plan.
"Is there an Alex Russo in here?" a burly man with a thick mustache asked. He was holding a white box in his hands, scanning the restaurant.
Alex walked up to him briskly, placing her clipboard on a table as she went. "That's me. Is this the cake?" She pointed to the box in his hands.
"Does it say Bob's Cakes on the box?" the man asked sarcastically in his deep voice and looked down at Alex due to his towering height.
"Yes, yes it does," she muttered and took it from him with one hand, slipping the other into her pocket to pull out her money. "Keep the change, Bob."
"Bob's my mom," he said, frowning at her deeply while crumpling the bills in his giant hands.
Alex stared at him for a few moments before putting on a fake smile. "Well bye," she said quickly, walking as fast to the back of the restaurant as she could.
When she got behind the counter, she placed the cake under it right next to the candles for later. She stood and surveyed her surroundings. Things were coming together nicely. And she was so glad she'd convinced her dad to give Mitchie the day off for her birthday or she wouldn't have been able to do any of this. She was also glad she got Justin to agree to not make them have school. A little mind control charm she found was to thank for that…
She smiled to herself as she watched her brother hang up the "Happy Birthday" banner above the small stage she'd set up in front of the eating area made to look like a sub car. It had been the one she and Justin used when they started a band that time they had to come up with a backup career just in case they didn't become the family wizard.
Their dad had protested when she zapped it in, but she simply told him that if he didn't want it in there, he could get rid of it himself. So of course without magic Jerry couldn't move the stage. And there it sat, ready to go. She was glad her dad couldn't get rid of it. She needed it. It was part of the plan.
"How's this look, Alex?" Justin called from the ladder, gesturing to the banner.
"Great, Justin!" She gave him thumbs up. "Now can you help me hook up the amps?"
"Sure thing," he said and started descending.
Alex looked at the stage, her drum set in the very back, her black sticks from Mitchie lying on top. A keyboard was to its left, Justin's guitar on a stand to the right. Front and center was a microphone. Alex smiled to herself at the wonderful set up. Mitchie was going to be so surprised when she saw this.
Mitchie hugged her coat tighter around herself as she and Alex walked through the chilly New York City evening. Alex had asked her to come to the sub shop that night to get her birthday present but she assumed they would just be zapping there since they now knew it was safe. She hadn't expected they'd walk to the sub shop. But that's what they were doing.
"I still don't see why we couldn't zap there," Mitchie grumbled, her teeth chattering slightly from the cold.
Alex felt guilty for Mitchie's discomfort, but put on a smile to hide it. "Because I wanted to walk with you. It's such a nice night."
"It's freezing, Alex," Mitchie muttered, darting a somewhat angry glance at her girlfriend.
She really was a little mad at her. First, she'd gotten them out of school, which would have been great if they'd gotten to spend the day together. But then Alex had to work so they couldn't. And Mr. Russo had given her the day off so that was another reason they hadn't seen each other all day. And now, when they finally got to be together, Alex was making her walk in the freezing cold. Mitchie had made an awesome day for Alex, but she was getting this? To her, that didn't seem to match up at all.
Alex glanced at Mitchie and noticed the anger on her face. She knew Mitchie was probably pissed about this, but she couldn't just zap them there without people noticing how short of a time she'd been gone. It had to be done this way, even if it made Mitchie mad at her. She did feel bad, however, that she was making her girlfriend walk in the cold. But Mitchie had a hatred for the subway system, so there was no other way. Taking a cab or car would take double the time because of traffic, especially with the roads being a mess from the snow.
They walked in silence, the only sounds from the snow crunching underneath their feet. Alex wanted to hold Mitchie's hand, but her girlfriend had her arms wrapped around herself, making it impossible for hand holding.
She felt terrible, getting the cold shoulder. But it was necessary. Mitchie would appreciate it when she got her surprise. But in the mean time, she was successfully making Alex feel like shit, even though Alex knew she'd done nothing wrong. Alex just felt bad for making her walk in the cold, especially since it could possibly get her sick and that could be dangerous for the baby.
When the lights of the sub shop came into view, Alex let out a breath, relieved. Soon, Mitchie would no longer be mad at her. Soon, Mitchie would be inside and away from the harsh cold. Soon, the butterflies in Alex's stomach would stop flying around nervously.
Alex gave Mitchie a quick smile before opening the sub shop door, which Mitchie only pouted at as she walked inside. At first, everything looked normal to her. Customers were eating, Mrs. Russo was behind the register, Mr. Russo was in the kitchen. But then she looked to behind the counter, where Harper, Caitlyn, Justin, Max, and some guy with black hair Mitchie didn't know stood. They were all smiling widely and looking at her expectantly, a chocolate cake on the counter in front of them.
"Happy birthday, Mitchie!" they said in unison when she just stared at them stunned.
Mitchie's jaw hung open slightly, completely shocked. She turned when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Alex was smiling at her, an adorable, smug, little smile.
"Got ya," she said, giving Mitchie's shoulder a squeeze.
"That's why we walked?" Mitchie said, a smile of her own making its way to her face.
Alex nodded slowly. "Does that make up for it?"
Mitchie looked at Alex for a few moments before smirking. "It depends on how much fun I have tonight."
And without another word, she left Alex standing there, amused and shaking her head. After a few moments, Alex followed Mitchie behind the counter, where everyone was greeting her.
Theresa, feeling crowded by all of the teenagers behind the counter, walked off to take care of the customers, planning not to return until they got out of her personal area.
Mitchie got hugs and smiles from Caitlyn and Harper, even a small ones from Justin and Max. When she got to Gabe, she smiled uncertainly.
"Uh…I'm Alex's friend, Gabe," he said, sensing her discomfort.
Mitchie raised her eyebrows and turned to Alex, who was standing behind her girlfriend.
"Not an ex boyfriend," Alex clarified. "Just a new friend. I met him the day I told you about…" she cleared her throat, "ya know… The M word."
Mitchie nodded, showing she understood that Alex meant magic, though Gabe was clearly confused. Many things started with M. Monkeys, mangos, money, masks…
"And then we talked again the day Caitlyn came back," Alex continued.
Mitchie looked back at Gabe, who gave her a nervous smile. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that if Mitchie didn't like him, it would cause problems for him and Alex being friends, and then he'd be back where he started: sitting alone in his room all night long, listening to music.
But to his relief, Mitchie smiled.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Gabe," she said, sticking out her hand.
He let the breath he'd been holding out through his nose and took her incredibly soft hand, giving it a shake. "Nice to meet you too, Mitchie."
Mitchie gave him one last smile and a nod before going over to join the rest of the party, which had migrated to in front of the counter. She went directly to Caitlyn, who was staring blankly as Harper explained her outfit which was designed to look like a birthday cake, and slung her arm over her best friend's shoulder.
"You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Mitchie asked with a smirk.
"Of course I did," Caitlyn laughed. "You don't think I'd let Alex take all the credit, do you?"
Alex watched the exchange and chuckled, turning back to Gabe.
"Thanks for coming," she said.
He shrugged. "What else did I have to do?"
"Oh, so now I'm a last resort?" she joked and crossed her arms over her chest.
Gabe blinked rapidly. "That's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant." She smirked and slugged the flustered boy lightly in the arm.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he and Alex joined the rest of the party. The customers of the restaurant were watching curiously at first, but soon went back to their meals. After all, what did they care about teenagers socializing?
"Alex?" Mitchie asked, tapping her girlfriend on the shoulder.
Alex stopped watching amusedly as Harper tried to edge herself closer to Justin and turned to look at Mitchie.
"Yeah?" she said with a smile.
"What's that for?" Mitchie asked, pointing towards the stage with all of the instruments set up. "Did you get a band or something?"
Alex avoided her eyes and tried to hide her grin. "Something like that."
Mitchie knew that look. Alex was up to something and she was about to ask what it was, but Alex's mischievous look turned into one of anger as her eyes focused over Mitchie's shoulder.
"MAX!" Alex exclaimed, causing everyone to turn and look where Alex was looking.
Max was leaning on the counter, hovering over Mitchie's birthday cake. His eyes were wide and his finger was in his mouth. There was a line across the frosting, like someone had just swiped their finger over the top.
"What?" Max asked with his finger in his mouth.
"What are you doing?" Alex yelled. "That's Mitchie's cake!"
He removed his finger from his mouth and smiled. "Yeah, and it's good!"
Alex scowled. "Get away from there!"
"I'm hungry!" he protested.
"We're not having cake until after Mitchie opens her presents, now get away from there!" Alex went behind the counter and grabbed her younger brother by the back collar of his shirt, pulling him away from the small cake she'd purchased for the occasion.
"Well why don't we open presents now so we can all get to the cake?" Mitchie asked on Max's behalf, trying to keep the peace.
Alex stopped and looked at Mitchie, who only nodded, as if to say Calm down. Alex sighed and rolled her eyes but nodded as well.
"Fine, we can do presents now," she said through clenched teeth.
"Thank you," Mitchie said with a slight smile.
Max, who was still in Alex's clutches, smiled as well. "I like your girlfriend, Alex."
"Like I care about what you think. Shut up," she told him, letting him go with a slight shove.
Mitchie gave her a stern look. "Alex…"
"What?" Alex asked, blushing when she noticed all of her friends were looking at her.
Mitchie took a step closer to her girlfriend and spoke quietly. "You're overreacting."
"He ruined the cake," she pouted.
"It's still edible," Mitchie said, taking Alex's hands in her own. "Seriously, calm down."
Alex looked into those deep brown eyes and had to smile when she realized that Mitchie was right, she was being stupid.
"You're right," she said, taking a breath. "You open your presents and I'll start putting the candles on the cake."
"That's my girl." Mitchie stood on her tip toes and placed a sweet kiss on Alex's forehead before letting go of her girlfriend's hands and went over to her group of friends who were standing in front of the counter. "Okay, who's first?"
Everyone exchanged looks before Max boldly stepped up and took a bag from the small cluster of gifts at the very end of the counter. He then stepped up and handed it to Mitchie.
Mitchie took it cautiously, having heard stories about Max. She was genuinely frightened. She looked at Justin, who looked just as scared as her. Then she looked at Alex, who was watching. Alex shook her head, as if giving her a warning.
Mitchie slowly reached her hand inside the bag and curled her fingers around something soft. She pulled the item from the bag. Breathing a sigh of relief, she saw that they were a pair of brown socks.
Justin took a step closer and leaned in to say something in Mitchie's ear. "I'd burn those if I were you. He probably found them under his bed and they were most likely white when he got them."
Mitchie wrinkled her nose in disgust and dropped the socks back in the bag. "Thanks, Max," she said anyway.
The young boy gave a happy smile. "You're welcome."
Alex went behind the counter and took out the candles, taking them from their box. She placed the candles in one by one, then realized her dilemma. She had nothing to light the candles with. She stared at the cake, considering her options. She knew her parents hadn't kept matches in the house since Max caught the curtains on fire when he was six, so that was out. She could try to light them with magic, but that could draw attention, and set the entire cake on fire if she wasn't careful.
Theresa, who had been walking around checking on the customers, walked past the group of teenagers as Mitchie unwrapped a "Homework Pass" from Justin. Putting an order where Jerry could see it, she went back to the register, glancing at Alex. Then she gave her a good look. It was clear Alex was trying to figure out how to light the candles with the way she was staring at them intently. Having checked Alex's supplies earlier and seeing that she had no matches and no lighter, Theresa had known this would happen.
She cleared her throat, getting Alex's attention. When Alex looked at her Mother, Theresa reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a lighter, tossing it to Alex.
Alex caught it with one hand, looking at it curiously. Her eyes widened as she recognized it instantly, memories flashing in her head of a trash can engulfed in flames, a bathroom filling with smoke, and a scared, stupid girl running for her life. She looked up at her mother.
"This is mine," she said quietly.
Her mom nodded. "I took it from your purse that day. A lot has changed since then, hasn't it?"
Alex swallowed the lump in her throat, understanding the meaning behind her mother's words. Circumstances had changed, yes. But that wasn't the only thing that had changed. Alex changed as well. And her mother was beginning to understand that now.
"I think you're mature enough to have it back," Theresa said, averting her eyes and going back to the register.
Alex smiled and made a mental note to give her mom a huge hug later as she lit the first candle. She glanced up as Gabe nervously handed Mitchie an iTunes card.
"Alex said you like music…" he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"She does, a little too much sometimes," Caitlyn said, winking at Mitchie.
Mitchie laughed. "There's no such thing as loving music too much, ya fool."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Gabe. "She's in denial," she whispered.
Gabe blushed slightly and smiled. "Maybe she needs to go to music rehab."
"Hey, I can hear you!" Mitchie protested. "Thanks for this, Gabe," she said, holding up the card. "I'm definitely going to use it."
After opening the last two gifts (a homemade scarf from Harper and a new capo for her guitar from Caitlyn, which she'd told her she needed) everyone looked at Alex expectantly.
"Cake ready?" Max asked, eyeing it hungrily.
"Are the candles lit, Max?" Alex asked, raising her eyebrow. She shook her head. "Okay, everyone, sing Mitchie Happy Birthday so she can blow out the candles and we can eat this thing."
As everyone began to sing, Alex slid the cake over the counter so it was closer to Mitchie, who was blushing furiously. A few customers from the restaurant joined in and clapped when the song ended. Mitchie blew out her candles to a round of applause, a huge smile on her face. As the smoke cleared, Alex went into the kitchen to get a knife to cut the cake. Justin joined his sister behind the counter and started putting out the paper plates. When Alex cut a piece and put it on a plate, Justin handed it to a person. Mitchie, of course, got the first piece.
Knowing there wasn't going to be too many people, Alex got a fairly small cake. The slices she cut were a decent size, and there were just enough for everyone. When all of the slices were handed out, the group of teens migrated to two of the empty booths off to the side.
"What did you get Mitchie, Alex?" Max asked, sitting across from his sister.
"I threw her a party, Max!" Alex said in disbelief, but feeling slightly panicky. She'd fought with herself over whether or not to get Mitchie a gift. But in the end, she decided the party was a gift enough in itself. After all, it wasn't about money, it was about the thought, right? And she'd put a lot of thought into this whole event.
"And I love it," Mitchie said, putting her hand on Alex's knee underneath the table.
Alex smiled at Mitchie before sending a glare Max's way. When he saw it, he picked up his cake and moved to the table at which Gabe and Caitlyn were seated, deep in a conversation about how much it sucked to be the new kids at school.
Harper slid into his old spot, right next to Justin, much to his displeasure. Harper smiled happily at him, and he just grimaced in return. Her crush on him still creeped him out.
"So I have two classes with Caitlyn," Harper said, setting her plate on the table. "Totally didn't know that."
"How did you not know?" Alex asked before shoveling a mouthful of cake into her mouth.
"I knew she was new, I just didn't know that she was the Caitlyn." Harper shrugged while poking at her cake with a fork. "I didn't put two and two together. But now that we know that our best friends are dating, we're going to start eating lunch together." She smiled just thinking about the badge she would get in Happy Helper's Club for showing the new kid around.
Alex took another mouthful of cake, chewed, and swallowed. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."
"What, the two of them hanging out?" Mitchie asked. Alex nodded. "Why not? It'll be a good thing. We can all hang out together. Plus, it will be good for Caitlyn to have a friend in school."
Caitlyn, who was sitting directly behind Mitchie and heard her name, reached behind her and grabbed Mitchie's hair, tugging it lightly.
"Hey," Mitchie giggled when she felt Caitlyn pull her hair.
Caitlyn swiveled in her seat, kneeling and looking over the seat down at Mitchie. "Are you talking about me, Torres?"
"Why yes, yes I am, Geller." Mitchie smirked up at her friend.
"What are you saying?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Just that I'm glad you and Harper are becoming friends," Mitchie said with a shrug.
"Okay." Caitlyn smirked, patted Mitchie's head, and returned to a normal sitting position.
Meanwhile, Alex was watching the door like a hawk and eating her cake, not even noticing how fast she was eating. It wasn't until she put an empty fork into her mouth that she realized she was finished. She pouted down at the plate with nothing but chocolate crumbs on it, wishing she'd bought a bigger cake just so she could have more. She looked up and saw Harper staring dreamily at Justin, who was eating his own piece and trying his best to not look uncomfortable. Harper still had over half a slice left. Licking her lips and smirking at her friend's oblivious state, Alex reached over with her fork and took a bite of Harper's cake, shoving it into her mouth. However, Harper saw her doing this out of the corner of her eye and was pulled from her trance.
Harper frowned as she watched her best friend chew and swallow. "Alex, that's my cake!"
"I know, I was just testing it for poison," Alex said with a shrug. "It's clean."
"No, you're just trying to steal my cake." Harper narrowed her eyes and shook her head at the Latino girl.
"I just saved your life, Harper," Alex said seriously. "And this is the thanks I get?"
"You get no thanks. None." Harper stuck her nose in the air and stood from her seat, walking away, cake in hand.
Alex pouted and looked to her right, where Mitchie was sitting. She still had a decent amount of cake on her plate and she was staring down at it hungrily. As the girl shoveled a huge bite into her mouth, she glanced up and caught Alex watching her. She began to chew, not taking her eyes off her girlfriend.
"If you try to 'test' this cake," she said with her mouth full, air quoting test with her fingers, and pointing to the slice with her other hand, "you're gonna lose a finger." She finished chewing and swallowed. "Just saying."
Alex was about to protest when the bell over the restaurant chimed. She closed her mouth and looked over, seeing a man wearing a business suit with a Bluetooth cell phone headset stuck in his ear. By the way he looked around the establishment with a confused expression, shaking snow out of his neat brown hair, Alex could tell the next part of her plan was about to commence.
"I'll be right back," she said quickly, standing and making her way to the man.
Mitchie looked after her girlfriend, a little confused. But then she just shrugged it off and went back to her cake, which she could now eat in peace.
"Mr. Morrison?" Alex asked the man.
He looked down at her. "That's me, Ray Morrison. I assume you're the Alex Russo I spoke with on the phone?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake, which she did.
"That's me." She smiled at him politely. "May I take your coat?"
"Certainly." He shrugged off his expensive black coat and handed it to the young girl, who put it on the coat rack by the door. "I must admit, Miss Russo, I do not often make business calls like this. But something about the way you were describing this girl's voice made me make an exception. Mindy, you said her name was?"
"Mitchie. Mitchie Torres," Alex said. "And she's incredible. Wait until you hear her. That's her, right over there." She pointed to where Mitchie was sitting, talking with Justin.
Mr. Morrison looked over, narrowing his eyes to see at that distance. "The curly haired girl wearing the black and neon green shirt?" He was clearly describing Caitlyn.
"No, the other one." Alex bit her lip, waiting for his reaction.
His eyes widened and he looked shocked. "That pregnant child? Surely you're joking."
"No." Alex shook her head slowly.
"Why on Earth would Hot Tunes Records want to represent a pregnant teenager? That's bad publicity before she even has a demo!" Mr. Morrison shook his head, baffled. This had to be a joke. There was no way this Alex kid could be serious.
"Mr. Morrison, Mitchie has an amazing voice!" Alex said quickly. "She spent last summer at Camp Rock, so she knows a thing or two. I've heard her sing, and she puts angels to shame. And she writes all of her songs herself! Just listen to her perform. Just one song, that's all I ask. After that, you can leave and forget this ever happened. But just listen. If not, you've completely wasted a trip here in the snow."
Ray Morrison looked out of the window at the cold night, where snow was still falling. He sighed and shook his head, looking back at the teenager before him. "One song, Russo," he said, holding up a finger. "But that's it. After that, I'm gone."
"Thank you!" Alex said, smiling brightly. "You won't regret it. Feel free to sit wherever."
She ran off before he could say anything else or change his mind, right to where Mitchie was seated.
"Come on, Mitchie, you're singing," she said, grabbing the girl's hand and attempting to pull her from the booth.
"What?" Mitchie exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Right now?" Justin asked.
"Right now." Alex nodded.
Justin nodded back, getting up from the booth. "Caitlyn, it's time," he told her before making his way to the stage.
Caitlyn gave Gabe an apologetic smile as she cut their conversation short, standing and going to the stage as well.
"What's going on, Alex?" Mitchie asked as she watched Caitlyn climb onto the stage and station herself behind the keyboard.
"You're the entertainment," Alex said with a sly smile. "Time to shine, Mitch." Alex pulled Mitchie to her feet and started dragging her towards the stage.
"But…I can't, Alex," Mitchie protested.
"Not yet you can't. Hold on." Alex smiled and ran to the back where her dad was making sandwiches. He ignored her as she went into the freezer, immediately pulling her wand from her boot.
She thought for a few moments, coming up with the spell.
"Mitchie needs to be a star, but for that she needs her black guitar." She finished the spell with a twirl of her wand.
The next thing Mitchie knew, Alex was shoving her electric guitar into her hands. It didn't take much to figure out she'd used magic to get it.
"Now you're all set," Alex said. "Just play 'Don't Forget' like you did for me in your room. Justin, Caitlyn, and I have been practicing every day since I got a copy of the song. We'll help you out."
"You stole a copy of my song?" Mitchie exclaimed.
"For a good reason!" Alex said quickly.
"What reason would that be?" Mitchie shook her head.
"For you to be able to play in public with a full band behind you!" Alex said, putting her hands on Mitchie's shoulders. "Except a bass player, because I don't know anyone who plays bass."
"Gabe does," Caitlyn said, coming to the end of the stage and looking down at Mitchie and Alex.
"How do you know?" Alex looked up at her.
"He told me." Caitlyn shrugged.
Alex dropped her hands from Mitchie's shoulders and looked over to where Gabe was sitting. "Gabe, come over here!" she called.
Curious, Gabe stood and walked over. "What's up?"
"Caitlyn said you play bass, is that true?" Alex asked him.
"Alex…" Mitchie tugged at Alex's sleeve, trying to protest, to tell her she didn't want to sing.
"Yes, I've been playing since I was nine," Gabe said, nodding.
"If I get you a bass and we start playing, could you pick it up and play along?"
Gabe nodded again. "I can try."
"Great!" Alex dashed off, running towards the kitchen again.
"Alex!" Mitchie called after her, growing frustrated. But it was no use, Alex wasn't listening.
When the girl returned, she was holding a very nice, shiny black bass in one hand and an amp under her other arm. She handed them both to Gabe. "Start setting up."
As soon as he had the order, Gabe climbed onto the stage, where Justin began to help him plug in the amp. Once it was all set, Gabe started testing the strings and tuning it so it would be ready to play.
"What, do you just keep instruments in your freezer, Russo?" Caitlyn asked in disbelief. "And why do you have a bass if no one you know plays it?"
"It's good for the strings of the guitars to keep them in the freezer," Alex said quickly, though that sounded lame even to her. "And my uncle bought it for me for my birthday last year, but I never bothered to learn it." That was a total lie. Uncle Kelbo hadn't even remembered her birthday. But Caitlyn didn't need to know that.
"Cold is terrible for guitar's strings," Caitlyn said, knowing way more about instruments than Alex.
"These are special strings…?"
Mitchie gripped the neck of her guitar and stepped directly in front of Alex. "I can't do this," she said, her voice shaking slightly from nerves.
"Why not?" Alex blinked quickly.
"I'm too scared." Mitchie shook her head. "I can't sing in front of all these people."
"Mitchie, you seem to be forgetting this summer when you belted out 'This is Me' to an entire barn full of people who thought you were a bitch for lying to them all summer," Caitlyn said, raising her eyebrows. "You ended up changing their opinions of you just by your voice. If you could do that, you can sing to a sandwich shop."
"I don't know, Cay. This seems different." She shook her head again, this time slowly.
"Mitchie, I've heard you sing," Alex said softly, looking into Mitchie's eyes. "Your voice is incredible. And I know you can do this. They're gonna love you. You can do this." She had to. Mr. Morrison was watching and with a glance, Alex could see him growing very impatient.
Mitchie took a few deep breaths before nodding. "Okay," she said shakily. "I'll try."
"That's my girl," Alex said, much like Mitchie had said to her earlier. She gave Mitchie a soft kiss on the cheek before climbing onto the stage and holding out a hand to help Mitchie up.
Once Mitchie was set up in front of the mike, her guitar over her shoulder and plugged in, the restaurant grew quiet, all eyes on the stage curiously to see what was going to happen.
Alex, seated behind her drum kit, leaned forward to talk into her mike. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mitchie Torres!"
A few people clapped, but after that it was silence. Mitchie stared out into the crowd, eyes wide with fear. The last time she'd sung in public, it had been with Shane. It had been that night, that one night that changed her entire life. That night which was burned into her memory forever, that she would continue to pay for for the rest of her life…
"Did you forget that I was even alive?"
Alex breathed a sigh of relief as Mitchie found her voice, joining in at the appropriate time with the drumming. Justin was doing well with the strumming for the lead guitar. She had been working with him all week, making sure he got it right; she heard the song in her head every time she thought about it, so she helped him, and when he finally got it perfectly, they played it together. This was the first time all five of them were playing together, though. Gabe was proving rather impressive, adding a simple bass line that went with the song decently enough. Caitlyn…Well Alex didn't know what the hell Caitlyn was doing, but she'd emailed her a copy of the song to work with, so Alex knew she knew what she was doing.
She thought they sounded pretty good as far as music went and Mitchie's vocals were spectacular, of course. Looking over, she saw Mr. Morrison staring at Mitchie with a blank expression. Alex's heart thudded against her rib cage. What could that look mean? Why wasn't he smiling?
When Mitchie go to the part right before she started belting out the lyrics, though her back was to her, Alex could tell she had tears forming in her eyes. Alex prayed for Mitchie to keep it together and not stop. If she stopped, they'd all have to stop, and they were doing so well. She didn't know if they would be able to get it back. But Mitchie stayed strong and went right into the intense part of the song, not once going off-key. It was even more beautiful than Alex remembered.
When she looked over at Mr. Morrison again, his mouth was open slightly, clearly stunned. Alex smiled to herself and felt happiness surge through every muscle in her body. This was a good sign.
The song ended and the five musicians on stage were met with silence for all of three seconds as the shock wore off from the audience and they erupted into a huge round of applause.
Mitchie covered her face with her hands as the tears came once again. This time, from happiness. She hadn't expected that reaction at all. It not only surprised her, but overwhelmed her. She'd never felt this feeling before in her entire life. Not when she got applause at Camp Rock, not when Shane joined her for her song, never.
She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder and leaned into Alex, burying her face in her girlfriend's shoulder as she felt her guitar being moved out of the way as Alex hugged her.
"You did it," Alex said in her ear.
Mitchie smiled and lifted her head, trying to wipe her eyes. "Thank you for making me."
Alex simply smiled and helped her wipe away the moisture, careful not to smudge Mitchie's makeup. She unstuck a few strands of Mitchie's curly brown hair from her cheeks, wiping those too.
"Mitchie Torres?" a deep voice asked.
Mitchie turned away from Alex and looked down at the man in a very expensive suit standing in front of the stage.
"Yes?" she asked uncertainly.
"My name is Ray Morrison. I represent Hot Tunes Records. I have to say, I was skeptical when your friend here asked me to come over and listen to you sing."
Mitchie glanced at Alex, who smiled sheepishly, before turning her attention back to the man.
"I have to say, you have one of the best voices I've ever heard, and I've been in this business for twenty years. The band behind you seemed a bit unrehearsed, but that voice of yours is amazing." He reached into his jacket pocket and removed a business card, handing it to Mitchie. "Once you get…this…settled…" he glanced at Mitchie's stomach and cleared his throat. "Your baby, I mean… Once you have it and get a bit situated… Give me a call. We'll see about getting you in the studio for a demo. In the meantime, keep writing. You're really talented. I expect we'll see big things from you."
Mitchie blinked slowly, at a loss for words. "Thank you," was all she managed.
He smiled at her before turning to Alex. "Thanks for making me stay."
She nodded at him and with a final wave, Ray Morrison walked to the door, removed his coat from the rack, and walked out.
"You're unbelievable," Mitchie said to Alex.
"Is that a good thing?" she asked, turning so they were completely facing each other.
"It's an amazing thing," Mitchie said, gazing into Alex's eyes for a moment before leaning forward and capturing the other girl's lips.
Alex smiled into the kiss and reached up, cupping Mitchie's cheek.
"Oh come on, guys, people are watching," Caitlyn teased.
Mitchie pulled away, blushing. Alex only grinned.
"Let them watch."
"We have to get our kissing in now, Cay. My dad has a no PDA rule," Mitchie said, though her cheeks were still red.
Alex looked at Mitchie, frowning. "Your dad?"
Mitchie furrowed her brow. "Yeah, don't you remember? We're having dinner with them later tonight." Dinner wasn't exactly the word since it would be nearly ten at night when they ate because of how late her mother had to work, but that's what they were calling it.
"Oh. Right. Yeah." Alex gave a quick, fake smile. "How could I forget?"
Mitchie smiled and gave her girlfriend a quick peck on the lips before pulling away again. "I can't wait to tell them about this. Alex, honestly, this is the best birthday present ever!"
Alex just continued with that fake smile, panicking on the inside. She hadn't seen Mitchie's parents since they'd found out she and Mitchie were a couple, let alone spent time with them. Now she was having dinner with them. What if they decided they hated her again?
Mitchie, however, was oblivious to how Alex was acting. She was too busy focusing on the fact that she had the chance to be sponsored by one of the most popular record companies ever. It was what she'd always wanted and thought she'd have to give up on it because of her baby. But then, along came Alex, and suddenly it was happening.
Alex was responsible for her lifelong dream coming true.
Ah my baby girl is out of Treatment! I am so happy! I wanted to update the day I found out she was out, but that didn't happen. I had to get a new hard drive for my computer and it was just a mess. So yes, I know she's out. I am ecstatic about it. So since I know, no one needs to tell me haha.
Review and tell me what you think of the chapter.