Sorry for the slow updates.
I realized I haven't added any disclaimers in the past chapters so I'll do it now for safety.
I DO NOT own Camp Rock, but I am a huge fan.
I DO NOT own the song "Shadow" by Demi Lovato that will be mentioned in this chapter.
I DO NOT own any songs in the upcoming or past chapter unless otherwise stated.
(Wow that sounded so...I dunno...business-like.)
Anyway. Thanks to all of you who leave me reviews and keep reading. I love that you are enjoying the story, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to say so!
This chapter will be a long one...I hope.
Crossing Roads With A Rock Star
Chapter 4:
School Drama
"Mom I don't want to go to school today!" Mitchie groaned, covering her head with a pillow and attempting to hit her mom with another one.
"You have to, hun," She said calmly, trying to dodge the pillow and pull the blanket off of her cranky daughter.
"Tell them I'm sick," Mitchie offered. Her mom simply shook her head.
"I'm not doing it, now get up," She raised her voice a little.
"No!" Mitchie screeched, pulling the pillow over her head tighter. Her mom decided to go to plan B.
She walked over to the end of the bed and lifted the cover off her daughter's feet. She began to pull.
"Mom!" Mitchie yelled, trying to grab onto something, while literally being dragged out of bed. "I'm up, just stop!" She cried. Her mom let go, dropping her daughter's legs over the side of the bed.
"Breakfast is already ready," her mom simply said, walking out and closing the door behind her.
Mitchie got up and looked in the mirror and almost gasped at her own reflection. Her hair looked like something died in it, her face had the most creepiest tired expression she's ever seen, and her eyes we're foggy, blurring it and making it look worse. She rubbed her eyes then gasped.
"Time to get to work," she scolded her reflection.
--
Mitchie was soon downstairs, with a backpack flung over her shoulders.
"What took you so long?" Her mom asked, turning towards the clock that said she had about 20 minutes until school started. Mitchie didn't quite catch the hint and started pouring a glass of milk.
"My hair. My makeup. Changing. Shane's "Good Morning" call, you know." she said, casually taking a gulp of milk and picking up a piece of toast.
Her mom looked down at her watch to give a hint. "19 minutes 32 seconds until the bell rings, dear." Mitchie ended up spitting some milk back into her glass in shock. She poured it out, shoved the piece of toast in her mouth and slung the bag over her shoulder.
"Bye Mom," she said quickly, kissing her cheek and heading out the door.
--
Mitchie could feel the stares and glares while walking down the hallway. Envy, Hate, and Disbelief all had their sights set on her. Everyone watched Hot Tunes, but she was sure that wasn't the only gossip music show that mentioned her new relationship with Shane. She simply sighed at her new locker.
"Hello, Mitchie," Someone hissed. She knew the voice and silently cursed under her breath and turned around to see a blonde girl staring at her.
"Hello Liz," Mitchie replied with fake enthusiasm. Liz was the school's Tess. Or more appropriately – Tess before she got hit by a mirror in Final Jam and got a reality check. Her real name was Elizabeth and she made sure everyone knew it. She was the girl most people could easily imagine. Tall. Attractive. Blonde. Wealthy. Sets trends. Cheer leading captain. Has the brightness of about a 3-watt light bulb. Pink. She'd have a fluffy dog in her purse if pets were allowed. Purse bigger than her head. Overuses makeup. Makes everyone else feel bad and insecure of themselves. Looks down on those who are different. Always gets the newest model of the expensive car, even before she can drive, you know. Mitchie wished that SHE would get hit with one of the 50 mirrors she owns and get a reality check too.
"I bet you had tons of fun this summer. Which illness did you fake to make Shane Gray pity date you," Liz snapped, her followers giggling like it was the funniest joke ever.
Mitchie simply smiled and didn't answer but instead said, "I bet you and your plastic surgeon had tons of fun too."
Liz looked insulted, and glared at her minions who were trying their best not to giggle.
"I'm not an idiot. I know exactly what you're trying to do," Liz leaned closer to her locker, with a tone that sounded like Mitchie murdered someone and she was going to totally make her miserable because she knew.
"And whats that?" Mitchie simply said, halfway closing her locker to she could look directly at the girl while she spoke. She knew that whatever was coming, her relationship with Shane was going to be used against her.
"You are obviously just trying to show everybody up," Liz said. Her minions glared.
"What are you talking about?" Mitchie said, dumbfounded.
"Don't play stupid. You're just flaunting around with an 'Hi. I'm Mitchie Torres and I have a Rock Star boyfriend. I'm so unloved. I went to Camp Rock and now I have a boyfriend! Yay me! Pay attention to me, I'm important now!' act," Liz mocked.
"Excuse me?" Mitchie said, disbelieving at what she was hearing. "You think I'm dating Shane Gray for my own personal game?" She laughed. "Not to be rude or anything, but you have SERIOUS issues, my friend. You're wrong. I know thats probably going to be hard for you to grasp but You. Are. Wrong." Mitchie said slowly.
"You're lucky I love him, or else I wouldn't be putting up with this," Mitchie scoffed.
"Love? Aw, well isn't that cute. Too bad he could never really love someone like you back. Face it Mitchie. You were a nobody and you still are a nobody. Nothing is going to change that. And if there is one thing in the world you DO deserve, it definitely ISN'T Shane Gray," Liz hissed.
"Maybe I don't deserve Shane. Maybe I am a nobody, but that isn't going to change how I feel," Mitchie stated, slamming her locker. "I'm not with Shane to change any body's opinion or to flaunt him. As a matter of fact, I could care less of what you think. Your opinion and everybody else's opinion means nothing to me. And...I even kind of feel sorry for you," Mitchie said, glaring straight in Liz's eyes.
"Is that so?" The girl said, lifting her head up, not allowing her pride to be crushed.
"Yeah. I feel sorry that the only way you can feel good about your self is by making everybody else feel bad about themselves. I'm also sorry that you'll never be able to see the true thing in life because you'll always be led by your daddy's credit card and your ego. News flash. Being mean might make you feel superior, but does having no real friends or programming yourself to not care about other's feelings really make up for that? And I want you to think about that before you respond," Mitchie finished, proudly picking up her bag and walking off boldly, leaving a stunned Liz and followers behind. She simply grinned as she could feel some of the looks now cheering her on, for being so bold for once in her life. She felt that now, she had all the confidence in the world.
--
"I still can't believe you told her off!" Sierra gasped, still trying to process the story while her and Mitchie sat around in homeroom.
"Well, I did and I'm afraid I overworked her head a bit and shes still trying to soak it all in," Mitchie said, smiling a bit at her success.
"Um, hey Mitchie," a quiet girl said, nervously playing around with her fingers.
"Hey Leia," Mitchie said, turning to the shy girl beside her.
"I just wanted to say thanks for what you said to Liz today. I was able to get to class today without her coming up to me for my daily insulting," Leia said, then quickly ran off to take her seat on another side of the room.
"That was...odd," Sierra exchanged glances with Mitchie. Mitchie only nodded.
--
"Music, Room 247, Mrs.Luin," Mitchie happily read from the white piece of paper she held. For her one of her electives, she didn't hesitate to sign up for music. She entered the room to see kids with guitars, notebooks with the words like "Lyrics" "Songs" etc. printed on them, and a teacher, bobbing her head along with the beat a couple of students were making. A kid in this class reminded her of Andy, with drumsticks and his surroundings as his drum set. The teacher looked over to see the new student in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear, realizing that this was the one class between Lunch and Algebra she couldn't wait for.
"Hello," the teacher kindly walked over to greet her. "I'm Mrs.Luin. I'm new this year, so I ask kindly that you can give me a bit of a break and tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I plan on learning a lot from my students as I can teach you guys. Though all of you have such great talent, I feel kind of jealous!" She said. Mitchie smiled. "My real name is Jennifer, by the way. Don't be afraid to call me that. 'Mrs.Luin' kind of makes me feel old." she giggled slightly.
Jennifer was an attractive teacher, fresh out of college, peppy and full of spirit that would probably degrade after working here for a few more years. She had brunette curly hair that reminded her a lot of Caitlyn's, and wore a long white top with blue circles, a large big blue belt around the middle, black jeans underneath and flats. A long necklace made of blue and white O's went around her neck. She's the new teacher that all the guys will purposely transfer into this class for, talent or no talent, and help pick up things in the hallway, or frequently come up to the desk to "ask questions." She looked about the height of a senior high schooler, though probably in her early to mid twenties.
"I'm Mitchie Torres," Mitchie said happily, responding to the kindness of her new teacher.
"I hope you're very excited about Music class this year," The teacher kept on smiling. "I hope I don't make it boring."
"I'm very excited. Last year, I didn't sign up, I was really not sure, but now I'm a Sophomore and I want to try it out," Mitchie responded politely.
"Well, if you'll take a seat, I'm going to give a little introduction for class this year," Jennifer said to more the whole class than to Mitchie, as everyone dutifully took their seats, and about three guys who probably kept an elective open to check out this class (or more like the teacher), came in with a pass to enter the class. They all took the open seats in the front, near where the teacher was leaning against her desk. 'Boys' Mitchie simply shook her head and turned her attention back to the teacher.
"Now. I know that there is a LOT of talented people in this class. I should know, I went to college for years. And only after being in this class for about 10 minutes, I hope you don't mind if I call a few people just so I can check out what they can do. I want to get to know you guys better," every serious music student nodded, while the three guys in the front simply flirtatiously grinned at the teacher, gave high-fives to their friends, and gave that "We-Want-To-Know-You-Too-Babe" look straight at her. Mitchie rolled her eyes.
The teacher professionally picked up a clipboard and looked down the list, smiled and said "Amanda," a brunette girl of about 16 skipped up to the front of the class with a guitar in hand. "Do your stuff." Mitchie grinned. It was just like her first class with Brown at camp, except she wasn't called first. She simply began reminiscing in the memories, while Amanda strummed out a quick solo on her guitar.
"Mitchie Torres," She heard her teacher call. She snapped back to reality to see everyone staring at her. With her early morning appearance on Hot Tunes and her argument with Liz, the only clueless people were the hormone-driven boys up front. Mitchie silently went up front. "Show us your stuff."
"Uhm, I didn't bring a guitar," Mitchie noted, nervously. No sooner did she say it did someone hand her a guitar. Mitchie smiled, confident now. "I'm going to do a song I wrote myself," she nodded towards the teacher, who was smiling. "Great!" she shouted. "Now I know I'm in the presence of some truly talented teenagers!" She intently listened while Mitchie began strumming on her guitar and began her song.
I glanced upon the ground
Today
I noticed something
It followed me along the way
A figure of Gray
Impersonating every move I make
For now,
We'll call it my Shadow
And I said,
"Will you replace it?"
So you'll be with me every where I go.
Sentences of yours,
Running throughout my head,
Searching for a chance to catch my breath.
A never ending dream,
You'll become a part of me,
Day or Night
Dark or Light
You'll be...
Taking over that thing called my Shadow
She continued strumming a small instrumental part of the song and caught a quick glance of her classmates, and her speechless teacher. She smiled and kept going.
And what happens on the days When
The clouds appear and fade away my shade,
Oh.
Thats our que babe,
We'll run away to a place Where
The sun always shines
Not even time could erase
You're my weakness babe,
But you give me strength
I need you.
I need you like the blood in my veins
Sentences of yours,
Running throughout my head,
Searching for a chance to catch my breath.
A never ending dream,
You'll become a part of me,
Day or Night
Dark or Light
You'll be...
Taking over that thing called my Shadow
She finished, still strumming on her guitar the last couple seconds of her song. She looked up, and there was nothing but silence. Soon, the class began clapping and whooping. Even the 3 boys in the front who had no intention of actually participating in class were hollering.
Oh great.
The teacher sat around and told her how amazed she was before Mitchie took her seat. One of the boys was actually glancing back at her a lot.
Oh great.
She said again in her mind.
After about 5 more acts, everyone began filing out of the class room.
"Mitchie can I speak to you for a second?" She heard her teacher say.
"Sure," Mitchie pranced over. "Whats up?"
"I just wanted to tell you again how good I thought you were. You were really talented, you blew me away," she grinned.
"Thanks," was all Mitchie could say, a huge grin on her face too.
"Have you ever considered singing professionally? In front of millions, going on tour. Sounds great doesn't it?" The teacher ragged on, mostly dreaming for herself.
Mitchie grabbed a tight hold on her necklace, thinking about touring and being noticed in front of millions, so much attention, and what her life would be like. It made her think about Shane. Fame certainly changed him. And he never got to see anybody except his band mates and his screaming fans. She just imagined that if she had fame too, it would be almost impossible to even communicate at all, and she didn't even want to think like that. It was too much to lose.
"Uhm, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? Besides – I think of music more as hobby, not a career choice," Mitchie firmly said.
The teacher noticed Mitchie's tight grip on her necklace. She knew why to and she smiled, understanding.
"I got it. But you do have an amazing voice and don't let anybody ever tell you otherwise," she wagged a finger at Mitchie and she laughed. She began walking out the door and the boy that was staring at her from earlier was standing by the door.
"Hey," he said. His name was Jason, so lets call him that instead. "The boy" gets tiring.
"Uhm, Hi. If you want to know whats for lunch, I forgot," Mitchie explained, knowing thats why they mostly talk to her anyway.
Jason was the basic cliched male. Captain of football team. Usually dates Liz. Hosts parties that all the cheerleaders and football players go to. Throws nerds in trash cans. Straight D student. Crashes cars faster than it takes to blink. Probably getting into college but only for a sport scholarship, you know.
He chuckled. "No, thats not why I wanted to talk to you," he said, leaning against the locker while Mitchie was playing around with some things. She knew exactly where this was going and grinned, deciding to have fun with it.
"I'm listening," she said in a fake flirtatious tone.
"You know, I never really took time to notice you or anything, and I really think thats been a big mistake. And-"
"And, I should come by a game sometime right? Oh – or are you going to invite me to one of your little house parties this Friday night because you can notice me now?" Mitchie cut him off, closing her locker.
He just blinked. "Uhm,"
"Save it," Mitchie said, glaring. "Besides won't Liz get a little mad at you for talking to me?" She mocked.
"We broke up,"
"Ohhh...SHOCKER," Mitchie said dryly and rolled her eyes and began walking off before he stood in her path.
"So are you like, rejecting me?" He said, dumbfounded, clearly not going through this before.
"Wow just like in those movies where the jock falls for the invisible girl. And I never thought those movies were true. Too bad I actually mean it when I'm attemptingto walk away..." Mitchie said, pushing past the guy, leaving him standing there, confused.
"This is all because you're dating that Shane guy, isn't it?" Jason shouted. Mitchie stopped in her tracks and turned around and strode right back over to him.
"So what if it is?" She began. "It's because of him you're talking to me right? I bet my day would've been a hell of a lot better if I wasn't mentioned on TV this morning."
"So that's a no?" The guy asked, still dumbfounded.
"Yeah. It is. Get over yourself. There will be things that happen in life that you don't like." Then she looked forward at nothing in general and simply and more quietly said, "And sometimes, it all pays off." She smiled a bit. "And it's all for the best." She turned back around, with a victorious grin, having learned something from her conversation with the simple-minded boy.
--
"Hey honey, how was school?" Connie greeted her cheerfully, as her daughter walked in.
"Strangely eventful," was all she said while jogging up the stairs. The first thing she did was grab the phone, but this time she called Caitlyn first. She went to school. She would understand better.
"Hello?" Caitlyn greeted.
"Please come kidnap me," Mitchie groaned.
"Mitchie?" Caitlyn asked, confused.
"No, It's Morgan Freeman, got any bones that need collecting?" Mitchie said, quoting one of her favorite movies.
"Only the one in my pants," Caitlyn giggled, playing along.
(A/N: If none of you got that, it's from the movie Juno. If you haven't seen it, basically, Juno calls her friend and her friend says "Juno?" and they exchanged conversation like the above. I just had to do it, I'm sorry. xD)
"My school life officially sucks," Mitchie said, plopping down on her bed.
"Sorry to hear that. You knew this wasn't going to be easy," Caitlyn said, more blaming her than comforting her.
"Wow, thanks Cait. Thats just the support I needed," Mitchie sighed.
"Sorry. Just try to make the best of it until next summer. Or even better – winter break," Caitlyn offered.
"Easy for you to say. You don't start school for like, 3 more weeks? Look, my school life sucks and today was only the first full day. The only bright point of the day was I told my enemy-since-2nd-grade off, and my music class is going to be good," Mitchie complained. "And...there was even burgers for lunch," she added.
"Your school gives you burgers?" Caitlyn said, completely ignoring the real topic.
"Not the point," Mitchie began. "I need advice but I don't think I'm going to get much from you." Mitchie teased.
"Sorry, but think. Who else are you going to get it from? A rock star that probably had a private tutor since he said his first word?" Caitlyn made a point, referring to Shane.
"Ughh," Mitchie groaned. "Just come kidnap me now."
"I don't think it's considered kidnapping if the person being kidnapped is aware of it," Caitlyn replied, logically.
"I think I'm just gonna hang up," Mitchie laughed. "Bye." Mitchie said simply before hanging up. No sooner did she hang up did she dial Shane's number. His mother answered.
"Hello?" A woman of her late 30's, maybe early 40's responded.
"Uhm, Hi," Mitchie began awkwardly. This was the first time she spoke to his mother. "Mrs.Gray?" She asked to be safe.
"Yes," the woman confirmed. "Who is this?"
"I'm Mitchie Torres," was all she said, hoping she wouldn't have to say much more. The woman cleared her throat.
"You're Mitchie? The girl who my son speaks of fondly? The girl clearly not fit to date my son? How do you expect to keep up a good relationship with Shane if you never get to see him? He needs someone who can do more than just talk on the phone. Look – I'm glad to see my son happy but I'm sure he could be just as happy with someone else that could actually see him, if not more happy. Not to sound rude or anything..." She trailed off.
Not to sound rude? What the hell? She wasn't trying to be rude but she wasn't doing a damn good job with it! Mitchie shouted in her head.
"Um, Mrs.Gray. Not for me to be rude either but, why the sudden outburst?" Mitchie began, staying calm. "I just wanted to talk to Shane. I know our relationship will have a lot of hardships but thats the true test of our relationship, that we can still love each other and stay true, even if distance separates us,"
"I respect that you think that...but how can he be sure that you are staying true to him, because you're miles away? I just don't want to see my son hurt,"
Mitchie quickly hung up before she let the woman continue. She had tears rolling down her cheeks. She really started believing that she wasn't right for Shane, and that he deserved better.
She began to believe that it wasn't a dream anymore, though it felt like it at first. She had met him at camp and fallen love, expecting to wake up. But when she would close her eyes and open them again, everything was the same, but about 2 seconds of time had passed.
No matter how many times she did that, she wasn't waking up. Now she really knew it. Now she just wished that she would close and open her eyes, and she would be at camp, waking up to her mom yelling at her to get packed.
Or, open and close her eyes and wake up to her mom's catering van being parked on the campgrounds. She'd know exactly what to do, and some things could be avoided. At this time, she wasn't really sure of what was good that already happened and what was bad.
She closed and opened her eyes one more time, to still feel the tears on her cheeks, still have the phone in her hand, still have the same outfit she had put on this morning. She glanced over to her wall where she had some pictures from camp of her and Caitlyn, her and her mom, her and Shane, etc. more importantly, she still felt the necklace around her neck, she touched it and smiled.
This is all part of the territory. Things will get better...or worse...but it will pay off. Won't it?
Mitchie kept questioning herself, then thought she was stupid for asking such questions. She looked down in her hands, to see Shane's cell phone number on the Caller ID. She answered it.
"Hey, is everything alright? I heard my mom talking to you downstairs and I talked with her. Did she say anything bad to you?" Shane asked, concerned.
"Yeah..." Mitchie began quietly. "It's just-" Mitchie sniffled and tears began forming again.
"Babe, don't cry," Shane said, knowing she was about to. "I know it's hard...It's my fault, I shouldn't have dragged you into something this big. Everybody will just have to have their own opinion on it. They always will. I'm sorry, I put you through dating a celebrity and it's troubling you," Shane began rambling on.
"It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up about it. Let them say what they want to...because you are the only thing that matters. We care about each other and other's opinions don't matter. I'll learn to cope just...don't say that. I swear, when I see you soon theres not going to be a thing that matters more. And I'm not going to let others stop me from being with you," Mitchie said, smiling.
Shane smiled too. "Yeah...about that..."
"Don't tell me you aren't coming to New York?" Mitchie said, low, in a disappointed tone.
"No. No. I can," Shane said quickly. "But...how does a week earlier sound?" He said, waiting for her reaction.
Her mood instantly lifted. "Are you serious?!" She screeched.
"If it's okay with your parents..." Shane said, calm.
"You are able to do this? And Nate and Jason don't mind?" Mitchie asked all at once.
"Yes, I got permission from the label – and Nate and Jason don't have a say in it because I haven't told them yet so I'm just going to tell them, and they'll be too scared to tell me otherwise because they'll know how I get if they basically say I can't come see you," he said evily.
"Aw, that's mean. But right now, I don't care!" She said, squealing.
"Oh...and I have to talk to you about something. Or more – some one," Shane said, serious.
"Sure, anything. About who?" Mitchie got serious as well.
"Eliza," was all he said.
Ohhh. Will Mitchie's school life get better? Will the public – or more importantly – their families ever approve of their dating? Why was Shane's mother so harsh? What will Nate and Jason say about the earlier trip? What will happen? And who is 'Eliza'? All these questions and more will be answered next time on Batman, so stay tuned. :)
-BlobFish (Sarah)