Shine On Me Chapter 8, a camp rock fanfic

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CAMP ROCK OR ITS ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, NOR DO I OWN ANY SONGS OR QUOTES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS FIC!

Chapter 8:

Caitlyn's P.O.V.:

The next morning

I woke up feeling like I'd gotten no sleep at all. Technically I didn't, I was up with Sierra waiting for Mitchie to come back. The both of us and the guys had all gone to look for her, but there were no signs of her anywhere. None of us had noticed that Nate was missing until after Shane had gotten up and left looking defeated and sad. Serves him right. Mitchie didn't deserve that after all she's done for him.

Just as I got up and went over to Sierra's bed to wake her up, there was a knock and the cabin door opened, revealing Jared and Michael. Jared went straight for Sierra's bed and woke her up with a kiss.

Aw, they are so cute! I thought as I said good morning to Michael.

"Have you guys heard anything?" He asked.

"Nope, we stayed up most of the night waiting for her. Hopefully she'll show up soon, but I want to go look for her again before we do anything else. I'm hoping to avoid having to tell Mrs. T what happened."

"I know what you mean. Hey Si," he said to Sierra who was now up and groggy. She looked over to Mitchie's empty bed and frowned.

"Come on, we gotta go look," she said, throwing her covers off and jumping out of bed.

Just then the door opened revealing Mitchie and Nate.

"Mitchie!" Yelled Sierra who literally tackled her to the floor in a hug.

"Mitch, where were you? We looked for nearly the whole night! Are you alright?" Fired off Michael who helped her, Sierra, and Nate who subsequently went down with Mitchie as they were holding each other's hands. Hmm... I'll ask later.

"I'm fine. We're fine, I just needed to go. Nate found me, we talked. I'm alright." She said hugging Michael and Sierra.

"I'm sorry" she said, voice cracking as she looking at Jared who had yet to move from Sierra's bed or say anything at all. He finally rose and took Mitchie into a tight hug.

"Don't do that. I need my sidekick," he said with a small laugh as he pulled away.

"Please, you're Robin." She said laughing.

"Not on your life," he said ruffling her already de-shelved hair. A leaf fell out as he did.

"Ew!" laughed Mitchie. "That's what you get for sleeping on the ground."

"Thanks for finding her." Said Michael to Nate who was standing by the door, observing with a small smile.

"No problem. She would do it for me if roles were switched. She's a good friend, she didn't deserve that." He said pushing away from his spot up against the door frame. "Now, I'm going to go tear my brother a new one. I'll see you later?" he said turning to Mitchie who smiled.

"Absolutely," she said with a nod.

"Alright," he said with a wave to all of us as he left.

"I'm glad you're alright," I said giving Mitchie a hug.

"So am I."

"I wish you would have stayed to see Shane and Tess catch a good one..." I said, going into the events of last night.

"So everyone knows now, huh?" said Mitchie in a small voice.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," said Sierra quickly, with a sad look. "I don't know how she-"

"It's alright. It's a good thing I guess. Now I don't have to tell dad to get a sitter when Final Jam comes. I want to see Sarah." She said with a smile at the mention of her baby.

From that point on, us girls got ready for the day and the boys headed back to their cabin with plans to meet up and head for breakfast together.

Nate's P.O.V.:

Shane's cabin

I was still mulling over all of the things Mitchie and I had talked about last night as I entered Shane's cabin. So much drama and for what? To feed someone's ugly personality.

I grabbed the pillow from under Shane's head and smacked him with it.

"What?" He yelled getting up. "What is Wrong with you? What time is it?"

"Time for you to get dressed and go apologize." I told him.

"Nate?" He asked finally seeing me clearly. "Where were you last night? We looked for an hour and you never showed up. What's up with you?" He asked seeing the look on my face.

"A lot of things. First, I'm pissed at you for being so judgmental when you didn't have the full story. I mean really, of all the people in the world, you listen to Tess about something like that! Then you yell at the only person who's done you any good in a long time! You're supposed to be a friend and you jump to conclusions and say things that you had no business even thinking without her side of the story! Get up, now. I don't give a damn if you have to get on your knees and beg her to forgive you, you're going to fix this!" I yelled looking at my watch. "You have fifteen minutes until we go to meet up with her and the others. I'll drag you if I have to." I promised walking out of the cabin.

"What's going on?" I could hear Jason ask as I walked away.

Mitchie's P.O.V:

Fifteen minutes later

Mitchie's cabin

Just as I was walking out with Sierra and Caitlyn Michael and Jared came walking over.

"You ready?" asked Michael.

"As ready as you're going to get me" I said with a small smile. I'm just glad I have you guys to do this with me. Today's going to be tough with everyone knowing. I can see the looks now.

"Alright, come on."

Just then, Nate came walking over with Shane in tow.

"Now," he said pushing Shane forward.

Michael took a step closer to get between Shane and I. I held him off.

"What do you want?" I asked apprehensively.

"I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that or called you names without even knowing your side of it. I know better than to listen to Tess, I don't know why I did... Will you forgive me?" said Shane in a big rush.

"You really shouldn't have listened to Tess. If nothing else she's done is, last night was a definite prime example of how sneaky she is. She even admitted to snooping for your attention and you fed right into it like she wanted," I said letting the left over hurt seep into my voice. "I can live with you making a mistake, that's what got you here in the first place. What I can't live with is you just accepted what she said as true. I mean really, do you honestly expect people to meet you and just spill their whole life story to you? You couldn't have given two craps about who me or anyone else here was when you first arrived, it's not fair that you expected to just be let in on everything when you hadn't even let me get a foot in the door to even start to know you for weeks!" I paused in my tangent to take a deep breath before starting again. "Look, I accept your apology, but you're on thin ice with this. What you said really hurt, I'm not just gonna forget that."

"I can take that," said Shane with a resigned nod.

"I'll see you later," I said to Nate.

"Yeah." He agreed.

And with that my friends and I left for the Dining Hall.

"So," started Sierra.

"So what?" I asked.

"You and Nate?"

"Me and Nate what?"

"Mitchie! You know what I'm talking about, stop playing dumb!"

"Who said I was playing?" I shot back with a laugh.

She just pouted at me

"I don't know. We have a common ground, you could say."

"He has a kid too?" She blurted out in shock.

"No!" I said with a laugh. "At least I hope not."

"I knew it!" Shouted Caitlyn, expectantly. "I knew you liked him!"

"I never said that!"

"You don't have to, it's all over your face. You, Mitchie Torres, like Nate Gray."

"Does it matter? He wouldn't go for me anyways."

"Why do you think that?" She asked.

"I have a kid, for one. Two, he's him, I'm me. That would never work."

"You're always going to be who you are and what does Sarah have to do with you and Nate working? From what it looked like, Nate wouldn't mind playing dad," said Jared laughing and high fiving Michael.

"Guys!" I shouted.

"What?" asked Jared. "We can't tell you what we see?"

"No, it's just..." I don't want to start thinking about things that aren't going to happen. "Just, drop it." I huffed.

"We're just saying, you can't possibly know until you try. All you have to do it try." Said Michael.

He put an arm around my shoulder while Sierra gave my hand a squeeze and we all walked to the Dining Hall together, heads held high.

Shane's P.O.V.:

Shane's cabin

I feel really shitty about what happened last night and to make it worse, Nate got angry and called me on it. Mitchie barely even look me in the face.

How am I going to fix it? I thought, flopping back onto my bed.

Mitchie's P.O.V.:

In the Dining Hall

I could hear the murmurs of the campers as my friends and I walked to the food table to get our breakfast. I just kept walking with my head held high. As we walked past Tess' table I could see her friend's bow their heads with guilty looks and she just sat there. I could slightly see the bruise on her cheek that she tried to cover with makeup.

"Mm-hm, just like her. Won't even apologize when she just outright wrong." Said Caitlyn shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it. She'll get what's coming to her eventually. Nice swing by the way," I said bumping Sierra with my hip.

"Thank, thank you very much." She said doing her Elvis/Rocky impersonation, punching the air. We all laughed at her.

"Is it true you have a three year old?" asked one of the younger first year campers.

"Yeah. Her name's Sarah." I said with a smile.

"Cool," was all he said as he made his way back to his table with his friends.

"See, so far so good." Said Caitlyn.

So far so good was right. Everything went surprisingly well for the rest of the day. A few campers here and there came up to ask if it was true and I proudly answered. One even said it was cool that I was a mom so young and still able to handle things like school and camp. She even asked to meet Sarah. She made my day. The rest of the week continued on that way.

Final Jam day:

One week and three days later

Mitchie's cabin

Every day leading up to this was crazier than the last. Everyone was scrambling with last minute preparations to make sure their Final Jam performances were perfect and now the day was finally here. I was nervous myself. I was going in alone. The group and I had had a discussion about what to do for Final Jam and they all reached the conclusion that I should go in alone. Show myself as well as Tess and people like her I wasn't easily scared off. I had the perfect song for it. Nate was kind of a big contributor to how it came to be, though he doesn't know that.

The group and I were making our way to the kitchen to help my mom out, but she turned us away.

"Uh-uh, nope. Get out of my kitchen. You don't have to help out today, you need to prepare for Final Jam." She said pushing all of us out.

"But it's going to be really busy today Mrs. T. Kids are nervous and if their anything like me they eat when nervous."

"No offence, hon, but you eat when feeling any emotion," she said with a laugh. "Now shoo! Don't come back unless you're eating something before show time."

We decided to spend the last hour we had before the beginning of Final Jam in my cabin.

Imagine my surprise when a little red and white blob with brown hair came flying at my legs yelling 'ma'.

"Hi! Hi baby girl!" I squealed picking her up into a hug and kissing her face causing her to laugh. "Did you miss me?" I asked her. She shook her head no, laughing.

"No? Well your mean," I said, pretending to pout as I handed her to Jared who she now reached for.

"Hey, short stack! Did you bring me something?" He asked lifting her into the air. She just laughed.

"Hi daddy." I greeted my father with a hug. I missed these two. "Congratulations, you got her into a dress and didn't lose an eye." We both laughed at that one. My baby's a swinger. Coming anywhere near her with a dress is asking for trouble.

The last hour was spent hanging out with my dad and Sarah until the last fifteen minutes before the start of Final Jam. Dad and Sarah went ahead of us to find my mom and their seats. The others walked with me to the backstage entrance.

"Are you ready?" Asked Michael as we all made our way inside.

"She's been ready, she's just now getting here." Said Sierra, confidently.

"Let's do it!" cheered Jared.

"Okay, who's stoked?" We could all hear Brown ask the audience as they cheered louder at his presence.

"Okay Campers," he continued once everyone had calmed down. "Family, Camp Rock fans, this is it! Tonight music history will be made as Camp Rock finds a new Final Jam winner!" He said causing the crowd to cheer once again.

As we cheered and clapped with the audience from back stage, we could all hear Tess yelling at her friends.

"This is not amateur night! This is serious!"

"We did it right!" I heard one of them yell back.

"No, you didn't! You never do! I'm trying to win here! You guy may be used to losing, but not me! I'm tired of picking up the slack!"

"Stop telling us what to do! You're the one who's ruining everything! You're too intense all the time and I am sick of picking up your slack, too."

"Ooh, looks like Tess' cloud is dissipating and she's still on it," said Jared with a laugh.

"Dissipating, wow. That's a big word for you." Said Michael, laughing.

"Hey," Jared yelled insulted.

"Guys," warned Sierra.

"Sorry," they apologized at the same time.

"We'll see you out there," said Sierra giving me a hug as she and the boys waved and left to take their seats next to my family.

Just as they said that, one of Tess' friends came storming out of the back room. The other shortly followed behind.

Back out on stage, Brown was still at the mic.

"This year, the Final Jam winner will not only get a Camp Trophy, and a big one I might add, he or she is going to get a sweet prize, a chance to record with my nephew pop star Shane Gray!" The crowd clapped and cheered at this news as did a lot of campers back stage.

"To make sure the right camper is chosen, we have invited the other members of Connect Three to be judges" Announced Brown causing the audience to cheer louder than before.

Once the crowd settle a little, Brown introduced Barron and Sander with their group to come and perform

Yeah
It's Your boy Barron
Yo
And the place to be
It's crazy
Come rock with me!

Couldn't wait to leave,
But now I hate to go
Last day of camp,
Packing my bags slow

Made so many friends,
Why does it have to end
In the end it's a win,
'Cause we grown so close together

Remember when we first met,
First day
Figured this would be no fun,
No way
And now it's time to leave, (leave)
But now we wanna stay, (stay, stay, stay, stay)
Oh!

Hasta la vista
I'm gonna say goodbye to you
Whatever happens I'll be cool with you
Wanna give me your number I'll call ya
Promise I won't forget ya
Hasta la vista
We'll all be going separate ways
Say everything you didn't say
This is your moment, before you go
Come on now get up and show them

Keep doing your thing, thing, thing
Keep doing your thing, thing, thing
Keep doing your thing, thing, thing
Keep doing your thing, thing, thing

H-A-S-T-A
(La Vista)
H-A-S-T-A
(La Vista)

Everyone cheered and clapped for them as they all left the stage and Brown returned with a mic.

"Okay, now, let's give it up for a group that has the "it" factor, whatever it is; The it girls!"

Wake up
When will things be good enough for you
To see all that we can be
I'm sick of playing games
And acting like we never care
Like we're never there

We pay attention for only seconds

Look at you
Look at me
There's never any us
Can't you see all we can become
We can shine like the sun
If we believe it
Two stars are brighter than one
come on
Come on
Come on
Look at you
Come on
Come on
Come on

Is it too much to ask
That you put us first
Oh
I feel like we're last in our universe
And it's not where we ought to be

Look at you
Look at me
There's never any us
Can't you see all we can become
We can shine like the sun
If we believe it
Two stars are brighter than one
Come on
Come on
Come on
Look at you

Come on
Come on
Come on
Look at me

Come on
Come on
Come on
Look at you

Come on
Come on
Come o-

Just then, Tess almost fell off of the stage and everything stopped. She looked around and ran off of the stage, her back up dancers cleared off as well.

"Well, that was... wonderful. Lovely voice," said Brown trying to give her some credit. "Well, it looks like we have basically finished the competitio-" Just then Dee ran onto the stage with a note to put Peggy as the next performer. She said she wanted to be a part of Final Jam so I told her she could take my spot.

"Put it on pause, we have a last minute addition! Come on out, Margaret Dupree!"

With that, Peggy made her way past me and Ella, onto the stage with a beautiful orange electric.

They tell you a good girl is quiet and that you should never ask why
'Cause it only makes it harder to fit in
You should be happy, excited even if you're just invited
'Cause the winners need someone to clap for them

It's so hard just waiting in a line that never moves
It's time you started making your own rules

You gotta scream until there's nothin' left, with your last breath
Say here I am, here I am, make 'em listen
'Cause there is no way you'll be ignored not anymore
So here I am, here I am, here I am

The world better make some room, yeah, move over, over
'Cause you're coming through, 'cause you're coming through

You gotta scream until there's nothin' left with your last breath
Here I am, here I am, make 'em listen
'Cause there is no way you'll be ignored not anymore
So here I am, here I am, here I am, here I am, here I am

We all clapped and cheered for her. Wow! It's amazing what Tess can reveal and it's even more amazing what she can hide. I didn't know Peggy could sing like that!

"And now, for our final performer of the night, an amazing girl with an even more amazing voice, give it up for Mitchie Torres!" Said Brown getting right to the point.

This is a story that I have never told
I gotta get this off my chest to let it go
I need to take back the light inside you stole
You're a criminal
And you steal like you're a pro

All the pain and the truth
I wear like a battle wound
So ashamed, so confused
I was broken and bruised

Now I'm a warrior
Now I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again

Out of the ashes, I'm burning like a fire
You can save your apologies, you're nothing but a liar
I've got shame, I've got scars
That I will never show
I'm a survivor
In more ways than you know

Cause all the pain and the truth
I wear like a battle wound
So ashamed, so confused
I'm not broken or bruised

'Cause now I'm a warrior
Now I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me

There's a part of me I can't get back
A little girl grew up too fast
All it took was once, I'll never be the same
Now I'm taking back my life today
Nothing left that you can say
Cause you were never gonna take the blame anyway

Now I'm a warrior
I've got thicker skin
I'm a warrior
I'm stronger than I've ever been
And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in
I'm a warrior
And you can never hurt me again

No oh, yeah, yeah

You can never hurt me again

I received an amazing standing ovation as I exited the stage.

"Wow! She was amazing, I know, I know! Alright, alright, alright, settle down! I guess that's it. It's officially the end of Final Jam! And time for our judges to go off in private and, well, judge."

Back stage:

I could feel a pain in my cheeks from how big of a smile I had on my face, but I couldn't help it. That was amazing! I couldn't believe how free I felt.

"Mitchie! You did great!" yelled Michael carrying a squealing Sarah on his shoulders. "Didn't mommy do great?"

"Thanks," I said taking her down.

"You won that hands down."

"You don't know that and it's not about me winning. I proved myself tonight... no one's going to break me again. Although, winning wouldn't be absolutely horrible so don't jinx it!" I said laughing.

Back on Stage:

Brown, Shane, and Dee were standing side by side as the audience cheered. All of the campers back stage piled onto the left side as Brown began to speak.

"Okay gang, this is it! The winner of Final Jam this year is... drum roll please." He opened the envelope as a drum roll played.

"Mitchie Torres!" He announced as the audience went crazy.

I stood there for minute not realizing he'd called my name until Michael nudged me.

"Go!" he said taking Sarah from me, bouncing her up and down chanting 'mommy won!'.

I ran out onto the stage and into Browns arms as he congratulated me. Dee handed me the trophy and I held it up for everyone to see.

"Way to go Mitchie, you just won yourself a chance to record with Shane Gray!" The audience cheered once more as I stood in shock trying to soak it all in. I won!

"Congratulations Mitchie! You deserve it, you were amazing!" He said, giving me a hug. With one last hug from all three of them, I left the stage and headed straight for my family who had joined Michael and Sarah.

"I did it!" I screamed accepting a hug from both of my parents.

"You were fabulous!"

"Thank you! I can't believe I did it!"

"Believe it sweetie! We'll see you in a little bit," said mom giving me one last hug as she and the others turned to go back to their seats.

I as well as the other campers made their way back to the stage for the Final Jam, Jam session. Shane was even participating.

"Alright, okay Camp Rockers! Final Jam is over and you know what that means? My favorite part of the summer, the Final Jam, Jam Session!"

"Let's kick it!" Yelled Dee as they made their way to their pots and the music began.

'Cause we rock
We rock, we rock on
We rock, we rock on

Come as you are, you're a superstar
The world's in your pocket and you know it
You can feel that beat, running through your feet
Heart's racing fast, you're rock and rollin'

All that you need is the music to take you
To some other place where you know you belong

Raise your hands up in the air and scream
We're finding our voice, followin' our dreams
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

Nobody in the world's going to bring us down
The louder we go, well, the better we sound
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

We got the music in our souls
And it's the thing we want the most
It picks us up when we fall down
It turns our world around
'Cause we rock
(Camp Rock)
We rock, we rock on

Every day and every night
'Cause we rock
(Camp Rock)
We rock, we rock on
It's all we wanna do in life

Raise your hands up in the air and scream
We're finding our voice, followin' our dreams
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

Nobody in the world's going to bring us down
The louder we go, well, the better we sound
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

Raise your hands up in the air and scream
We're finding our voice, followin' our dreams
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

Nobody in the world's going to bring us down
The louder we go, well, the better we sound
'Cause we rock
(We rock)
We rock, we rock on

We rock!
Camp Rock!

The Last Day:

All of last night was spent with the whole group and the rest of the campers, eating and celebrating with the rest of my family. We all stayed out for most of the night, save for the hour it took for me to get Sarah to sleep. Why Michael saw it smart to give her so much candy, I'll never know. It was probably the eyes, I taught my baby well! She even has Shane, Nate and Jason wrapped around her tiny fingers. I thought with a laugh as I shook my head.

Flashback:

We were all sitting out around the bond fire and I had a tight hold on a very sugar-high Sarah who was trying her hardest to get loose.

"Go!" She yelled trying to pry my fingers from around her waist.

"No," was all I told her.

"Yes!" she argued.

"Mitch, let the girl go, she's not going anywhere." Said Jared.

"Uh-huh, and when she falls into the fire, don't be mad when I push you in after." I said meaning every word.

"That hurt," he said, covering his heart. "So little faith your mommy has in you Short Stack! I say we leave her!" he said holding his arms out for her to walk to him.

"Whatever. Do you want to go with your Uncle?" I asked Sarah, who jumped up and down screaming.

"Uncuh Jay!" Was her response.

"Traitor! You only like him cause he sneaks you candy," I said pouting as I handed her to Jared. "You're cleaning her and whatever else she throws up on. I know you're going to keep feeding her."

"She won't get sick, will you Sarah?" Shane butted in.

"Alright, play airplane with her in about half an hour and see what happens."

"Ooh, she can be like a bird! We should get her a bird costume!" Yelled Jason, now excited at the thought of a little chick running around.

"How's about we not and say we did?"

"Aw, why not? Sarah likes birds, don't you Sarah?" he asked tickling her causing her to laugh.

"How about we teach her a song instead of polluting her mind with dreams about Tweedy Bird," suggested Nate, giving Jason a shut up look.

"What's wrong with Tweedy? I know Sarah likes him! She's a kid."

"I wonder who's the biggest kid, you or her." Nate shot back.

From then on the boys argued over Sarah while she sat and soaked in the attention. She is so spoiled. I thought with a laugh.

End of Flashback

"What're you laughing at?" asked Caitlyn.

"I was thinking about last night," I said getting up and going to Sarah's little travel bed where she still slept. I gently woke her up with a small shake and she immediately rolled over to her other side. Maybe she's too much like me.

"Come on, you need to eat breakfast. It's vacation time, but you still need to stay on schedule." I said picking her up from her bed. She just continued to sleep on my shoulder. I got her dressed at the same time I got dressed and the three of us left to go meet up with the boys and Sierra who stayed with Jared last night.

"She's still asleep?" asked Michael.

"Yeah, sugar crashes do that to you," I said with a pointed look at him and Jared.

"Whatever. You don't let her have any fun. Let loose mommy!" He said, taking Sarah from my arms and running ahead of us, trying to wake her up "the fun way" as he always said.

As always, she fully awake and functioning when we caught up to them.

"Give me my baby before you make her an adrenaline junky. I swear, she's going to start expecting this when she's older and it'll be your fault." I said half joking.

"Whatever, you're just mad cause she'll know I'm the fun one."

We got into the dining hall and ate our breakfast of Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Sarah was full and happy by the end of it and she was ready to play.

My mom came out before we left.

"Hi sweetie," she greeted Sarah picking her up. She happily received the sticky kiss Sarah gave her.

"Gramma!" She squealed.

"Did you like your pancakes? I made them for you."

"Yes, they good." She said.

"Good," she said sitting her back in her seat, tuning to all of us. "Good morning."

"Good morning mom. Do you need any help before we head out?"

"No, you guy go ahead. The rest of the staff and I can handle the packing up. Have fun." She said as she turned back to the kitchen.

"Well, you wanna head for the beach?" I asked, turning to everyone.

"Sure," they all agreed collectively and we all got up to go get changed and grab stuff we would need for the beach. I hope dad packed the bathing suit I told him to grab. I thought as I looked through Sarah's suitcase. Bingo!

"Sarah... come here." I called as she looked up from her toys to see I had clothes for her to change into. If there was one thing Sarah hated most besides dresses and people touching her pancakes once in her possession, it has to be changing clothes. She's never been able to sit still for too long without something more interesting than clothes to keep her occupied. She shook her head at me still eyeing the suit.

Let the battle begin. I thought as I got up and chased her around the room.

20 minutes later...

I had finally managed to get Sarah and myself ready for the beach. A little tired, but ready. I need to hit a gym, she moves fast for someone with such tiny legs. I thought as the others walked into the cabin with their towels. Nate, Shane, and Jason were with them.

"Hey guys," I greeted them. "Are you coming too?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind," said Jason.

"Of course not. More people to celebrate with." I said with a smile.

"Cool, let's go," said Michael grabbing Sarah, hoisting her onto his shoulders an running out towards the beach with her screaming and laughing the whole way.

"She really is cute," said Nate who was walking with me a little bit farther from the others. "She looks a lot like you."

"Thanks," I said smiling at him.

"So, how are things this morning?"

"Things are great. It's a lot better than the past couple of weeks," I said referring to the disaster of a bonfire and the past few weeks in general.

"Good," he said with a nod.

"So, I never got the chance to say how great you did at Final Jam yesterday. I thought you would perform with the others, but seeing you come out on your own and hearing the lyrics to that song was incredible. You really are talented. Brave, too."

"How was it brave?" I asked wanting to know how performing a simple song could be brave. He did it all the time!

"Because, if anyone knows anything about your life and what you've been through, they would be able to tell you addressed a lot of things in that one song alone and facing your issues in that sort of way in one sitting takes a lot to do. It made me even more proud to have you as a friend." He said looking down at me.

"We're friends?" I blurted, immediately wishing I hadn't. Why would you ask that, stupid? Way to go!

"Yeah," he responded with a smile that made me smile. "I mean, I would like to be, if you want to be that is. You don't have to-" he rambled on quickly.

"I want to be." I said silencing his ramble. We both laughed.

"Good," he said with a nod.

"Good." We spent an hour just siting and further talking about our likes and dislikes and even threw ideas for songs back and forth until the others came in with Sarah who dragged all of us out to lunch then back to the beach where she looked for more random "pretty" objects. The boys got a laugh out of my obsessive following, making sure she didn't touch anything gross or outright unsanitary.

"Mitch, sit down. If the world was really that dirty, the poor girl would be dead by now." Argued Michael while the others laughed at the look I gave him.

"Okay, don't blame me when she turns fifteen and tries to run off with some bicker gang to get away from your hovering."

A/N: There are 4,402 words in this chapter excluding the author's notes and little "markers" (the bolded text) The songs used in this chapter are "Hasta La Vista" by Barron James (Jordan Francis) and Sander Loyer (Roshon Fegan), "Two stars" by Tess Tyler (plqyed by Meaghan Martin), "Here I am" by Peggy (played by Jasmine Richards), "Warrior" by Demi Lovato, and "We rock", a collaboration created by the entire cast of Camp Rock.