A/N: For my 'Diary of a Nerd' fans, the chapter is almost done! Yay, finally! But I needed a break from the same old, same old to refresh my mind and decided to do a Camp Rock fic for now. I'll be seeing you guys soon, hope you like this! I alos hope I got the characters' personalities correct. I've read a few Camp Rock stories and soem of them feature waaay OOC Shane or soemthing. We'll see.

Mitchie Torres was lying facedown into her bed, using one of her mom's sweatshirts as a pillow. The mattress was bare, for she had not yet pulled together enough courage to gather her things from Tess Tyler's 'popular girl' cabin. Her familiar quilt, her clothes, and most importantly, her song book still resided in her former home.

Mitchie groaned, rolling over to look up at the ceiling. Yesterday had been one of the worst days in her entire sixteen years of age. What she had wanted to be a summer full of music ended up being a summer of lies, peer pressure, and loss. Mitchie closed her eyes tightly, trying to get the image of Shane Gray's disappointed face out of her head from when Tess had exposed her secret in front of the entire camp.

"I deserved it," she whispered softly, willing herself not to cry again.

She had, after all, cried for a good hour into the arms of her new friend, Caitlyn Gellar, after the incident. And now, to think that she had to go on the camp field trip in the morning made her mouth grow unbearably dry.

It was considered the halfway point in the time spent at Camp Rock, the time when the entire camp took a nature hike into the nearby woods. The campers were to separate into groups with a chaperone, and would then proceed to do various activities.

An alarm clock a few feet away from Mitchie suddenly rang, causing her to jump slightly and her mom to turn it off.

"You'd better get up, Sweetie," Mrs. Torres advised softly. "You still have to get your things so you have something to wear for today."

Mitchie sighed, pulling the sweatshirt over her head while her mother opened the curtains to let light flood into the room. She could already tell that today was not going to be one of her better days.

Mitchie finally climbed out of her bunk and helplessly tried to smooth the wrinkles of her shirt. It was the same shirt she had worn the day before and at the moment she would have burnt it if it wasn't the only clothing she had.

"Wish me luck, Mom," she said in a deadened tone, stepping out the door of the cabin.

It was slightly cooler today than usual, and Mitchie crossed her arms while she walked briskly across Camp Rock's campus. Luckily it was reasonably early in the morning, which meant only a handful of campers were available to send her a laugh or glare. By the time she reached Tess's cabin, she was already feeling unconfident and only knocked lightly on the door.

Tess Tyler's face appeared from behind the door but the blonde did not bother to open the screen. She smirked arrogantly at Mitchie before asking, "What do you want?"

"I just came for my things," Mitchie mumbled, suddenly finding her brown boots very interesting.

"Oh," Tess replied, then began to laugh. "If you thought I was actually going to stand another minute looking at those horrid clothing items and disgusting quilt, you're wrong."

Mitchie's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"

"It means I had Ella and Peggy dump all your stuff down by the lake," Tess stated, sneering. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find the perfect outfit for today. I'm sure Shane will be needing my comfort after what you did to him."

And then, before Mitchie could retort, the cabin door was slammed in her face. No longer afraid, Mitchie let out a small shriek of anger as she turned and started walking toward the lake. She had known Tess was mean but now the rich bitch had truly shown her colors.

Mitchie was twenty feet away from the docks that held painful memories of Shane when she spotted her bag on the lake's shoreline. Packed haphazardly, quite a few of her belongings had blown into the cold water during the night and her quilt was no where to be seen. She realized as she was shoving the clothing into the bag that someone must have stolen it. And then, as she was digging through her bag, she realized with a jolt that her beloved song book was no where to be seen. After frantically searching the entire shoreline of the lake for fifteen minutes, Mitchie finally stopped in defeat.

She was extremely close to tears by the time she made it back to the cabin she and her mother shared. When Mrs. Torres saw her daughter's distress, she immediately rushed over and engulfed her into a hug.

"Can't I just stay with you in the kitchen, Mom?" Mitchie asked. "Please?"

Mrs. Torres shook her head and pulled Mitchie away from her slightly. "No, you can't, Mitchie. You got yourself into this situation and I'm going to expect you to get yourself out of it."

Mitchie nodded, turning her head away so her Mom wouldn't see the tear that was now streaking down her cheek. She took deep breath, held it for a second, then let it out in a rush.

"Okay."

Mitchie turned to her bag and pulled out a comfortable pair of jeans and a green hoodie. She was tired of trying to be something she wasn't and it felt good to be wearing her own style of clothing. Besides, who was there for her to impress now? Certainly not Shane, anymore.

Mitchie finished her look by running a hairbrush through her brown, glossy hair before smiling in goodbye to Mrs. Torres.

"Try to have a good time today, okay?" Mrs. Torres asked. "And do it while you're being the Mitchie that I know and love."

Mitchie nodded slowly before turning and heading out the door. She knew that if she hugged her mom once again she would probably start to cry. This time the cold air seemed to calm Mitchie's nerves as she headed for the center of the camp where everyone was meeting. By the time she got there, the majority of the campers were already standing, waiting for Brown's announcements. Because she couldn't spot Caitlyn, Mitchie hung off to the side of the crowd, pulling her hood over her head in hopes that people would stop staring at her.

"Good morning, campers!" Brown bellowed into a microphone. He went on to explain that there would be twenty groups with six campers to a group.

Mitchie's eyes wandered off as Brown continued to recount various rules while in the woods. Her heart suddenly jumped when she spotted Shane making his way over to where the other councilors stood. He was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and had his guitar strapped to his back. She immediately felt a pang of guilt; he looked so depressed.

". . . and now I shall be announcing the groups. Group one with councilor Jack Adams, Trevor Lloyd, Stacey Chinn, Eric Vaughn, Caitlyn Gellar . . ."

Mitchie's heart sank. She and Caitlyn were not in the same group. Of course, it was a bit of a stretch to hope that out of roughly 120 campers she and Caitlyn would be in the same group.

" . . . Group thirteen with councilor Shane Gray . . ."

Mitchie's ears perked up when she heard Shane's name being called. She listened intently as Brown listed the names in her group: Peggy DuPree, Tess Tyler, Darren Carmichael, Mitchie Torres, Ella . . .

Uh, oh.

Mitchie groaned into her hand and pulled her sweatshirt hood farther over her face. So she and Caitlyn didn't end up in the same group, but somehow Tess, Peggy, Ella, and herself all ended up in Shane's group. Perfect.

For the remainder of Brown's announcements Mitchie tried to remember what her life back at home was like with her best friend, Cierra. Sure, people there ignored her, but the people here hated her.

". . . stay safe! Now, get into your groups!"

The sudden jostling of moving campers startled Mitchie out of her brief reverie. She turned, trying not to be offended when a camper would intentionally bump into her as she made her way through the crowd to where Tess, Ella, Peggy, and the other group members were standing with Shane.

"Roll call!" Shane shouted in a tone she hadn't heard from him since their kitchen incident. It seemed he'd reverted back to being a jerk. And it was her fault.

Shane proceeded to call out names to make sure everyone was present. Mitchie noticed that when he said Tess's she practically seduced him when she purred, "Here!"

And then, for some reason Shane paused. He was staring down at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand for several seconds before he spat, "Mitchie Torres."

Someone in the group whispered, "So that's her real name?"

There was a round of giggles, Tess being the loudest, until Mitchie closed her eyes and let out a strangled, "Present."

Mitchie watched as Shane turned his head toward her, positive that behind his dark sunglasses he was probably staring straight at her. He visibly gave himself a little shake before he turned away and shoved the already crumpled paper into his pocket.

"Lets just go, already," he said forcefully before stalking off in the direction of the woods.

The five other group members scurried to be as close to him as possible, but Mitchie strayed off to the side again, wishing the floor would open up so she could fall in and disappear.

Shane led the group through the woods, not even following the map that Brown had given all the councilors. Mitchie got the feeling that he had been through the woods many times before, perhaps when he was a camper. She imagined Shane sneaking out at night and into the woods to write his songs; it seemed to fit him.

The group continued to trample through a beaten trail, dodging plants and noises that made Tess squeal and attempt to grab onto Shane. Mitchie was somewhat happy to note that he seemed too preoccupied to notice the extra attention he was getting. Every once in a while he would randomly blurt out a relative camp fact such as, "That's where the first Camp Rock hike took place," or, "That's a tree".

By the time the group finally stopped moving, Tess was complaining about how her new shoes were ruined from all the mud. Mitchie shook her head and sat down on a large rock, still trying to watch Shane without him noticing her doing so. He too had claimed a rock and was thoughtfully strumming his guitar.

A few times Mitchie swore he turned to look at her, but the next second he was looking in another direction so she supposed she may have been seeing things. It was only when Tess started to hum a tune that sounded slightly familiar to Mitchie that Shane suddenly sat upright and stared oddly at her.

"What were you just singing?" he asked in shock.

All four of the campers plus Mitchie were watching the scene unfold in front of them. Shane had not given any of the campers attention the entire hike and now he was practically waiting with baited breath for Tess's answer.

Tess flipped her hair and smiled brightly at him. "Whatever are you talking about?" she asked in a phony voice.

Shane leaned closer to Tess, his eyes unmoving. It hurt Mitchie to see him so interested in the very girl who single handedly ruined her stay at Camp Rock.

"That song," he clarified.

"Oh, what I was singing?" Tess asked.

"Yeah," Shane softly. "Can you sing it again?"

Tess puffed out her chest slightly and glanced at Peggy and Ella who, for some reason, where looking rather guilty. Mitchie swallowed, wondering why Tess's song was so great. But then Tess began to sing.

"This is real, this is me! I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be! Gonna let the light -- Shiiiiiine on me!"

Mitchie gasped in horror. She covered her mouth with her hand and began to choke slightly, causing everyone to turn suddenly to look at her.

"What?" Tess asked Mitchie. "It's not the best, but you don't have to insult me!"

Shane wasn't paying any more attention to Mitchie. He seemed as if he were trying to decide something as he stared intently at Tess. Then he grinned and said, "That's the song."

Mitchie couldn't take it anymore. That was HER song! Tess had stolen her song book and memorized the song that she had poured her heart into! And now Shane was staring at Tess as if he was looking life itself in the face. Mitchie stood up quickly, silently pushing her way through the trees and away from the horrifying sight.

At first she found it odd that no one had shouted to her when she suddenly shot up and left, but everyone was so busy ogling at Tess and Shane that she somehow slipped away without anyone noticing. This thought made her feel even worse, and she started to sprint through the unfamiliar trees. Once she tripped on a rock and scraped her wrist, but even the stinging of blood trickling down her arm didn't revive her from the zone she was in.

By the time she was finally able to calm herself down, Mitchie realized she had absolutely no idea where she was. She sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk. Tears were still dripping down her cheeks and she was gasping after running for such a long time. It was when she tilted her head back to look up into the tree branches that she began to panic slightly.

Mitchie, she thought warily. What in the world have you gotten yourself into, now?

She sat back up to gingerly examine the cut on her left wrist. It wasn't very deep, but it was covered in dirt. Mitchie tried her best to clean it with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, realizing that with the color green she was wearing, she must blend perfectly with the woods.

Well, this is great, she thought. No one will be able to find me . . . Do I want to be found?

Mitchie frowned at the thought, wiping her face with her blood-free sleeve. She certainly felt like disappearing when everyone at Camp Rock only saw her as a liar. But then again, the few people who did love her, mainly her mom and dad, would be devastated if she were to die.

I have to get back to camp, she thought, scrambling to her feet. But how?

Mitchie looked around, trying to remember exactly which way she had come from. If she could reach the resting spot or at least get somewhere near it she might be able to find one of the other twenty groups. For the first time Mitchie wondered if her own group had noticed she was gone, yet. More importantly, if Shane had notice she was gone. A stinging reminder that he was probably infatuated with Tess by now shoved any thoughts of Shane from her mind.

Mitchie grimaced; every direction looked exactly the same. With a shuddering breath, she trudged forward in a random direction, hoping that she wasn't just getting herself even farther away from civilization. Mitchie felt as if she has been walking for hours when she glanced up at the sky to find it darkening. A lone wolf in the distance howled, sending a shiver down Mitchie's spine. Her stomach was growling painfully and she remembered that she had not eaten breakfast that morning.

Stupid, stupid, she thought, crouching down on the ground for a short rest.

Every tree looked like the next, and Mitchie jokingly thought for a moment that she was walking in circles. The moment quickly passed when the sun disappeared behind the trees. All comical, joking, and happy feelings set across the horizon with the sun, and Mitchie began to panic.

Oh, my gosh, she thought, tears beginning to fill her eyes. I'm going to die.

An image of herself wandering around while search groups followed behind came to mind, so she crawled over to where a tree branch was bent so low that it made a make-shift shelter from the wind that was starting to pick up. She curled herself into a ball against the tree trunk and laid her head across her knees.

Mitchie was unsure for how long she sat there, shivering and flicking mosquitoes off her bare hands. Every noise made her jump, every rustling bush made her crane her neck in search of a friendly face. She finally gave a dry sob and closed her eyes, blocking out the dark woods. She began to swim in a dark, comfortable void. And the only thing she saw was Shane.

He was strumming the guitar, shyly playing his new song for her down by the docks. They were laughing, spinning in circles across the lake in their canoe. His eyes were filled with pain, flashing with anger as he stalked away from her in front of the entire camp. He was staring at Tess, finally having found the mysterious girl with the song. And he was . . . Shaking her?

"Mitchie!"

Calling her name? No . . . Shane had barely been able to say her name earlier with roll call. This voice was filled with fear and concern. She was imagining it.

"Come on, wake up!

Why? This place was far better than reality. No pressure, no pain. It was just her. Her and Shane.

But why was Shane almost crying?

"Jesus Christ, Mitchie!

She had to see this for herself, just had to! Shane Gray did not cry.

Mitchie opened her eyes, shuddering in the cold air. It was pitch black except for the lantern that Shane had thrown a few feet away that was casting a glow on his face as he looked down at her.

His breathing was ragged and his hair was wild from the wind. What shocked Mitchie the most was that Shane Gray was almost crying. His brown eyes were glazed, but he grinned hopefully when he saw she had opened her own brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You've got blood all down your sleeve and it's on your face, so I--"

"Shane," Mitchie said hoarsely, stopping his rant. "Its okay, I'm fine."

He nodded, staring into my eyes for a second before he suddenly let out a weird, strangled noise and stood, pacing in front of her.

"What the hell were you thinking, huh?" He nearly shouted. "Running off like that into the woods?"

He didn't even let Mitchie say one word before he continued, "You could have been hurt, god damn it!"

"But I wasn't," Mitchie cut in, staring up at him in the dark.

Shane rubbed his face roughly before running his fingers through his hair. "Scaring half the camp, causing most of the councilors to search for you for hours!"

"What do you mean 'most' of the councilors?" Mitchie asked, slowing Shane's furious pace.

"I wasn't technically allowed to come look for you in the dark when I was the one who let you disappear," he snapped. "But what the hell was I supposed to do? Sit all dandily in my cabin knowing you were out here?"

Mitchie immediately felt guilty for being so dramatic and even more stupid. She shut her eyes and leaned back against the tree.

Leaves crunched as Shane knelt down beside her, concerned once again. "What, you said you weren't hurt!"

Mitchie shook her head, dragging her knees closer to her body. "I'm a different kind of hurt," she mumbled.

Shane sighed heavily, pulling off his famous leather jacket and wrapping it around Mitchie's shivering shoulders. Had she not been so distressed she would have been freaking out to be wearing Shane Gray's signature leather jacket.

"You scared the shit out of me, Mitchie Torres," he whispered suddenly, causing Mitchie's eyes to snap open. He was looking at her intently, just as he had been eyeing Tess earlier that day. Only this time it seemed more personal. "Why did you do that?"

Mitchie opened her mouth, but no words came out. Would he even believe her if she told him that she was the real girl with the song?

"I'm sorry," Was all Mitchie could think of to say. She turned away from Shane, clutching his jacket more tightly. But then, "How would you even notice I was gone if you were so busy with Tess?"

Immediately after the words left her mouth, Mitchie wanted to take them back. But Shane frowned.

"You think I wouldn't notice if you were gone?" he asked incredulously.

Mitchie shrugged. "Its what I'm usually like," she said sadly. "Y'know, without . . . Without the lie. I'm invisible."

Shane ignored Mitchie's statement and instead said, "Tess has nothing to do with what goes on between you and me."

"But you said she sang the song you were looking for. She's your mystery girl."

"She doesn't feel right," Shane said, knitting his eyebrows together. "You do."

The two were silent as they stared at each other, not daring to look away. Shane's gaze was pouring into Mitchie, making her forget how cold she was or how terribly in trouble they both were. It was when Shane's brown eyes lowered to her lips that she realized who she was and who Shane was. She was the invisible girl with one friend and he was the huge superstar of Connect 3.

Mitchie scrambled up, startling Shane as she said, "We should, um, get back."

Shane swallowed, screwing up his eyes for a brief second before he jumped up and grabbed the lantern. Mitchie noticed he was refusing to look at her.

"Yeah, we should," Shane replied dully.

For a moment Mitchie regretted feeling so scared, but Shane was already marching forward into the trees. Her legs were slightly wobbly for sitting in such an uncomfortable position for so long and Mitchie struggled to keep up with Shane's wide stride.

"So, how did you find me?" she asked, nearly tripping over a tree root again.

Shane had turned when he heard her stumble, but when she was okay he said, "To be honest, I'm not really sure. I know these woods like the back of my hand, though."

Mitchie smiled. She had been correct in imagining him come here when he was a camper. If only she had the same skill in navigating through foreign trees.

Shane finally must have realized how fast he was walking for he slowed down enough for Mitchie to catch up. She knelt down, resting her hands on her knees, panting.

"Sorry," he muttered, shining the lantern over her.

Mitchie shook her head and straightened, determined to show Shane that she was not as incompitant as Tess. The two then began walking at a brisk pace which was still not nearly as fast as before.

"How much trouble do you think we'll be in?" she inqueried.

Shane almost chuckled, grinning wryly. "It's more like how much trouble we are already in."

"Sorry," Mitchie replied immediately, still feeling guilty for getting Shane into trouble.

"That's your word, isn't it?" Shane said, holding a bush back for Mitchie. "Sorry this, sorry that. When are you going to stop saying 'sorry'?"

"Sorr-- I mean, um," she smiled guiltily at Shane.

They both walked in silence for several minutes, Mitchie dreading the stern scolding she knew she was going to receive from Brown and her mother. Shane was giving her the cold shoulder once more, and she realized it was because her had remembered her lie. It was only when she saw the small pinpricks of light coming from Camp Rock that she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Here we go," Shane warned, leading her onto the clear path down the hill from the woods.

Mitchie supposed her punishment could have been worse. She was immediately engulfed in a bone-crushing hug from her mother before Brown started in on her irresponsibility. She nearly blocked out his rant on how she could have been killed for Shane had already delivered the exact same speech in the woods. It was then that Brown assigned her trash duty for the next day, which meant she had to walk around the camp with a large trash bag and gather the trash from every single cabin.

"And as for you, my Nephew," Brown directed at Shane who was still being smothered by Mitchie's mom for saving her daughter. "You will also have trash duty."

Mitchie felt her spirits rise slightly. If Shane was going to do trash duty too, it might not be so bad. However, Shane was back to not looking at her and Mitchie's heart deflated.

"Yes, Uncle," Shane replied, finally pushing himself away from Mrs. Torres. "Eight o'clock, trash bag will be left outside my cabin. I know the drill."

Mitchie stifled a laugh. Obviously this wouldn't be Shane Gray's first time having trash duty. And he was right, for at exactly eight o'clock the next morning a trash bag was delivered to Mitchie's cabin. With it there was a package of disposable gloves and a map marking each cabin she was supposed to hit.

She sighed, opening the package of gloves and sliding them over her hands. They were far too big, but Mitchie decided she would rather have large globes than no gloves at all.

"Bye, Mom!" she called, letting the screen door slam behind her as she hopped off the steps to her cabin.

Mitchie shuffled over to the nearest cabin, dragging the trash bag behind her in the dirt. She knocked softly on the cabin's door, and when it opened she muttered, "Trash duty."

It was a dull, embarrassing job that seemed to last forever. Many of the campers informed her that Shane Gray had already picked up their trash, and usually this information was followed with a recounter of the entire situation, such as how Shane had smiled. Mitchie wasn't surprised when she finally saw him standing outside of Tess's cabin. What made her curious was that fact he seemed to be waiting for her.

"Hey," he said brightly when she had approached him.

"Um, hi," Mitchie replied. She set her trash bag onto the ground before asking, "What are you doing just standing here?"

Shane didn't answer, but instead pulled something out from the pocket of his jeans. With a gasp, Mitchie leapt forward and grabbed the object, hugging it to her chest.

"W-where?" she sputtered in shock, staring down at her beloved song book. The name 'Mitchie's Songs' was shinning brightly on the cover.

Shane grinned, then jabbed a finger toward Tess's cabin.

"It was in her trash?" Mitchie exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah, sadly," Shane replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But that's not what's important. You wrote the song. You are the girl I've been looking for. Why didn't you say anything?"

Mitchie's anger for Tess melted away as she stared into Shane's brown eyes.

"I guess . . . I guess I wanted you to be happy," she said softly, still clutching her song book to her chest. "When you thought Tess was the girl you looked so elated."

Shane shook his head. "But I wasn't. Not really. At first I was shocked that she was singing the song I was looking for, but when I thought about it, nothing seemed to fit. Tess doesn't sing as well as you do, anyway."

Mitchie smiled, looking down at her boots. She could not belive this was actually happeneing to her.

"So," she started nervously. "I guess you found me in more than one way."

Shane didn't answer, and pulled off his garbage gloves only to replace his hand against her cheek.

"Those fit you perfectly," Mitchie observed, not able to move a finger. "They must have been made for you."

Shane shrugged, his fingers lightly tracing her jaw line. "I got into trouble a lot."

"Really?" Mitchie asked.

"Mitchie?" Shane muttered, shaking his head. "Shut up."

"Sorry."

Shanes's features broke out into a grin that later disappeared when he leaned forward and covered Mitchie's mouth with his own. The two stood that way, kissing tentatively, Mitchie's arms hanging oddly at her sides for she had not yet removed her gloves. When Shane pulled away, his eyes remained closed and he had a satisfied smile forming on his lips.

"Uh, Shane?" Mitchie asked suddenly. "I think we have an audience."

Shane turned his head toward Tess's cabin. There were three heads visible through the window, two of which seemed to be giggling happily. Tess on the other hand looked as if she wanted to throw Ella through the glass.

Shane laughed, moving to pull Mitchie's gloves off her hands. "You better get used to it," he whispered in her ear. "Because if you're going to be dating Shane Gray, this sort of thing is considered normal."

Mitchie smiled, running her hand through his thick, dark hair. "It's going to take a while," she said.

"Okay," Shane replied, pulling her body closer to his own. "Practice makes perfect, just like playing the guitar."

And with that he leaned forward and kissed her again.

A/N: Okay, cheesy much? But I had fun, so I'm not complaining. If I get a lot of reviews, maybe I'll add another chapter to this after I've posted one to my other story. We'll see. BTW, did anyone notice that Ella doesn't have a last name? Lol. I looked everywhere for it, but even the official casting list doesn't have one. Please review! Cheers!

--Crystalbluu