Hey! So... this is my new Smitchie :) Inspired by me and my friend's wild imagination. We wanted to do a scavenger hunt at our local mall, but we chickened out so instead i wrote a story. Hope you guys like! DISCLAIMER (always!) Leave a review? Tell me what you think :)

How are your summers spent? Do you go to camp? Work some lame summer job? Maybe go on a vacation with the family to Disney World or somewhere fun? Or are you like me? Whose summers are normally spent at home, eating, sleeping and watching ridiculous amounts of television. Well, this year, I was sent to spend my summer at my Aunt Connie's with her husband Steve and my annoying cousin Emma. My parents had business trips the same week and decided to go on a cruise afterwards because they felt they were "growing apart". They didn't trust leaving me by myself for so long (after what happened last time) and thought it would be best for me to stay at my Aunt's.

It was July 16th. That day was another hot July day...

You know, one of those really humid days where your body feels clammy and no matter what you do, you still feel hot? Even sitting in the car with the AC on full blast wasn't making anything better.

It didn't help that my 10 year old cousin, Emma, wanted to go out to Manhattan today. She heard on some children's radio show that her favorite band in the world- what was their name again? 'Connect the Dots?'-was holding a contest in the city. It was like a scavenger hunt. First one to get all the items on the list by the end of the two-day contest, get's an all-expense-paid trip to LA where this band takes you to get a makeover, walk a red carpet event… basically you spend a weekend with some band.

Leecia's been talking about it non-stop ever since she heard the announcement.

I didn't want to go, you know? I had a perfect plan to just chill by the pool or hang inside and watch re-runs of Charmed or One Tree Hill…maybe even some Ghost Whisperer. Not roaming around the city in this heat wave.

But yet, I was forced to go to this thing. Why? Because that little monster-child I call family has her parents wrapped around her little tiny pinky. One little pout and a 'Please mommy and daddy' causes them break down and let her go… ONLY if I agreed to go too. They didn't want to lose their 'precious daughter' in the Big Apple.

Pfft… like I'd go. I've never even heard of this band she's so obsessed about.

But of course, my aunt had to remind me why I'm staying at their house for the summer. So reluctantly, I had to give in… which led us to today, in a mini-van, heading to the city that never sleeps.

The car slowed down and the three of us got out of the car. And by three, I meant me, Emma and my friend Caitlyn. Cait lives in my aunt's neighborhood and we've been friends ever since I was little. I haven't seen her in a while because of a little mishap, but we're friends now… that's all that matters. I was prepping myself to beg her to come, but turns out she likes this band too… so it worked out perfectly.

"I want you guys at the hotel by 8 so we can check in…right here," my Aunt Connie said as we exited the car. We nodded and turned around to see three white tents. One had the banner: SIGN-UP HERE in big bold letters. The other tents had tables filled with papers and T-shirts.

"Come on guys… the line's this way," I said and guided my little cousin and my friend to one of the lines. It wasn't as long as I thought it'd be. Maybe we're early… or late… or people are just smart and thought: 'hey… it's going to be like, 104 degrees outside. Let's stay indoors.'

The line was moving quicker than I thought, and soon enough I was standing in front of the table.

"Hey there… Welcome to Connect 3's Scavenger Hunt. How many?" the lady asked, "the largest group you can have is five."

"Uh… three," I answered and she gave me three pieces of paper.

"Fill those out and hand them in to either one of those tables." Leading Caitlyn and Leecia, we sat on a ledge while I filled out the papers for both Emma and I. After filling them out, we walked to one of the tables and got our T-shirts, a bracelet, a map of the city, and a clue-sheet.

"The scavenger hunt can go as far as here, here, here and here," one of the employers said while drawing a box around a certain area of the map. "Have fun and good luck ladies." We smiled politely and walked away. Looking at the list, there were probably about a hundred things to look for. I sighed and stared at the clock on my wrist. It was twenty after eleven.

"Hey I'm hungry… want to get something to eat, and then we start this scavenger hunt?" I suggested.

"But Mitchie… if we don't start now, we won't be able to finish!" Emma complained.

I resisted rolling my eyes. "Fine… how about Cait starts with you while I go get something to eat?"

"But Mitch, you don't have a phone," Caitlyn pointed out.

I groaned before a light bulb went off in my head. "Em, let me borrow yours. That way, when I'm done I'll just text Cait and she can tell me where you two are."

Emma looked at me skeptically. "I don't know… mommy and daddy told me never to give you my phone under any circumstances."

This time I had to roll my eyes. "Oh come on… you have two choices. Start looking, or eat with me…" Emma bit her lip as she debated in her head on what to do. Sighing, she reached into her back pocket and handed me her phone. "Thank you… now go! We don't have a lot of time." Her eyes widened and the two of them bolted off, reading the first clue out loud.

Cautiously I looked around the corner before stepping out. Whew… no girls in sight. I've been doing this all morning, running away from screaming fans. It's not fun. I mean, I know I'm irresistible… but sometimes you got to let the rockstar breathe.

I walked up to the elevator and hit the 'down' button. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a little girl, painted in pink clothing. She stood at the end of the hallway staring at me. I turned to her and smiled, but all she did was stand there.

Another thing I don't like… the staring. I feel like shouting: 'Take a picture! It'll last longer!'

Seeing as the elevator decided to probably stop at every floor before mine, I looked back at the girl to see she hasn't moved a muscle.

"What are you staring at?" I snapped.

The little girl raised her small arm pointing it at me. From the distance, a girl's voice called out, "I think Amy found them!"

Panicking, I began to hit the elevator button a billion times, hoping it'll move faster. "C'mon…c'mon," I chanted under my breath. Finally it opened just as feet were heard -faintly- running down the hall. I rushed into the elevator and hit the ground floor button before attacking the 'close doors' one. The girls made it just as the doors closed. I blew out a sigh of relief.

Stupid Jason… he just had to suggest holding a Scavenger hunt. That's probably the dumbest idea I've ever heard from him. So now Connect 3 is stuck here, in Manhattan…in a hotel… running away from little girls. Apparently to complete the 'list-of-things-to-look-for' you must have your shirt signed by all three members, and a picture taken with at least one of them. There are no rules that said Connect 3 can't run away from the contestants (I've checked). After pointing that out, Nate and Jason practically ran for their lives as well.

The golden elevators slowly open, revealing the Tipton lobby. I scanned the lobby for any of the contestants, only spotting a group of four girls heading to the Tipton restaurant. I blew out a sigh of relief and stepped out of the elevator, only to bump into the candy girl. She froze when she saw it was me, only her mouth was quivering as she struggled to get out a sentence.

"Y-y-y-your Sh-Sh-ane Gr-Gr-Gr-"

"Gray!" Ugh people get worse and worse every minute. "Yes I'm Shane Gray!" Right after I said that, the entire lobby went quiet. Damn… maybe I shouldn't have blurted that out. Looking past the candy girl, I spotted the group of girls that was chasing me upstairs.

Oh crap…

Quickly I turned around and ran down a hallway. I looked back to see and hear the girls running and screaming after me. After a few more turns, I was positive I lost the girls, when I bumped into another small group of girls in the hotel's lounge. They were wearing the contest tees, staring at me speechless. Damn… I never get a break!

I broke out into another run, but this time it was a lot easier considering that they were like 5, short and a little on the chubby side. Somehow I ended back in the lobby. I took a deep breath and prayed that there wasn't anyone from the contest. Sadly, my prayer wasn't heard when a group of five walked into the hotel. I did a quick sweep of the place before deciding to sit next to some brunette girl that's reading the newspaper. I put my arm around her and pretended to read on with her. The group of girls walked past and I leaned back, sighing in relief.

"People these days…" I heard the girl mutter, "unbelievable!" She rolled her eyes and resumed reading.

I took a good look at the girl and she was pretty. She had long dark hair over her shoulders and jean shorts on with black and white tatty Converses. When I saw the shirt she was wearing, I almost pissed in my pants. Oh crap! She's with them? "Y-you're apart of…" I trailed off and pointed to her shirt.

"What?" then she looked down. "Oh! No… heavens no… my aunt forced me to do this with my cousin as a 'thank you' for-" she paused, "something. Anyways, my cousin and friend are both huge fans." She took a breath. "Nice shirt…" the girl later said. Internally I groaned. The label made us wear these shirts that say: You Found Me! It's totally lame. Way to make us obvious..."I love that song. The Frays are like one of my favorite bands ever."

I looked at her confused. Does she not know who I am? I thought. Wait- that should be a good thing, right? But still! I'm Shane freaking Gray! She has to know me. How does she not know me? I nodded. "Yeah, me too…"

The mysterious girl smiled at me and went back to reading. I sighed and started to scope out the place. I was almost sure I was safe until the group from upstairs sauntered into the lobby. Damn… I have to get out of here. But how am I gonna do that without getting caught? Unless...

"Hey, umm… I know we just met, but uh…. Do you want to get out of here?" I asked the brunette.

The girl lowered her paper down and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?" she questioned, crossing her arms.

"It's not what you think…" I said quickly. "I uh just thought that you'd like to get some lunch or something with me."

"Lunch?" she questioned, "with you?" I nodded nervously. "Gee… I don't know. I mean, I'm supposed to be with my cousin."

"You sure?" I asked her watching the group like a hawk as they walked towards the front desk.

The brunette looked up at me thinking. "You know what; those two are together, so I guess it's okay if I leave. Yeah… let me just text them." The girl stood up and whipped out her cell phone and started texting. I placed a hand on her lower back and guided her out of the lobby with my head slightly tilted towards the floor. "Oh! I'm Mitchie by the way."

I smiled to myself. Mitchie… what an interesting name. You don't really get that as a girl's name that often. "I'm Sh-" I stopped. No… don't give your real name. For all I know, she could turn me in, "Joe… I'm Joe."

Mitchie looked at me funny before she slipped on her sunglasses as I did the same. "Joe… Are you sure?"

"Yeah… why?"

She shrugged as I held the door and we walked out into the humid streets. "I don't know… you seemed unsure."

I glanced sideways at her before stopping in front of a vendor selling 'New York' caps, tops, and sunglasses. I grabbed a cap and sunglasses and gave the guy money, telling him to keep the change. I laughed as we started walking down the street. "I'm sure…"

"Joe…" she muttered to herself, "I like it." Ha, ha… me too. "So where you taking me Joe?" she asked with a teasing smile.

I haven't thought about that. Where are we going to go? Somewhere private, but not too private. And definitely not a place that is really public where girls would just throw themselves at me. A public private place… Ha! What an oxymoron.

"Uh… I honestly don't know," I said embarrassed. How can you invite a girl out and not know where to take them. Then again, I don't really go out and about in NYC. And if I do, I'm with people I know who know this city like the back of their hand.

Mitchie laughed and hit my arm playfully. "Well… I'm in the mood for some ice cream if that helps?"

I looked up at the tall buildings around us. "I...don't really know any ice cream places around here." Sadly…

Again Mitchie laughed. Well… isn't this embarrassing. "First time in New York?" she asked as we strolled down the street.

"Well...I've been to New York a few times… but I never leave the hotel," I said.

"And that's gonna change now." Mitchie smiled big and led me to a subway. I stopped at the top as she started going down. When she realized I wasn't with her, she stopped and looked back. "Well... aren't you coming Joe?" I looked around nervously. "Oh I get it…" she said climbing up the steps until she was face-to-face with me."You're a taxi kind of guy, aren't you?" My lips formed into a tight line and I nodded. Mitchie scoffed amused. "If it makes you feel any better, then we can just hail a cab-"

"No…" I interrupted. "I mean… we're already standing here. There's a first time for everything, right?"

Mitchie smiled and reached out her hand. Slowly I took it and together we walked into the dim subway.