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Jaylen Torres was the older twin sister of Mitchie Torres.
She absolutely adored her parents and helped them out with their hardware and catering business whenever she could, in addition to that she had a part time job working as a waitress in a restaurant near her home.
She worked hard every day, that barely left time for her to have a social life but she was alright with that. Whenever she got free time, she either spent it with her parents or just jamming on her guitar and ukulele thinking up songs.
Mitchie has always been somewhat bitter about being the younger twin, add to that she was jealous of Jay's skills in music. It led to the girls never having a good relationship since they were young. Jay tried though, she tried her best to protect her younger sister and take care of her even at the cost of her own desires. That was why Mitchie had the best music equipment to use in her room whenever she wanted.
Speaking of, Jay was helping her mom with breakfast that morning when they heard the music from Mitchie's room.
Connie asked with a fond smile as she watched her daughter cook the omlettes for them, "Are you excited about summer sweetheart?"
Jay smiled up at her mom, "Yeah mom, I can't wait to start singing live. We've been practicing during breaks and I gotta say, we're pretty good."
Connie chuckled at the fake pompous face she made. Earlier this year the manager of the restaurant Jay worked at told her if she wanted to sing live during rush hours, she could. Her friend played the piano and they had been non-stop practicing.
"Look what I found." Connie sighs and shows the Camp Rock pamphlet to Jay who sighed as well. Mitchie thought she was being sneaky leaving them around the house, hoping to convince their parents.
"We could use the money I saved up for her fee-" Jay started offering, a little bit reluctantly since she worked really hard for her savings.
"Absolutely not." Connie firmly denied before she even finished the sentence. "Your dad and I never said anything before when you spent your money on Mitchie but I'm gonna have to draw the line here."
Jay smiled a little at her but offered in return, "What about catering for the camp? Summer is always slow. Maybe you could speak to the Camp Director?"
Connie frowned thoughtfully, "It won't hurt to speak to them."
"Awesome!" Jay grinned at her, finally done with plating the food she made. "I gotta go though." She kissed her mum on the cheek and left hurriedly right before Mitchie came downstairs. She had to clean up her locker before classes.
Once Jay was done with her shift at the restaurant, she returned back home to see her dad, Steve, grilling burgers in the back.
"I'm here!" She tells them with a tired sigh, greeting them both with hugs and lingering a little longer with her mum. It was a long day today, she needed the comfort.
"Are you okay?" Connie asks concerned, feeling Jay lean more heavily on her when she hugged her.
Jay pulled away and smiled at them, "I'm good. Just tired, there was a new delivery today so we had to move around a lot of boxes. My arms feel like they're gonna fall off!" She dramatically flops onto the chair as her parents both chuckled at her antics.
"We've got good news! Mitchie just went upstairs after we told her but Connie's Catering is going camping!" Connie smiled at her daughter proudly, it was her idea after all.
Taking a second to process that information, Jay's eyes widened in disbelief, "It worked? You spoke to the director?" She jumped up and hugged her mom again, feeling more energetic.
"It did! He's letting you both attend at a discounted rate, if you want to go that is." Connie looked at her inquisitively. "It's a good opportunity honey." She tried persuading her daughter, this was literally once in a lifetime chance for both her little girls.
"I'll speak with Mike." Jay finally spoke with a smile, literally, she wouldn't get this chance again.
Frankly, she thought she deserved a little break from working all the time and focus on her music completely for once.
Pulling into the parking lot of Camp Rock in Connie's catering truck, Jay and Mitchie leaned forward in their seats trying to take in everything at once.
There were a group of kids exiting a bus, with one of the boys playing a beat with his drumsticks on the side of it. Behind the bus was a limo making everyone curious as to who was inside.
The cabins were all lined up next to each other, each with a yellow porch facing the fire pit in the center of camp. The lake was beautiful with the sun reflecting light off of it, canoes and kayaks sat on the beach with a pier next to them.
"It's so beautiful!" Jay gasped feeling excited for the first time in a long while.
"Yeah it is, are you guys excited?" Connie asked after looking around herself.
"A little." Mitchie replied, but then continued rambling, "Ok, a lot. Yes major! Thank you mom, I'm going to have so much fun here!"
Seeing movement near the limo, all three women turn to look at the blond teen exit with grace. She was wearing a purple top with jeans and had a purse hanging off her shoulder truly looking like she belonged in a movie.
"Wow." Mitchie exclaimed in awe at the sight. Jay frowned a little, the girl looked familiar like she had seen her somewhere before.
"Okay." Connie announces bringing her bags inside the cabin they would be using. "Girls, let's get settled in."
Mitchie walked over to a bed, dropped her bags on the bed and announced, "Settled."
Jay rolled her eyes at her sister and placed her own things on her bed for now, with her guitar and ukulele resting carefully on the side. Connie set the cookbooks she had brought on the coffee table after sighing at her youngest.
"That's great!" A new voice sounded from the doorway, having heard someone announce they were settled. "Brown Cessario, Camp Director, founding member and base guitarist of Wet Crows and you must be Connie Torres, our new cook."
"No way!" Jay whispered in awe at the sight of one of her idols, unaware of Mitchie taking off behind them all.
"That's me." Connie replied with a welcoming smile on her face, "And these are my daughters... Oh, seems like my youngest is off already. This is Jaylen, my oldest."
"Oh my God! Mr. Cessario I am such a huge fan." Jay excitedly introduced herself to the man who only smiled at her enthusiasm. "I loved your work with the Rolling Stones."
Brown smiled at the girl, "Thank you, dear. Now why don't you go ahead and join the other campers? The musical director is going to be speaking to you all."
"Cool." Jay smiled at him and kissed her mom on the cheek before leaving them to talk among themselves.
She walked towards where the crowd was gathered and found herself close to the stage speaking with one of the girls, Lola was her name. She looked really hip and Jay could tell the girl had moves.
Before Lola could introduce her to her friends, a preppy red haired woman came on the stage and gathered everyone's attention, "Hi gang! I'm Deela Duke, the musical director here at Camp Rock."
"Hi Dee." Everyone chorused together. Jay spotted her sister with a cute blond girl who was holding a laptop in her hands.
"Here at Camp Rock we sing. So let's hear that again." She asked again with a kind look on her face. Jay decided she liked this woman.
"Hi Dee." Everybody sang as asked, but it was not a pleasant sound at all.
"Sounds good, a little pitchy in some places but we'll fix that by the final jam."
Two boys climb on the stage behind Dee while beatboxing, "Hey!" They yell out, "We here to rock it out, at least I know I am, we gonna be the winners of the major Final Jam, holla, holla, put your hands up."
The two continued to rap and everyone raises their hands enjoying the little act. Lola whispered to Jay once they had calmed down, "Those are my two friends by the way. Barron and Sander."
"They're really good." Jay replied impressed with their improvisation. Lola smiles a little smugly in response.
"Okay, okay." Dee laughs, stopping the boys, "Settle down you guys."
The boys jump off the stage, one stopped in front of the blond with Mitchie to perform what seemed to be their handshake.
"Okay, this summer is not just about the Final Jam. We have a lot of work to do. You're gonna get new music skills, you're gonna find your sound, create your own style. Holla!" She inverted the peace sign trying to look hip. The campers laughed a little, "Figure out who you want to be as an artist and most of all, have fun!" She shouted with a smile on her face.
The campers cheered in agreement, clapping excitedly at the prospect of having fun.
"And," Dee announced pointing to a boy who had his drumsticks out, "Drum roll please." He walked next to Dee's feet on the stage, playing the drums for a few seconds, "For the first time, we are going to be joined at camp with a very special celebrity instructor."
Everyone waited with baited breath, wondering who it was.
"Shane Gray!"
Jay groaned in annoyance while everyone else cheered. She did not like him, his attitude and hair was so annoying.
The next morning Jay and Mitchie were helping out their mom in the camp's kitchen, rolling hamburger meat for dinner the same night.
"I hear there is an open mic tonight." Connie tells them with a smile on her face.
"Yeah." Mitchie says while putting down one patty.
"Are you guys gonna sing?" Connie inquired further.
Jay shrugged with a smile, "I might, a friend is singing and if there's a chance I might take it." Connie smiled at her proudly but then frowned when she heard Mitchie's response.
"In front of all those people? No way." Mitchie vehemently shook her head as if the mere idea of it terrified her.
"Mitchie, I hear you singing in your room. You're really good." Connie says, hoping to inspire her daughter to sing. "Mom's honour."
Mitchie smiled at her before looking down again.
"And if you're nervous..." Jay continued with a kind look on her face, "So what? Everybody gets nervous."
"That's why I'm making so much food tonight, cause people eat when they're nervous." Connie finished with a shrug.
"Not me." Mitchie answered with a shake of her head. "I don't think I could eat another burger... ever."
Connie sighed at her youngest, "Okay, why don't you take out the trash and set up the mess hall while we finish up here?" She grabbed some gloves to help Jay with the meat as Mitchie leaves to do as asked.
"She'll be fine mom." Jay reassured her mother with a smile. "I've seen her make friends with this really cool girl who produces music, she's bound to come out of her shell sometime."
"I hope so honey." Connie sighed as they got to finishing up in the kitchen, not knowing Mitchie was singing stolen words that would change her life.
After Mitchie took the garbage out, she went to the mess hall and after almost half an hour of setting everything up, she glanced at the piano. Taking out the torn papers with the song Jay had written in her song book, she started adding music to the words.
She did feel bad for stealing Jay's work, but she couldn't help it. The song was amazing and Jay already had everything she could ever want. She deserved something good too, it wasn't fair how everything was easy for Jay.
Mitchie sighed after singing a little, she couldn't do this here. She left to go to the kitchen after hiding the pages in her pocket, unaware of a certain pop star who heard her, wanting to know where the girl with the voice went.
Jay quickly got ready for open mic in their cabin and left to go meet Lola and her friends at the mess hall. When she entered, it was already half full with people just chatting away with their friends.
"Jay! Over here!" Lola waved her hand at the girl who smiled at the sight. Lola was sitting with two of her friends who would be dancing with her when she sang.
"Hey guys!" Jay cheerily greeted them and sat down. "I'm Jaylene. It's nice to meet you!" She shook hands with both the girls and all of them easily fell into a conversation about how it was her first time at the camp.
"So what do your parents do?" One of the girls who joined them after questioned with a head tilt.
Jay smiled and spoke, "My dad owns a hardware store and my mom's the new caterer at this camp."
"Oh." One of the girls made a face which made Jay raise a brow at her.
"Excuse me?" She was getting defensive, and that was never a good thing for those around her.
Lola's eyes widened when she saw how angry Jay was getting, but that didn't stop the girl who made the face to scoff, "So you're not important then."
"Interesting." Jay narrowed her eyes at the girl, "You know who Adele is don't you?" When the girl nodded, slightly confused where this was going, Jay continued, "She came from a middle class family in London as well. If you value superficial things like who my parents are, which by the way, I have no control over and I'm proud of what my parents do, I don't think we'll get along."
Seeing the girl speechless, Lola smiled at Jay and said, "I think you and I are going to be great friends."
The girl scoffed and left the table, leaving Lola, her two friends and Jay to snicker at her expression. The blond who Jay saw with Mitchie earlier joined them soon after and introduced herself as Caitlyn.
Jay was absolutely floored when Caitlyn showed her what she can do with her laptop, "That is so cool!" Caitlyn blushed at her tone but smiled nonetheless. She was happy to have made another friend.
"Hey Caitlyn!" A voice spoke up from behind them. The whole table turned to look at Mitchie who gave them all a wave.
"Hey Mitchie, this is Lola, Erin, Judy and Jay. Guys, this is my friend Mitchie." Caitlyn introduced everyone to her.
"So this is your first time here?" Lola asked Mitchie once she sat down. Mitchie had given Jay a look hoping she wouldn't say anything about them being sisters.
"Yeah, any advice?" Mitchie asked nervously fidgeting under the gaze of so many people.
"You are going to love it here, and this year I hear the food is supposed to be better." Lola said with a wink towards Jay who smirked in response.
"Lets hope." Mitchie said quietly.
The conversation was interrupted with Dee speaking, "Hey Camp Rockers, next up let's have a camp rock welcome for Lola Scott!" Dee points over to Lola as everyone cheers for her.
"Wish me luck!" Lola tells them, getting up with Erin and Judy.
"You go girls!" Jay cheered for them, making them smile when they heard her.
Mitchie spoke to Jay in a hushed tone, "Pretend you don't know me. I don't want people to know we're related." Jay was hurt, for sure. She cleared her throat and moved away from Mitchie and Caitlyn who were speaking to each other.
Jay's attention drifted to Lola as she started performing.
Jay was vibing with the music and she cheered loudly with the others when Lola was done performing.
When Lola came back over, Jay hugged her and told her, "You were absolutely brilliant!"
"Thank you Jay." Lola beamed, glad to have found a genuine friend in her. "Come on." She dragged the girl over to more of her friends to introduce her to them.
There were so many talented people during the open mic, Jay found it to be an amazing environment surrounded by friends who could just vibe.
After saying good night to Lola and their new friends, Jay made her way back to the cabin feeling exhausted already. She was almost trampled by an excited Mitchie leaving with her bags, barely giving her older sister any acknowledgement as she passed her.
Jay sighed, still a little bit hurt by what Mitchie asked earlier, about not associating with her.
"Hey mom." Jay said as she entered the cabin, seeing her mom surrounded by cook books.
Connie looked up and smiled at her daughter, "Hey honey, how was open mic?"
A smile took over Jay's face, "It was great! I met this girl Lola who introduced me to a lot of her friends. You should see how talented these kids are mom. It's crazy." She flopped down on the bed with a grin.
"You'll fit in perfectly then." Connie teased her with a fond smile on her face.
"Hey, where did Mitchie go?" Jay asked sitting up, seeing all of her belongings gone.
"She met a few girls and they asked her to stay with them in another cabin." Connie replied back with a shrug.
Jay hesitated to tell her mom what happened earlier but it would only hurt her mom knowing that Mitchie was ashamed of them in a way. She wouldn't mention anything for now, it wasn't the first time anyway.
Instead she smiled and said, "That's good for her. I'm gonna head to bed now."
After changing into her pajamas and snuggling into her bed, she bid her mom goodnight and fell asleep in seconds.
The next morning, Connie and Jay were both up and in the kitchen by 6:30 making the breakfast. They were preparing fruit, bacon, pancakes and waffles for said breakfast and Jay was cutting up the fruits.
Mitchie walked in the door at 7:15 instead of 7 like she told their mom, but Jay was busy focusing on the task she had at hand. Given that she could cut her finger off, she didn't want to look at anything else.
At 7:45, Connie waved both the girls off and told them to leave. "Bye mom!" Jay waved at her and left through the kitchen door, uncaring if anyone would see her or not. She was not ashamed to be the cooks daughter. Mitchie on the other hand, seeing the amount of people already in the mess hall, turned and left through the back door before joining the campers through the main entrance.
Jay got her own plate of food and went over to Lola, Sander and Barron who smiled as she sat down. "Morning guys!"
Caitlyn joined them soon after that, slipping into easy conversation. Barren spots Mitchie coming through the door and calls out, "Hey! Plenty of room over here mi amore!"
Jay smiles in amusement as Lola quips back, "Uh yuck! You're going to chase her away."
"As per usual." Caitlyn adds making Barron look offended.
Before Mitchie could sit down with them, Tess passes them by and calls out, "Mitchie over here."
Caitlyn sighs in disappointment, "Better go. The queen awaits!" Mitchie left after that.
"So who is that? I know she looks familiar but I haven't been able to figure it out yet." Jay asks giving Tess a side eye.
"Tess Tyler. She's the daughter of TJ Tyler. Runs the place around here, at least that's what she thinks." Caitlyn can't help but sound bitter when speaking about the girl. She was once her friend.
"Oh, that makes sense. I don't like her." Jay scrunches up her nose but smiles when the others laugh at her antics.
Caitlyn smiles at her response, "I like you."
The first activity was just after breakfast was over. Jay walked with Lola and Caitlyn to the room their class would be taking place in. The first few minutes were silent until someone started playing a beat from the instruments in the back.
Sanders and Barren along with Caitlyn started dancing while Lola and Jay made sounds with their hands along with the beat, vibing with them.
The rest stayed in their seats and clapped to the beat.
The door opened to reveal Brown walking in, playing an imaginary guitar. When they saw him, everyone quietened down.
"Woah. If the class is a rocking, I'm glad I came a knocking." Everyone chuckled at that. "So let's hear what I'm working with this year. Who wants to sing first?"
The whole class raised their hand beside Mitchie. Jay was fine with singing, she knew she could and this was a singing class so she was pretty sure they were expected to sing anyway.
"Okay." Brown said surprised at the amount of willing participants, "Eenie, meenie, miny, you."
Mitchie looked up to see the finger pointing at her. She gulped and asked, "Me?"
He holds his pointer finger and twirls it, "Can't argue with the finger."
Tess raises her hand from beside Mitchie, "I'll do it!" She eagerly offered.
"Uh nope. The finger picked her."
"Well, um okay." Mitchie stutters as she got up slowly and made her way to the front of the room.
"Right." Brown stated once she reached his side. "Let it rip."
Mitchie takes a deep breath and sings softly, her head tilted down to let her hair cover her face. She's quickly stopped by Brown, "Alright, I know you're singing a solo but it's so low, I can't hear you."
"Try again, but a bit louder." He encourages.
Mitchie took a deep breath and sang again, this time with her head held high and voice loud.
Jay silently gasped at that. That was her song. What the hell was she doing with her song?
Brown walked over to Mitchie shocked, "That's not bad, not bad at all. Is that an original?"
Mitchie's eyes find Jay's who was looking at her with so much shock and anger, it made her internally wince. "Yeah, but it's-"
She's cut off as Brown puts his hand up not letting her finish, "No buts, it's good. Give me a high five."
Mitchie slaps her palm against his with a wide smile on her face. Jay pursed her lips and clenched her hands to keep her from flipping out. She needed to check her songbook again, what else has her sister been stealing from her?
After class Jay waves her friends off and goes to the kitchen to help out her mom.
She stumbles upon her mom carrying cupcakes in cardboard boxes, "Hey mom. I'm not late, am I?" The kitchen was empty.
"No no honey, we finished quicker than expected. The last batch of cookies is in the oven, can you start cleaning up?" Connie reassures her daughter and smiles. She couldn't help but be proud of the woman Jay was becoming.
Nodding Jay went over to the flour covered counter, "No problem."
She tied her hair in a bun to keep it out of the way and got a rag to start cleaning the flour covered counters first.
"Hello?" A voice called out from somewhere behind her making her jump.
"Holy shit! You scared me man." Jay turned around quickly with a hand on her chest, willing her heart to stop beating so fast.
Only, she saw the one person she was not looking forward to seeing, Shane Gray.
Shane's eyes widened when he saw her, he was definitely under the impression that the people working in the kitchen would be adults. "Do you work here?" He asked walking closer to the counter that separated them.
Jay raised a brow at his question, looked down at the rag in her hand and then looked back up to give him a look. She drawled sarcastically, "No, I just walked in, picked up a rag and started cleaning because it's just so fun!"
He looked taken aback, like no one had ever spoken to him like that before. Though he also felt a little bit stupid for asking the question in the first place.
"What do you want Mr. Gray?" Jay asked with a roll of her eyes when he didn't say anything else.
Shane snapped out of whatever thoughts he was chasing and spoke, "Oh well, see my manager said he sent over my food allergies list but since I couldn't even go near my breakfast this morning..." He trailed off meaningfully as he picked up a cupcake and and licked the frosting.
"That doesn't make sense, I personally handled the list of allergies and we made sure all of them were covered." Jay frowned as she moved to the table in the corner where the list was. She handed it out for him to grab and asked, "Can you check if yours are there?"
Shane looked shocked at being asked to do something so tedious and instead said, "Look, can I just talk to whoever is in charge?"
"Excuse me?" Jay asked, thrown off by his sudden change in attitude.
"What?"
"You're being a jerk." Jay bluntly told him dropping her nice act.
"And you are?" He asked not seeming to care what she called him.
"A person. Also the daughter of the camp caterer, and there's a way to talk to a person. That's not it." She crossed her arms, staring him down now.
Shane looked shocked for a moment, before slowly reaching for the clipboard she had placed in front of him. He read it over quickly and slowly replied, "I'll have my manager send the list over again."
Nodding, Jay agreed but offered, "Fine, or you can write it down right now on that sheet."
"O...kay..." He trailed off, taking the pen she offered and quickly jotting his allergies down. He turned to leave but paused when she cleared her throat. "Thank you?"
Jay smiled at him in satisfaction, dimple prominent on her face, "Much better."
Shane snapped out of admiring her and slowly walked out of the kitchen, still in disbelief that the interaction actually happened.
Jay grabbed a cupcake on her way to the makeshift dance studio, joining Caitlyn, Barron and Sanders in dancing and vibing.
"You're good." Caitlyn complimented her as she was able to keep up with Barron who was the best dancer out of all of them.
"Me?" Jay huffed and put an arm around Caitlyn, "Have you seen you while dancing? No one compares Caitlyn." The girl couldn't help but blush, again, at the genuine compliment from her.
The door opened and Shane Gray walked in, in a foul mood. He grabbed a hat and a mic before telling them, "Grab a mic and a hat. Follow me if you can." His eyes found Jay's suddenly and he blinked, feeling slightly shocked. Jay just raised a brow at his staring but went to get her own mic and hat.
Everyone followed his instructions and stood behind him waiting.
"Hurry." He ordered, "Let's go." He walked over to the CD player and popped one in. After walking back over to the group he noticed the stragglers run to places behind him, "Hurry, I haven't got all day." Once everyone was in position, an upbeat hip hop song started to play from the speakers.
While they danced, Shane found his eyes wandering to Jay more often than he liked.
(Jay is next to Caitlyn most of the time)
Tess crossed her arms and stared down at him, "Talk about dancing to the beat of a different drum."
Jay rolled her eyes at the girl, what her sister sees in her is a mystery. Instead she extends a hand to the boy on the floor and asked, "You good man?"
"Yeah, thanks." He smiled at her and took her hand as she helped him off the floor.
Shane looked at Tess and shook his head. He looked up at the guy who fell and asked, "You good on any drums?"
The boy pulls out his drumsticks and played a quick beat after crouching back down on the floor. Shane smiled looking down at him, "Man you're a drummer." He reached out a hand for a bro shake. "The drummer controls the beat. The rhythm is in your hands."
The boy shrugged, "Yeah I guess."
"Now, we have to work on getting that beat from those sticks to them feet."
Mitchie was smiling in awe at Shane while Jay finally felt curious. Was it because of this morning or was he just hiding all that kindness beneath the mask he had put on?
Caitlyn tugged on her hand and they went to the side while Shane spoke to the boy.
The next day Jay was sitting with her friends when her mom walked over to them with a warm smile on her face, "Hi guys!"
"Hey mom!" Jay smiled up at her and started excitedly rambling, "Guys this is my mom. Mom this is Lola, Caitlyn, Sanders and Barron."
"It's so nice to meet you all! Jay's told me a lot about you guys." Connie fondly looked over at her daughter who blushed a little.
"Same here Ms. Torres. The food is great by the way!" Lola complimented her already liking the woman.
Connie smiled at them all when one of her kitchen workers caught her attention, "Thank you dear. I'll let you get back to your breakfast now."
Everyone bid her goodbye and then told Jay how much they liked her. Jay smiled at that, glad her friends liked her mom and vice versa.
Later in the day, both the sisters are helping prepare dinner for later. Connie turned to Mitchie and spoke, "So, your friends Mitchie, they- they seem nice."
Jay bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud, knowing how wrong that statement was. But when she caught sight of her mom's face, she frowned in concern.
"Tess is... interesting." Connie continues, looking over at Mitchie.
"I know, but..." Mitchie paused trying to find how to phrase her words, "She's better once you get to know her."
Jay made a face at her mom, telling her that was wrong. She moved the tray of potato wedges over to another counter before continuing seasoning the food.
"Um, have- have you gotten to know her?" Connie asked again, genuinely concerned about this.
"Yeah I guess." Mitchie answered, not understanding why she was asking so many questions about Tess.
"I don't know. She doesn't seem like she's your type. You've always been so-"
"Invisible." Mitchie finished for her.
Connie turned to look at her youngest, shocked she would say that, "I was going to say independant.
Mitchie gave her an incredulous look. Seeing that Connie turned away with a final parting comment, "Hurry up with those potatoes if you want to get to the campfire."
Jay gives her mom a comforting smile hoping to somehow ease her worries.
At the campfire, there is a metal stage with a huge bonfire next to it. Jay sits with Max this time, towards the front. He was in their singing class and he asked her if she'd be willing to do a medley with him. She was of course excited and agreed. It had only been one day of practicing though, so she was nervous that somehow she'll mess up.
Dee walked up to the stage, waving to the campers to gather their attention. "So, we call this Campfire Jam. It's about expression, the freedom to be who you really want to be." She makes quick hand gestures around her head imitating the Vogue pose, then throws her hands up and yells, "Hit it!"
The audience claps as Tess, Ella, Peggy and Mitchie climb up on stage. Tess was the lead singer and she was wearing a shimmering golden dress, while the other three girls were wearing the same dress in silver.
Jay watched her sister walk behind Tess to sing back up for her. The music started with Tess taking the spotlight.
"It was a good song." Jay mumbled reluctantly to Max who laughed at her expression. She had told him that she didn't like Tess but her singing wasn't bad.
He excitedly pulled her up on the stage, "It's our turn, come on!"
Jay couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm as she pulled an electric guitar over head. Then she started playing, unaware of Shane watching her with fascination.
Everybody was vibing with the song and clapped with the beat, breaking into a loud applause once it was over. This was the first time Jay properly sang here and all the friends she had made were shocked, in a good way.
Jay couldn't sleep.
She woke up at 4:30 am and despite trying her best, she couldn't fall back asleep. She got up and ready quietly, trying not to wake her mom as she left with her ukulele and songbook in hand.
She hadn't had the chance to see the sunrise yet, and she was looking forward to the view from the pier.
She sat on the edge of the dock, legs crossed and notebook open as she played some notes to find inspiration. One song popped into her head that would help her warm up while she watched the sunrise.
What a wonderful world x Can't help falling in love mashup
She continued working on the pieces of songs she had written already, contendly watching the view and taking full advantage of her break from the kitchen as she blocked out all the noise behind her and focused on her music.
It was around 7 am when Shane walked over to the dock hoping to get some peace and quiet. He was pleasantly surprised to find the girl who had peaked his curiosity sitting with her legs danged in the water, with a ukulele of all things.
Giving into his urge, he walked over to where she was sat and asked, "Mind if I join?"
Jay looked up startled to see Shane looking down at her. "Go ahead." She said with a shrug, watching him take out his guitar and sitting beside her. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jay spoke up, "Can I ask you something?"
Shane looked up at her curiously and nodded.
"What is up with your hair man?" Jay blurted out the question that had been burning since she saw him in person.
Shane froze in shock and asked indignantly, "What's wrong with my hair?" He loved his hair!
"I- nothing. Absolutely nothing." Jay bit her lip and tried to contain her laughter but Shane chuckled and she joined in for a few moments.
"Someone told me it'd look good for the fans or something." He admitted after they had calmed down.
Jay tried to comfort him, "It's not bad... just, it doesn't seem like you, you know?"
Shane smiled at her softly, "I know."
Finally noticing the time, Jay started packing up. "I gotta go help out my mom with lunch. This was nice." She gave Shane a smile and got up to leave.
"Wait! I don't even know your name." Shane called out as she was about to leave.
Jay turned back and gave him a two finger salute, "Jaylen, call me Jay though. See you around!" She walked off, leaving Shane to stare after her with a smile.
While Jay was in the kitchen, apparently Mitchie, Caitlyn and Tess got into a food fight and Caitlyn got stuck with kitchen duty. Jay didn't mind but Caitlyn told her how Mitchie didn't even help or stand up for her.
She could sympathise with the girl. Mitchie never did that for her either, and they were twins!
Jay comforted Caitlyn, "Mom makes cooking fun and I'll be there, so it won't be too bad." Caitlyn had smiled at her for trying and then left to get her things from their friends.
After lunch, Connie had told the girls to get the boxes with the tortilla chips from the delivery trucks. Mitchie left after getting just one box but Jay stayed for a few minutes, sorting them so her trips would be easier.
She was walking back with two big boxes in her arms when she spotted her sister, who was supposed to be helping mom, sitting at the dock looking dreamily into Shane's eyes while he sang to her.
Jay frowned, they were just getting along and then this happens. "Not so nice anymore." She mumbled, walking past them and going back to helping her mom. If Mitchie wanted Shane then she could have him, she gets all the things she wants anyways.
Jay was helping put the sauce in bowls when Mitchie walked in, grinning like a fool. "Hey mom. How are you doing?" She wrapped an arm around her while Connie looked at her shocked.
"I'm alright. How are you?" Connie asked in return laughing with Mitchie for no reason at all.
"I am great. I'm wonderful. I'm fantastic. I'm-" Mitchie zoned out there when Connie interrupted her.
"Putting chips into bowls?" Connie nudged her with her hip.
"Right." Mitchie sheepishly agreed and went to get a bag od chips.
"Hey Mrs. Torres," Caitlyn greeted as she walked into the kitchen just as Mitchie went out of sight. "Hey Jay."
Jay smiled over at the girl as her mom greeted her, "Hey Caitlyn, thanks for coming in early. Jay, you're in charge till I come back."
"Aye aye Captain." Jay saluted her as she left and told Caitlyn, "You mind starting with the onions? Tortilla night takes more hands than we got."
"Sure." Caitlyn said and moved over to the chopping board. Mitchie took that moment to come out of the storage room with a huge bag of chips which she promptly raised to prevent Caitlyn from seeing her face.
"Hey! You must be the hands Jay was talking about." Caitlyn greeted the girl who hid behind the chips. "I'm Caitlyn." Mitchie waved her hand at her but didn't do anything else.
Caitlyn looked at Jay who shrugged in confusion. She wasn't sure what Mitchie was trying to do.
"Do you need some help?" Caitlyn offered but Mitchie broke into a run. Not looking where she was going, she stepped into a mop bucket, losing her footing which sent her and the chips to the floor.
Caitlyn ran over to help while Jay winced in as she crashed to the floor, and Caitlyn's face when she saw who was on the floor. "Mitchie?"
"Wait a minute. You're the cooks other daughter? Jay's twin? She's your mom! Oh, this is rich!" Caitlyn was shocked and then in disbelief at what was happening. "But apparently you're not!"
"So what are you waiting for huh?" Mitchie finally speaks up, ignoring Jay's offer to help her off the floor. "Run. Go tell everybody."
"Maybe I should." Caitlyn agreed. "At least Jay never lied about who she was."
Jay's eyes widened at being brought up in an argument.
"Fine. Whatever." Mitchie shrugged moving soggy chips from her person.
"How long did you think you could keep your little secret?" Caitlyn inquired with her arms crossed staring the girl down.
Mitchie shook her head sadly, "Longer than this."
"Why?"
"Why do you care anyway?" Mitchie snapped at the girl, feeling fed up with the questions.
"Oh I don't, but when I tell everyone, I want the whole backstory."
Jay blocked out the rest of the argument and focused on finishing up her work. She wanted no part of that, Mitchie messed up and she had to deal with the consequences no matter what they were.
She finally looked up when her mom came in through the door. Connie gasped at the sight of Mitchie dripping wet and covered in chips.
Jay watched Caitlyn walk out sadly. It was quite possible that she might have lost a friend because of Mitchie, again.
Later in the mess hall, Caitlyn joins Jay as she sat with Sanders, Barron and Lola, giving the girl a smile to tell her she was good. Jay was glad she still had a friend in Caitlyn despite what her sister had done.
It was the pajama jam later the same day. All campers wear their pajamas or some loungewear, listen to music and just talk to friends.
Jay joined Caitlyn in watching a boy break dance, vibing with the music when Dee walked onto the makeshift stage, "Next, give it up for the awesome, Caitlyn Geller!"
Jay cheered for her as she walked onto the stage, ducking her head slightly bashfully. She started speaking, "This is in honor of all of you awesome camp rockers." Jay sat next to the drummer she had helped on the second day of classes, Andy, since he was sitting with Sanders and Barron.
Everyone panics and jumps away from where Tess was pointing. Dee walked over and held up what the 'snake' was. "It's just the power cord to the sound system, Tess."
"Oh right... my bad." Tess shrugs uncaring of what she had just interrupted. Shane shook his head at the girl near the entrance and he was about to leave, but hearing a familiar voice he paused.
Jay scoffs and shouts out, "Play it again!" People join her in chanting for Caitlyn who smiles at her friends and starts over, while Tess sneers hatefully at the girl and Mitchie looks at Tess in disbelief at what she did.
Caitlyn played again and this time the vibe was better because Tess decided to storm off.
The next day, Caitlyn and Mitchie were helping blow up the balloons with music notes on them, sitting in silence as Jay had asked Max to the music studio to get his opinion on a song she was writing. She wrote this song with his voice in mind.
"That's all I have so far. What do you think?" Jay asked with a wide smile on her face. Shane was outside the cabin listening to her sing with a smile on his face.
Max laughed happily, "That is amazing Jay! I'd love to record it!" Jay cheered and hugged him. When they parted he asked her, "Are you doing the Final Jam?"
"I did sign up. What about you?" Jay asked removing the electric guitar from her neck and walking out with him.
"Nah, not this time." Max shook his head. They parted ways then, and Jay left feeling giddy. Even if she didn't win the Final Jam or do anything that would make her be remembered, she made so many friends here that she was content for the the first time in a long time.
"Shane Gray is looking for the girl with the voice."
The rumour going around camp spread like wildfire. Apparently, Shane heard a girl singing and he wants to find her. All the girls sent videos or cornered Shane to sing for him, trying to prove they were his mystery girl.
Jay was walking around camp trying to make her way to the dock with her guitar when she spotted Caitlyn and Mitchie walking together. She was glad they were friends again, but this meant Caitlyn wasn't going to be hanging out with her anymore.
She couldn't help her face drop at the sight but she turned away, on her way to focus on her music. She didn't even notice the long line of girls waiting for their chance to sing for Shane who was focused on her instead. He watched confused as her good mood vanished in an instant at the sight of the two girls and he couldn't help but be concerned.
After about an hour of focusing, Jay looked over at the lake and spotted Shane and Mitchie laughing together in a canoe. Suddenly feeling bitter, she got up and left the dock to hug her mom.
"Hey mom." Jay sighed as she spotted her in the kitchen. She put down her guitar and went over to hug her, needing the comfort and for her to chase the negative feelings away.
"Hey," Connie wrapped her arms around her daughter and asked, "Are you okay honey?"
Jay sighed snuggling further into her, "I'm just not feeling the best right now."
Connie frowned in concern and asked, "Ice cream?"
"Yes please." Jay smiled as she pulled away, loving how her mom knew her so well. Mitchie and Caitlyn came in to do the dishes but Connie told them to go on to the campfire. Nobody saw a blond peep from behind a tree and watch them say goodbye.
The campers gathered in front of the stage clapped for Brown as he stepped over on the stage, Shane following behind him.
Jay sat with Lola and Andy who was the drummer, they had gotten to talking and clicked.
"Hey gang." Brown started but someone from the crowd shouted 'We love you Brown', that made him laugh and a cheer to ring out from the audience. "Okay score. I have finally talked my nephew into singing us a song."
People cheered louder for the boy who walked over to his uncle.
"Shane, rock the camp!" Brown said before walking off the stage.
"Hey guys." Shane said grabbing the microphone, "I got a surprise for you." People cheered in excitement at his teasing. He locked eyes with Mitchie who smiled at him in the same dreamy way she often does.
"Guys come on out."
The campers cheer louder than before when Shane's brother's, the rest of the Connect 3 walk out of the mess hall. Nate and Jason walk onto the stage, flanking Shane on either side.
Jay gasped in excitement for the first time seeing the two. She did like them better than their brother.
"So we're going to play something new." Shane announced. "Let us know what you think." Jason and Nate started to play the guitar.
Shane sings his heart out, spurred on by the response he was getting from the crowd. Every once in a while his eyes would drift to Mitchie who sat right in the front, and maybe he also looked at Jay who was focused more on his brothers than him.
Jay got up with everyone else as they finished the song, cheering loudly. She loved the song. She didn't miss the looks Shane sent to Mitchie, honestly she didn't know how to feel about that.
The brothers took a bow in front of the crowd and left the stage, leaving the crowd to disperse and talk about the song.
"I'll admit, it was am amazing song." Jay raised her hands seeing the looks Lola and Andy were giving her. She had told them a long time ago that Connect 3's music started to sound like it wasn't made for them.
"Hey Mitchie!" Tess shouted getting everyone's attention. "Tell us about your mom again."
Jay's face dropped and she was suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Would her friends be mad at her for not telling them that Mitchie was her sister? They shouldn't right? She never lied to them.
"Her mom is a great person." Caitlyn defended when Mitchie didn't say anything. To get the attention off of Mitchie, Caitlyn asked Barron, "What's your mom like?"
"Uh..." He laughed a little at the random question but answered anyway, "She's like a mom."
Tess continued determined, "I mean I know she's the president of Hot Tunes TV China, but tell me again how important she is." Jay noticed her mom standing behind Tess, her expression was going from happy to confused and hurt.
Mitchie saw the same thing and it looked like she was about to cry, "She um..." Mitchie couldn't finish as she looked away from her mom.
"I'm sorry what?" Tess asked, trying to make her reveal the truth.
"She's pretty cool." Mitchie answered not looking into anyone's eyes.
"And..." Tess prompted. When Jay saw her mom look away with a broken hearted expression on her face and start to walk away, she gave Mitchie a fierce glare that made her flinch.
Mitchie finally told the truth, "She's not the president of Hot Tunes TV China."
"What's that?" Tess asked feigning shock, "She's not the president? You mean you lied to everybody?"
"No." Mitchie denied, "I was-"
She was cut off by Tess who was absolutely loving this. "So she's what? A vice president? Treasurer?"
"Tess." Caitlyn tried to interrupt, shocked at the audacity of the girl in front of her.
"Shut up." Tess told her. "Go on. Tell us."
Mitchie looked down and finally spoke up, "No, she's a cook."
"A cook?" Tess asked looking confused, "At Hot Tunes China."
"No." Mitchie denied, "Here."
Tess had a satisfied smile on her face. "So you lied. Your mom cooks our food and and you help her. That's the only way you could afford this camp right?"
"You know what?" Jay finally speaks up walking in front of Tess. "Yes, our mom cooks the food you eat here every single day. Yes, that was the only way we could afford to come to camp. What she does every day is a job, just like your parents have a job, and I for one am proud to be her daughter. At least our mom takes the time to tell us she loves us every single day, and we don't resort to embarrassing the people we call friends just for kicks. So you know what Tess Tyler? You're a bitch."
Jay harshly bumped her shoulder with the girl as she walked past her, making her stumble. She had no idea the chaos she had left behind.
Jay walked into their cabin and called out, "Mom?" She heard sniffling coming from the bathroom so she walked over and knocked on the door. "Mom? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine honey." Connie tried to reassure her daughter but she broke into sobs soon after.
"Ice cream?" Jay called out hoping to cheer her up. She smiled hearing her mom chuckle a little bit before she called out, "I'm gonna get some from the kitchen."
She rushed out the cabin and to the kitchen to do as she said. On the way there she saw Shane waiting on the steps. Once he spotted her, he got up and put his hands in his pockets.
"Uh what can I help you with Shane?" Jay walked past him, waving him inside and going to get the ice cream and some spoons.
"You're Mitchie's sister." He stated, instead of asking.
Jay groaned and responded, "Yes. We're twins. I'm older."
"Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you?" He questioned leaning on the counter and watching her intently. There was only so much betrayal he could take in one day.
"She asked me to not associate myself with her, and whatever Mitchie wants, she gets. Do you know how that feels? When your twin is embarrassed to be related to you?" Jay spoke, aggressively digging into the ice cream with her spoon.
"Alright hey, hey, relax." Shane took the spoon from her hands with wide eyes, seeing her get angry. "What do you mean by what she wants, she gets?" Them being sisters answered a lot of questions he had about Jay from the beginning.
"She's the baby of the family. We always take care of her first. Mom, dad and I have always done that." Jay shrugged taking another spoon and eating some ice cream.
"But what about you?" Shane asked.
"What do you mean?" Jay looked at him, genuinely confused by his question.
"Who takes care of you?" Shane repeated, finally seeing the truth.
Jay paused for a second but then shook her head, "Mom and dad do. Though I don't need much caring."
"Anyway, I gotta go. Mom's waiting for me, gotta cheer her up." Jay grabbed everything she needed and moved to walk out of the door but Shane stopped in front of her.
"Can I... come with you?" He asked shyly looking down at his shoes.
Jay chuckled a little amused, but nodded and said, "Grab a spoon." He smiled and followed after her, wondering why he was always so stuck on Mitchie when Jay was so much better than her. Not that he'd ever say that he was comparing the two sisters out loud.
Once they got to the cabin, Jay welcomed him inside and called out, "Mom, I got sustenance, and a guest."
"Who is it honey?" Connie walked out of the bathroom after cleaning herself up. "Oh, Shane Gray." She looked at her daughter with wide eyes not knowing what to do.
"He was waiting at the kitchen to talk about... Mitchie and asked to join." Jay clarified, setting the ice cream down on the table and sitting cross legged on the couch.
"If it's not okay then I can-" Shane started speaking, hesitant about being wanted.
Connie interrupted him though with a kind smile, "It's no problem. You can join us." She grabbed one of the ice cream tubs and took a bite. "Oh I love you."
Jay teased her as Shane looked around the cabin, "You talking to me or the ice cream?"
Connie paused for dramatic effect before shaking her head, "You don't wanna know the answer." Jay chuckled while Shane smiled. Their relationship was amazing.
He spotted an open book on a table and walked over to it. "Hey, is this your song book?"
Jay looked up to see that he did in fact have her song book in his hands, "Yeah. You can look through it if you want." She didn't care much if people read her songs, it mattered if they stole them.
Shane flipped through the neat notebook, surprised by the organization he could see. Song books are usually so messy and had smudges all over them. He paused at the only page tear he saw in the book, looking up confused at Jay he spoke, "Hey Jay, your book is in perfect condition but I think a page or two are missing."
Jay froze as her mom's eyes fell upon her in concern. She knew her daughter kept it in impeccable condition. "There's pages missing?"
"Mitchie took the song." Jay mumbled stuffing her face with more ice cream.
"What?" Connie was shocked with what Jay just said. "She stole your song? Why didn't you say anything earlier honey?"
"I didn't wanna make a big deal out of it. Plus, it was a work in progress. I only had a couple of lines written down." Jay tried to wave off the hurt she had felt initially but found it hard when both Shane and Connie were staring at her intently.
"What did you write?" Shane was curious. All the songs so far are vastly different and complete. He wondered if he could work on the incomplete one with her.
"Um... the chorus went like,
This is real, this is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I wanna be
This is me." Jay softly sang to the guitar tune in her head.
Shane's eyes widened in disbelief at the words she was singing. She was the girl he was looking for. The words were hers but the voice was Mitchie's. "Oh my God." He breathed out in awe while Connie clapped for her daughter.
"That was great honey. I can get Mitchie to give you your song back if you want?" Connie offered, she couldn't believe that Mitchie would do something like this. They always put her first, every day Jay worked hard and got them some extra money which almost always went to fulfilling Mitchie's demands. No more.
Jay shook her head, "It's okay. She already sang this in the class."
"You're the girl I've been looking for." Shane finally broke out of his trance like state.
"Excuse me?" Jay asked confused with what was happening. Connie's eyes widened as she understood what was happening and she made herself scarce quickly, leaving the cabin. She trusted her daughter to be alone with a boy.
Shane kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his, "The song that made me want to look for the girl with the voice? That was it."
Jay frowned at him and felt wary at the look in his eyes, she was not familiar with that look at all. "Mitchie was the one singing it though."
"Yes but it's your song, your words and emotions that won't leave my head!" Shane immediately spoke again, not wanting her to doubt anything at this point.
"Oh." Jay blinked unsure of what was happening right now. "Um... now what?"
Shane smiled softly at her confused expression and kissed her on the cheek, "Now, if you would allow me, I'd like to take you out on a proper date."
"I- Um sure." Jay cleared her throat and smiled at him. She was curious about him before Mitchie got his attention. "I don't like sharing my things though, so if this will happen." She gestured between them with narrowed eyes, "You should know that."
Shane blushed a little but nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's go find your mom." Jay then finally noticed her mom was missing.
She looked around confused, "When did she leave?"
Shane laughed.
The next morning, Jay walked into the dance room and went to her friends. She immediately told them, "I am sorry I didn't tell you guys Mitchie was my sister. She asked me to not let people know that but I never lied about having a sister so-"
Lola laughed a little and put her hands on her shoulders, "We're not mad at you Jay. We talked about it and you never did lie to us so we're good." Sanders, Barron, Erin, Judy, Andy and the others nodded in agreement.
"Oh thank god." Jay breathed out a sigh of relief and sat down with them.
"After you left yesterday, Tess looked like she was about to cry!" Sanders told her with an amused look on his face. "Nobody's ever stood up to her like that before and left her speechless. You go girl!"
He high fived her while the others laughed. Just like that, everything was back to normal.
Almost.
Mitchie walked in then, and everyone went quiet as they gave her distrustful looks.
"What a joke." Tess commented with a laugh before she walked away.
"It's like her voice grates on my nerves." Jay muttered to Lola who snorted at her words.
Mitchie sat down in the corner away from everybody, pulling her knees up to her chest to try and make herself look smaller. Jay felt for her, she was her sister after all, but Mitchie hadn't even apologized to their mom for what she had done or offered any sort of explanation, so she was getting the silent treatment from her.
The door opened to reveal Shane walking in.
"Hey guys." He spoke, "Have a seat."
Jay and her group of friends just turned to look at him, Jay giving him a wink when he locked eyes with her.
"So Final Jam is coming up and I know you're very excited." He started as he stood in front of everyone.
Everyone clapped and shouted their agreements.
"So here is some advice, something I realised when I came back here." He paused to look over at everyone trying to find the right words, before locking his eyes with Jay who gave him an encouraging smile. "It's not all about your image. None of it means anything unless people see who you really are. And your music has to be who you really are. It's gotta show how you feel or it doesn't mean anything."
Jay gave him a nod, showing she supported him in his new journey and he smiled at her before starting the dance lesson for the day.
After dinner, Connie went on a walk with Mitchie to clear things up. Jay asked her not to bring up the song Mitchie had stolen and very reluctantly Connie agreed.
Jay was sitting with her friends for lunch when Mitchie walked over, "Hey guys, can I sit with you?"
Jay shrugged when the others looked at her. Caitlyn spoke up for them all, "I guess. But you have to give me your cake."
"Deal." Mitchie smiled and sat down next to Caitlyn.
"You know." Barron commented, "Sitting with the kitchen help is really hurting my rep."
"What rep?" Jay immediately quipped back making Lola and Sanders laugh.
Tess loudly laughed and the noise echoed through the mess hall.
"Believe me." Caitlyn started, mostly looking at Mitchie, "It's probably not that funny."
"True that. My ears hurt." Jay dramatically rubbed her ears easing the tension at the table. That is until Tess stood up and walked over to them, looking at Mitchie with a superior expression on her face.
"The chicken was kinda dry." Tess spoke, a small smirk on her face. "Could you tell your mom to be just a little more careful?"
"This bitch." Jay muttered, about to get up and punch the girl in the nose but Mitchie slammed her hands on the table and spoke up before she could get out of Sander's hold.
"Tess." Mitchie walked over to the girl, "Stop talking to me like that. Stop talking to everyone like that. I may be the cooks daughter and my father may not be rich, but I'm a much better person than someone who feels good about herself because she makes everyone feel bad, and I'll take that any day."
Tess finally glanced at Jay's murderous expression and hurriedly made her exit with one last comment to Mitchie, "If it wasn't obvious, you're so out of the group."
Caitlyn walked up to Mitchie with a smile on her face, "Then we'll make our own group." Mitchie smiled at her in response.
"Calm down chica." Lola said to Jay who was still staring after where Tess went. Jay took a deep breath and turned away, stabbing at her food instead.
It was 5 days until the final jam and Shane took this chance of no classes to get to know Jay better. He took her out on walks, sat with her to just jam and had picnics. It was official.
He liked her.
A lot.
She wasn't like any other girls he had met. He loved that about her.
She didn't tell him what her performance during the Final Jam was going to be either. It would have been unfair if he already knew since he was going to be a judge at the event.
One day before the event, Caitlyn was flipping burger buns on a spatula while Mitchie was cooking bacon next to her. They were laughing and talking away with each other.
Jay was on the other side of the kitchen peeling potatoes and listening to music, lost in her own bubble.
"I'm sure they have it." Even through the earphones, Jay heard the voice of Tess and she looked up to see Tess with Brown approaching Mitchie and Caitlyn.
"Okay, she had officially lost it." Caitlyn scoffed as she turned to face Tess.
"No." Tess says with her arms crossed. "I didn't lose anything. You guys stole it."
Mitchie looked at them confused and asked, "What?"
"Whats going on here?" Connie asked walking over.
Brown sighed as he looked at Mitchie and Caitlyn, "Tess says that Mitchie and Caitlyn stole her charm bracelet."
"What?" The girls shouted in unison.
Connie defended the girls, "I'm sorry Brown, but these girls would never do such a thing."
"Look can we just settle this?" Brown calmed everyone down and offered.
"But-" Mitchie started to protest but Tess interrupted her quickly.
"I know it was her. She was lying all summer about who she is. Who knows what else she lied about?"
Connie looked angry and started speaking, "Now wait a minute-"
"Mom, don't." Mitchie stopped her and looked at Tess as if challenging her. "If she wants to look, let her. This is stupid."
"Okay." Brown cut in. "Look, let me just scope this out and then I'll have a quick look in your cabins."
"Fine."
"Whatever."
Brown starts to look around the kitchen looking for Tess' bracelet.
Mitchie starts speaking, "You're not going to find anything, because I didn't-" Her eyes fell upon the bracelet in question sitting under a cookbook on the counter. Brown took it out and Tess exclaimed, "That's it! That's my charm bracelet."
"There's gotta be some mistake." Connie shook her head not believing what was happening.
"Like what? I snuck into the kitchen and-"
"Tess." Brown cut her off and said, "I got this. Alright." He turned to face the two girls. "I'm totally wigged out."
"Yeah. So are we." Mitchie agreed, not knowing how the bracelet was off Tess' wrist in the first place.
"I'm not." Caitlyn commented staring Tess down, knowing she did this.
Brown sighed, looking down at the bracelet in his hand. "Well, rules are rules, and since this is the end of camp I have no choice. I got to bank you two fromt he rest of camp activities. Until the end of Final Jam."
"We didn't do anything." Mitchie protested vehemently. "She's lying."
"Do you have any proof?" He asked patiently.
"No-"
"Well then I'm sorry. My hands are tied." He hands Tess back her bracelet. "Until the end of Final Jam."
He handed Tess back her bracelet and left, with Connie following after him hoping to change his mind. Tess gave the two girls a smug smile and left soon after.
Jay groaned in annoyance, "Why do teenagers love causing drama?" She asked absolutely nobody.
On the day of Final Jam, Jay waited with her friends for the lineup for the event. Brown had barely pinned it up before the kids were crowding the sheet to look at the sheet of paper.
In Shane's cabin, his brother's surprised him by popping in earlier.
Jason asked with a curious look on his face, "So where's this amazing singer you've been looking for?"
Shane blushed bright red at being caught out by his older brother, "I- uh found her. She's performing tonight."
"Oooh." Jason teased him walking after Nate to tell him what he just found.
In the makeshift camp theatre, Brown jogged up the stage as all the campers cheer and clap for him. He asked once he was facing everybody, "Okay, who's stoked?"
The cheers got louder for a second before he silenced them with a wave of his hand. "Okay campers, friends, family, camp rock bands, this is it. The night music history will be made as Camp Rock finds a new Final Jam winner!"
Everyone cheered again but Brown silenced them, again. "This year, the Final Jam winner will not only get a Camp Rock trophy, and a big one might I add. He or she is going to get a sweet prize, a chance to record with my nephew, pop star Shane Gray!"
Shane stood, waving at the audience who cheered for him before he sat back down.
"To make sure the gith camper is chosen, we've invited the other members of Connect 3 to be judging, yeah!"
Nate and Jason stand and wave, like Shane did before sitting back down.
"Okay." Brown spoke once the crowd fell silent, "Put your hands together for Barron James, Sander Loyer and the Hasta La Vista Crew!"
The crowd cheered as the lights moved to reveal a bunch of trampolines on the stage.
Everyone cheered as they finish, standing up and clapping for the group. Brown ran back on the stage as they left, "Oh my god, weren't they amazing?" The audience cheered in response. "Okay, let's give it up for a group that has the it factor, whatever it is, the It Girls!"
Tess waited for her cue on the side, surprised and excited to see her mom in the crowd.
The crowd gasped as Tess almost fell off the stage, being caught by one of the back up dancers. She looked up to see her mother on the phone instead of watching her. Feeling her eyes water, she ran off the stage, sitting in a corner and softly crying.
It was silent in the hall when Brown came out again, "Well, we've got one more performance. Please welcome on stage, Jay Torres!"
Those who knew Jay smiled and clapped for her, eagerly waiting for her performance to start. Shane nudged his brothers as he sat forward excitedly, "That's her. That's the girl I was talking about." His brothers shared an amused look and looked at the stage with expectant expressions on their faces.
Andy (drums), Max (piano) and Sam (guitar) were handling the instruments as Jay performed.
Jay was nervous as she looked at the large crowd but then she found her rhythm.
The cheer was so loud that Jay thought she was going to go deaf. She waved at both her parents who came to see her and then at Shane who was grinning at her.
Once everyone was clear of the stage, Brown walked over and started speaking, "Well that was incredible. We're basically finishe-" He was cut off by Dee walking up to him and handing him a paper.
"Put it on pause." He announced and said, "It looks like we have a last minute addition. Come on up, Margaret Dupree."
"Who's Margaret?" Ella questioned behind the stage.
"I am." Peggy stated as she walked up, holding a guitar in her hand.
Ella squealed, holding Peggy's arm. "Go Margaret!" Taking a deep breath, Peggy stepped onto the stage.
The audience cheered as Peggy held the last note. She laughs and walks off the stage, meeting the smiling face of Ella. She hugged the girl excitedly.
A voice called her name, Peggy turned to see Tess standing there. "What?"
"You were really good. I didn't know you were that good and when someone's that good, someone should tell them."
Peggy smiled, "Thanks."
"And I'm sorry." Tess continued. Peggy just smiled sadly in response and walked past her, Ella following behind her.
Brown walked back on stage, greeted with the applause still going on from Peggy's performance. "Wow!" He exclaimed to the crowd. "She was amazing right? I know, I know." He waves his hands trying to silence the crowd.
"Alright, alright, settle down." They finally settle and wait for Brown to speak. "Whoo, 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."
The Gray brothers stand up and make their way towards the back of the camp theatre.
"So." Brown announced, "We'll check with you in a minute."
As he said that, a very dramatic sound echoed in the room and he confusedly said, "Excuse me." He ran off to the side of the stage and is met with the expectant faces of Caitlyn and Mitchie looking at him pleadingly.
"It's the end of Final Jam." Mitchie says to him as he sees them.
"I was so hoping you would catch on." He said to them making them smile. "Now go out there, and steal their hearts and rock it poppet." Mitchie laughed at his statement as he left to see how the judges were progressing.
"Okay." Caitlyn squeezed Mitchie's arm before leaving to go play the song. Taking a deep breath, Mitchie walked out on the stage when Caitlyn played the music.
Shane was shocked when the familiar lyrics played in the background, this was Jay's song. That would mean this was Mitchie singing. How could she continue to sing the same stolen song after what she had done?
Jay gasped, hearing the lyrics she had wrote be sung on stage. She went to the side and watched Mitchie sing her heart out with stolen words. With each note, she felt her resolve to patch things up with her sister break.
Connie grasped Steve's hand as she told him, "This is Jay's song. Mitchie stole it, Steve." Both parents looked at their youngest in concern, and trying to spot their oldest to see if she needed them.
Once she was done with the song, Mitchie giddily made her way over to Caitlyn who hugged her. She was congratulated by all her friends, except for Jay. She wanted nothing to do with Mitchie for now.
"Okay gang!" Brown spoke addressing the crowd as he stood with Shane and Dee on the stage. "This is it. The winner of Final Jam this year is, drumroll please."
The drummer begins to tap his drumsticks in a drumroll fashion on his drum.
"Margaret Dupree!"
The audience bursts into cheers, clapping and shouting for Peggy while said girl stood backstage with a shocked look on her face.
"You won!" Mitchie exclaimed putting her hands on Peggy's shoulders snapping her out of her shock.
"You gotta go!" Ella slightly nudged her ahead. She stepped onto the stage to accept her trophy, giving Brown a hug before Dee handed her the trophy.
She held it up with a smile as everyone cheered for her.
"Way to go Margaret!" Brown said to Peggy. "You just got yourself a chance to record with Shane Gray."
Peggy looked at Shane excited as everyone clapped for her backstage.
"Congratulations Peggy. You deserve it." Shane said to her genuinely happy for her. She had the most emotion in her music out of all the contestants, and it takes a lot of courage to show that emotion through music. "You were amazing!"
Jay walked down the stairs backstage where she bumped into her parents.
"Dad!" Jay squealed hugging him. He lifted her up and swung her around.
"Honey you were fabulous!" He said to her and Connie instantly agreed.
"Thank you guys. This was an amazing summer." She spoke earnestly, and Connie couldn't help but hug her. Steve joined in and squeezed them both. "I love you both."
"We'll see you in a few okay?" Connie told her as they left to find Mitchie.
Shane came down the stairs to see Jay's parents walking away from her. "So, what does a guy have to do to get a kiss around here?"
Jay jumped, much like the first time they met and turned to him, slapping him arm. "Don't scare me like that!"
Shane laughed at her but then he spoke, grabbing her hands, "I'm sorry you didn't win."
Jay smiled and gave a shrug, "Peggy was amazing. She deserved that award."
"True, but she doesn't get to call Shane Gray her boyfriend. If you'll have me that is?" He nervously asked her hoping she would say yes.
Jay grinned and leaned up, giving him a soft kiss on the lips, "I would love to call you my boyfriend." Then she teased him as they walked out of the theatre, "After you get a haircut of course."
Shane huffed in amusement at her words but trailed after her, glad he come to Camp Rock this summer.