Archive of Our Own

“Andy! Up! Last day of school!”

Andy sighs at the thought of leaving her warm, comfy bed before she remembers what lies ahead; summer. She can feel the excitement creeping up as she stretches and pushes her cd, labeled Andy’s songs, into her computer.

Andy throws the blankets off and jumps out of bed as her newest song “who will I be” starts playing. She opens her window blinds and smiles out at the yard. 

What a beautiful day.

Sitting in front of her mirror, Andy starts to play with her hair. She tries a side pony and considers it for a second before deciding against it. She then pulls her hair up in pigtails and whip her head back and forth, smiling at her antics. Finally, Andy piles it all on top of her head and thinks before simply letting it down and brushing it. 

She looks around at her walls. They’re covered in different posters, one of which is of the boyband Connect 3. Andy opens her closet and smiles just thinking of all the possibilities. 

The first outfit she tries is a dress covered in green, yellow, and blue polka dots. She poses in front of her mirror with her hands on her hips. 

Cute but not right. 

The next outfit Andy tries is a red shirt, jeans and a red pleather cap. She strikes another pose. 

That’s not it either. 

Finally, she puts on her favorite purple top and a pair of jeans. She crosses her arms with a smile and nods. 

That’s the one. 

Andy falls back on her bed and grabs her yellow notebook, labelled Andy’s songs. She opens to the most recent entry and reads over the lyrics with a smile before hugging it tightly to her chest. She lies there for a moment longer before jumping back up to play around on her keyboard. She jams out a bit before deciding that it’s time to accesorize. 

Sitting back at her vanity, Andy poses in front of her mirror with her first choice of sunglasses. They’re a brown tinted oval pair. She shakes her head and pulls them off to reveal a second pair. These ones are silver with a thinner, more square oval shape to them. She thinks for a minute and poses before pulling them off to reveal a third pair. This pair is shaped like tiny, dark circles. She makes a face.

Absolutely not. I look like I would be a middle aged, bald man working in the fashion industry. 

Andy takes  them off, deciding sunglasses aren’t in the cards for today, and jumps back up. She grabs her guitar and rocks out a little more before putting it away and grabbing her backpack. She grabs her song book and purse before opening her door. Andy looks back into her room for a bit longer with a huge smile gracing her face and heads downstairs for breakfast. 

Andy is sitting at the table, eating her breakfast when her mom, Connie, walks in. She smiles and points at the TV.

“Oh cool, Hot Tunes is on! Turn it up please.”

Connie turns it up right as the announcer begins to speak.

“The pop star phenom, Nate Gray, may have gone too far this time when he stormed off the set of the new Connect 3 video. Word is the other members of Connect 3 are fed up. This final stunt cost his label thousands of dollars but may cost them the rest of their record deal.”

Connie turns to face Andy, “What is wrong with that boy? He’s got everything”

Andy scoffs, “except a clue.”

The announcer continues, “The message is clear. He needs to clean up his act. And to give him time to do it, the Connect 3’s summer tour has been cancelled.”

Connie shrugs and shuts off the tv before holding up a paper brochure, “Look what I found in the crisper. A Camp Rock brochure. Or should I say another Camp Rock brochure.”

Andy tries (and fails horribly) to hide the huge smile on her face, “Hmm, look at that! Oh, and great cheese omelet by the way. You should totally add that to your catering menu.”

Connie sips on her coffee, “So you have no idea how this brochure got in there? Or the one taped to the vacuum cleaner?” 

Andy shrugs sheepishly but her smile instantly drops when Connie  gently grabs her hand and begins to speak again, “Sweetie, I know you wanna go to this camp. And I’m sorry, but we just can’t swing it right now. With dad expanding the store, and my catering business just talking off…”

Andy looks down at the table, devastated.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry.”

“I know. I gotta go. Last day of school. Don’t want to be late.”

Andy stands and walks away, leaving her dishes and her mom at the table. 

Andy opens her locker, pulling out multiple Camp Rock brochures and throwing them into the trash can located directly in front of the locker next to hers for some god damn reason. 

Her friend happily walks up to her, “Hey Andy!”

She turns and smiles at him, “Hey, Doug.”

He nods enthuseiastically, “Guess who got an A+ in AP Mandarin? Me. Again. So how’d it go this morning?”

“It didn’t. Camp Rock is a no-go.”

“But you have to go. Camp Rock is like the music camp. Anybody who wants to be somebody in music…” He trails off noticing the defeated look on Andy’s face. “All of which you know already. Sorry.”

Andy scoffs, “Me too. I was just so excited to have a summer that was all about music. And-”

Doug nods, “I know. So what are you going to do this summer?”

Andy shrugs and mournefully looks at the floor. 

Andy walks into her backyard, trying to keep her eyes on the floor as she passes her parents who are currently cooking dinner on the grill. 

Andy’s dad, Steve, looks up, “How was work?’

Andy places her backpack on the glass table and mockngly motions with her hands, “You know Barney’s. We serve burgers with a big barney’s smile.”

Steve smiles at Connie and tilts his head in the direction of Andy’s still turned back.

“So what’s for dinner?”

“Burgers.”

Connie quickly adds, “well our world famous Sachs burger.”

Andy closes her eyes, “um… I’ll pass”

“Okay, I can’t stand it. Tell her.”

“Well, Steve, she just got home.”

Andy turns, “tell me what?”

Her parents look at each other and smile. 

“Okay, honey. Drumroll.”

“Mom?”

Connie grins, “Okay. You’re going to Camp Rock!”

Andy’s face lights up, “What?”

“She said you’re going to Camp Rock!”

“Well, actually, we’re going. Connie’s catering is going camping! Business is slow in the summer, this is a steady job, and you get to go to camp at a discounted rate!”

Andy screams.

“But you have to help out in the kitchen.”

“Thank you! Thank you, like, a million times!” 

Andy runs to her parents and hugs them both.

Connie and Andy drive the catering van into the camp. People are everywhere, holding their bags and instruments. Some are socalizing, some are singing. One boy is hitting his drumsticks against the side of a bus. A man gets out of a limo and goes to open the door. 

Andy is practically bouncing out of her seat, grinning ear to ear, as she leans forward and looks out the window, “We’re here!” 

Connie smiles, “Yeah! Are you excited?”

“A little… Okay, a lot! Yes! Major! Thank you mom. I’m gonna have so much fun.”

Andy’s face changes to one of awe as she sees a man open the backdoor of a limo. 

“Woah.”

A girl steps out. The wind blows through her auburn hair, the sun illuminating her blue eyes and revealing her light freckles.

“Woah.”

Connie and Andy walk into their cabin and look around, “Okay. Sweetie, let’s get settled in.”

Andy quickly throws her stuff on her bed, “Settled.”

A stylish man walks in and holds his hand out to Connie, “That’s great. Nigel Kipling. Camp director/founding member and bass guitar of the White Crows. And you must be Connie Sachs, our new cook.”

Connie smiles and shakes his hand, “that’s me. And this is my daughter.”

Connie turns just as the door swings shut, no Andy in sight, “Who’s already gone.”

“No worries. She probably just wanted to get out there, get to it, you know what I mean? When the music calls, you got to answer.”

Andy walks through a crowd of campers towards the camp stage. Smiling as she looks around at everyone. One boy is playing guitar while another hits people’s suitcases with his drumsticks. She continues walking backwards, not noticing the girl behind her until it’s too late. 

Andy turns and sees that it’s the girl from the limo earlier. She has to look up slightly to see her face due to their height difference,  “Sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t see you.”

The girl looks her up and down with a scoff, her annoyance making her accent come out stronger than it usually would, “obviously.”

Andy makes a face as she watches her walk away, stepping backwards and nearly running into a second girl.

The girl lightly touches Andy’s back to stop her and smiles, “That’s Emily Charlton, the diva of Camp Rock.”

“Is she really good?”

“She’s good at trying too hard to be good.” The girl puts her hands up, “Understandable, ‘cause her mom’s Miranda Preistly.”

Andy’s jaw drops, “The Miranda Preistly? She’s got like a trillion Grammys.”

“A trillion and one, I think.” She holds her hand out, “Hi, I’m Lily. Camper today, top-selling music producer tomorrow. Check me out.” Lily plays a couple beats on her computer.

“Cool! I’m Andy.”

“Hi.”

Just then a lady excitedly runs up the stage, “Hi, gang! I’m Dee La Duke, the musical director here at Camp Rock.”

Everyone turns and in unison says, “Hi, Dee.”

“Here at Camp Rock we sing. So let’s hear that again.”

Everyone sings, “Hi, Dee.” 

“Sounds good. A little pitchy in places, but we’ll fix that by the Final Jam.”

Two boys hop on the stage and start beatboxing and rapping, “Hey! We’re here to rock it out. At least I know I am. We plan to be the winners onstage at Final Jam. Holler! Holler! Put your hands up! Hey, Hey, come on everybody. Get your hands up!”

Dee dances along with them for a bit before interrupting, “Okay, okay. Settle down. You’re having too much fun.”

The boys hop down and Dee continues, “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. Holler! And figure out who you want to be as artists, but most of all have fun!”

Everyone claps and cheers.

Dee points at the kid with the drumsticks, “And drum roll, please.”

He runs up and drums on the stage for a bit before she continues, “For the first time, we’re gonna be joined at camp by a very special celebrity instructor!”

Nate sits in the back of a car with the other two members of Connect 3, “I don’t want to waste my summer at some camp. I’m Nate Gray, for crying out loud!”

Christian leans forward, “Hey, man, we used to love this place. Three years ago we were campers.”

Jason joins in, “Yeah, man, this is where Connect 3 connected.”

“And you get to see your Uncle Brown.”

Nate scoffs, “not a selling point.”

Christian raises his eyebrows, “Look, man, right now you’re the bad boy to the press. And the label has a problem with that. Which means we have a problem with that.”

Jason shrugs, “Actually, I dont really have a problem with that.”

Christian looks at him sternly.

Jason looks at him then turns back to Nate and points, “We have a problem with that.”

“This camp thing is supposed to fix it. It’s good P.R. So do your time. Enjoy the fresh air. Get a tan.” 

“Oh, and can you make me a birdhouse or something?”

Nate shakes his head angrily, “one word, payback.”

Jason holds up two fingers, “that’s two words.”

Nate gets out of the car and slams the door.

Christian leans toward the open window and quickly adds, “by the way, we told the press you’d be recording a duet with the winner of the Final Jam.”

“WHAT?”

Andy stands at the kitchen counter shaping ground beef into burger patties. 

Connie looks over, “I hear there’s an open mic tonight.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you gonna sing?”

Andy shakes in her head, “In front of all those people? No way.”

“Sweetie, I hear you in your room. You’re really good. Mom’s honor. And if you’re nervous, so what? Everyone is nervous. That’s why I’m making so much food. ‘Cause people eat when they’re nervous”

“Not me. I don’t think I can eat another burger ever.”

Connie smiles, “Okay. Why don’t you go take the trash out to the dumpster and then set up in the mess hall? I’ll finish up here.”

Andy walks outside, carrying two garbage bags. She is passing by a cabin when she hears voices coming from inside. She stops to listen.

“You think you’re hot but I’m sorry you’re not exactly who you think you are. Can’t tell you what that you havent got but when we walk into the room-”

Andy sneaks up to the cabin.

“Once again from the top, girls.”

She looks through the window and sees that it’s Emily dancing along with two other girls. Emily is in front, obviously leading, while the other girls stand in the back bouncing their legs, one hand on their hips, and singing backup.

“You think you’re hot but I’m sorry you’re not exactly who you are. Can’t tell you what that you haven’t got but when we walk into the room-”

Emily sighs and turns exasperated. Andy quickly ducks.

 “Work with me here, people!”

One of the girls, a blonde with glasses, shouts back, her voice laced with a Brazilian accent, “Hello? We’re trying, but you-”

“If we want to win, you guys have to listen to me. Let’s go again.”

They begin their song again. Andy keeps her ear to the door for a second longer before slowly sneaking away from the cabin.

Andy walks around the mess hall, placing dishes on the tables. She turns and sees a piano. After quickly looking to make sure no one is around, Andy grabs her song book out of her pocket and walks over to the piano.

Emily huffs as her group messes up the song yet again. She takes a deep breath and starts to lightly tap her face as an attempt to calm herself.

They’re just small mistakes… 

Emily presses her hands to her eyes as her thoughts take over.

It has to be perfect if I want to win that duet with Nate Gray. Mum would be so proud…

She takes one more deep breath and turns to Serena and Ella, “That’s enough for now. I am going to take a walk.”

Nate walks past a tree, phone to his ear, “Come on, guys. I learned my lesson. I showered in cold water, I have looked at a tree. It’s been three hours. I need hair product.” 

Christian chuckles, “I guess it’s time to embrace the natural look.”

Jason shakes his head, “Oh have fun.”

Christian flips the phone shut.

Nate sighs and flips his phone shut as he walks past a staircase. A bunch of girls sitting on the stairs jump up when they see him.

One girl squeals, “There he is!”

Nate quickly starts running away from the squealing teens chasing him. He sharply takes a corner and hides behind a tree outside the mess hall.

The girls look around frantically, “where’d he go?”

The girls run off and Nate is about to get up and leave when he hears singing from inside the mess hall.

“Do you know what it’s like to feel so in the dark? To dream about a life where you’re the shining star?”

Woah. Who is that?

Emily strolls around camp, pausing by the mess hall to send her mom a fifth unanswered camp update.

I guess she has a lot of work today.

She checks her messages one last time and is about to continue walking when she hears a soft voice coming from the hall.

“Even though it seems like it’s too far away, I have to believe in myself. It’s the only way”

Wow. She sounds like an angel. I bet she’s beautiful.

Emily shakes her head, as if trying to rid her brain of those thoughts.

Bloody hell, Emily. Mum already barely glances at you. Imagine how she’d act if you were a homosexual.

Andy sits at the mess hall piano, gently pressing the keys and singing softly, “This is real, this is me. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be now. Gonna let the let shine on me. Now I’ve found who I am. There’s no way to hold it in.”

Andy continues to sing, blissfully unaware of the two pairs of ears intently listening outside. She finishes with a smile and walks out of the room.

Emily stands for a moment longer, considering her options.

One look can’t hurt. 

She walks up to the window and stares into the empty room. A disappointed look crosses her face before she quickly shakes it off, walking away just as Nate enters the room.

“Hello? Hello?”

He walks to the piano and rests his hand on it, “who’s in here?”

Andy walks into her cabin, song book clutched at her side.

Connie looks up from her spot on her bed, “There you are, sweetie. I’ve got all the food set up, so you, princess, are free.”

Andy sits on her bed and starts digging through her bed, “Got to find something to wear.”

“Honey, it’s camp. It’s not a fashion show.”

Andy stands and walks towards the dresser, “Have you seen these kids? They have a lot. My usual is not going to cut it.”

“Oh, I think you look cute, in a non-mom way.”

Andy gives her a look before turning back to the dresser and pulling out a green top, “This. This is safe.”

“It’s also mine. Honey, wear your own clothes. You’ll be fine. Be yourself.” 

Connie pauses and looks at the earrings Andy is putting on, “Oh those are cute.”

Andy walks into the mess hall and through the crowd of chatting campers until she sees Lily, “Hey, Lily!”

“Hey, Andy. This is Lola. Lola, Andy.”

Lola smiles, “So, is this your first year?”

Andy’s lips pull up into a huge, slightly nervous smile, “Yeah. Any advice?”

“You’re gonna love it here. And this year, I hear the food is supposed to be better.”

“Let’s hope.”

The three of them smile at each other before Dee’s voice booms across the room, “Hey, Camp Rockers! Next up, let’s have a big Camp Rock welcome for Lola Scott!”

Everyone claps as Lola begins to make her way up, “Wish me luck!”

Two girls follow her up. They stand with their backs turned until the music begins.

Lola whips around, “Who’s got what it takes to be my guy? What it takes to make me shine? What it takes to get me fired up?”

Lola walks around the room as she performs. Multiple other campers join in dancing while the rest watch excitedly. She sits on a table and crosses her legs as the song comes to an end. The room erupts in cheers and clapping.

Andy turns to Lily with a huge smile on her face, “Wow! She’s amazing!”

“Yeah, she should be. Her mom’s on Broadway.”

“Broadway? Wow!”

“Yeah, but the kids around here don’t care about that. It’s all about the bling. That’s why Emily over there runs the camp.” Lily turns and sees Emily is making her way over with Serena and Ella trailing behind her. She turns back to Andy, “Great. Something wicked this way comes.”

Emily taps Lily’s shoulder, “Hey, Lily. Your folks still wowing them on the cruise ship?”

Andy stares, the nerves evident on her face. Wow. That accent….

Lily gives a faux polite smile, “Actually, they work in-”

Andy interrupts with a huge grin, “Hi, I’m Andy. Well, Andrea but everyone calls me Andy”

Emily looks her up and down, “Oh, hi. I’m Emily Charlton.”

Andy’s smile somehow manages to get wider, “I know. Wow, I love your mom.”

“Of course you do.”

Andy looks over at the other girls, “I’m Andy Sachs.”

Serena smiles, “Hey, is your dad Nicky Torres, the composer? My dad staged one of his shows.”

“No.”

Ella jumps in, “So what does he do?”

“He owns a hardware store.”

The three girls' faces immediately turn disinterested and they begin to walk away.

Andy freezes for a second before suddenly interjecting, “But my mom…”

The girls turn back around and Emily takes a step closer, “yeah?”

“The president of Hot Tunes TV… in China. Yeah, it’s a huge market over there.”

Emily’s lips turn up slightly, “Wow. Cool”

“So cool.”

Serena nods excitedly, “Major cool! Okay, so have you met anybody?”

Andy smiles, “Yeah, like everybody. Last summer I was in like three music videos. Yeah, but I mean you could hardly see me. I was in the back.”

“Wow.”

Emily looks at Ella and then Serena with a slight smirk, “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Of course.”

“Absolutely.” Ella nods along then pauses and turns, “What are we thinking?”

Emily rolls her eyes before looking over at Andy, “There’s an extra bed in our cabin. It’s yours if you want it.”

Andy smiles excitedly, “really?!”

“Totally. We’re gonna be great friends. Come on, sit with us in the VIP section.” 

The girls turn and begin to walk away. Andy follows with a huge grin on her face, looking eerily similar to a puppy that just got adopted. 

Lily stands awkwardly, watching them walk away, “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

Connie is flipping through a cookbook when Andy walks in, “can you believe not one of the cookbooks has a recipe for chili for 300?”

Andy grabs her bag and guitar case off her bed and starts walking over, “You don’t need a recipe. Everyone loves your food. It’s official.”

“Really?”

“Camper’s honor.”

“So, how was Opening Night Jam? Did you sing?”

“No. But I met some girls, and they want me to move into their cabin. And I know I have to help in the kitchen but I’ll just get up earlier and meet you here.”

“Sweetie, of course you can move into the cabin. It’ll be fine. I got to get back to these cookbooks ‘cause I got a rep to protect.”

Andy grins and walks out.

Emily sits on her bed, holding a Miranda Preistly poster in one hand and using her other to hold her phone to her ear. She taps her finger against her phone impatiently while Serena plays guitar in the background.

Emily turns to her, clearly fruasterated, “Serena! Could you please stop that? I can’t hear.”

Serena sighs and stops strumming.

Ella runs over to Serena’s bed, holding two identical bottles of nail polish, “Guys. Which color?”

Serena furrows her eyebrows, “Ella, they’re exactly the same.”

“So you see my dilemma!”

A smile of unadulterated joy spreads across Emily’s face as her call finally gets picked up, “Mum? Hey. Yeah. Yeah, I’m totally settled in. Guess what? Nate Gray is-”

Miranda says something and Emily’s smile immediately drops, “Yeah. Yeah, you can totally call me back. Love you too. Have a good concert.”

Emily flips her phone shut, trying to hide the sudden moisture in her eyes, “As usual.”

Ella gives her a concerned look, “What, Emily?”

Suddenly Andy bursts through the door, “Hey guys!”

“Hey, Andy.”

Andy stops next to Emily, “So, which bed is mine?”

Emily looks at the beds and without hesitation points at the one right next to hers, despite that being Serena’s bed, “That one.”

Serena looks shocked, “But-”

“Serena doesn’t mind. Do you?”

Serena looks down and shakes her head, “I guess not.”

Serena gets up as Emily leads Andy over to her bed, “One bag? You can’t possibly have all your clothes in there.”

Andy sets her bag down and opens it, “Right. Well I threw a lot of my clothes away. Yeah, I just got tired of them.”

Emily pulls a skirt out of her bag, “And you kept this?” God is this her grandmother’s?

“Yeah, well, it came from China. A little boutique called happy summer.”

Serena and Ella look at each other, “Wow” “Totally wow.”

“Yeah, that store is the bomb.”

Andy turns to Emily, “Wow! Really cool bracelet!”

Emily holds out her arm with a smug look, “It’s from my mom. Every time she wins a Grammy, she adds a charm.”

“Love it. Totally blingalicious.” girl what

Andy wakes to her alarm and pulls it out from under her blanket, setting it on her and Emily’s shared nightstand. She gets out of bed as quietly as possible, stopping for a moment to scan Emily’s sleeping face, completely stripped of all her defenses. She looks so peaceful. Andy looks up at Emily’s side of the wall. Letter blocks spelling her name sit directly next to a small photo of Paris above her bed while the rest of the wall is littered with posters of Miranda Preistly. Andy feels a pang in her chest looking at the evidence of how much love Emily actually has behind her heavy defenses. Andy gives her one last glance before she slowly continues walking backwards.

She’s almost made it to the door when Ella stirs, “What the…Andy?”

Andy crouches down next to her and whispers, “You’re dreaming. You’re a rock princess.”

“Okay. I rock.”

Andy quickly escapes the room as Ella falls back asleep

Emily wakes a while later and rolls over, expecting to see Andy in the bed next to her. Her eyebrows furrow as she sees the empty bed. She rubs her face tiredly, trying to brush off the slight pang of disappointment.

God, Emily. Why do you care whether or not she’s there?

Emily looks at her posters and sighs before sitting up and stretching.

Andy walks out of the kitchen and sees campers walking around. She freezes and panics for a second before quickly turning around and walking back into the kitchen. She quickly walks out the back door and runs around to the crowd of campers walking in, acting like she was coming from anywhere else.

Andy walks into the room and is immediately spotted and waved over by a guy walking with Lola, “Hey! Plenty of room over here, mi amore.” 

Lola rolls her eyes, “Yuck. You’re gonna chase her away.”

“As usual.”

Lily smiles as Andy sits next to her, “Good morning.”

“Hey, guys. What’s up?”

“Slumming, I see.”

“What?”

Emily walks past, Serena and Ella trailing behind, “Hey, Andrea. Over here.”

Lily looks over as Emily sits a couple tables away, “You better go. The queen awaits.”

Andy stands but before she can walk away Lily stands up, “Your music. Are you any good?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Kind of.”

“Word of advice. You wanna be friends with Emily, don’t be.”

Andy stares at her. What does that even mean?

Emily looks back at the two of them and motions towards the table with her head, “Andrea.”

Lily looks at Andy as she glances between the two of them, “See you around.”

Andy looks conflicted for a second before she walks over and sits down next to Emily with a smile.

Emily immediately turns to her, her face extremely serious, “What happened to you this morning?” Incredibly smooth.

Andy freezes before shrugging, “early riser. Yum! Toast!” 

Emily watches her, mouth agape, as she takes an aggressive bite of the slice of toast.

Nigel stands over Nate’s bed, “Rise and shine, superstar.”

Nate immediately rolls back over. 

“Don’t make me do this Nate.” 

“Go away.”

Nigel pauses for a moment then shrugs and pours a vase of water on him.

Nate shoots up, “Hey!”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m up, okay? I’m up”

“Alright. We’ve both got classes to teach. Yours starts in five.”

Nigel begins to walk out before pausing at the door and grinning, “And you might wanna put that mattress out in the sun. It’s the only one you’re gonna get.

Nigel walks into the classroom and smiles as he sees the campers dancing around and playing instruments.

Andy, Emily, Serena, and Ella sit at the front rhythmically clapping along. Emily briefly glances at Andy with the slightest smile turning back before she notices.

Nigel gets to the front of the classroom and raises his hands, “Whoa! If the class is a-rocking, I’m-a glad I came knocking.”

Everyone settles down as Nigel continues, “So, lets hear what I’m working with this year. Who wants to sing first?”

Nearly everyone raises their hands.

Nigel, of course, chooses one of the only people not raising their hand.

Andy lets out a breath of relief when she isn’t picked.

The girl that is chosen makes her way to the front of the classroom, introduces herself and begins to sing very quietly.

Nigel interrupts almost immediately, “Alright. I know you’re singing a solo, but it’s so low, I can’t hear you.”

Andy, Emily, Serena and Ella walk back from class. Andy and Emily walk side by side in the front while the other two trail behind. 

Emily turns to Andy, “So, I’ve been thinking, and you have to sing with us in Final Jam. Your vocals in the background would be, like, amazing. And we never let people in our group. But you? A must. So you want in?”

Andy smiles apolagetically, “Well, I was thinking about singing solo for Final Jam.”

“Solo in your first Final Jam? That’s brave.”

Serena gives Andy a reassuring look, “You’ll be fine.”

Emily looks over, putting on her best concerned voice, “Well, of course she’ll be fine. It’s just that, I know how nervous I get.”

“Well, I’m sure I’ll be nervous at first, but-”

“In front of all those people, but, yeah, you’ll be fine. You’ve done it before.”

Andy pauses, “done what before?”

“You’ve never sang in front of an audience?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, choir. I mean, I was never lead or anything, and I was sort of in the back, but it’s still an audience.”

Serena and Ella give each other a look.

Emily raises an eyebrow, “Wow. You are brave. Come on, girls. Let’s get started.”

Andy watches them start to walk away before she suddenly speaks up, “Well, maybe a group would be better.”

The girls turn back, “if you think so”

“Yeah. No, it’ll be fun. I want to.”

Emily looks at her, “If you’re sure.”

“I’m totally sure. I gotta run.”

“Where?”

Andy smiles, trying to brush it off, “No. I mean, I got to call my mom. China time!”

Andy runs into the kitchen, nearly knocking a container of cupcakes out of Connie’s arms, “Sorry. I’m late.”

“Oh. That’s ok, honey. The last batch of cookies is in the oven. You can start cleaning up. I’m gonna take these down to the storage room.”

Andy turns and kneels on the ground to grab something just as Nate walks in, “Hello?”

She panics and puts a hat on before throwing flour in her face and standing up, “hi.”

“Do you work here?”

“Yes.”

Nate stares at her for a second, “Wow. You really get into your work. I’m Nate. But I’m sure even the kitchen help knows that.”

Andy smiles, “Of course. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Actually, it's not so nice. See, my manager said he sent over my food allergy list, but since I couldn’t even go near my breakfast this morning… Can I just talk to whoever’s in charge?”

Andy scoffs, “excuse me?”

“What?”

“Well, you’re being kind of a jerk.”

“And you are?”

“A person! And there’s a way to talk to a person and that’s not it.”

Nate backs up slightly, clearly taken aback, “well, I’ll have my manager send it over again.”

“Fine.”

He begins to walk away before Andy clears her throat dramatically. He turns back, “thank you?”

Andy grins and nods, “much better.”

Andy rushes into the dance classroom, multiple campers are already there warming up. She runs across the room, sitting on the floor beside Emily, who is mid-instruction, “Okay, you guys. Remember, when he gets here, act cool.”

Andy looks between the three other girls, “wait, when who gets here?”

They all stand up, Andy follows quickly. 

“Nate.”

“Wait, he’s teaching this class?”

All three girls nod in response.

“Great.”

Ella furrows her eyebrows, “wait is that flour in your hair?”

She starts picking it out of her hair as Andy rushes to explain, “No. No, it’s Chinese body powder. Pretty cool, huh?”

Suddenly Nate walks through the door, “grab a mic and a hat. Follow me if you can.”

Everyone rushes to grab the items and get into formation as Nate puts a cd in the player, “hurry.”

The music starts and Nate starts dancing. Everyone watches for a little before they all jump in, attempting to copy his moves.

They all dance for a while until the drummer boy, Alex accidentally stumbles into Emily and falls on the ground.

Emily crosses her arms and looks down at him, “talk about dancing to the beat of a different drum.”

Nate scoffs before looking down at Alex, “you any good on the drums?”

He immediately pulls drumsticks out of his pocket and drums against the floorboards.

When he finishes, Nate smiles, “Man, you’re a drummer, dude. The drummer controls the beat. The rhythm’s in your hands.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Now we just have to work on getting that beat from those sticks to those feet.”

Andy and Emily stand side by side as they fill their cups from the trumpet shaped juice dispensers.

Emily turns to her, trying to act casual, “where were you this morning?” I’m just a curious pal. This is normal. She has no reason to think otherwise.”

Andy looks around, trying to quickly come up with an excuse, and notices Connie walking towards them, “Oh no.”

“Hi girls.”

“Hi.”

Andy turns slightly and glances at her, “Hi. So yummy breakfast.”

“Oh. How would you know? There’s hardly anything on your plate.”

Emily raises her eyebrows and looks at Connie, “Morning carbs? Definite no-no.”

Andy nods, “Yeah.”

“Well, I just wanted to meet Andy’s new friends.”

Connie reaches her hand out to each girl as Andy introduces them, “This is Ella, Serena, and Emily.”

Connie gives Andy a look, sensing the tension, “Well, I see you girls are really busy, so I’ll talk to you later.”

Emily turns to Andy as Connie walks away, “Do you know her?”

Andy shrugs, “Yeah, don’t you? She’s cooked for everybody. From Jessica and Nick pre-breakup to Pharrell.”

Ella smiles, “Really?”

“Yeah, I’m shocked the camp even got her.”

Ella pokes at her eggs, “You mean, Jessica ate these eggs?” She smiles and digs in.

Andy gives her a slightly scared look, “yeah.”

Andy is poking potato chunks and setting them on a pan when Connie walks over, “So, you’re friends seem nice. Emily is… interesting.”

“I know, but she’s better once you get to know her.”

“Yeah? And have you? Have you gotten to know her?”

Andy shrugs, “Yeah. I guess.”

Connie sprinkles seasoning on the potatoes and shakes her head, “I don’t know. She just doesn’t seem like your type, you know.” 

Andy furrows her brows slightly. My type? It’s not like we’re dating.

Connie leans further to reach the potatoes as she continues, “You’ve always been so-”

“Invisible?”

Connie turns to Andy, a slightly offended look on her face, “I was going to say independent.’

Andy gives her a look.

Connie looks at her for a second before giving up, “hurry up and finish those potatoes if you wanna get to the campfire.”

A crowd of campers sit on logs, filling the space in front of the camp stage which now has a huge bonfire behind it.

Dee walks out on stage, “So we call this the Campfire Jam. It’s about expression. The freedom to be who you really wanna be.” 

Andy watches from beside the stage, dressed in a short sparkly with silver leggings and heels. She looks over at Emily in her sparkly gold dress. The light from the flames of the bonfire illuminates her hair, making it look more fiery than usual. Wow… She’s flawless.

On stage Dee does a quick dance, “hit it!”

Dee runs off stage as Ella, Andy, Serena, and a few back up dancers file onto the stage. They’re outfits are all almost the exact same, the only difference being the color of the backup dancers’ leggings and heels, a deep shiny blue. Nearly as blue as Emily’s eyes.

Andy, Ella, and Serena stand around a mic right as the music starts.

Finally, Emily makes her way to center stage, “I’m too cool for my dress. These shades don’t leave my head. Everything you say is so irrelevant.”

Emily dances in the middle as the backup dancers circle around her. Flames reflect on her dress, making the gold stand out even more. There’s no doubt who the main event is.

“You follow and I lead. You wanna be like me. But you’re just a wannabe. Love it or hate it.”

Andy, Serena, and Ella lean into the mic to vocalize. Andy tries her best to form a genuine smile.

“Me, myself, and I agree. You’ll never catch up with me. Cause I’m too cool. Yeah I’m too cool to know you. Don’t make it personal. Don’t get emotional. You know it’s the truth. I’m too cool for you.”

When the song ends, they all strut off the stage in a line.

Lily immediately stands up from her seat in the crowd and heads over to Andy, grabbing her and turning her towards her, “Did you enjoy singing backup?”

Andy rolls her eyes and walks away.

Andy runs toward the dock, guitar in hand, and freezes when she sees someone is already there. After a second, she realizes it’s Emily playing the cello…? We share a cabin, how have I never noticed a huge cello?

Andy coughs to make her presence known and Emily jumps, “Bloody hell, Andrea! Someone needs to put a bell on you.”

Andy laughs softly, “Sorry.”

They both stay silent for a minute before Andy looks at her curiously, “I didn’t know you played. It’s not what I would expect.”

Emily scoffs, “Why? ‘Cause it’s different from my usual? Sorry to disappoint, Sachs.”

Andy giggles and shakes her head, “You didn’t, Em. It was beautiful, actually. You should play more often.”

Emily’s eyes widen a bit as she feels her heart flutter at the combination of the compliment and the new nickname. Oh god. Is this what a heart attack feels like? Am I dying?

Emily shakes it off and slides quickly back into her defenses, “Not bloody likely. It isn’t the kind of music people want to listen to”

Andy shakes her head, still slightly amused, “Okay well, if you ever change your mind I happen to know a girl who would listen to you for hours.”

Andy turns and walks away just in time to miss the blush creeping up Emily’s face. That at least is one thing going well for Emily. I am going to throw myself into this lake and I’m taking the bloody cello with me.

Lily sits at a table, eyes glued to her computer, as Serena, Emily, Andy and Ella walk by. She moves her foot back just as Emily passes, accidentally tripping her, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She looks up and realizes that it’s Emily, “Actually, I’m so not.”

Emily leans forward, “I would respond but-”

Ella cuts her off, “But you are responding by saying that you’re not responding.”

“Shut. Up.” 

Emily turns as if she’s going to walk away and tips her plate over Lily’s lap, ‘accidentally’ spilling her plain spaghetti noodles all over her…

Lily jumps back slightly, “Okay, that was on purpose”

“Doesn’t matter. Anything makes that outfit look better.” Emily pours more noodles on her, “See?”

Lily gasps before grabbing a handful of noodles off her own plate and throwing them at Emily, “Okay.”

“Nice Lily!”

“Good shot!”

Emily’s jaw drops and she grabs more noodles, throwing them at Lily.

Andy tries to get between them, “Stop! Hey, no, you guys, stop!”

Emily aims a handful towards Lily just as Andy leans in, accidentally hitting her.

Meanwhile, Lily changes her aim quickly and throws noodles at Andy, “Oops! My spaghetti slipped.”

Unfortunately, Andy just took a direct spaghetti hit to each side, one accidental and one definately not, “Stop!”

Emily glares at Lily and leans toward her, yelling over Andy’s shoulder, “I can’t believe you just did that!”

Lily uses another handful of spaghetti as a comeback, hitting Emily square in the face.

Suddenly Nigel’s voice echoes across the room, “Neither can I.”

Andy and Emily slowly turn, noodles hanging from their hair. Lily’s jaw drops, spaghetti filled hand pausing mid air.

Nigel walks over, pushes Emily and Andy apart and points two hands directly at Lily then points to Andy and Emily, one hand each and finally points towards the door, “I hate when I have to be uncool.”

The three girls stand in Nigel’s cabin as he walks in front of them, “Lay it on me.”

Lily and Emily immediately begin to talk over each other.

“She’s always been jealous of me- she’s impossible- and she cannot stand the fact that I’m probably going to win Final Jam- so she spilled-”

Nigel cuts them off, “Whoa! Enough. Make it plain. Who was the first one to throw food?”

Emily smirks and points at Lily, “That’s easy, Lily.”

Lily and Andy stay silent for a minute, not quite looking at each other but avoiding eye contact in each others direction, before Lily hesitantly speaks, “That’s technically true, but-”

“No buts.”

Nigel glances at Emily before walking up to Lily, “Since you wanna play with food, I can hook you up with a job this summer. From here on out, you’re on kitchen duty.”

Andy turns towards them, “What?! I mean… ew.”

Lily looks at Emily’s smug smile before looking back at Nigel, “But-”

“Again with the buts. Look, it’s settled.”

Emily turns to Lily after Nigel walks out, “happy cooking.”

Lily scoffs and turns to Andy, “thanks a lot.”

Andy throws her hands up a bit and rolls her slightly dewed eyes.

Emily sits alone in her cabin, softly playing her guitar. She stops and glances down at the open notebook beside her, reading over the lyrics she wrote down not long ago. Why am I still thinking about that bloody song from the mess hall? My brain is utterly entrapped by a voice with no face attached.

Emily lets out a sigh and begins playing her guitar again. She takes a deep breath and quietly starts to sing. 

“Every time I think I’m closer to the heart 

of what it means to know just who I am

I think I finally found a better place to start

But no one ever seems to understand

I need to try to get to where you are

Could it be you’re not that far?

You’re the voice I hear inside my head

The reason that I’m singing

I need to find you

I got to find you

You’re the missing piece I need

The song inside of me

I need to find you

I got to find you.”

Andy walks into the kitchen and sets a box of tortilla chips on a bench. She walks over to where Connie is laddling salsa into bowls and throws her arm around her shoulder with a grin, “Hey, Mom, how you doing?”

“I’m alright. How are you?”

Andy smiles and sets her hands on the counter, “I am great. I’m wonderful, I’m fantastic, I’m-”

“Putting chips into bowls.”

“Right.”

Andy walks away just as Lily walks into the kitchen, “Hey, Mrs. Sachs”

“Hi, Lily. Thanks for coming in early. Taco night takes the entire kitchen staff and our six hands.”

“Six?” 

Connie turns to her and smiles, “Yeah. My daughter. So can you please start in on the onions? Nigel wants to talk to me about next week’s campfire pig-out.”

Lily chuckles, “sure.”

Andy walks back into the kitchen and immediately holds the bag of chips in front of her face when she sees Lily.

“Hey! You must be hands five and six. I didn’t know Connie had a daughter. I’m Lily.”

Andy takes one hand off the bag and waves, still covering her face.

Lily looks confused, “Do you need some help?”

Andy turns and starts to run before stepping directly into a wheeled mop bucket. Chips and water fly all over as she smacks the ground. 

Lily rushes to help just as Andy rolls onto her side, “Andy? Wait a minute! You’re the cook’s daughter. She’s your mom. Oh, this is rich! But apparently you’re not!”

Andy looks up at her and scoffs, “So what are you waiting for, huh? Run. Go tell everybody.”

“Maybe I should.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

“How long did you think you could keep your little secret?.”

Andy shakes her head and looks down, “longer than this.”

“Why?”

“Why do you care?”

Lily scoffs, “Oh, I don’t. But when I tell everybody, I want the whole backstory.”

“I just wanted to fit in, okay?”

“I think your whole charade is stupid and immature. You’re hiding behind some crazy lie.”

Andy stands and gets all up in Lily’s face, “What about you, huh? You hide too! The whole ‘I don’t care about anything’ attitude? Well, if you don’t care, why are you here?”

Connie walks in and gasps when she sees what looks like an angry cat left in the rain in place of her daughter, “What happened to you?”

Lily scoffs, “she got drowned in her lies.” 

Connie looks up, “What Lily?”

“Nothing.”

Lily storms out, hitting Andy with her shoulder as she passes by.

Emily walks through the mess hall, magazine in hand, while Ella and Serena trail behind her, “Says here in this magazine I’m Nate’s type. It’s just a matter of time.”

Lily walks up and peeks over her shoulder, “‘warm, funny, talented.’ You? I don’t get it” 

Emily rolls her eyes as Lily walks off.

Andy jogs into the mess hall and straight up to them, “Hey, guys, what are you doing?”

Emily’s eyebrows press closer together, “The question is, what were you doing? You’re always AWOL” Good god Emily. 

Emily glues her eyes to the magazine as Andy looks up at her, “huh?”

Ella begins to speak, causing Andy to walk towards her, “Hey, Andy, I was thinking. After camp, maybe we could come visit you and your mom in China and go to that happy summer store.”

“Sure. My mom would like that.”

Lily walks up and makes eye contact with Andy as she bites a chip. Genuinely where did she come from.

Emily finally looks up from the magazine, “Okay, guys. Tonight is the Pyjama Jam. So, outfit check. White shorts and green hoodies.”

Everyone goes quiet. Andy raises an eyebrow. Green is my favorite color.

Emily looks at the three of them, “What? Green is Nate’s favourite colour.” 

She turns to walk away before immediately turning back around, “It was in the magazine.”

Andy walks into the cabin and is immediately met with the sight of a guy breakdancing in the middle of the room. She turns and ends up face to face with Lily. 

They stare for a second before Lily points to the other side of the room, where Serena and Ella are standing, “The other lemmings are over there.”

“Look, Lily, about what-”

“Save it, Andy. If that’s even your real name.”

Andy walks over to Serena and Ella, noting that thankfully they also remembered to wear a white tank top, a dark green velvet zip up hoodie, and white shorts. 

The three of them stand by a bunk bed looking towards where Dee is stationed until they hear the voice of a familiar, blunt Brit, “are we ready?”

Andy looks over Emily’s outfit. She’s wearing a long sleeved, green and beige patterned dress that reaches mid-thigh. Underneath is a pair of green velvet pants. Whoa. She looks incre-NOPE! She broke the dress code. I’m supposed to be mad.

Andy scoffs, “Where are your t-shirt and shorts?”

Serena sideyes Emily, “Yeah, I thought we were supposed to wear the same thing?”

“The backup singers should wear the same thing. Not the lead singer, hello!”

Andy rolls her eyes.

Just then, Dee just up to the microphone, “Next give it up for the awesome Lily Geller!”

Lily walks up to her keyboard and starts to speak right as Nate walks in, “And this is in honor of you awesome Camp Rockers.”

Everyone except Emily and Nate, who is currently too occupied crossing his arms, clap a few times before Lily begins. She presses play on her computer track, then swings her arm around in one fluid motion and bops the side of her head. She dances along to the music occasionally playing some notes on the keyboard as well.

Andy grins and nods her head to the beat, “she’s really good!”

Emily automatically clenches her teeth and fists as Andy’s comment reaches her ears.

Ella looks back and notices Nate jamming out, “Hey. Nate likes her too!”

Emily looks between Nate and Andy. This has nothing to do with Sachs. I’m only upset about Nate. Emily’s eyes quickly scan the room looking for any solution when she sees it.

She gasps and points to the ground, “Help! Help, there’s a snake! Snake!” 

Everyone panics and Lily stops the music before Dee bends down and holds up the ‘snake’, “It’s just the power cord to the sound system, Emily.”

Emily smiles and shrugs, “Oh. Right. My bad.”

Nate shakes his head and walks out.

Lily walks right up to Emily, “You are so full of it!”

“What?”

“You can’t stand that people might actually like what other people do!”

Emily holds up three fingers in the shape of a ‘W’ to her forehead, quickly turning it on its side ‘E’ then again ‘M’ before switching to an ‘L’.

“Okay. What is that?”

Ella jumps in, copying Emily’s motions, “She said, ‘whatever, major loser’”

Serena nods along.

Andy looks at Lily for a second before gathering her courage and turning to Emily with a laugh, “Oh, wow, Emily. ‘Whatever, major loser?’ That is so last year. I mean, everyone knows that. Oh… Well I guess not everyone.”

Emily glares at her and storms off. Serena and Ella follow close behind, trying to hide their laughter.

Andy and Lily are blowing up red and blue balloons, covered in music notes, when Connie walks over.

She holds up a frosted cookie, “Hey! Does this look like a record, girls?

Andy looks at the cookie and scrunches her face, “huh?”

“I mean a CD! Does this cookie look like a CD? ‘Cause I want it to look authentic next to my eight note cupcakes.”

Lily laughs, “Everything looks great, Connie.”

“These theme nights are so busy, huh? Oh, I gotta go get the ice cream for my Rolling Stone cones! See you later.”

Connie walks out and Andy looks down at the table, “So, did you sign up for Final Jam?”

Lily looks up and taps her foot a bit before nodding, “Yeah.”

“So, what are you thinking about doing?”

“This is freaking me out. Why are we talking?”

Andy shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe I’m slumming?.”

Andy looks over for a second before reaching over and popping a balloon right next to Lily’s head.

Lily jumps and starts laughing.

Andy grins, “Or maybe I wanted to set you up for that!”

Lily reaches over and pops a balloon next to Andy’s head.

Andy screams and laughs, “My gosh!”

As the laughter dies down, Lily begins to speak, “So, thank you for yesterday, but-”

“Hey. I always stick up for my friends.”

“It’s fun being friends with Emily.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I was friends with Emily. I know, it’s hard to believe.”

“More like impossible. What happened?”

“Emily doesn’t like competition and she felt I was. See, with her, there can only be one star. Herself”

Andy looks down with a mourneful nod.

“Look, I know it’s fun being friends with her. She can make you feel so important and she’s popular, but so what?”

Andy scoffs, “Oh, come on. Being popular is so not a ‘so what’”

“No, there are perks.”

“Like… Well, like-”

“Like singing backup to Emily all the time? Like never getting to say what you really feel? Oh, and those exciting short outfits? Those were really high points. You’re right. Sell your soul.”

Andy smiles and hits Lily with a balloon.

Lily puts her hands up, “Hey, I’m on your side.”

“Oh shoot! I was supposed to go meet up with…”

Lily presses her lips together and gives a sharp nod.

“We’re practicing for Final Jam.”

Lily scoffs, “of course. Her highness awaits.”

Nate sits by a canoe with a notebook in hand, singing the lyrics written on the page. 

Andy sees him and walks over, “So, do you sound better over here?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you get in one of these and let me know.”

Andy and Nate sit in the canoe rowing around the lake.

Andy laughs as the boat spins in a circle, “I don’t think we’re doing this right.”

“What? You don’t like going in circles?”

Andy giggles in response before changing the topic, “so, did you find your mystery girl yet?”

Nate leans forward and raises an eyebrow, “Why? You jealous?”

Andy rolls her eyes playfully, “jerk.”

“Hey. Being a jerk is part of the rockstar image.”

“Keeping up an image can be tiring.”

“But it keeps the posers away!

Emily walks down the dock and freezes when she sees Andy and Nate laughing together in the canoe. She feels a pang in her chest as she remembers their fight from the pyjama jam. I should be the one making her laugh like that- i mean making HIM laugh lik- ugh whatever, it’s no use. Emily takes a deep breath and places two fingers to her left temple. If I can’t be with her, if all I do is hurt her anyway then I’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t win that duet. It’s on, Andrea Sachs.

Emily walks next to a cabin, pulling her earbuds out as she prepares her return to civilization. She’s about to walk out from behind the building when she hears familiar voices. Emily ducks behind a tree and watches the interaction.

Andy and Lily stand in front of Connie, mid-discussion, “Seriously, Mom. Okay, we’re done with the dishes.”

“Okay, girls. Have fun at the campfire.”

Connie leans in and hugs Andy, turning her head to kiss her cheek.

“Okay, bye. Love you Mom!”

“Love you too. Bye!”

Emily’s jaw drops slightly before her lips tug into a smug smirk.

Nigel runs across the stage, Nate following right behind, “Hey, gang!”

“Love you, Nigel!”

The crowd cheers.

“Whoa! Alright, alright kids. Okay, score. I finally talked my nephew into singing us a song! Nate, rock the camp!”

Nate walks up to the mic, “Hey, guys. I got a surprise for you.” He points towards the same cabin he came from, “Guys, come on out!”

Christian and Jason run out and the crowd goes wild. 

They start to sing their newest song, rocking out around the stage. After a while Emily notices that Nate is looking directly at Andy. She rolls her eyes, this man is unbearable.

They finally finish the song and leave the stage. The crowd of campers begin to socalize with each other. Andy and Lily are mid-conversation when Nate walks up to them.

Suddenly, Emily’s smooth voice breaks through the chatter of the crowd, “Hey, Andrea. Tell us about your mom again.”

Andy’s smile drops and Lily instantly jumps in, “her mom is a great person.” She turns to a random boy next to her, “What’s your mom like?”

“She’s like a mom..?”

Emily steps back in, “I mean, I know she’s the president of Hot Tunes TV China, but tell me again about how important she is.” 

Behind Emily, Connie’s smile fades.

Andy looks down, “She’s…”

“I’m sorry. What?”

“She’s pretty cool.”

Emily smiles and gestures for her to continue, “And?”

“And… she’s not the president of Hot Tunes TV China.”

Emily fakes surprise, “What’s that? She’s not president? You mean, you lied to everybody?”

“No, I was-”

“So, she’s what? A vice president? Treasurer?

Lily interjects, “Emily.”

“Shut up.” Emily turns back to Andy, “Go on. Tell us.”

Andy glues her eyes to the ground, “No. She’s a cook.”

“A cook?....At Hot Tunes China?”

Andy looks back up, “No. Here.”

Emily leans forward, “So you lied. Your mom cooks our food, and you help her. That’s the only way you could afford this camp, right?”

Lily scoffs, “you’re a real jerk”

“Maybe. But at least I’m not a big, fat liar. Come on guys.”

“Andy…”

“Andy has dishes to do. Let's go.” Emily’s eyes catch the quiver in Andy’s lip right before she turns around. Shit. 

Andy turns to Nate as Emily walks away, “Nate.”

“You were lying all summer?”

Tears stream down Andy’s face, “Yes, but I-”

“You know, I’m so used to people pretending around me.”

“I was not pretending!”

“I really thought you were different.”

Nate sits on the porch of his cabin, playing his guitar.

Emily is walking towards but stops and hides around the corner when she sees Nigel walk out and set an arm on Nate’s shoulder.

Nigel sits in the chair next to Nate, “So what exactly happened last night?”

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t look like nothing to me. You look crushed. Pummeled. Absolutely destroyed.”

“I got it, Uncle Nigel. Look, whatever. I’m just gonna focus on my music. Change my sound. I don’t wanna get sidetracked with liking someone anyway.”

Nigel nods, “you still looking for that girl?”

Nate stares at him.

Nigel shrugs, “What? I’m plugged into the camp gossip.”

“It’s crazy. I have her song stuck in my head.” Nate begins to sing, unfortunately, “this is real. This is me. I’m exactly where I'm supposed to be now.”

Emily’s brows furrow when she recognizes the lyrics as the same song she heard outside the mess hall. I have to compete with him for this girl too? God, I am not meant to be a lesbian.

Andy and Connie walk together by the lake. Connie looks over, “I didn’t know you felt so ashamed of yourself.”

“I’m not ashamed. It’s just, for once, I just wanted to fit in and be popular.”

“What do you mean? You have plenty of friends at home.”

“I have one. And the last time I checked, no one was busting their butts to sit next to us at the lunch tabel. And when I got here I just… I just wanted it to be different. You know? Just once.”

Connie shakes her head in disbelief, “My sweetie, you are so much more than you can see. You don’t have to lie about who or what you are. I’m not just saying it ‘cause I’m your mom!”

Andy stares, “Mom.”

“Okay… I admit I’m a little bit biased. But it is so true. You are talented. Your music speaks to people. People wanna listen to you. And it is not just me and your dad.”

Andy walks into the mess hall, looking around for a second before spotting Lily and her friends. She sheepishly walks over to the table, “Hey, guys. Can I sit with you?’ 

Lily looks at her before turning to the others at the table, getting nods in return, “I guess. But you have to give me your cake.”

Andy grins and sits down, “Deal.”

“You know, sitting with the kitchen help is really hurting my rep”

Lola scoffs, “what rep?”

Behind them, Emily laughs loudly, turning for a second to look at Andy.

Lily turns to Andy, “Believe me, it’s probably not that funny.”

Emily stands up and walks around to their table, Serena and Ella following behind, “the chicken was kind of dry. Could you tell your mom to be just a little more careful?”

Andy abruptly stands as Emily moves to walk away, “Emily! Stop talking to me like that. Stop talking to everyone like that. I may be the cook’s 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 else feel bad. And I’ll take that any day.”

Hurt flickers across Emily’s face for a second, barely noticeable, before she quickly snaps out of it, “If it wasn’t obvious, you’re so out of the group.”

Lily walks up to Andy as Emily walks away, “Then we’ll make our own group.”

Lily and Andy stand side by side in the kitchen. Lily flips hamburger buns while Andy stirs a pot of macaroni, “I don’t know why this is so fascinating.”

Andy laughs, “I don’t think you’re doing that right.”

“Wait. Look, I’m a pro.”

“Don’t get it in my macaroni.”

Emily storms into the kitchen, Nigel trailing after her, trying his best to keep up, “I’m sure they have it.”

Lily turns, “Okay, she has officially lost it.”

“No, I didn’t lose anything. You guys stole it.”

“What?”

Connie looks between the four of them, “What’s going on here?”

“Emily thinks that Andy and Lily stole her charm bracelet.”

Lily and Andy react in unison, “WHAT?”

Connie puts her hand on Lily’s back, “I’m sorry, Nigel. The girls would never do anything like this.”

“Yeah. Look, let's just settle this, right?”

“But-”

“I know it was her. She was lying all summer about who she is. Who knows what else she’d lie about?”

Connie furrows her eyebrows, “Now, wait a minute.”

“Mom. don’t. If she wants to look, let her. This is stupid.”

Nigel turns, “Okay, look, let me just scope this out, and then I’ll have a quick look in your cabin. Right?”

“Fine.”

“Whatever.”

Nigel begins to look around. 

“You’re not gonna find anything, ‘cause I didn’t-” Nigel stops walking abruptly, causing Andy to freeze.

Nigel pulls the charm bracelet out from between two cookbooks and holds it up.

“That’s it. That’s my charm bracelet.” 

Connie instantly jumps in, “there’s gotta be some mistake.”

Emily leans forward, “Like what? I snuck into the kitchen and-” 

Nigel quickly interrupts, “Emily, I got this. Alright?” He turns back to Andy and Lily, “I am totally wigged-out”

“Yeah. So are we.”

Lily scoffs, “I’m not.”

Nigel looks down for a second before looking back at them, “well, rules are rules, and since it’s the end of camp I have no choice. I’ve gotta ban you guys from the rest of camp activities, until the end of Final Jam.”

“We didn’t do anything! She’s lying!”

“Do you have any proof?”

“No, but-”

“Well, then I’m sorry. My hands are tied.”

Nigel hands Emily her bracelet and turns back to Andy and Lily, “Until the end of Final Jam.”

Emily smiles at the devastated girls in front of her before turning and walking out.”

Andy and Lily stand on the dock, looking out at the water.

“This was supposed to be a fun summer that was all about music, and all I did was get caught up in Emily drama.”

Lily shrugs, “It happens.”

“I can’t believe I agreed to be some background singer just because I got intimidated”

“That’s what Emily can do to you.”

“No. I did it to me.”

“I’ve never seen Nigel so harsh.”

“I know. He just kept repeating ‘until the end of final jam’”

Lily nods, “I know. I was there.”

Suddenly Andy turns with a huge grin.

Lily smiles back, “what?”

Andy's smile gets impossibly wider as she runs off, “Come on! Let's go!”

Lily laughs and chases after her.

As Nigel makes the opening announcement, Emily, Ella, and Serena practice their dance in the dressing room.

“Come on, come on, come on. Look at me.”

They stumble into each other and Emily turns sharply, “This is not amateur night. This is serious.”

Ella looks at Serena, then back at Emily, “We did it right!”

“No! You didn’t. You never do! I’m trying to win here. You guys may be used to losing but not me. I’m tired of picking up the slack.”

Serena finally snaps, “Stop telling us what to do! You’re the one that’s ruining everything!  You’re too intense all the time, and I am sick and tired of picking up your slack too!”

Serena turns to walk away but Emily grabs her arm, “Serena, come back here!”

Serena pauses for a second before yanking her arm out of Emily’s grasp and storming off. 

Emily freezes but bounces back quickly, “Who needs her? She was holding us back. Now you really better not mess up.”

Ella steps towards her, “You know what? Don’t worry about me. Do it yourself. I’m done. BTW, your lip gloss is so not glossy anymore.” 

Ella storms off, leaving Emily to stand there mouth slightly agape.

Nigel walks out onto the stage as a group of performers rush off the other side, “Oh, my goodness! Okay! Now, let’s give it up for a group that has the ‘it’ factor, whatever ‘it’ is. The It Girls!”

Emily stands backstage holding one of her Miranda Preistly posters, as Nigel makes his way off stage.

She’s about to go on when she glances out at the audience, a smile breaks out on her face as she sees, “Mum?”

Miranda sees her looking and offers her a supportive smile. 

The music begins and Emily walks out with her backup dancers. The stage is now filled with standing mirrors so she walks to the middle of them and begins pretending to fix her appearance as her dancers move around her. “Wake up. When will things be good enough for you to see all that we can be?” 

She turns and walks away from the mirrors, “I’m sick of playing games and acting like we never care. That we’re never there.”

Each dancer grabs a mirror and begins to bring them to where Emily is standing.

“We pay attention for only seconds”

Emily walks in front of the mirrors, pointing at them, “Look at you. Look at me. There’s never any us. Can’t you see all we can become? We can shine like the sun if we believe that two stars are brighter than one.” 

Emily continues performing flawlessly until she notices Miranda standing up to answer a call. She tries to continue singing, stumbling a bit over the words. She turns and nearly walks into multiple mirrors the dancers are moving now stumbling over her feet as well. 

“Come on, come o-” She trips abruptly. Two dancers grab her arms stopping her right as she’s about to fall off the stage. Miranda’s head whips back to the direction of the stage and gives Emily a serious look before glancing back at her phone and up again. Emily steps back, trying to stablize herself. She suddenly turns and runs off the stage as a sob escapes her mouth. 

Once she’s backstage, Emily slides down against the wall and buries her face in her knees.

A few minutes later, Andy walks through the door. 

She’s about to pass by when she hears a sniffle and looks down to see Emily still seated on the floor. Andy should keep walking but the sight is so jarring that she can’t bring herself to walk away, “Em?”

Emily’s head shoots up at the sound of her voice, so quickly that Andy swears she nearly gave herself whiplash.

Puffy, blue eyes meet soft, brown, “Andrea?”

Andy kneels down in front of Emily, placing a soft hand on her arm, “are you okay?”

Despite the slow tears falling down her face and the still trembling lip, Emily tries to put her brave face back on and lets out a scoff, though it comes out suspiciously similar to a sob, “Why do you care? I’ve been awful to you.”

Andy is about to answer when Nigel’s voice suddenly cuts through, announcing the last performer.

Andy looks at Emily, “is that-”

Emily nods before she can finish the sentence. 

Andy helps her to her feet and curiously turns to walk to the curtains so see the performance better when suddenly Emily grabs her arm, harder than she meant to, “Andy?”

Emily softens her grip as Andy turns to look at her, a question behind her eyes, “I’m sorry. For everything.”

Andy smiles softly, adjusting her arm so Emily’s hand slides down into her own, “Thanks Em.”

She squeezes Emily’s hand softly and pulls her over by the stage curtains. They stand there, hand-in-hand, and watch as Serena sings her heart out.

As Serena finishes her performance, Andy finally lets go of Emily’s hand to give her the space to step over to Serena. Ella and Serena break from their hug as they hear Emily’s voice, “Serena?”

Serena steps towards her defensively, “what?”

Emily fidgets with her hands, “You were really good. I didn’t know you were that good and when someone’s that good, someone should tell them.”

“Thanks.”

“And I’m sorry.”

Serena looks at her for a moment before stepping past and walking away with Ella.

As Lily finally makes her appearance, Emily walks off into the audience to give her and Andy their space.”

The crowd quiets down as Nigel shushes them, “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.”

Nigel hears speaker feedback and walks off to check on it, running right into Andy and Lily. 

Andy leans forward, “it's the end of Final Jam.”

Nigel smiles and steps to the side, “I was so hoping you’d catch on. Now get out there, steal their hearts, and rock it, poppet.”

The music starts and Andy nervously walks out, “I’ve always been the kind of girl that hid my face. So afraid to tell the world what I’ve got to say. But I have this dream bright inside of me. I’m gonna let it show. It’s time to let you know. To let you know.”

Andy smiles and spins around to face the crowd, “This is real. This is me. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be now. Gonna let the light shine on me.”

Nate and Emily seem to have the realization at the same time. 

Nate stares in shock.

Emily grins, of course it’s her.

Emily looks over at Nate and sees him starting to head towards the stage, reaching for a mic. I was intending to be nice now but…… eh once more. What’s the harm? 

Just as Nate goes to step past Emily she sticks her leg out, tripping him and smoothly making her way to the stage. She grabs a mic just as Andy finishes the chorus, “You’re the voice I hear inside my head. The reason that I’m singing. I need to find you. I gotta find you. You’re the missing piece I need. The song inside of me.”

Emily steps onto the stage. The two of them grin at each other and begin to sing together.

“I need to find you.” “I need to find you.”

“I gotta find you.” “I gotta find you.”

“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”

They finish the song, faces centimeters apart. Grinning as the crowd goes wild.

Emily and Andy finally manage to get off the stage and somewhere more private. There are still faint sounds of the crowd cheering over Serena’s well deserved win but it’s the quietest place either of them have been in a few hours.

Emily looks to the ground before looking back up at Andy, “I wanted to say… I really am sorry about the way I treated you-”

Andy puts a finger to Emily’s mouth before she can add more onto the apology and smiles softly, “It’s in the past.”

“It was literally less than 24 hours ago.”

Andy shrugs, “Eh yeah but I also just watched you trip a popstar to get to me first so…”

Emily’s eyes widen slightly, “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

Andy throws her head back with a laugh, “don’t worry, it was cute.” She takes a pause before adding on, “maybe don’t make a habit of it though.”

Emily smiles and rolls her eyes. She leans in closer to Andy, “there was actually something else I had wanted to do out there but I wanted more privacy…”

Emily trails off as her eyes flicker to Andy’s lips.

Andy sees where she’s looking and presses their lips together with no hesitation. Her arms wrap around Emily’s neck as she stretches up slightly to reach. Emily hands go to Andy’s waist and they both grin into the kiss.

They finally pull apart when the need to breathe becomes too strong. 

Andy steps back with a smile, “So… see you next summer?”

Emily bites her lip slightly, nodding gently as blush creeps up her face, “see you next summer.”