421A/N 2017: I started to re-read this story in hopes that I could finally finish it, but I was so appalled by my previous style of writing (it has been 8 years since I wrote most of this) and a lot of the aspects of Shane and Mitchie's relationship (my 16-year-old self was really sending some wrong messages out there, haha) that I've decided to start rewriting each chapter and replacing it as I write until I can hopefully rewrite this entire story and give it the ending it deserves. Bear with me for the moment, if it seems like my writing in some chapters is all over the place or if there's a scene that appears to repeat itself, or if nothing makes any sense, I'm working to fix it! As of now I currently have 19/24 chapters rewritten (holy crap I 100% rewrote thirteen chapters in less than two days :O. My wrist feels like it's going to fall off!). (Edit 2020: I re-wrote the first 13 chapters in 2017, and now I'm working on finishing the second half of the story. Hopefully, I don't have too many discrepancies because I'm not working on it all at the same time! Also, I'm re-writing rather fast, so the quality of writing could be better, but at least it's better than it was 11 years ago.)
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you all know this but I don't own Camp Rock!
I shoved my pillow over my head, unwilling to relinquish the last few moments of peace I had before I had to get out of bed, trying my best to ignore the buzz that my phone was making. I didn't care who had the audacity to call me at 7:45 in the morning (I'd snuck a look at my alarm clock before I'd buried myself back under the pillow), but they were treading on dangerously thin ground. I was not, under any circumstances, someone who enjoyed talking on the phone in the morning. Just because I was physically awake didn't mean I was mentally awake or willing to engage in any kind of conversation.
I sighed into my pillow as the vibrations stopped, knowing it was too late to drift back into even a light sleep, as I had to be up in half an hour anyway. But at least I could lie here and hope that my nerves returned to normal after the rude awakening they'd received a few moments ago.
I almost shrieked in annoyance as the buzzing noise recommenced not even a full minute after it'd stopped. I pushed the pillow tighter against my head, wishing I could just ignore it, but I knew that if someone was bothering to call me twice at this time in the morning, it must be important. Exhaling harsher than was necessary, I yanked the pillow from my head and reached over to grab the cell phone from my nightstand, fully ready to tear into whoever had decided to bother me this early.
I couldn't help the surprised squeak that came from my throat as I checked the caller ID. Less annoyed than I was a few seconds ago, I quickly slid the green icon on my phone.
"Mary!" I exclaimed, trying to hide the tiredness from my voice as my mind raced, wondering if something was wrong. "Is everything alright?" Mary was my best friend; we'd spent practically every day of our teenage lives together until she'd moved a couple hundred miles away. She knew me well enough to know that I hated being bothered in the morning, even if it was by her, so she certainly wouldn't call me unless it was important.
"Everything's great!" I winced at her overly eager tone, knowing fully well she wouldn't sound so excited if something bad had happened. "I know, I know, you probably hate me right now for calling you this early, especially when there's no emergency or I'm not dead, but I couldn't wait any longer, so you'll just have to suck it up!"
"I'm not sure how you'd call me if you were dead..." I rolled my eyes, trailing off, but she knew I was only teasing. "Maybe that's a solution I'll have to consider if you ever think of calling me before nine again." She laughed, and despite the fact she couldn't see me, I shook my head and threw my free hand in the air, sighing.
"Ah, Mitch, ever the drama queen. But, I've got some super exciting news and I just couldn't wait another minute to tell you!" Spit it out, then. I couldn't keep the smile off my face, chuckling to myself at the thought. I should really work on being a nicer person in the morning. "I'm about to get on a plane."
"That's it?" I frowned, thinking how lucky she was I couldn't reach her through the phone and strangle her. "How exciting. Do call me again when it lands - or even better, just wait until it's two in the morning and ring me up then to tell me it's landed." I couldn't keep the sarcasm from my voice, but Mary ignored my snippy tone.
"I'm boarding a plane and coming to New Jersey!" She nearly shouted from the other end, and I jumped, wide awake now, all the frustration I'd been feeling towards her melting away.
"Seriously?" She chuckled at the enthusiasm that had replaced my irritation. I missed her almost every day; it had been months since we'd been able to properly hang out and even though we talked on the phone or texted each other often, I could hardly wait until we could get together again.
"Seriously." She reiterated, "If all goes as planned, I should land in about three hours or so, and I'll be heading straight over to your house and we'll have the whole weekend to hang out and catch up."
"Today's Friday though." My shoulders fell as I realized what day it was, and I couldn't hold back a sigh. "We can hang out tomorrow, but I have my cleaning job today. I'll be there the whole day."
"Can't you cancel?" Mary's voice whined back at me, and I bit my lip. She knew very well that I could not afford to skip even a day of work - especially not today.
"You know I would if I could," I replied, reaching up to rub my tired eyes and leaning back against the headboard, "But I can't afford to do anything to screw up this job. They actually pay well - I'm not going to mess up the only rich clients I have. If they show up and the place isn't spotless, they could decide to fire me, and I can't risk it. Especially not after everything else that's gone on." I didn't have to finish my sentence since Mary already knew what had happened, and I heard her knowing sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Fi-neeee." She drew out the word, sounding insulted, but I knew she was only teasing. "We'll have the weekend to hang out though, right? I won't accept any more excuses from you, young lady! I'm certainly not flying back to New Jersey just to hang out with myself."
"No excuses." I smiled. "I'm so excited; I can't wait until tomorrow! Sadly, though, I have to go get on with the wonderful, fantastic job that awaits me." I giggled, rolling my eyes, and Mary laughed. We said our goodbyes and I ended the call, looking at the crumpled-up bed sheet in front of me and groaning. The alarm clock flashing beside me told me it was long past time for me to get up, and even if it hadn't been going off, the fact that Aydan, my German Shepherd, lay in the middle of my bedroom door, impatiently staring at me, would've warned me I'd been in bed too long. With a sigh, I threw the covers off and forced myself to get up and get dressed, giving Aydan a quick pat on the head as I made my way to the kitchen. I barely even had time to eat if I was going to make it to their house on time.
Swallowing my breakfast so fast I was sure I'd be sick later, I grabbed Aydan's leash from where it hung in the doorway and clapped my hands together, calling him over to me so we could leave.
Aydan had never done well when I left him alone all day, and thankfully when I'd mentioned the situation before, the woman who owned the house was a fellow animal lover and kind enough to offer to let me bring him, so long as he didn't cause any damage to the house. He barely strayed from my side even at my own apartment, and simply followed me around while I worked. I was grateful for her understanding because it meant I didn't have to come home to any damage at my place.
She was nice enough, even though I'd never met her in person before. She'd simply stated that her family liked their privacy, and I'd never bothered to push. It was none of my business anyways. They always left me an envelope with cash on their fridge, and I hadn't bothered to be nosy. If they wanted privacy, I wouldn't be the one to take that away from them. As long as I got paid at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.
The house was only a ten minute walk from where I lived, and I never bothered to drive over. It was good exercise for both of us anyways. At first, I had been intimidated by the huge, grandiose house and the large, uninviting wall that surrounded it, but now I didn't hesitate as I punched in the code to open the gate and made my way up the driveway. It had taken me a while to overcome my initial hesitation, but now I hardly even paid attention until I was inside and working. It no longer overwhelmed me.
I slid the key into the lock and unsnapped Aydan's leash once we were inside, and I made my way to the kitchen, carefully clearing off the counter so I could start cleaning. I moved the dirty plates into the sink, getting ready to roll up my sleeves and wash them, when I heard the click of Aydan's nails against the wood floor and realized he wasn't lying at my feet like he usually did.
Frowning, I snapped my fingers to call him back to my side, looking out over the counter to scan the living room. He wasn't even in sight.
"Aydan?" I called hesitantly, confused by his strange behavior. I'd had this job for well over a year, and he'd never once bothered to leave whatever room I was in, and he always came when I called his name. I swallowed at the flutter of nerves that rose in my throat, straining to hear anything, and cautiously reached over to grab one of the knives on the counter, carefully moving out of the kitchen, alert for any noise that could signal something was wrong.
Aydan's sudden, ferocious barking made me jump and I almost dropped the knife in surprise. He was just at the bottom of the staircase, teeth bared, barking viciously at something - or someone - just outside of my view. I rushed forwards, gripping the knife tightly, and slid to a stop as I spotted a dark-haired young man standing halfway up the staircase, his eyes wide and his hand gripping the staircase railing tightly as he stared down at Aydan, then caught sight of me, and his mouth dropped open.
"What in the world is going on?" He yelled, taking a step back up the stairs as his eyes slid down to the knife in my hand and widened even more. "Are you trying to rob us? Seriously? If you don't take your vicious beast and leave this house within two seconds I'll have you thrown in jail before you can even get halfway up here to use that thing!" He gestured to the knife, his tone oddly threatening for someone who thought I was an armed criminal.
"Who are you?" I replied, my heart racing, trying to figure out what in the world was going on. All I knew was that Aydan's bark was anything but friendly, and if he didn't like this stranger, then I had good reason not to trust him. "How do I know you're not the burglar?"
At that, a shocked expression crossed his face, and he stared down at me, his jaw slack before he burst into laughter.
"Me? I live here. Are you seriously going to pretend you don't know who I am? Do you live under a rock? I'm Shane Gray."
The moment he spoke, I dropped the knife and my hands flew to cover my mouth as I stared back at him in horror. I'd threatened him, even though I'd only picked up the knife for my own protection in case someone had broken into the house. I hardly knew what to say or do, but Shane stared down at me, looking as if he expected an explanation.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry - I never realized..." I broke off, not knowing how to continue, my hands still covering my mouth and probably garbling all my words together.
"Who the hell are you?" He snapped, his eyes flashing "And what are you doing in my house, with a rabid animal nonetheless?"
"I clean here - I have for over a year, and Aydan is not rabid!" I protested, realizing Aydan's barking had trailed away to a low growl, and I noticed his tense posture a moment too late. I lunged for his collar but he was quicker. With one final deep growl, he jumped towards Shane, who didn't have time to react as Aydan slammed into him, knocking him to the ground, and they both slid down the stairs with a huge crash as Shane landed at the bottom. I shrieked at that, even though when they hit the floor Aydan only stood on top of Shane, his paws pressed firmly into the boy, and he leaned lower to growl right in his face.
I finally recovered from my shock and forced myself to react, rushing forwards to grab hold of Aydan before he could do any real harm to Shane - whom I could tell hadn't been badly hurt despite the fall, because he wouldn't have been busy yelling his head off about 'not controlling my psycho killer' and how he was going to sue the pants off me. My heart pounding, I pulled Aydan off of Shane, gripping his collar tightly, unable to do much more than stare in horror as Shane scrambled to his feet and staggered backward, hand over his heart. He pointed his other hand at Aydan, his face beet red as he kept shouting threat after threat.
"You're going to pay for this! Oh, you're going to be so sorry after I sue you for everything you could possibly own. Get that killer out of my house before I call animal control and have him taken away for good!" I pulled Aydan back, my fingers wound into his collar, my body numb with shock. Shane noticed I hadn't moved and flung his hands in the air. "Get out!" He cried, and at that, I didn't hesitate any longer. Flustered, I turned and nearly dragged Aydan with me as I rushed for the door. The moment I'd left the house, slamming the door behind me, I slumped back against it, trying to register everything that had just happened.
Aydan had attacked Shane Gray, whose family I apparently had been working for this whole time. Not that I still would have this job after today. I was fired, certainly, and possibly facing a huge lawsuit since Shane claimed Aydan tried to kill him. It was only ten in the morning, and this day was already off to a great start. Could it even get any worse?
"Get off our property!" I jumped at the sound of his voice, careening away from the door I'd been leaning on and taking off running with Aydan by my side. What a wonderful day. Truly, a perfect start to a long weekend.