Now campers and counselors sat in a semicircle around the bonfire, waiting for Brown and Dee. Some of their suspicion about the Celeb Beat undercover reporter had worn off, and they were talking excitedly again.
Mac, however, was silent. He knew in a matter of minutes he’d have to tell everyone that he was the one who’d given Celeb Beat their information. He was sure Tess and Mitchie would be furious. Not to mention Shane. He knew Colby was angry. And then there was Caitlyn. He was worried about her reaction the most.
Mac’s silence hadn’t gone unnoticed by Caitlyn. They were sitting next to each other on a log by the fire. Mitchie and Shane were next to them, followed by Lola, Peggy, Ella, Lorraine, and Tess. Everyone was there. Except for Colby. He’d chosen to sit on the other side of the fire.
“Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked, eyeing Mac. “You’re being really . . . quiet.”
“Yeah,” Mac said. “I’m okay.” But, in truth, his stomach was in knots and his palms were sweaty. He was not looking forward to this.
“Okay,” Caitlyn said, jumping up. “I’m gonna make a s’more. Anyone with me?”
“Ooh! Me,” Mitchie said, also jumping up.
“You don’t have a personal assistant to make one for you?” Shane joked.
“Ha-ha,” Mitchie laughed sarcastically. “Don’t you know my diva days are behind me?”
“Does that mean you’ve decided to step down from the pop princess throne?” Caitlyn joked.
“I think I like being a commoner better,” replied Mitchie. Laughing, Mitchie and Caitlyn headed for the marshmallows. As they did, Brown walked up to Mac.
“You ready?” Brown asked him.
Mac sighed heavily and stood up. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Colby watched Mac as he walked to stand in front of the fire, before the campers. Shane was also watching, wondering what Mac was up to.
Brown stood next to Mac and waited for the campers to take their seats and get quiet. Finally, the only noise was that of the crickets and a few motorboats on the lake.
“Before we start the traditional jamboree,” Brown said, “Mac would like to share something with all of us. I hope you’ll hear him out.”
Brown went to sit next to Dee. Mac cleared his throat. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.
“Hey, y’all,” Mac started. Everyone stared at him, confused. This was unusual. “I know some of you were upset with the recent article in Celeb Beat about the School Rocks concert. It wasn’t the most flattering—or even accurate—article. And some of you have been concerned that the magazine had an undercover reporter here at Camp Rock.”
Mac took a deep breath and looked at Caitlyn as he made his confession. “That reporter was actually me.”
Campers gasped and everyone started whispering excitedly. There had been a mole after all! Caitlyn’s jaw dropped. Mitchie was confused, and Shane was angry. Colby’s face was impassive.
Now that the initial confession was out, the rest of the words came easier. “I came to Camp Rock to report for Celeb Beat from the inside,” Mac said, speaking up to be heard over the commotion. “I want—or wanted—to be a rock journalist. But I didn’t anticipate how it would make people feel to have their friend reporting on them. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings by writing about you behind your backs.”
A couple campers, including Barron and Sander, started booing from the crowd. But Brown quickly came to stand next to Mac.
“All right now,” Brown said to the crowd. “Mac has said he’s sorry and assured me that he has done the last of his reporting as a Camp Rock correspondent.” Mac nodded heartily in confirmation. “I think we can chalk this up to another lesson learned about the business of rock and roll and let bygones be bygones. Now, on with the jamboree!”
Two campers took Mac and Brown’s spot in front of the bonfire. Giggling, they proceeded with their new camp song about fishing.
Mac headed back to where he’d been sitting. Tess met him halfway, trailed by Ella and Lorraine. “So, you’re the mole?” Tess said, glaring at Mac.
Mac hung his head. “I was the mole. Like Brown said, I’ve reported my last story from Camp Rock. I’m sorry, Tess.”
“Well,” Ella said, seeing how sorry Mac really was and trying to look on the bright side, “if it weren’t for you, there might not have been any article in Celeb Beat about Tess. You know what they say, ‘any press is good press.’”
Tess shrugged. “The pictures were good. And my mom said Teen Weekly magazine has already called her to do a mother-daughter interview with us. So I guess I owe you that. . . .”
Mac brightened at that news. Maybe there was a chance for forgiveness after all. But Shane was storming up, and he did not look very sympathetic.
“What were you thinking, Mac?” Shane asked angrily. “You really hurt Mitchie’s feelings with all that stuff you wrote.”
Mitchie was behind Shane. “Shane,” she said, putting her hand gently on his shoulder. “It’s okay. It did hurt my feelings, but what Mac reported was true. I did get carried away with all the attention and the royal treatment. I was being a diva. You even said so yourself.”
“I was joking,” Shane argued. “And I didn’t publish it for the whole world to read.”
“Yeah.” Mitchie shrugged. “But like Tess said the other day, that’s just the other side of being famous. It’s part of the bargain. You, of all people, should know that. No one is really like they’re portrayed in the magazines. You can’t judge a CD by its cover—or a person by his or her press.”
Grudgingly, Shane stepped back. He shoved his hands deep in his jean pockets. “You’re right,” he said. “I just never thought ‘the press’ would be one of my friends.”
Mac gulped. “Are we?” he asked with a distressed look on his face. “Still friends, I mean. If I promise never to write another story about you ever again?”
Mitchie answered for them all.
“Yes,” she said. “Of course. Camp Rockers stick together.”
Mac looked relieved. He threw his arms around Mitchie and then a surprised Shane.
But there were two Camp Rockers he wasn’t sure would still call him a friend— Colby and Caitlyn. And they were talking together just beyond the light of the bonfire.
“Excuse me,” Mac said. “I think there are a couple more people I still have to personally apologize to.”
Mitchie and Shane nodded, and Mac walked shyly up to Caitlyn and Colby.
“Hi,” he said sheepishly.
“Hi,” they answered in unison.
“You lied to me,” Colby said. “You lied to all of us.”
“I know,” said Mac. “I did, and I’m sorry.”
“How are we supposed to ever trust you again?” asked Caitlyn.
Mac sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “All I can ask is that you try,” he said. “And if I lie to you again, I give you permission to hang me from my toes by the flagpole.”
Caitlyn and Colby couldn’t stifle their laughter. “All right,” said Caitlyn, “but I’m holding you to that.”
“Me, too,” Colby said, and the three of them walked back toward the bonfire and their other friends, chuckling at the thought of a helpless Mac hanging upside down from the flagpole.
When they were seated, Brown came up and squatted down next to Mac. “I’ve been thinking, Mac, and I have one more condition in order for you to stay at Camp Rock,” he said.
“Okay,” Mac replied nervously.
“You’ll promise to write a Camp Rock newsletter,” said Brown.
Mac smiled. “Actually, I think I’ve decided to leave journalism behind. I’ve found a new passion at Camp Rock.”
“What’s that?” asked Brown.
“Music producing.” Mac grinned and looked at Caitlyn. “I have a good teacher.”
Caitlyn blushed.
“But a newsletter would help us all keep in touch after camp,” Mitchie offered.
“In that case,” Mac said
, as campers sang a song about Camp Rock in front of the bonfire, “I’ll do it.”
He was sure that was going to be one story worth writing.
By James Ponti
Based on “Camp Rock,” Written by Karin Gist & Regina Hicks and Julie Brown & Paul Brown
Mitchie Torres was not a morning person. It didn’t matter if she was at home during the school year or at Camp Rock in the summer, her goal was to get up at the last possible moment. The fact that musicians usually performed at night and slept late the following morning was part of the appeal of a life in rock and roll. But this morning the piercing sound of an alarm clock was making sleep all but impossible.
At least it was for Mitchie.
On the other side of the cabin, her best friend, Caitlyn Gellar, was sleeping like a baby, completely unaffected by the alarm’s buzz.
Mitchie attempted to block out the sound by wrapping a pillow around her head. When that didn’t work, she tried a blanket. Out of frustration, she chucked the pillow across the room and hit Caitlyn right in the head. If she was going to suffer, she at least wanted to suffer with company.
But Caitlyn just took a swat at it as if it were a mosquito and rolled over, all without waking up.
Finally, brushing her brown bangs out of her eyes, Mitchie got up and walked over to Caitlyn’s nightstand. As loudly as she could, she turned off the alarm.
“Wake up!” Mitchie cried, shaking her friend by the shoulder. “It’s the least you can do considering it’s your alarm clock going off.”
“What time is it?” Caitlyn asked, half-speaking, half-yawning.
“Six!” Mitchie exclaimed. “In the morning!”
It took a moment for this to sink in, but when it did, Caitlyn panicked. “It’s not six,” she stammered as her eyes finally focused on her clock. “It’s 6:03. Do you know what that means? Today is Sound Off!”
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