by James Ponti
“Absolutely,” Mitchie said. “There’ll be plenty of things for me and Tess to do. Speaking of Tess, where is she?”
“I’m not sure,” Lorraine said as she put their names down on the list.
“I haven’t seen her, either,” Ella said as she continued to look through the list. “Here’s an event for all of us—Capture the Keys to the Tour Bus.”
“My personal favorite event,” Brown said as he walked up to the table along with Dee La Duke, the Camp Rock musical director.
“And it’s not just because I’m the one who gets to hide the keys.”
“Hey, Brown, Dee,” Mitchie said.
“Good morning, Vibe team!” Brown said. “It seems like you’re missing somebody.”
“Yeah,” Mitchie answered. “We were just trying to figure out where Tess was.”
“Let’s see. What was it last year?” Brown asked Dee.
“Doctor’s note,” she answered.
“Right.” Brown nodded. “She tried to get out of Sound Off with a doctor’s note. Of course, when I called the doctor, he had no memory of writing it.”
“Don’t you just hate forgetful doctors?” Dee joked.
“And the year before, I think it was the flu?” Brown added.
“Not the flu,” she said correcting him. “It was Rocky Mountain spotted fever.”
“That’s right. You know, that might have worked,” he said. “Except we’re nowhere near the Rocky Mountains.”
“And she didn’t have a fever,” Dee added.
Mitchie laughed. Caitlyn had told her that Tess hated Sound Off, but she didn’t realize just how much the girl loathed it.
“Ah, here she comes,” Brown said as he looked across the room.
Mitchie looked in the same direction and saw Tess enter the mess hall. At first, Mitchie couldn’t figure out why Tess was moving the way she was moving. Then somebody stepped out of the way, and Mitchie got a good look at her teammate.
Tess was on crutches.
CHAPTER THREE
It was a struggle for Tess to make it across the mess hall on her crutches and still look graceful, but she managed. When she got close, the others could see that her ankle was taped up.
“I am so sorry, guys,” Tess said as she reached the table. She addressed only the girls, as though Brown and Dee weren’t there.
“I twisted it pretty bad in hip-hop dance class yesterday,” she explained, holding her foot up for them to see. “I was hoping it would get better overnight. But when I woke up this morning, it was worse.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Lorraine asked, her green eyes filled with concern.
“Don’t worry about me,” Tess said. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m just not sure how much I’ll be able to help the team today. It’s a shame, because I was really looking forward to it.”
Brown raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Dee. “Well, you better get off of that ankle and rest,” he said as he pulled a chair out for her. “You wouldn’t want to make it worse.”
“But what about Sound Off?” she asked. “Is there some way I can still compete?”
“If you’re injured, you’re injured,” he replied. “We can’t risk you making it worse. I think you’re going to have to sit this one out.”
“Really?” Tess said, trying to sound disappointed and not happy.
“Really,” he said.
Mitchie couldn’t believe it. Brown was actually buying Tess’s story. She had been in the hip-hop dance class with Tess the day before and didn’t remember anything about her getting injured.
“My biggest concern is this week’s jam,” Brown added. “Do you think it will heal up in time for that?”
“I sure hope so,” Tess offered. Then she bit her lip dramatically as though she were summoning up all of her strength. “Actually, I will make sure that it does. I will give it total rest between now and then, if that’s what it takes.”
“That’s a relief,” Brown said. “I’d hate for you to miss a jam.”
Dee nodded knowingly before adding, “Although, she will have to miss Bruno and Carrie Ann.”
Brown nodded. “That’s a real shame. I’m sure they would have liked her.”
It took a moment for this nugget of information to register with the others. The first to pick up on it was Ella. “The Bruno and Carrie Ann?” she blurted out.
“The judges from Dancing with the Stars?” added Lorraine.
“Right, they are on that show, aren’t they?” Brown said, shrugging.
“I hadn’t thought about it, but, yes, they are,” Dee answered.
“We’ve always just known them as big-time choreographers and friends,” Brown said.
Lorraine, who was still getting used to the star quality of a place like Camp Rock, could not believe her ears. “You mean you actually know Bruno and Carrie Ann? Personally?”
“We’ve known them forever.” Brown nodded as though it were no big deal. “They called late last night because they’re looking for some young dancers for a new music video they’re working on.”
“We were just about to announce it,” Dee continued. “They’ll be here first thing tomorrow morning to hold auditions.”
“That’s perfect,” Tess said. “Wait until they see the new moves I’ve been working on. There’s no way they won’t pick me.”
Without even thinking, she popped up from the chair and did an amazing double spin into a toe stop and followed it up with a moonwalk.
“Wow!” Brown said.
“I know,” Tess said. “It’s good. Isn’t it?”
“It is good,” he said. “And, apparently, so is your ankle.”
As Mitchie tried to hide a smile, Tess slumped back into her chair. She had been totally caught!
There was an awkward pause that was broken by Ella. “Does that mean Bruno and Carrie Ann aren’t coming?” she asked.
“Yep,” Brown said with a smile. “And it also means that Tess is competing in Sound Off.”
Tess started to say something, but realized it was pointless. She had fallen for their trap and had to suffer the consequences. So she just sat there and pouted as Brown and Dee walked away.
“Okay,” Mitchie said after a long silence. “Now that the whole team is here, let’s figure out who’s doing what.”
Mitchie tried to get the sign-up sheet filled out, but it was easier said than done. Tess hardly said a word, and her bad mood had a way of bringing the whole group down. After a few minutes, they decided to assign events as they went along through the day.
After breakfast, they went back to the Vibe Cabin to put on the jerseys that Lorraine had made for them. Actually, Lorraine, Ella, and Mitchie put on the jerseys. Tess was still pouting and only came back long enough to throw her crutches in the corner of the cabin. She didn’t actually say that she wouldn’t wear one of the shirts, but it was obvious she had no intention of doing so. She grunted and wandered off when the others suggested changing.
“I should have checked with all of you before making them,” Lorraine said, trying to hide her hurt feelings. “If Tess is out, we probably shouldn’t wear them.”
“No,” Mitchie told her. “I think they look great. I’m definitely wearing mine.”
“So am I,” added Ella.
“Thanks,” Lorraine said, appreciating their support. “But there is one big problem.”
Since it took all four of them to spell out Vibe, without Tess they were without a name.
“What are we?” Lorraine asked as she pointed to the mirror. “Team Vie?”
They all considered this for a moment, and then Mitchie had an idea. “You and Ella could change places,” she suggested.
Lorraine crinkled her nose. “But that would make us Team Ive.”
Mitchie smiled. “As in, ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about how this day is going to turn out.’” All three laughed.
“That’s it,” Ella said. “We’re officially Team Ive.”
Mitchie n
odded, and Lorraine smiled in relief. Lorraine had spent a lot of time and effort on the shirts and would secretly have been pretty bummed if it hadn’t worked out.
“Look at the time,” Mitchie said, noticing a clock in the room. “We’ve got to get going. Caitlyn made it clear—this thing is going to start at nine o’clock on the dot.”
As they walked from the cabin toward the outdoor stage—where Mitchie’s sheet told them the day started—Mitchie tried to psych herself up. Sure, she hadn’t exactly been looking forward to Sound Off. But after seeing how Tess’s attitude affected the team, she realized she owed it to everybody to give it her best effort—no matter how silly she looked in the process.
The campers all congregated at the base of the stage. It turned out a lot of teams had matching—or at least similar—shirts.
“We’re already in first place,” Mitchie told Lorraine. “Because our shirts are the best!”
“No doubt,” Ella added. “I even have a lip gloss that goes perfectly!”
The girls saw Tess standing toward the back of the group and went over to join her.
Tess didn’t say anything about the shirts. Instead, she just asked, “When is this thing supposed to start? I don’t see anyone in charge.”
The stage was empty, which was surprising, because Sound Off was supposed to begin any moment.
“Trust me,” Mitchie assured them. “It’ll start.”
She looked down at her watch, and at the exact moment the second hand hit nine o’clock, the theme from the movie Rocky started blaring over the loudspeaker.
It was absolutely no surprise to her that Caitlyn had timed this out to the second. As the music played, Caitlyn, Shane, Peggy, Brown, and Dee all came jogging through the crowd as if they were characters from the movie. The five of them ran up onto the stage and pretended to shadowbox as the song ended. When it was over, Brown took center stage.
“Good morning, everybody,” he called out to the crowd.
“Good morning!” the campers cried.
“Welcome to Sound Off. Normally, this is when I give my very inspirational speech about the importance of sportsmanship and about how it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that really matters. And if you were lucky, I might even tell you about the game-winning goal I scored in an epic midtour soccer match that pitted U2 against Coldplay.”
Caitlyn humorously cleared her throat, and Brown took the hint.
“But Caitlyn has us running on a tight schedule,” he continued, “so I’ll skip all that and just remind you that we only have one rule at Sound Off. It’s got to be FM/AM. And what does that mean?”
“Fun, musical, and messy!” the kids cheered in unison. Most of them had heard it many times before.
“Exactly,” Brown said as he stepped back. “But believe me, that goal was beautiful. Bono cried tears of joy. And if you want to hear about it, I’ll be glad to tell you later at lunch or dinner. Just come find me.”
Caitlyn shook her head good-naturedly as she moved up to the front of the stage.
From the crowd, Mitchie let out a big whistle to show her support.
“Welcome to Sound Off,” Caitlyn said. “I know we have some newbies in the crowd, so I’ll go over the basics. There are nine events, and every cabin receives a score for each event depending on things such as how quickly you finish. At the end of the day, we give awards to the three cabins with the highest scores. We also crown a winner of the Big Enchilada, which is our one-of-a-kind, unbelievable obstacle course, and present the Golden Drumstick to the camper who shows the most spirit.”
The campers all clapped and cheered.
“Now before we get started, do you want to say anything?” Caitlyn said, turning to Peggy.
Peggy started to step forward, but then changed her mind and shook her head. Peggy didn’t mind singing in front of an audience, but public speaking was not her strong suit.
“Okay, then,” Caitlyn said. “Now, I’d like to invite a past winner of the Big Enchilada to provide us with some music to get us in the mood. Give it up for . . . Shane Gray.”
There was more applause as Shane began playing his guitar. After a few riffs, he moved up to the microphone.
“I say Sound, you say Off,” he chanted. “Sound . . .”
“Off!” replied the campers, getting into it.
“I say Sound, you say Off,” he sang again. “Sound . . .”
“Off!”
Shane continued playing the guitar and, in the process, turned a call-and-response sequence into a bluesy little song.
“Now I don’t know, but I’ve been told . . .” he sang.
“I don’t know but I’ve been told!” shouted the campers.
“Camp Rock records all go gold!”
Mitchie smiled as she and the others repeated it back to him.
“And I don’t know, but it’s been sung . . .” he continued.
“I don’t know, but it’s been sung!”
“That Camp Rock is number one!”
The campers took this and kept the chant going for a little while. After a few more times, Shane brought it all to a close.
“I think they’re ready,” he told Caitlyn with a nod before turning back to face the campers. “It’s time to rock out at the rock wall!”
CHAPTER FOUR
Music was at the heart of everything at Camp Rock, and Brown made sure the campers were exposed to a wide variety of musical styles and techniques. He wanted them to leave well-rounded musicians. But Camp Rock was about more than music. Brown also wanted them to develop healthy habits.
That wasn’t too hard when they were surrounded by fresh air, hills, and a beautiful lake. He also spent a lot of time with Mitchie’s mom—who was the camp chef— planning meals to see that everyone ate a healthy but camp-themed diet. And he insisted that the camp maintain a strong sports-and-fitness program—which explained the supercool rock-climbing wall.
The wall was about twenty feet high and had two side-by-side climbing lanes. There was a bell at the top of each lane, which normally was used for the campers to signal that they had reached the top. But for Sound Off, the bell had a more musical purpose.
When everyone got together at the wall, Caitlyn, Shane, and Peggy started stamping and clapping in time. They were imitating the opening of the Queen song “We Will Rock You.” It did not take long for the others to recognize the song and join in.
“All right, everybody,” Caitlyn said once the noise had died down. “Welcome to our first event, the Hard-Rock Rock Climb. I see you all know the song, which is good.”
She went on to explain how the event worked. Each team would select two players to climb up the wall at the same time. When they reached the top, they had to ring the bells in unison to the song’s opening beat. Whichever team accomplished the task the fastest would win the highest number of points.
Mitchie smiled. It sounded like a cool event . . . and she wasn’t going to have to do it. She liked climbing the rock wall, but she wasn’t very fast. Who knew how long they’d have to wait for her to get to the top? Luckily, Lorraine and Ella both loved climbing and had both volunteered. Mitchie and Tess would need only to cheer them on from the ground.
Mitchie’s teammates went toward the end. When it was their turn, Lorraine and Ella made it to the top faster than any of the other teams that had gone before them. Mitchie was really impressed, and she high-fived both girls when they got back down on the ground. Even Tess popped out of her funk long enough to congratulate them. After all, Tess did like winning.
Unfortunately, two other teams, including Mac Wilson and Colby Miller from the Rhythm Cabin, beat Lorraine and Ella’s score, but heading into the second event, Vibe was in third place.
Unlike the Hard-Rock Rock Climb, the Disco Duck Walk was a four-person event. That meant that Mitchie and Tess would have to leave the sidelines and participate. It was a relay race, and each member of the team had to put on a pair of scuba flippers and waddle like a duck f
rom the starting line down to the edge of the lake—called the “duck pond”—grab a rubber duck, and bring it back. The first team to bring back four rubber ducks was declared the winner.
Brown and Dee heightened the theme by playing duck calls and wearing some rather “seventies” wigs. It got people laughing— and moving.
Since she had been scuba diving a couple of times with her parents and was the only one who felt remotely comfortable in flippers, Lorraine was the first to go for the Vibe team. While the other campers struggled, she quickly moved into the lead. As her team cheered her on, Lorraine became the first one to make it to the water’s edge and grab a rubber duck.
She waddled back to the starting line and quickly pulled off the flippers and handed them to Mitchie, who hurriedly started to put them on.
“Awesome job,” Mitchie said as she struggled with the rubber footwear. She tried to block out all her fears and self-consciousness. After all, as she looked around, most of the others were having a hard time walking in the flippers. Looking foolish seemed to be just another part of the day. Besides, since her team was in the lead, she didn’t have any people bumping into her.
“The trick is not to rush,” Lorraine said. “If you rush, you’ll catch your flippers and trip. Also, look out when you get close to the lake. The mud makes it pretty slippery.”
Mitchie nodded and started toward the water. It was difficult, but Lorraine’s tip really helped. She didn’t rush, and that kept her from falling over. She wasn’t as fast as Lorraine had been, but she was still in the lead when she got to the lake.
But that was only half of the race. Her foot slipped a couple of times in the mud, but she managed to get a rubber duck without falling over. As she made her way back, a couple of teams passed her. Surprisingly, Mitchie didn’t panic. By that point, she had gotten a feel for the flippers and was making good time.
“Keep going, Mitchie!” Lorraine cheered.
“Yeah,” Tess added, a little less enthusiastically, but Mitchie could tell the other girl was getting into it.
“Super job!” Ella cried as Mitchie arrived back at her team. She took the flippers from Mitchie and quickly headed for the lake. She was even faster than Lorraine. She not only caught up with every team that had passed them, she actually managed to build a decent lead.
