DISCLAIMER: I do not own Camp Rock or Wizards of Waverly Place. Those belong to the rich em-efers at Disney.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've only seen Camp Rock once and wasn't crazy about it, so I tried to take out any movie specifics that I would get wrong, but if I screwed up a fact, (aside from the fact that Alex Russo wasn't really there…) please let me know! This mainly goes out to the DemixSelena fans, and this was the easiest way to write this without making it a RPF and violating the Terms of Service. So, let me know what you think!

Alex Russo never thought she'd regret not listening to her parents when they said she couldn't go to Camp Rock.

When the young wizard begged her parents to let her go, they figured that Alex's rock star obsession was just her new phase of the week, which was hardly worth breaking the bank over. And of course, Jerry, Alex's father, wouldn't hear of his worst student missing magic lessons.

But her parents, as usual, didn't understand how much this meant to her, and more importantly, they underestimated her ability to get her way.

Alex thought back to the time when her classmate and fellow wizard, TJ, charmed both his and Alex's parents, and had the adults eating out of the palms of the children's hands. And even though she thought she had learned her lesson, Alex begrudgingly knew the only way to chase this dream was to charm the permission out of her parents.

After sneaking into the lair late at night, the half-Mexican, half-Italian middle child was relieved to see that all it would take was a photograph of the person or persons she wished to charm in order for it to work, and it would be done, and so it was done. And not just for her parents, but for Justin and Max, too, since they would no doubt figure it out before Alex even arrived at camp.

The charm worked, to Alex's delight, like a charm, and having her family's support and money to go, even unwittingly, was enough to send her on the bus to camp with bells on. As she spent the entirety of the bus ride coordinating different wristband-belt-tank top combinations, she had no idea what she would get herself into.

…………………………………………………..

As soon as she stepped off the bus, the Manhattan native's smile faded as she realized she may be in over her head. She had expected a world of constant music, singing, and dancing, that's not what surprised her. But she had pictured a more collaborative, perhaps idealistic, real-life musical, and the reality looked more like one big pretentious competition.

The extent of Alex's rock experience went about as far as a fledgling singing hobby, but it made her happy, and she had banked a lot on it being enough. Behind Alex's sometimes tough and apathetic exterior, all she wanted was to feel a sort of normalcy, which was hard to do in her situation, for more reasons than anyone knew. No one knew the real her, not even herself sometimes, and she just wanted to find something substantial and lasting. Now she feared that this was the last place she'd find it.

To make matters worse, she was assigned to bunk with Tess Tyler, the camp brat, and her minions, who reminded her of a richer, more famous version of GiGi from school. After hearing she was nothing but the daughter of middle-class workers from New York City, the trio didn't want much to do with her, not really to Alex's loss, but it didn't help much, either.

It wasn't until the next morning that Alex thought her luck might take a turn for the better. With a lot on her mind, she woke at 5 A.M., far before anyone else in her cabin at least. She decided to take a walk around the campgrounds before what was sure to be a hectic day began.

Alex never thought she'd miss home, especially not so early in her stay. She knew if she went home, she'd have to deal with the repercussions of however her parents would react earlier than planned, but she was honestly starting to debate if that was worth it or not.

In the middle of her thought process, she stopped in her tracks as she heard singing coming from inside the mess hall. From the window, she caught glimpses of a girl her age, beautiful and vivacious, joyously dancing through the kitchen into the dining room and using different kitchen implements as her microphone. Alex couldn't help but smile as her curiosity got the best of her and she made her way to the open mess hall door.

Once inside, Alex got a better view of the mystery singer, whose vocals to the '80's hit, "I'm So Excited," which played on the radio, were above average, far better than the original. As much as she felt compelled to keep watching, she felt weird just standing there and staring, so she cleared her throat so it could be heard above the music.

Even with the warning, the ladle-microphone performer gasped and stopped dead in her tracks, immediately darting to the radio to shut it off. The girl laughed embarrassedly as her face turned darker shades of red. "Wow, uh, I'm sorry," she spoke, "I didn't see you there!"

The girl's smile made Alex's stomach tingle, and she felt her face also redden in turn. "Oh, no, please don't be embarrassed. I enjoyed the show," Alex somehow spat out.

"Alex, you freaking idiot! What is wrong with you? You're never like this!" she instantly scolded herself internally. When the girl just smiled in return, Alex tried one more time. "I mean, you have a fantastic voice."

The anonymous singer just continued to smile the biggest, most infectious smile Alex had ever seen and spoke again. "Well, thank you," she said modestly. "I don't hear that often, so it means a lot to me. Oh, I'm Mitchie, by the way."

"Mitchie," Alex stated, matter-of-factly. "Killer name!" she exclaimed, earning another smile and blush from the other girl. "I'm Alex."

"Mitchie, Sweetie, who are you talking to?" Mitchie's mom, Connie, called from the kitchen before entering the mess hall. "Oh, who's this?" she asked delightedly after seeing Alex.

"Mom, this is Alex, she's… a camper here?" Mitchie stated inquisitively, realizing that she herself barely knew anything about the other girl yet.

Alex felt the color drain out of her face after literally doing a double-take. Mitchie's mom resembled her own mother to the point where she thought for a second she had been caught, but after seeing her in better light, realized that she was obviously mistaken. The Torres women must have noticed it, too, because Mitchie was trying to snap Alex out of

her oblivion.

"Oh, sorry," Alex apologized, "You just look a lot like my mom, actually," she half-giggled.

Mitchie and Connie both laughed, easing Alex up a little bit. "Well, then, I hope that's a compliment!" Connie jested. "It must be if your mother's genes are responsible for a pretty girl like you!"

Both Alex and Mitchie blushed, kind of like a parent who embarrasses their kid before their first date. Eager for a subject change, Alex stepped in.

"So, you work here, and you go here?" Alex asked first of Connie and then of Mitchie.

"Yes!" Connie beamed, "I am the founder and head chef of Connie's Catering, and in order for Mitchie to come to Camp Rock, I agreed to handle food preparation for the summer, as long as Mitchie agrees to help. Speaking of which, I need to get back to it, and I'm going to need your help in about 5 minutes, okay, Hon?" she asked of Mitchie.

"Okay, Mom," Mitchie said with a soft sigh.

"It was nice to meet you, Alex!" Connie exclaimed.

"You, too, Mrs…?" Alex prompted.

"Just call me Connie," she said before disappearing into the kitchen.

"She's really nice," Alex said to Mitchie of Connie.

Mitchie smiled what would become her trademark smile. "Yeah, she is. She can be kind of strict, but that's moms, right?"

Alex smiled and nodded. As much as a part of her felt nervous and bumbling around Mitchie, there was an overall feeling of familiarity that Alex took incredible comfort in. It was like a feeling she had been missing, yet knew she was supposed to have all along.

"So, anyway, I won't keep you from helping your mom, but it was really nice meeting you," Alex offered.

"Yeah, totally!" Mitchie exclaimed. "And I'm sorry once again that you had to see my dorky song and dance number. I didn't think anyone would be up so early."

Alex laughed. "Don't apologize, it was cute," she said, once again, not being able to believe she let that slip out.

But once again, Mitchie reassured her with a smile and a kind word. "Well, thanks. And hey, I'll totally see you at Opening Jam if not any earlier, right?"

Alex flashed a beaming smile of her own as her stomach did that tingly thing again. "Count on it."

……………………………………………………..

Sure enough, later that day at Opening Jam, which Alex had dressed up for especially, the first person she spotted in the crowd was Mitchie, whose light green top stood out in perfect contrast to her infinitely deep brown eyes.

She tried to move closer to say hi, but Mitchie was on the move, mingling with her back turned to Alex. Right when she was just about close enough, she rolled her eyes when she saw Tess and company walking toward Mitchie in the opposite direction. "Move it along," she thought.

Surprised to see that Tess had actually stopped to converse with "a commoner," Alex took another giant step toward the conversation so she could hear. She heard Mitchie fishing for what were obviously lies about her mom working for Hot Tunes China, and she was surprised that a girl who had so much going for her would feel the need to make things up. While slightly disappointed, for the most part she completely related to where Mitchie was coming from. She would never advocate lying that had malicious intent, but with all the secrets she carried personally, she believed that sometimes, lying was simply a necessity, nothing more nothing less.

Once they stopped talking and Tess had walked away, Alex tapped Mitchie on the shoulder, and for the first time she saw the other girl's vibrant smile drastically fade.

"Hot Tunes China, huh?" Alex stated more than she asked.

Mitchie's eyes frantically darted back and forth and she lowered her voice to speak. "Alex… please… you can hate me if you want, you have every right to. Just please don't make everyone else hate me, too."

Alex recognized and related to the desperation she saw on Mitchie's face, and even though she barely knew her long enough to care, wanted to ease some of that for her. "I don't hate you," she said earnestly, "But I don't get why you'd lie about something like that. I mean, you're way better than Tess already, not to mention cooler."

"Wh – what?" Mitchie asked, dumbfounded.

"Come on, I share a bunk with her, I've heard her sing, and she's not even that good. And if you couldn't already tell, she's not exactly winning any Miss Congeniality awards, either," Alex joked.

"Well, yeah, but… why are you even still talking to me? You have every right to call me names and tell everyone that I lied. So, why aren't you?" Mitchie asked.

Alex took a deep breath. "Because I know how it feels when the only thing that makes sense is to lie… because the real you isn't what other people can handle."

Mitchie, whose eyes were downcast, jumped up and met the other girl's, almost like her whole body had a visible epiphany at the source of Alex's words. There was a brief pause before Mitchie said, "Do you wanna go somewhere we can talk?"

The tingling sensation in Alex's stomach had moved to her heart and her toes at once, making her feel like she was floating. "Yeah," she punctuated, trying to seem nonchalant, "Sure."

"We'll go to my cabin," Mitchie suggested, "My mom and I share one by ourselves."

…………………………………………………..

3 hours later, the girls had covered a ridiculous amount of conversational mileage sitting Indian style on Mitchie's bed. Alex glanced at her watch before bringing up the next topic of conversation, which ironically circled all the way back to what brought them there in the first place.

"So, your mom's going to come back soon. Anything else you want to cover before she does?" Alex hinted.

Mitchie exhaled another deep sigh. "Well, what is there to tell, really? I know I shouldn't have lied, and I know there's really no excuse for it. But, I guess, as awful as it sounds, I was thinking that if a lie was the only thing that could help me fit in, then so be it."

Alex hated to see the sadness in her new friend's eyes, and she hoped to provide some sort of comfort or assurance. "You're right, maybe it does sound awful… but either way, I understand."

"How? What's your story?" Mitchie asked simplistically.

A simple question for Mitchie opened up such a complicated can of worms on Alex's part. She had 2 big secrets, 1 she was sworn on the fate of her family to keep between the 5 of them, and the other that she had never admitted to anyone, not even fully to herself. And after all of this talk about understanding, she didn't want Mitchie to think she was just bullshitting to make her feel better. She had to tell her one thing at the very least, and it was time to pick between the lesser of two evils.

"Well… do you ever picture yourself as the person you absolutely want to be? No limits, boundaries, just you. Anything that stands in your way or that you have to hide behind just doesn't exist, and you just see yourself as free. Those daydreams, those moments, that's when I'm the happiest. And it just really sucks that my moments of truth and happiness are fantasies. I don't want to hide who I am anymore," Alex finished.

Mitchie, who looked particularly moved by Alex's ramble, asked another supposedly simple and straight-forward question. "What don't you want to hide anymore, Alex?"

Alex's mouth dried up. It felt like someone had literally put a stopper in the back of her throat, preventing any coherent speech, or at least full, uninhibited truths, from coming out, so she tried to phrase it in the only way she could at the moment.

"Well…" she began, and then saw the flier for Connect 3's Shane Gray that all the campers received sitting on the nightstand and seized an opportunity, "See, this is a perfect example. Shane Gray, Connect 3, all of these supposed heartthrobs. I've seen 99 of the girls at camp all but committing a felony to meet this guy, and for me, he does absolutely nothing. And not just him, any of the guys," Alex stopped dead in her tracks as she felt herself creeping closer and closer to the words she had never spoken aloud. She wasn't sure the exact phrase could make it out of her mouth, so she settled for, "I'm just not… boy crazy. If… you know what I mean," she finally managed.

Mitchie's serious expression faded to a smile as she shrugged. "Well, neither am I, so no worries!"

Alex half-smiled and figured by her response that Mitchie took what she said in 1 of 3 ways: 1. she thought that Alex was just referring to her current interests, but was implying that she would eventually be interested in boys, like "every girl" is, 2. she understood what Alex meant and decided to liken it to herself to make Alex feel less awkward (or segue to a quick subject change), or 3. she understood what Alex meant and was confirming that she, too, felt the same way. Oh, how Alex hoped that it was #3, and she wanted to ask, but they had already covered so much mileage in one night that she didn't want to press her luck.

"So, maybe if I just don't talk to Tess for the rest of camp, she won't ask about my mom and I won't have to keep up with my lie," Mitchie suggested.

"Ugh, I wish I were that lucky," Alex groaned, "I would love to avoid Tess for the rest of camp, but seeing as I'm here bunk-mate, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Ooh, yeah, that does suck!" Mitchie exclaimed, followed by a pause. "But… I mean, if you wanted, you could just stay here with me and my mom for the rest of camp."

Alex's face lit up, but she wanted to square away the logistics before getting too excited. "I'd love to, but I don't think all my stuff is going to fit in here."

"Well, you could leave most of your stuff in your cabin and just pack a small overnight back every day with your pajamas and outfit for the next day and everything. That way you'd still have all your space with minimal fuss," Mitchie joked and Alex laughed. "Oh, well, that is if you don't mind us sharing a bed. I know the beds are pretty small, but I'm sure the floor would be a drag."

And there was that tingly feeling again. "Yeah, sharing a bed would be totally fine!" Alex said with attempted subtle enthusiasm.

Mitchie let out an adorable squeal as she pulled Alex close to her in a hug. "Yay! I'm so glad that I met you and that we're going to be roommates!"

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "You sure your mom won't mind?"

Mitchie stood from the bed and pulled Alex by the hand. "Oh, please, she loves you, and she'll love that I'm making friends, blah blah blah. Come on, let's go get the things you'll need from your cabin and then go to bed! After tonight's talk, I'm hoping to have a lot of inspiration for song material tomorrow!"

Alex wasn't sure where all of this would end up, but as long as she had Mitchie leading her by hand, she was pretty sure she didn't mind.

……………………………………………….

Aside from courses and independent study time, Alex and Mitchie spent just about every waking minute together (and even every sleeping minute together, too). They had both laid out their common fears and insecurities about being left out, different, and misunderstood on the first night, so from that point on, they each went out of their way to both consciously or otherwise show their support of one another, whether it be physical and verbal reminders, or whispered jokes and giggles meant for their ears only.

Mitchie, whose glow rivaled that of the sun, had filled up her original writer's notebook and was halfway into the new one, and Alex was excelling at all her classes, finding a perfect balance of fitting in and setting herself apart in a good way.

But Alex knew that the only way things could get better is if she finally backtracked to the conversation they had the first night and made sure that Mitchie knew what she had really meant when she fumbled through her partial revelation. The truth is, the halfway-there, "I'm not boy crazy," didn't make as concrete and coherent of a statement as Alex had intended it. Being out was supposed to be liberating, or so she heard, and still the topic of boys, girls, or any romantic interest in general was danced around and never definitively discussed.

Alex also knew that part of the reason she wanted to re-address this was due to the sliver of hope she had in Mitchie maybe liking girls herself. And if that sliver of hope was even remotely true, oh my GOD, Alex was just dying to know!

As she had predicted from day one, she had completely and utterly fallen for her newfound best friend. The phrases "smitten with" and "head over heels for" didn't even begin to cover the surge of emotions Alex felt when with Mitchie, which lucky for her was most of the time, but it was in her absence more than anything that she noticed her yearning for this seemingly ideal girl, at least by Alex's standards.

Alex was having a hard time, however, finding the adequate time and space for them to be completely alone enough for her to clear things up with Mitchie. Usually when the two returned to their cabin at the end of the night, Connie was already in the room reading or sleeping, and Alex didn't trust having the conversation anywhere but in the privacy of a room that only the two of them were in. The last week of camp rolled around faster than anyone could believe, and Alex was running out of time.

Their time together was even scarcer in the days leading up to final jam, as everyone went into overdrive preparing for the performance. Alex's contribution by choice was in producing, not performing, other than the finale, which all of them would do together. But Mitchie was working on an original song that no one, not even Alex had seen or heard yet, even up to the day of Final Jam, which was on a Friday.

It was about 2 hours until show time, and Alex was nervously holding up outfit after outfit in front of the mirror, trying to look her best for what might prove to be an even more loaded day than anyone knew about.

As she resumed her battle, the door to the cabin flew open, and there was Mitchie, the object of her affection, flashing her heart-melting smile and radiating energy.

"Okay, aside from the fact that I totally have butterflies, I'm actually pretty excited about performing. I really think you're going to like the song. I hope so anyway."

Alex set down her clothes, the only thing that mattered at the moment being the girl standing in front of her. "I'm sure I'll love it," she offered sweetly.

Mitchie smiled once more. "Well, that's good, because it's really personal."

Alex swallowed hard and sat on the bed. "Yeah, speaking of personal, can we chat for a few? I know you're busy with pre-show jitters and all, but…"

"Of course we can chat!" Mitchie began, sitting down. "What's up?"

Deep breath. "Well, you've become my best friend this summer –"

"Aww, I know, and I can't believe it's all wrapping up! At least we don't have to leave until Sunday, though," Mitchie interjected.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Alex said, trying to keep her cool. "But there's something that I kind of brought up the first night we talked that I want to be more upfront with you about."

Mitchie wasn't quite sure where this was going, but nodded all the same. "Sure. You can tell me anything."

Despite Mitchie's reassurance and the track record of their perfect friendship, the words "I'm gay," didn't seem to find Alex's vocal chords any easier this time around. In attempt to force them up and out, Alex was caught up in a moment of pure and unbridled honestly when she seized Mitchie's lips in a romance-and-desperation-infused kiss. Alex held Mitchie's face when she pulled her towards her, and she swore she could feel Mitchie's cheeks warming under her hands.

The kiss lasted a mere 5 seconds or so before the jiggling of the doorknob from outside startled them both apart. They pulled away just in time for Connie to enter in a hurry.

"Mitchie! Brown needs you at the Final Jam venue right away! They still need to do your sound check!" Connie exclaimed holding out her hand for Mitchie to take.

Alex had no idea whether or not Mitchie didn't have the time to make contact or if she had purposely avoided it, but either way, the way things happened were definitely not how she planned them.

After giving Mitchie a light tap on the bottom and out the door, Connie stepped into the cabin and closed the door.

"Alex, Sweetie, are you feeling okay? You look sick!" Connie observed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Alex stated, "I think…" she finished under her breath.

………………………………………………….

Alex was so nervous that she almost forgot to clap at the performance of her own produced song on the Final Jam stage. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had done and how stupid she was to have done it in that way. Sure, it was by far the best kiss she ever had, and no, Mitchie didn't automatically pull away, but if she was going to act on impulse, she would have at least liked to found out the outcome and potential consequences. She just wanted to hear Mitchie's song, lock eyes with her like they did so many times that summer, and know that no matter how things ended, it would all be okay.

Finally, Mitchie was announced as next to perform, and each step she took to the microphone seemed painstakingly long. Before she sang, she cleared her throat and spoke to the crowd.

"This is an original composition of mine, and I wrote it for someone very close to my heart. It's called This is Me," Mitchie finished.

And there it was. The eye-lock. Could this song really be for her?

MITCHIE:

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
Right inside of me
I'm gonna let it show, it's time
To let you know
To let you know

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've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me

Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way

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've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me

Alex's smile could not be countered. The lyrics to the beautifully-sung song were practically the conversation they had in musical form. She was certain the song was for her. It had to be.

SHANE:

You're the voice I hear inside my head
The reason that I'm singing
I need to find you
I've gotta find you

You're the missing piece I need
The song inside of me
I need to find you

"What?" Alex whispered aloud to herself.

MITCHIE AND SHANE:
(turn to face each other)
I've gotta find you

And instantly, a smile turns to tears.

Before she could stop herself or make sense of what she was doing, Alex was out the door and heading straight for the cabin she shared with Tess and the others where the majority of her belongings sat, for the most part untouched. She began throwing anything, everything in whatever suitcase was handy; if it fit, she threw it in, and she didn't look back.

Alex had no idea that there was anything going on between Mitchie and Shane. He was one of her course instructors and she had seen them talking a few times, but she thought that's all it was, just talk. Not that they had been working on a love duet together, the song that she foolishly thought Mitchie had written for her. Her first instinct was to turn to what she always did in moments of panic and rock bottom, magic, but her tears flowed harder and harder as she realized that there are some things that even magic can't fix.

…………………………………………………………

The worry really set in when Alex didn't show up at the finale. Mitchie and Alex were supposed to dance next to one another, and even though she wrote off not seeing Alex in the crowd at the end of her song as just a fluke, she knew that Alex wouldn't have missed this number unless something was seriously wrong. She didn't even have time to explain to Shane that although she was flattered and enjoyed their impromptu musical collaboration, that she wasn't interested in him romantically. He wasn't her type, but she figured she'd leave that out for when she did get around to telling him. But right now, the only priority was Alex.

"Alex!" she called out, opening the door to the cabin they shared all summer.

All of Alex's temporary belongings were gone, and in place of the teddy bear that normally sat on the pillow to their bed was a note.

Mitchie:

I'm sure I at least owed you a proper good bye, but this is the best I can do right now. It shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out why, and especially after what I did earlier, I'm sure you can understand why it's best for both of us that I just leave unnoticed.

If I had any idea you had feelings for someone, I would have handled things differently, but whether intentional or not, my heart is broken for the first time and I don't know how nor want to find out how to live up to that. It's just too painful.

This was definitely a life-changing summer, and it's safe to say that it's all because of you.

Love, Alex

No street address. No phone number. No e-mail. Nothing but a good bye.

Mitchie's tear-filled eyes scanned the letter repeatedly, looking for some kind of clue. She ran to Alex's original cabin, hoping to maybe catch her. The empty cot and floor space was only an affirmation that Alex Russo was really gone.

A tear drop hit the floor with an audible drip as Mitchie whispered to herself in a choked-up voice, "I've gotta find you."