Hello!
So a bit nervous about uploading this, I haven't written in a long time, but this idea was rattling around my head and I had a few days with nothing to do so ended up writing the vast majority of this story. Please write me some reviews, tell me if it's hideous or if anyone has any interest... This chapter is more just a set-the-scene thing, show where our main dudes are at, hence it being on the short side.
I also apologise in advance for chapter titles. At 3am one night I decided it would be funny to twist the names of songs and now I'm kinda attached to them.
WARNING: some strong language, character death - will change rating if needed.
Disclaimer for the whole non-owning thing. Hope you like it!
1 - WAKE UP IT'S A MISERABLE LIFE
All she could see were the flames. They were all consuming, unpredictable. The fire licked up the walls of the hallway – it had already engulfed the room, it was looking for bigger prey. The heat was unimaginable. Patches of her skin were melting, her clothes burning. But she couldn't move away. She couldn't run. She had to stay. She had to save her.
"Amy! Amy I-" Smoke came thick and fast and she struggled to breathe. She could feel it taking hold of her lungs. Spluttering, she tried to find her friend.
"There's, there's no water!" Amy was beside her, searching desperately for anything to stop the flames, but there was too much panic. They were running out of options fast.
"Can you see? I can't see!" Beca lifted her shirt to her mouth to stop her inhaling too much smoke, trying to see through the flames into the dorm room. She thought she could see the computer screen melting, a poster succumbing to the flames that had been creeping up it as it fell out of view. There was nothing else, just the bright light from the fire as it burned the room down.
"She must be here somewhere!"
CRACK. Beca looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. "Amy did you hear that?" The flames were converging on them and her survival instincts told her to run – get out before it was too late. But she couldn't leave. She couldn't abandon her friends.
"What was that?" Beca looked around as she heard the crack again. The wall right in front of her, the wall that was already crumbling down on her. She didn't even have time to scream.
Beca awoke with a start; her breathing heavy, sweat dripping onto the bed sheets. Just a dream, she assured herself, You're fine.She looked up at the ceiling, trying to calm her heart rate down. It was just another nightmare, but at least she could wake up from this one.
Many of her days started this way – waking from the nightmare, calming herself down, then getting ready for work. It was monotonous but at least she had work now, something to focus on. Too many of her days a year ago had been without the distraction of work. She dragged her heavy limbs out of bed and towards her shower. She could make it through this day. She could survive the next fourteen hours.
Beca hated her job. She always knew she would have to pay her dues to get into the business, to achieve her dream, but she didn't realise how much she would hate it. Her boss, Jerry Melbourne, was a horrible man. He thrived on getting others to do his bidding and taking the credit after. For a music producer he knew very little about current music trends. He was a short fat man with a non-existent sex life and an expensive alimony, and he took all his anger at the world out on her.
But she took it. She took all his crap because one day, she would be him - a better him. She would be doing what she loved to do and she would finally be happy - She hoped.
On the other side of the country, Jesse was opening Hector's for the day, a karaoke bar not too far from the university. It was the kind of place where everything seemed to be made of wood. The floors were unvarnished, scratched, and stained from spilled alcohol. A sturdy mahogany bar separated the customers from the wall of bottles containing liquids of all colours. Gleaming taps stood tall and proud. Small circular tables stood scattered in the middle of the room, each with a varying quantity of mismatched chairs. Three plush red booths were attached to the wall opposite the bar. The walls were covered in photos of regulars, autographed pictures from the many famous artists that had begun their career there, and a pin board kept various napkins covered in the drunken scrawls of customers. A brass coat hanger stood by the door, mainly holding forgotten scarves and lost umbrellas. It was small and a bit too dark for Jesse, but that also made him love the bar even more. The imperfections only enhanced its beauty.
He had been here for three months, and despite his love for the little bar, he was tired. He'd been up all night trying to figure out was missing from the Treble's set for the semi-finals. Something was wrong but he couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was his growing disinterest in it all; his passion for acapella - for music in general - was waning. The box in the back of his mind that he had locked up tightly whispered to him, but he shook the thought away. The past was too painful, and he had already over examined it enough to last a lifetime.
Predictably, the first customer of the day was Grumpy Greg, a retired navy seal with a ton of his long dead parents money and no one children to bother saving it for.
"Morning Greg," Jesse greeted. "Usual?"
Greg grunted, taking his usual seat at the corner closest to the bathroom. Despite his nickname, Jesse had grown quite fond of the old man. War tattoos were fading away on his hands and arms, but the wrinkles on his face grew deeper every day. He wore a red cap over his balding head and always had the same fisherman's jacket slung over his plaid shirt. He was pleasant in his disinterest, more likely to scrawl sketches on napkins (many of which hung on the pin board) than converse with any other customers. He kept to himself and enjoyed his loneliness. Jesse liked to think that, if he turned out like Greg, it wouldn't be so bad.
"Jesse!" Freddy walked in through the door, the bell ringing above him to announce his entrance. "What're you doing here man? You're supposed to be doing that weird singing thing!"
Freddy was the other part-time bar tender, who was always late and never seemed all there. He was tall, dark and handsome and he knew it, his cockiness earning him many a snide look from the girls who came in. His hair flopped into his eyes and he had mastered the hair flip much to Jesse's distain, as he did it constantly and drove the senior crazy. Luckily for him, he only shared one shift with Freddy a week, and since he was a high school dropout, he never bumped into him around campus.
"I need the break from all that prep work anyway," Jesse said with a shrug. "We've got a week until semi-finals so I've got time to work it all out."
Freddy hopped over the bar and grabbed his apron, tying it around his waist. "You'll be fine." He slapped Jesse supportively on the back. "Just go with the flow and it'll all be alright on the night!"
Jesse sighed; Freddy had been on the pot again.
More customers began to drizzle in, so Jesse busied himself pouring drinks and cleaning tables, trying to keep his mind off the upcoming few months. Not only did he have the Trebles to sort out, but he also had his finals and the future to think about. His time at Barden was coming to an end and Jesse didn't have a clue what he was going to do with his life. His parents were piling on the pressure but all Jesse wanted to do was stop time and run far away, away from the pressure, away from the memories. He shrugged the idea off. He had responsibilities and he had to face his future at some point.
Besides, running would make me just as bad as that certain ex-girlfriend, he thought bitterly.
