Staubrey Week – Day 1 – Soulmates – The Letter Tattoo

It was the first day of her senior year at Barden University. Aubrey had just moved back to campus the prior week with her best friend Chloe. Aubrey looked at the underside of her right wrist dejectedly. There was still just a letter S. She'd tried so hard to meet as many people as she could so she'd find her soulmate. There were so many people with S names that it didn't really help her all that much. Here she was, twenty-two years old, and she'd never felt the pinch, a telltale sign that she'd finally made eye contact with her soulmate. The average person met theirs by age nineteen. Was Aubrey broken? Had she missed the opportunity? What if her soulmate had died before they'd ever gotten the chance to meet? Her parents had met when they were sixteen, so Aubrey had expected this to happen before she finished high school. While it was unusual, some people actually went to their grave with their wrist tattoo still a single letter. The mere thought of this almost made Aubrey stress-vomit.

Chloe was in the same position as Aubrey. They were the same age, and Chloe still had a letter on her wrist, a B. Chloe had taken a more positive attitude about the situation, choosing instead to look at it as an opportunity to meet more people.

The two women were leading the Barden Bellas a capella group this season. They'd had the honor of being the first all-female a capella group to make it to the ICCA finals the previous year. Unfortunately, they also had the embarrassment of a stressed Aubrey vomiting all over the place in the middle of her solo. The few members of the group who hadn't graduated had quit the Bellas out of embarrassment. The video had gone viral on YouTube, and the two women could only hope they'd find people willing to audition.

They were standing at their table at the activities fair, hoping to find eight "super hot girls with bikini-ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch." That was Aubrey's standard. Chloe just wanted to get good singers. Just as Chloe was saying this to Aubrey, a heavyset blonde woman walked up.

"What? Good singers? What?" she asked, her voice had a thick Australian accent.

"Hi!" greeted Chloe. "Can you sing?"

"Yeah."

"Can you read music?"

"Yeah."

"Can you match pitch?"

"Try me."

Chloe and Aubrey tested her, and she was able to match pitches.

"That was a really good start," said Aubrey. The woman didn't quite fit what Aubrey had in mind, but she'd been the only person interested thus far. Maybe Chloe was right.

"I'm the best singer in Tasmania, with teeth," she said proudly.

"Love it," said Aubrey.

"What's your name?" asked Chloe.

"Fat Amy," she said.

"You call yourself 'Fat Amy'?" asked Aubrey.

"Yeah, so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back," she said. "Also, it really throws off my soulmate."

"You've met yours?" asked Aubrey. "Can I see your tattoo?"

The Australian showed the woman the underside of her wrist. It said "Bumper Allen."

"Bumper is your soulmate?" asked Aubrey. Bumper was the captain of their rival group, the Treblemakers.

"Yeah, but I really threw him off. We felt the pinch, and his tattoo said 'Patricia Hobart.' I have him convinced my real name is just Fat Amy."

"Why did you change your name and why wouldn't you want to be with your soulmate?" asked Chloe.

Amy (or Patricia, the two women weren't sure) shrugged. "He's a turd burger. I'm not sure this tattoo thing totally works. I felt the pinch, but I don't know. I'm a free-range pony. I can't be tied down. And I'm definitely more of an Amy than a Patricia."

Aubrey and Chloe looked at each other in shock. Neither one of them had ever heard of anyone not even liking their soulmate. The name thing was pretty weird too.

The woman went on. "I can sing, but I'm also good at modern dance, olden dance, and mermaid dancing." She went down to the ground to demonstrate. "It's a little different. You usually start on the ground. It's a lot of floor work."

"That's good," said Aubrey. She handed her a flyer as she got up. "I'll see you at auditions, Fat Amy."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Chloe asked, "So, if her soulmate is a Treble, are you still going to let her in?"

"Well, she's the first person who took a flyer from us. I think we have to take the chance."

Chloe spotted a petite brunette walking around. "Oh, what about her?"

"Oh, I don't know. She looks a little too alternative for us," said Aubrey.

Chloe ignored Aubrey and handed the girl a flyer. "Hi! Any interest in joining our a capella group?"

"Oh, right, this is – ouch!" exclaimed the girl when she looked up, just as Chloe also yelped.

Chloe looked at the underside of her wrist. "It's happening!" Aubrey looked on as Chloe's tattoo rapidly changed to reveal the name "Beca Mitchell."

The girl in front of them was staring at her wrist. "Are you Chloe Beale?" she asked as she looked at the name on her wrist.

"Yes," said Chloe. "So, you must be Beca Mitchell?"

"That's me," said Beca. She glanced up and down Chloe's body. Chloe had red hair, blue eyes, a thin build, and was only a little taller than Beca. "I got a good one."

"Thanks. I'm pretty confident about...all this," she said, gesturing to her body. "We should probably talk." She turned to Aubrey. "Mind if I go for now?"

Aubrey sighed. "Go ahead, but I expect you to post flyers in the freshman dorm buildings tomorrow!"

Chloe waved her off as she ran off with Beca. Aubrey had mixed feelings as she saw the two of them making out behind a nearby tree. She was thrilled for Chloe, but she was worried she was never going to find her soulmate.

Aubrey handed out a few more flyers, but she wasn't sure they were going to find enough girls for the group.

One month later

It was time for a capella auditions. Aubrey was super stressed. There weren't a lot of people there, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get enough singers, seeing as she had to consider the possibility that others might want to join the BU Harmonics or the High Tones. Chloe grabbed her hand and tried to calm her down. "Let me just send Beca a text. I'm sure she'll audition since we'll need more people."

"Can she even sing?" asked Aubrey.

"I heard her singing 'Titanium' in the shower the other day," said Chloe. "I was going to get her to sing with me, but we ended up-"

"I get the picture."

Bumper called over, "Hey, Bellas, remember when you tried to play in the big leagues and you choked? It should really be a lesson to everyone. If you sing the same boring girly shit every year, you will blow chunks, all over the place. Vomit everywhere."

Aubrey stood up and said, "My fellow aca-people, we will not let egotistical big-headed, garbage dirtballs, whoever you may be, get in our way. I promise you we will return to the ICCA's and finish what we started last year."

The first singer walked up to audition before Bumper could respond. She had an excellent voice, and Aubrey and Chloe definitely considered her a strong candidate. A few other singers came up – one girl cried through most of her audition, and another spoke and sang so softly, they had no idea what she could do. Another girl was bouncy but talented. There were a few others that had potential. The Australian – Amy or Patricia – showed up asking for backup dancers, but she gave a good audition nonetheless.

Just then, a beautiful brunette girl with long legs walked onto the stage. She said, "Hi, everybody. My name is Stacie. My hobbies include cuticle care and the E! Network." Hearing the S name, Aubrey looked up. They locked eyes,. and both she and Stacie immediately shrieked and grabbed their wrists. Aubrey looked over at her wrist to reveal the name "Stacie Conrad." She flipped through her papers, and sure enough, that matched the name and picture on the paperwork. Stacie was looking at her wrist and staring in disbelief. "I don't understand," she said. She ran off the stage before saying anything else.

Before anyone could go after her, Beca walked up to audition. She insisted on singing her own song, surprising both Aubrey and Chloe with her talent.

Aubrey looked for Stacie after auditions were over, but she couldn't find her. She decided to try and find her with the contact information on her audition paperwork. She knocked on the door of Stacie's dorm. Her roommate replied that she wasn't there. She'd left to take a shower. Aubrey headed to the bathroom and called for her. "Stacie?"

She heard sniffling and scrubbing, "Go away."

"Stacie, what's the matter?"

"I didn't think...I wasn't supposed to..." she replied.

"Can I come in?"

Stacie sighed. "I guess."

Aubrey walked in to see Stacie furiously scrubbing at the underside of her wrist.

"Stacie, it doesn't come off."

"That's not it. I wasn't born with a letter. I've been drawing an A on the underside of my wrist since I was little. I didn't want people to find out. It's embarrassing."

"Then why is your name on my wrist?" asked Aubrey, showing her the tattoo.

"I don't know," said Stacie. "I always thought since I didn't have a letter, I didn't have a soulmate. That's why I freaked out when I felt the pinch. Now I can't get the letter off and read the name. I knew I wrote it too big." There was a letter A that Stacie had written, and it had made the other letters hard to read.

Aubrey rummaged in her purse. "Try these. Alcohol wipes get ink stains out of clothing, so maybe that will work on skin," said Aubrey. She took Stacie's arm in her hand and gently wiped at her wrist. "Look," she said.

Stacie looked at her wrist in disbelief. "Aubrey Posen," she read aloud. She looked into Aubrey's green eyes. "Is that you?"

"It sure is."

Stacie smiled briefly before furrowing her brow in confusion. "I don't know how this happened."

"I don't either," said Aubrey. "Would you like to get coffee, maybe? If we really are soulmates, we should try to get to know each other."

"I guess that would be okay."

Aubrey and Stacie walked to a coffee shop near campus, taking advantage of the nice weather. Aubrey convinced Stacie to sing on the way since she hadn't started to sing before she ran out of the audition. Stacie turned out to have a beautiful singing voice, and Aubrey assured her she would get an invite to the Bellas.

They got their drinks and sat at a corner table away from the other customers.

"My parents told me when I was really young that I wasn't ever to tell anyone I didn't have a letter. They drew the A with a permanent marker until I was old enough to do it myself. Someone figured it out in high school, and things got ugly really fast."

"What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about what happened in high school. I'll just say it led to some really bad choices. My parents said they thought the tattoo system was ridiculous."

"Why is that?"

"I guess it's because they still have single letters. My parents aren't soulmates. My parents' marriage isn't even legal because they aren't soulmates. They went so far as to get tattoos on their wrist to smudge out their letters. That's probably why I don't have a letter. I wasn't supposed to exist," said Stacie sadly.

"I doubt the fact that you're not supposed to exist," said Aubrey. "I'm certainly glad you exist."

"I just don't understand how we live in a world where the mark on your wrist determines your soulmate. And it won't even tell you until you've met them. And, I don't know how it felt for you, but that pinch hurt!"

"My parents always said it was because with love comes pain. It hurt, but I expected it to."

"I guess. But, if I'm not supposed to exist, how do I have a soulmate?"

"Maybe your parents are right, and the system is ridiculous. I don't know. I do know I'm enjoying my time with you. Besides, I've met children of same-sex couples. Their biological parents can't possibly be soulmates, and they had letters. It just happens. I'm not sure why you were born without the letter, but you have a name on your wrist now. Did you ever think about why you and your parents always wrote an A? Maybe that was the universe telling you something."

Stacie shrugged. She took a moment to really look at Aubrey, something she hadn't done since the pinching feeling in her wrist. She was beautiful! She had blonde hair, green eyes, and an amazing body. "Well, if we are soulmates, I sure am lucky."

Aubrey blushed. "You're not so bad yourself."

A text from Chloe popped up on Aubrey's phone. "Hey, Stacie, Chloe texted to ask if I'd found you and if you were okay. What would you like me to tell her?"

"Can you just tell her you found me and I'm okay? I'm still not sure how I got the name after not having a letter, and I don't think that I want that texted."

"Sure," said Aubrey. She texted Chloe that she was with Stacie and that she was okay. She'd talk to Chloe later. "Can I walk you back to your dorm?"

"I'd like that," said Stacie. The two women walked back to Stacie's dorm. Stacie slipped her hand into Aubrey's, pleasantly surprised at how nice it felt to just hold her hand.

As they were about to part for the evening, Aubrey nervously asked, "Is it okay if I kiss you? You don't have to say yes. I just think I really like you and-" Stacie cut her off with a chaste kiss to Aubrey's lips.

"Good night, Aubrey," said Stacie.

"Good night, Stacie."

Stacie smiled to herself as Aubrey walked away. She wasn't sure what it meant to finally have a name on her wrist after all of these years of not even having a letter, but maybe that didn't matter. She just knew that she really liked Aubrey, and maybe that was all that mattered.