Making Wishes In The Dark
Chloe Beale sat in front of the fire listening to the gentle crackle of the flames – which filled her with a sudden and inexplicable desire for microwave popcorn. She looked up at the night sky, an inky blue-black colour speckled with a widely dispersed array of brightly shining stars. Chloe's life was mirrored in the sky above – little moments in her life that shined out more than everything else. Just under two years ago Chloe had applied herself and actually passed Russian Literature. She didn't count it as a fully-fledged star, but it was certainly a noticeable sparkle. The fire began to dim slightly and she threw another chunk of wood into the flames which flared up, tendrils of flame eagerly embracing the wood. The flames moved in a strange and mesmerising pattern – chaotic yet ordered. Each flame was doing its own thing, but together it looked like one perfectly synchronised event, like a jazz song or one of the Bellas' performances. Chloe reflected on her time with The Barden Bellas with a fond smile, but she enjoyed being in The Bellas, because there was no sense of finality about it. When she was in The Barden Bellas, graduation from Barden University meant that membership to the Barden Bellas was terminated. After competing and winning the A cappella World Championship, Chloe had had what she thought was an excellent idea.
"Well done Feisty Mouse." Kommissar said to Beca, acting politely, but the jealous anger visible in her eyes.
"Thank you," Beca said with a smile that verged on smugness. The ranks of Das Sound Machine turned as one and stomped away in furious defeat. Chloe looked at Beca and was impressed that she had managed to control herself.
"You are the pinnacle of human evolution!" Beca yelled almost involuntarily. Chloe sighed in exasperation.
"Beca…" Chloe said quietly, pulling Beca gently by the crook of her arm. Beca turned, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Chloe, are you okay?" Beca asked looking concerned.
"Oh yeah, I'm great! We've just become world champions and crushed DSM. I couldn't be happier, but I wanted to suggest something."
"Oh okay, what's on your mind?" Beca asked as the two girls dropped to the back of the jubilant Bellas.
"Look at us now. We are the world champions of a cappella! I know I said that The Worlds would be my swan song, but…"
"Oh oh, where are you going with this Chloe?"
"We've graduated now, we need careers. How about being a professional a cappella group? Y'know, like The Pentatonix? It would be great! We'd be the antidote to Das Sound Machine!"
"But, I thought you wanted to be a singing teacher."
"Or an exotic dancer." Chloe said chirpily with a wink, hooking arms with Beca who looked at her for a split second before smiling to herself.
"So why do you want to turn your back on that?" Beca asked moving closer to the red head. Most people wouldn't have noticed the small amount of movement, but the incredibly perceptive Chloe did and it made her extremely happy.
"Because a cappella is the best thing we do. Aubrey moved on, but look how quick she was to perform with us. She clearly misses being a Bella. Emily's mum talks about nothing else. I don't want to live a life where everything I do – no matter how momentous – is overshadowed by my days in The Bellas. There are people here today that are a cappella singers… as a job! That's aca-awesome!"
"That does sound pretty cool. I don't know what everyone else will think, but I'd be happy to be part of a professional a cappella team. We'd be like singing footballers." Beca said with excitement.
"Still got the Green Bay Packers on your mind?" Chloe asked with a laugh.
"His arms were bigger than I am." Beca whispered, halfway between awe and terror.
"So, you're on board then?" Chloe asked hopefully.
"Sure. One question… how's it all going to work?"
"I am so glad you asked. So, we are The Bellas – the professional team that tour the world and so on. Then at Barden University are The Barden Bellas, one of the many campus a cappella teams. They do all of the collegiate competitions and such. They will be linked to us, so if any of them stand out as super talented – like you did – then they can join our ranks."
"That's really cool!"
"And members of The Bellas can coach them. So I can teach underprivileged children to sing after all!" Chloe said with excitement.
"How so?"
"Barden is a very cheap university." Chloe said with a wink echoing the words of the blonde girl at the induction assembly.
"You've really thought this through," Beca said sounding impressed, "when did you start cooking up this little scheme?"
"When all the Golden Girl Bellas and Aubrey agreed to perform with us. It made me think that we are all united by a cappella and being Bellas is our natural calling."
"You've got a point. I want to produce music, but I've enjoyed being a Bella a lot more than a Residual Heat intern."
"I'm so happy you're going to stick with us." Chloe said. Beca smiled at Chloe and Chloe smiled back.
"Me too," Beca responded, "me too."
Chloe heard a twig snap and her head turned quickly but she had been looking into the flames for so long that when she looked away she could see only blackness.
"Hello?" Who's there?" Chloe asked, noticing that she had inadvertently quoted almost every victim from every slasher movie ever.
"It's just me." Came a voice. Chloe blinked rapidly and as her vision readjusted the figure of Beca Mitchell swam into view.
"Hey Beca." Chloe said with a smile.
"Hey. Why are you out here all on your own?"
"Oh, I just wanted to clear my head and think about things." Chloe said. Beca doubled over and sat down on the empty foldout chair that was next to her.
"No one was sitting there were they?" Beca asked in panic.
"No, I set up two. One for me and one for anyone else who happened to come outside."
"The party is in full swing back at the house. They're having a pillow fight… again." Beca said with a laugh.
"You should get in on that because you missed the last one." Chloe said, giving Beca a playful shove.
"Woah!" Beca yelped, "You almost tipped me! And I'm not supposed to be tipped, do I look like a cow to you?"
"No." Chloe said slowly.
"Good save." Beca said with a playful scowl.
"What can I say, I'm a charmer." Chloe said with a giggle. Beca thought Chloe's quip was the perfect point to get something off her chest.
"Chloe, you know how Amy realised she was in love with Bumper?"
"Oh yeah." Chloe said, recalling the moment with a smile.
"Well she wasn't the only one. I had the same realisation." Beca said quietly, her voice coated in raw emotion.
"You're in love with Bumper?" Chloe yelped, sounding utterly appalled.
"No! God no! I mean that I realised that I am in love." Beca clarified, her voice timid. There was a moment of silence as the two girls looked into one another's eyes.
"I'm in love with you." Beca said breaking the silence and stating the blindingly obvious. Chloe smiled – a broad genuine smile.
"I know." Chloe whispered.
"How do you know?" Beca asked quizzically.
"Everyone knew."
"I didn't know until we sang around the fire." Beca said.
"We all knew loooong before that."
"Oh… why am I always the last to know?" Beca said forlornly. Chloe leaned forwards and planted a gentle kiss on Beca's lips.
"I love you too." Chloe whispered in Beca's ear once she had pulled away from the kiss.
"Wait, this isn't just you experimenting is it?" You said you hadn't done enough experimenting in college." Beca asked sounding worried.
"I didn't experiment as much as I would have liked, but I experimented enough to know one thing."
"What's that?"
"I'm in lesbians with you." Chloe said pulling Beca in for another kiss and Beca instantly surrendered herself to it. Chloe definitely scored extra romance points for managing to effectively quote a line from Scott Pilgrim VS The World.
Back at The Bella House Amy looked out of the window and saw Chloe and Beca kissing.
"They're kissing!" Amy called out to the other Bellas. They paused their pillow fight and looked up in unison.
"Who is?" Stacie asked.
"Chloe and Beca." Amy responded. All the Bellas exchanged glances with each other and then in unison they said:
"FINALLY!"