Becca was deciding what she should mix with B.o.B. and New Boyz when she was practically assaulted by a crazy redhead. Most of the club reps had taken one look at Becca's thick mascara and decided to pass. But apparently this girl was gonna be a little harder to ditch. A couple of well placed insults later though and her blondie friend looked homicidal. Becca honestly didn't know what they'd expected; they were trying to convince her that singing without any instrumental back up would be fun. Becca had mixed enough songs to know that the instruments were the best part. The redhead looked kinda nice though, so she let her down easy with the easy excuse: "I don't even sing".
Boy did that one backfire on her. There she was minding her own business, trying to take a freaking shower for God's sake and little Ms. a cappella thinks it is perfectly fine to just barge right on in, totally naked. Becca had more walls up than North Korea, and she didn't appreciate anyone breaking through her boundaries, mental or physical. But she figured the best way to get rid of her was to sing the stupid song, so whatever. Besides, the girl knew David Guetta. When Becca heard how good they sounded together, she began to wonder if there wasn't a little more to this a cappella thing than she'd thought. Plus, she saw how bright the redhead's eyes got when they matched note for note and thought maybe she wouldn't mind seeing those baby blues light up again.
That didn't mean she was going all mushy mushy for it. She refused to show up on time to the stupid audition and when she did get there it took her a little bit to actually walk on to the stage. It was kinda worth it though, because that redhead looked really happy to see her. There was no way in hell she was singing Kelly Clarkson, she knew going in what she was gonna do. It was her way of testing whether or not redhead would be willing to accept someone a little different. She heard blondie snort when she picked up the plastic cup, but screw her. She knew the whole place was watching her when she started that trick her Gramps had taught her ages ago. She could still remember what he'd said: "Sometimes, Becs, simple is best. Sometimes it don't take anything more than a plastic cup." What was good enough for Gramps, was good enough for a bunch of snotty college kids. She sang low but confident. If there was one thing in her messed up life that Becca could be sure of, it was that she had a voice. When she dared to look up, there were those blue eyes, growing brighter with every note. Well, at least she'd made her happy. When Becca risked a glance at blondie, she thought she saw some grudging approval in those tight lips. She put the cup down for the last time, looked again at those happy bright eyes, and then walked out the door.
Over the next few days she learned the redhead was Chloe and the blonde was Aubrey. Their names fit them she decided. Chloe brought to mind summer and flowers and those happy bright things that people put on Hallmark cards and stuff. Aubrey sounded like an 18th century bitch of an aunt who was always telling you to sit up straight and use correct grammar. Sure enough when they got to their first a cappella party, Aubrey had all of one beer and stood awkwardly talking to the exuberant Fat Amy. Becca was pretty sure Fat Amy was drunk, but it was hard to tell with her. Predictably, Chloe was a lovey drunk, invading even more of Becca's personal space then usual. They were literally less than an inch apart, Chloe's legs pressed against hers, hands holding her wrists, noses touching, but Becca didn't pull away. Which was weird. Becca always pulled away, in every physical, mental, emotional sense. But with Chloe she didn't mind. Chloe came close and Becca didn't take a step back.
Pretty soon Becca found out she'd been wrong about a cappella but totally right about Aubrey. That girl had a stick so far up her ass it was going to take a word class surgeon to get it out. She wouldn't listen to anyone about anything, insisting that they sing songs that had probably been around longer than Moses. Becca knew she had a rebel streak and everything, but seriously blondie had it coming. It didn't take Becca long to figure out that, appearances aside, they had a group of seriously talented chicks. But nobody sounded good singing "The Sign", "Eternal Flame", and "Turn the Beat Around". Especially not the 500th time. So when they fail epically at their first performance, Becca isn't surprised. What was surprising was Chloe's revelation about "nodes". Even though Becca had never heard of them before, she could tell it was pretty legit. It sounded painful as hell and for the life of her she could not figure out why Chloe insisted on singing. She was lying on her bed, being ignored by Kimmy Jim, trying to mix her song, and worrying about Chloe. Not of the tracks would mesh so she finally wrenched off her headphones and stormed out of the room. A walk across the quad and two flights of stairs brought her to Chloe and Aubrey's room. It was only after she knocked on the door did it occur to her that blondie might be the one to open it. She was debating making a break for it when the door swung in to reveal Chloe, looking unfairly gorgeous in tousled hair and sweats.
"Hi," said Chloe, almost like a question.
"Hi." Becca realized she had no idea what to say. "Uh, I was thinking about what you said about your nodes and I was wondering why the hell you're still singing. Doesn't it hurt?"
Chloe blinked. "Um, yeah. It does. A little. But this is Bellas, and I have to sing. We have to win this year!"
"You're prioritizing our a cappella group over your musical future?" Becca was more confused now than ever.
"You're making it sound worse than it is."
"No, I'm not. As far as I can tell, the sooner you get surgery the better it is for your voice. Either that or you rest your voice and hope that they go away. You're doing neither."
"I can get surgery later, after nationals. There will be plenty of time to recover then."
"Assuming you still have a voice to recover! And also, not to be a total pessimist-"
"Because you're usually such an optimist" Chloe cut in
"Not to be a total pessimist, but isn't nationals kind of an unrealistic goal?" Becca continued.
Chloe deflated against the door, and Becca was suddenly sorry she'd said anything. "We're a really talented group-" Chloe began.
"The best singers in the world couldn't make our set list sound good. Aubrey needs to start changing things up."
"Tradition is really important to her," Chloe came to her friend's defense. "But yes, a little change might be nice."
"Aca-scuse me?" A new voice, broke in from behind Becca. "You don't think I'm doing a good job running the Bellas, Chloe?"
Becca could practically see the thought of Oh, Shit! in those blue eyes.
"I didn't say that." Chloe protested.
"You might as well have," said Aubrey, her voice rising in anger. "I suppose you put her up to this?" She turned suddenly on Becca.
"Yea it's probably my fault," Becca said nonchalantly. "But it's a good thing she's hearing an opinion from someone whose name doesn't start with 'Au' and end with 'brey'."
"If you think I'm going to let some emo skank-" Aubrey started in.
"Whoa! Bree, stop it!" Chloe said in alarm, staring at her friend like she'd never seen her before. Aubrey did look a little crazy, crazier than usual that is, Becca thought. Wisps of golden hair were fraying out from her usually perfect curls. Her lipstick was smudged around her mouth and her eyes were wide in outrage.
"So you're taking her side now? Is that how it is? Fine! See if I care!" Flinging her hands in the air, she marched through the door and slammed it closed behind her.
Chloe sighed a little and turned to look at Becca. "I'm sorry about that."
"You're sorry? Why? You didn't call me an emo skank."
"Yea but-"
"No seriously, that was totally not your fault. Actually I don't get why you aren't kind of pissed right now."
"Not worth it," Chloe said. "The problem is I have to go ask Alex if I can crash in his room."
"Wha-" It took Becca a second to process that. "You mean she's not gonna let you back in?"
"Not tonight." Chloe looked resigned. "She's got to make her point."
"She locks you out to make a point!? What the hell!"
"It's fine. Really. Alex won't mind." Becca felt something flare up in her stomach at the mention of Alex, whoever he was. Guys in college were so sketchy; she couldn't let Chloe sleep there. For the record, that thought had nothing at all to do with jealousy or anything like that.
"No, I got you into this mess, I might as well help you out. You can sleep in my room."
Chloe's face lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning. "Really? You mean it?"
"Yea, course. It's no big de-" But Chloe was already hugging her in delight.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Becca awkwardly patted the enthusiastic redhead on the back.
"Sure, no problem. Hey relax, it's not like I saved your life or anything."
But Chloe was bouncing up and down, chattering about how she would never ever forget this. Becca just grinned and led her to the room. Luckily Kimmy Jim was gonna be out late so they had some time to figure out where to sleep.
Becca offered to sleep on the floor so Chloe could take the bed, but Chloe flat out refused to let Becca give up her bed.
"Well, there is no way you're sleeping on the floor so…" Becca said.
"All right," Chloe said firmly, "then we're both going to have to fit."
"What?" said Becca. That was not the conclusion she'd come to at all. She eyed the narrow mattress. "There is no way we both fit on that."
"Sure we can!" Chloe announced. "Lie down." Exasperated, but with no choice, Becca flopped down on the bed, shifting as close to the wall as possible. Chloe got down and lay in front of her, barely on the mattress. "See?" she said "We fit fine."
"Yea," Becca laughed "Except you're about to fall off."
"Hm." Chloe thought for a second. And then, to Becca's horror, she started to scoot backwards until she was literally pressed flat against the younger girl. Becca went rigid, trying not to think about where Chloe's butt was.
"Cozy." Chloe giggled.
"Uh-huh," said Becca, doing her best to keep the strain out of her voice.
"So," said Chloe conversationally, as if she wasn't being spooned by another girl, "if you don't like our set list, what do you think it should be?"
TBC. Also I don't actually know anything about music, so don't hate me if the answer I write for Chloe's question doesn't make sense.