Zap's note: Hmmm where to begin. So, the genesis of this came after seeing a few fics where Beca is the one genderswapped, presumably so that that they can write about Bechloe without having to deal with the icky gay stuff. At some point I was like "Well, why not spin things and make Jesse the one genderswapped so I can write Besse and not have to deal with the icky het stuff?". So I did. Smeg's had this for over a month now but dragged his ass getting it done especially since he decided to get out Self Esteem and the new chapter of Forgive and Forget in that time. I'm making progress on Pride of Barden chapter 2 but I'm a bit fearful it might be a sophomore slump. We'll see. After that, I don't know, maybe Timbre Reconfiguration, maybe Slaying Intersected, I don't know. And finally, we've started a joint account on AO3 called TeamZog. So far the only thing there is this and SI, but that will probably change. We also have our 'psueds' Electronis Zappa and Smeg699 set up. Yammering. On to Smeg's note then the fic.
Smeg's note: I may have had this for a month, but it's been a busy month and yes I have gotten two things out, and also gotten a lot of work done on a third. I hope you guys like this, it's a bit of a twist on how the genderswap normally goes (and the only time you'll see Zap or me really encourage Jeca). For my side of things I have a new chapter of Devil of Barden almost ready to go, some ideas for a follow-up to Self Esteem, and some thoughts and plans for the next chapter of Forgive and Forget to get written... Man, I better get to that. Enjoy!
It was a warm August day in north Georgia as Jesse and her parents made their way to Barden's Baker Hall. As they entered the campus, Kansas' Carry On Waryward Son was playing on Rock 100.5, and being psyched to start this new part of her life, she couldn't help but sing along with the classic song. During a brief traffic backup, Jesse couldn't help but notice a cute girl standing by the trunk of a taxi who'd noticed her. The look on the girl's face prompted her to give her performance all she had before they were able to move further towards the building.
When they found a suitable parking spot, Jesse jumped out of the car as soon as she could and grabbed one of her bags and her backpack. She made her way into the building, marveling at the atmosphere and taking as much of it in as she could as she headed towards the third floor. When she got to what she thought was her room, she wasn't prepared for what she found. "You're a boy, this must not be my room."
"Not unless you're Matthew Nelson." The boy said, turning to face her. Jesse, who had stopped as she'd stepped into the room almost missed it when he added, "I'm Benji."
"I'm Jesse. You must be kidding. Wow!" Jesse said as she took in Benji's half of the room already decorated with various Star Wars memorabilia. Actually, decorated wasn't even the right word. The one half of the room was just about covered from floor to ceiling in Star Wars memorabilia. On top of it all, Benji himself was wearing a cape, though as he turned Jesse saw that at least it didn't appear to be a full-on Darth Vader suit. Still, it was a bit much to take in at first.
"Looking at it now, I can see that it's a bit much." Benji said, a bit self conscious from Jesse's reaction. She could see him as the gears in his head started to turn, obviously worrying what sort of reaction his roommate might have. Jesse immediately felt bad, because while it was a lot right away, all-in-all it wasn't too bad. She tried not to wince as he added, "I can take it down if you think I should."
"No, no way. I mean it took a second for my eyes to adjust." Jesse said as she took in everything. After a moment, she started going through her backpack looking for the sheet that had her assigned room number on it. Hoping that that settled the situation she looked down and realized her mistake with the room numbers. Looking back up she shrugged and said, "Besides, I'm obviously not your roommate. Somehow I got 334 in my head, I think it must have been the time when I got out of the car. I'm in 333 this says."
"Oh, that's right across the hall, cool." Benji replied as Jesse looked back to him. She could see that he was feeling better now that she'd told him the Star Wars stuff wasn't too over the top. In fact, he was smiling at her as though he'd hit some milestone, and she couldn't help but smile back. If she in the least bit liked boys, he was just the kind of dorky, adorable goof she could go for. But that ship had sailed long ago. His reason for the smile became apparent as he gestured back and forth between them and said, "Look at that, first day here and already we've both made a friend."
"We have." Jesse confirmed with a smile. She was pretty sure that, as long as he didn't try to hit on her after she made it clear she wasn't interested or tell her that he could change her mind, they'd probably get on like a house on fire. At least if his taste in movies ran along the lines she thought it did. Gesturing towards the wall of Star Wars nerdery she added, "And it's awesome we both like movies. We'll have a lot to talk about."
"Maybe we could go sometime? To the movies that is." Benji suggested nervously, a bit taken aback as what could only be Jesse's parents joined them, her dad giving a hearty chuckle. Well, she wasn't going to say that she was surprised it had come. In fact, she'd expected it sooner in the conversation honestly. Still, she shared a brief glance with her dad as he asked, "What? Did I say something wrong."
"No dude, even though you were nervous you did well." Jesse said, trying to calm the caped boy. Honestly he had done well in what she'd probably guess was one of maybe a handful of times he might have done that. Still, it was better to get this conversation out of the way earlier, in case it changed how things went down… Maybe she hadn't made a friend today. Smiling a little nervously herself she went on, "You're just, not my type. But hey, you and I, we'll help each other find girls who appreciate our nerdy selves."
"Look just so you know, I'm not a total nerd. I also happen to be super into close up magic." Benji said, moving his hands to make a mouse appear. And now she knew what was up with the cape. At least she had assumed it was part of a Darth Vader thing, what with the theme of the rest of the room. Now it made more sense. And it was kind of cool even.
"Dude that's awesome!" Jesse said, pointing at the mouse. Of course, thinking about the mouse brought up another odd thought. He'd obviously been wearing this outfit for a while, probably all day. Still pointing out the mouse she asked softly, "How long was that little guy in there?"
"Several days." Benji admitted. He seemed a little disheartened by it, and Jesse felt bad for the mouse too. But all-in-all he seemed healthy and well-cared for. So there was that, at least. Smiling at him, considering he seemed to just take her sexuality in stride, she tried to reassure him again.
"Well still it was pretty cool." Jesse said gently. He seemed to take it well as he perked up a bit at her words. If everyone else she met here at Barden was as cool and accepting as Benji, Jesse would count her lucky stars.
"Thanks." Benji replied, looking at the girl before looking out the door to her room across the hall. "Hey, if you want, there's an activities fair down on the quad today, maybe we could go down and check it out when you're done with your room. Just as friends of course."
"Sure, I'll come over when we're done." Jesse replied, taking her stuff across the hall and giving him a brief wave which he returned. As they stepped across the hall, she was glad that her dad didn't crack some joke, because Benji's door was still open. Still, so far the day had been a rousing success. If only she would have as much luck with her roommate as Matthew Nelson was going to have with Benji…
Jesse's parents had hung around long enough to help her get all of her boxes out of the car and up into her room. Her dad had seemed to want to hang out more, maybe go on a tour of the campus or wander over to the Activities Fair she'd mentioned to him that Benji had spoken about, but she had kind of wanted to get started on her day alone. She was, after all, a college student now. Of course, they were going to take her out for dinner that night, but in the meantime she knew that they had some errands to run around town, and so she'd shooed them out the door to go take care of them.
She was in the middle of unpacking some of the boxes that held her clothes when a soft knock echoed through her room, followed shortly by the door opening. Jesse felt her jaw drop and her eyes pop as a vision stepped through the room. Preceded by a very impressive bosom was a tall girl with wavy, dark brown hair. She was looking over her shoulder as she entered, saying something to someone in the hall, which Jesse was thankful for as it gave her time to collect her jaw from the floor and put her eyeballs back into her skull before the girl turned around.
Straightening up as the girl stepped into her room Jesse let her gaze sweep up the girl starting at some rather impressive, and super cute, strappy heels that Jesse wasn't even sure she could walk in over long, well-toned and tanned legs that seemed to stretch for miles. They did eventually get to the rather short, floaty white skirt that the girl had on before coasting up over the tight blue camisole that was barely holding in the girl's impressive chest. As her eyes finally glided up to meet Stacie's she saw the other girl's eyes finishing a similar trip over her, and she only hoped that they found the sight as impressive.
Putting on a smile, Jesse stepped forward and said, "Stacie I presume? I love those shoes, they're super cute, but I'm fairly sure I'd fall over if I tried to walk in 'em."
"Yep that's me." the other girl confirmed before looking down at the shoes she was wearing and smiling. Holding one foot out she turned it a little from side to side to show it off briefly before putting her foot back down and saying, "Yeah, I'm a big fan of them too. Got 'em for a steal, too. If you want lessons, just let me know, I walk in heels half again this tall while drunk so…"
"Impressive. I've never really had the need, but if I do I'll be sure to ask." Jesse said, smiling half to herself at the idea. She wasn't really a shoe girl, but she'd had a feeling that Stacie was, and it was a good way to break the ice. Bending down she picked up some more of clothes to put away and found Stacie looking at her with an odd expression as she straightened up. Quirking an eyebrow at the taller girl who was still standing near the door she said, "What's up?"
"Well, I guess I just wasn't sure what to expect when I saw your name, I was half expecting I lucked out and got paired with a boy. Not that there's anything wrong with you." Stacie said, her gaze sweeping up and down Jesse as she spoke. Jesse's curious expression quickly shifted to bemusement when she realized what was obviously going through Stacie's head.
"I guess you just aren't that lucky because I am very much a girl. And while my parents might think my obsession with movies is a problem, I personally don't think there's anything wrong with me either, so thank you for that." Jesse said, shaking her head and chuckling a little at her own joke. After a second though she realized that Stacie just looked kind of confused and sighed. Shrugging she went back to unpacking her box and simply said, "I guess it's not that common, but I understand it is considered unisex."
"Regardless, I'm sure we're going to have a great year." Stacie said, heading for the unclaimed bed. The busty brunette seemed to have decided it would just be better to gloss over the comments, and Jesse was fine to go that route. If she knew anything about herself it was that making awkward conversation was practically a superpower of hers, so this wouldn't be the first time this happened. Still, the other girl seemed pretty cool with it, and that was a plus. As Stacie dropped the bag she'd been carrying down onto the bed, the taller girl turned around and was wearing a bit of a wicked grin as she said, "We'll have lots of fun"
"I'm sure we will." Jesse said, returning to her stuff for the last few things in the box. As she saw Stacie looking around the room, a sudden thought occurred to her, however and she gestured awkwardly between the two beds and said, "It's cool I chose this side yeah? I'll switch if you want me to."
"Oh yeah, it's cool don't worry about it." Stacie waved it off. Jesse nodded her acceptance and put the last of her things away before a knock sounded at the door. Stacie moved quickly to open it to reveal one of the yellow-shirted students who had been helping to unload people's cars pushing a rather loaded cart. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was no doubt Stacie's stuff as the taller girl started telling him where to drop off the boxes.
"You need a hand with unpacking any of this?" She asked as the yellow-shirted guy unloaded the last of Stacie's boxes from his cart and, after pausing to leer at the two of them for a second, left them alone. When Stacie simply shook her head and said she'd manage, Jesse went on, "Great. Well, I'm going to get unpacking, holler if you need a hand."
After getting everything squared away, Jesse made good on her promise and went across the hall to Benji's room. His roommate Matt had finally arrived, though he was currently out of the room. After leaving him a quick note, Jesse and Benji made their way to the quad where they found the activities fair in full swing. As they were walking, they came across a group of frat guys reciting a ridiculous chant.
"That's a double negative" Benji called out after them. He said it fairly quietly, however, and with the sounds of the Activities Fair and the group's chanting going on, they didn't appear to hear it. Which was probably the point, Jesse figured as she watched Benji slightly recoil when he realized what he'd said. Still, he wasn't wrong at all.
"That's a lot of negatives." Jesse agreed. Shaking her head at the antics of stupid frat boys, Jesse took a moment to look around the quad and take things in. There was a surprisingly large number of booths and tables setup, and some of the clubs definitely had her scratching her head. Like, seriously, she was a fan of Harry Potter and all, but a Quiditch Club, really?
"Follow me. There's only one group on this campus worth joining." Benji said as he led them towards the Treblemakers. Benji had either already scoped out the Fair, or he knew exactly what he was looking for, it seemed as he lead them straight towards a group of guys standing around some stairs just off from the main area. She couldn't really tell what they were about, however, as they all just seemed to be standing around playing on their phones or watching the passing crowds. Benji wasn't much help either as he said, "As far as Barden goes, that's what being a man is all about."
"Just because I like girls doesn't make me a man." Jesse joked as the Trebles burst into the song Let it Whip. At the sound of singing, Jesse turned quickly to look at the group of guys. Sure enough, they were singing, and one of them was even doing a little dance routine, right there on the steps. Casting her eyes back towards Benji she couldn't help but ask, "Do you think I look butch? I mean, I've never been the girly-girl, but I think I'm a long way from being considered butch."
"What? No. No, I didn't mean it like that." Benji shook his head. As he backpedaled it was obvious that he hadn't really been thinking about what he was saying. His gaze had been focused dreamily on the guys, the Treblemakers, and he had to blink a few times as he turned quickly to look back at her. Gesturing with his hands in a kind of half shrug before motioning towards the singers he added, "Sorry, it's just they're the Treblemakers. The rock stars of a cappella, the messiahs of Barden. Well, you know, not including athletes, frat guys or actual cool people."
"It's all good dude. Just let me know if I start heading towards butch, cuz I'm fairly sure that isn't my thing." Jesse said, waving it off. Turning to look back at the singing college boys she took in the sight of them, and listened for a second to realize that they were actually pretty good. While she was sure it wasn't a spontaneous performance, it seemed too rehearsed for that, they all seemed to sing pretty well. Tilting her head to one side she smiled, then gave a little chuckle as she said, "So, organized nerd singing. This is great."
"Yeah, it makes so much sense. How's your voice?" Benji asked, looking as though it all really did make so much more sense to him now. Instead of answering him, Jesse listened for a second before jumping in to sing along with the Trebles. Apparently it was enough to impress Benji as his mouth dropped open and it took him a moment to recover before he said, "Woah, nice."
"Thanks." Jesse said with a smile. She'd always been fairly proud of her singing ability, having done choir in high school and been accounted a good singer. The two continued to watch the performance. When it ended, it was clear Benji was extremely nervous.
"Okay, I'm gonna go introduce myself. Everybody be cool, it's just a normal day." Benji said as he headed over to where the Treblemakers were gathered and talking among themselves. Jesse followed after, she wasn't sure why he seemed so nervous, other than maybe just talking to a large group of strangers in the first place, but figured he could use the moral support. As they got closer Jesse heard one guy, a rather pudgy guy who must have been in charge, berating the other singers for their poor performance. She couldn't really help but frown a little as she'd thought they'd done a good job. But Benji was opening his mouth and giving a little half wave as he said, "Hi. Hi. Benjamin Applebaum. I saw you guys perform at the Mall of America like three years ago. Totally changed my life. I have not stopped thinking about you since."
"Thank you." The pudgy leader said with the barest hint of civility. And while she could understand the odd look, it was a strange thing to say, the look on his face made her kind of want to slap him. She would have to maybe talk to Benji about how he interacted with people, because the rest of the group were holding back snickers at his over eagerness as well.
"And, Bumper, huge fan. Your arrangement of Lovin' Spoonful's Do You Believe In Magic inspired me to become a certified illusionist." Benji continued on, not picking up on Bumper's disdain as he performed an illusion. For the second time that day Jesse was able to watch as Benji did a bit a slight of hand. It wasn't bad slight of hand, she thought it was kind of neat, but this Bumper obviously thought that Benji was crazy.
"Wow." Jesse said, trying to help her new friend out. She felt a little bad for Benji, because he was obviously quite a fan of this group, and they seemed to want almost nothing to do with him. She was trying to come up with something to say when Bumper proved that he was just as much of an asshole as she'd thought he was going to be.
"The smell of your weird is actually affecting my vocal cords so I'm gonna need you to scoot. Skedaddle. And take your little girlfriend with you, ok." Bumper said, finally dropping any pretense. Now Jesse really wanted to slap him. First being a complete dick to Benji and then for assuming they were together. He was a nice guy, for sure, but Benji had all the wrong parts as far as she was concerned. As she was still reeling from Bumper's asshole comments, one of the other Treblemakers stepped up and stalled their departure.
"Hold up a minute Bumper." An Indian looking boy said as he looked Jesse over. At first she wanted to bristle, thinking it was kind of creepy, but she realized that he wasn't actually just checking her out as he quickly looked back up at her face and said, "We want to stay new and innovative, couldn't hurt to have a girl in the mix. You sing?"
"I don't suck." Jesse shrugged. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with these guys anymore, but a quick look at Benji made her willing to at least listen. He seemed to be so hopeful, now that they were at least talking to the pair of them. Well her at least, but he seemed happy to be included by proxy. She decided against correcting Bumper's statement about them dating, figuring this wasn't the time to bring up her utter lack of interest in men.
"Come to auditions, show us what you got." The boy urged, pulling a little slip of paper from his pocket. It had a time, date, and location on it that Jesse figured was where auditions were being held. Glancing at it she pocketed it as he went on, "Bring it girl, you want to hang with the best you gotta be the best."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Jesse said, trying not to chuckle at the almost direct quote from the old cult classic computer nerd movie Hackers. Not really wanting to spend any more time around Bumper, who had turned his back on her and Benji completely to continue yelling at the other guys about how bad their singing was she nodded her head towards Benji and said, "We're gonna go check out what else this place has"
"That's so cool, you might get to be a Treble!" Benji said after they walked away from the booth. She tried not to chuckle as she watched him walking. He looked over his shoulder at least four times before the Treblemakers were out of view. Even despite the fact that she hadn't heard Benji sing yet, she was fairly sure he should be on the team. Sadly, she had a feeling that the douche Bumper Allen would put a stop to that.
"Yeah, I don't know, might be hard being the only girl." Jesse said as she took in the other booths. She tried not to act to excited about the idea. After having done choir and musical theater in high school, Jesse wasn't going to lie and say that having things like a capella at college wasn't amazing. Of course considering Bumper's attitude, she wasn't sure how likely her getting in would be. Then again, even if they did let her in, another thought popped into her head that might cause the same number, or not more, problems. Opening her mouth she obliquely shared the idea with Benji, "I don't even want to think what's going to happen when they figure out I'm gay."
"I still think you should go for it." Benji said as they continued to walk around the Fair, checking out some other booths. Jesse was still thoroughly amused by the Barden Quiditch team, and had to point them out to Benji and share a laugh. And the "Running In A Circle" club was something she could never see putting on a resume, so why it was around she had no idea. As they walked Benji kept talking about a capella, saying, "I'm still going to audition. Maybe one of the other groups might want me. Except for the Bellas, they're all girls."
"That's the spirit. I think I'm going to go talk to them." Jesse said as she saw a redhead comforting a blonde at the Bella booth. Curiosity getting the better of her, she headed towards them. When she got there she asked "Everything ok?"
"Sorry, it's just been a bit of a rough patch for us." The redhead explained when she noticed the newcomers at the table. When she turned Jesse was struck by an immediate sense of shock, and maybe a touch of jealousy, at just how incredibly blue her eyes were. She seemed incredibly cheerful, however, and her smile was infectious. Beaming at the pair of them, though most of her attention was focused on Jesse the redhead continued in a bubbly tone, "We need to find eight to ten girls that can sing and it's been harder than we thought. What about you, can you sing?"
"I used to think maybe you loved me now baby I'm sure. And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door." Jesse sang, bringing a smile to the blond's face. Jesse wasn't sure how it was even possible, but somehow at her singing the redhead's smile got even bigger. The two girls, Barden Bellas obviously judging by their sign, shared a quick, delighted look as she asked, "That answer your question?"
"It does, yes." The redhead said, handing Jesse a flyer. Jesse looked down at it for a moment, and was a little surprised to see the flight attendant looking outfits that the girls in all the pictures were wearing. And while the skirt wasn't too terrible, the whole ensemble looked like it belonged in a 1960s airline commercial. She glanced back up to the redhead as she spoke again, "You should come to auditions, you made my girlfriend smile, that's a good thing. By the way, I'm Chloe and the cute blond is Aubrey."
"Yeah I'm going to be there." Jesse said with a nod to the pair of girls. The simple affirmation made the pair share another excited look before Chloe turned back to her, smiling even larger than before if that was possible. Realizing that her and Aubrey might want to try and sell her on the Bellas even more, Jesse quickly glanced towards Benji before nodding towards the rest of the booths and said, "It was nice meeting you but now we've gotta head off, more things to see"
"Nice meeting you too." Aubrey said, placing her arm around the back of Chloe's waist. She seemed a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to try to sell the Barden Bellas to her, but Chloe seemed happy that she was already planning to head to auditions. With a final smile and small wave, Jesse turned and gathered up Benji who had been idly looking around the Fair since the Bellas were not interested in him at all. As they walked away but before they were completely out of earshot Jesse heard Aubrey saying to Chloe, "I like her, we need to make her a high priority."
"I told you we'd find girls." Chloe said, he voice as bright and cheerful as the rest of her seemed to be. A quick glance backwards showed the two girls facing each other again, though this time Aubrey looked a bit more hopeful. Chloe, as she expected, was positively beaming and seemed eager to look for more girls to try and recruit. As though the thought was the germination of the idea, Chloe went on, "She'll be perfect. Now we just have to find nine more."
Turning back around to look where they were headed Jesse smiled to herself. She liked the enthusiasm she heard from Chloe, especially compared to the encounter with Bumper. It didn't take a genius to realize that there was going to be some interesting and fun things to do while at Barden. Glancing around the quad she smiled over at Benji and asked, "So, what else does this campus have?"
After leaving the Bella booth, Jesse and Benji wandered around seeing what else caught their eye. Although aside from one booth, nothing else was really that interesting. That one thing that did was the campus radio station. Jesse had to admit, with her penchant for music, for finding just the right song for just the right scenario, it made a kind of sense. So, she signed up to work there, and luckily enough was picked. Her first scheduled shift was after her English class, which sadly gave her little time to get to the station. When she got there, she found the manager talking to another girl. Ignoring the girl for a moment, she introduced herself to the manager. "Hey, man what's up. I'm Jesse."
"I'm Luke. You're late." Luke said in an apathetic tone. Jesse brushed it off and turned to the girl, who she now recognized as the cute one she had played air guitar to on move-in day. The girl was dressed fairly similarly to how she had been before, though she'd swapped the red tank top for a grey one and had on a plaid button-up. The skinny jeans, combat boots and eye makeup was the same however. Normally not a look that Jesse was into, but she had to admit, this girl pulled it off really well.
"Hey, I know you" Jesse called out, sizing the girl up. If she had to venture a guess, the girl shared her preferences, a definite plus in her book. Jesse held out a little hope as the girl did look over at her, then looked again. But that could have just been a coincidence because she didn't really seem too interested when she opened her mouth.
"No you don't" she said curtly. Jesse smiled, she loved a challenge and a mystery, and this girl seemed to be both. Even though school had only been going for about a week, she hadn't really had much of a chance to get to know her fellow classmates, aside from Benji and her roommate, due to the hectic opening week and having to get used to the campus. So, with any luck, whoever this mystery girl was, it seemed that they'd be spending time with each other. Another plus in her book.
"Yeah, I do." Jesse said, determined to get to know her. It didn't surprise her that much when the shorter girl didn't look back a third time. She kind of exuded a "back off" vibe, but Jesse was fairly sure it was only an act. At least, she hoped it was only act, otherwise she was probably going to piss off her potential future coworker.
"She doesn't." The girl brushed it off, clearly wanting to end the conversation. Jesse was willing to let the girl win this one. If they were both here for the internship, which it seemed they were, then she'd have time to weaken those defenses and make friends with her yet.
"I totally know her." Jesse said, liking the back and forth going on. She caught a glimpse of the other girl rolling her eyes, but the slight smirk she had on told Jesse that it wasn't completely serious. She'd count that as a success, for now. Turning her attention back to the blond British guy who was, by all evidence, their boss, she saw that he seemed a little annoyed, or at least completely not interested in the repartee. Hell, while she wasn't normally one to judge a book by its cover, based on the cover of Luke she wasn't sure he'd even know what the word repartee meant.
"Okay, cool. Well you guys can figure it out while you're stacking CDs. When you're done, there's more." Luke said, still not caring what was going on. What he said next though surprised Jesse a little, but she guessed it was part of a standard spiel. As he spoke he patted his hands a few times on the desk, for emphasis no doubt, "Now you guys will be spending a lot of down time together, so please just no sex on the desk. I've been burned before."
"I do know you. I sang to you." Jesse said, turning her attention back to the girl. She couldn't help but smile, because the look the girl was wearing now wasn't that dissimilar to the one she'd had while she'd noticed Jesse singing to her. One that spoke of bored disinterest, and a bit of annoyance at the situation. Figuring that maybe she could break the ice a little bit with some humor she said, "I remember because you were in a taxi. Wait, is your dad a taxi driver? "
"No. This sucks. I wanted to play music." She said as they started going through the crates Luke had given them. Jesse saw this as an opportune time to let loose the goofy humor that had worked so well for her in the past.
"Not me. I'm here for one reason only. I really love stacking CDs." Jesse said, earning a blank stare from the other girl. Well, at least she hadn't looked too pissed, so maybe the humor thing was working. Humor had always worked for Jesse in the past, with girls from her high school. Well, that and compliments. She decided it was time to pay her a compliment so she asked, "So what's your deal? You one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious then she takes of her glasses and that amazingly scary ear spike and you realize that, you know she was beautiful the whole time."
"I don't wear glasses." She said, looking up at Jesse. Jesse had known that, well she'd assumed at least. She hadn't gotten the best look at the other girl's eyes, that would have been creepy, but she was fairly certain she hadn't seen contacts there. Still, it setup the real compliment Jesse had intended to deliver.
"Then you're half way there." Jesse said, delivering the line like a pro. And got nothing, not even a smile. Though the other girl narrowed her eyes briefly, and still hadn't glared or told her to shut up. A second win for the day.
"It works for me." The girl said as she continued sorting through her crate, but not before stealing a glance at Jesse. Jesse had seen her looking, but hadn't looked back. She figured that, maybe like with a skittish animal she needed to let this girl approach on her own terms. At least a little bit. Which seemed to possibly be the case as she saw her gesture towards Jesse and say, "The way dorky, cute, wholesome, girl next door works for you."
"Thank you, I think." Jesse said as she went about putting albums on the shelves. The next time she walked back to the table to get some more CDs she caught the shorter girl's eye and smiled, and saw a slight twitching of the lips that might have been a return smile. Three for three. Jesse decided that there was no time like the present to get a name, after all, they were going to be coworkers, right? Grabbing another handful of CDs she asked over her shoulder as she walked away, "So what's your name anyway?"
"It's Beca." Beca said absently, focusing on the crate. Jesse couldn't see what, exactly, she was doing in there. But at least she'd answered. Baby steps, it was all about baby steps sometimes. She had a feeling that this would be one of those times.
Zap's Note 2: Jesse sings lines from Walking on Sunshine in this chapter, I obviously don't own the song as well