"Survival Buddies"

Prologue

Day 1 – Barden High, 10:30 AM

"Ugh" Beca groaned as she leaned her back on her locker next to Jesse's, as he gets his stuff for the third period on that day. Jesse looked away from his books and glanced towards where his best friend's attention was on, who is none other than the heels-wearing, skirt-flowin', redheaded school sweetheart, Chloe Beale. He could only let out a chuckle as he brings back his gaze towards Beca, who was sporting a scowl on her face.

"You just gotta admit it, Bec" Jesse said as he closed his locker and felt the burning look the brunette was drilling at the side of his head. "You have a big crush on her."

Beca laughed, and Jesse raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, J. You need to get your facts right." Beca scoffed. "If there would be someone I'm gonna have a crush on, it's not gonna be Chloe Beale, nor will ever be." She said with finality as she walked past him towards their next class. Jesse rolled his eyes at the continuous denial his best friend was giving. He looked back at Chloe, only to find her looking at Beca's direction, and soon towards him. She immediately took her eyes away.

"Swanson!" Jesse hears his name being called by Beca. He pursed his lips but jogged towards his best friend, and they walked together to their next class.

It's nothing new to the school that the well-known school rebel, Beca Mitchell, doesn't really like anyone except her best friend – movie-dork, Jesse Swanson – but she kind of shows that she "tolerates" him more than "likes" him. And Beca has made it very clear that she and Jesse were down right platonic, no more no less.

It's a weird combination of friendship, but it works, nonetheless.

Also, it's not new that Beca hates Chloe Beale. Not just her though, because Beca hates Chloe's kind of people. Like Aubrey Posen("she's got a stick up on her ass, of course I don't like her"), who took the pleasure of being the redhead's best friend, and then there's Stacie Conrad, despite the raging amount of pheromones she produces – Beca hates them. All of them. Why though? – no one could tell, not even Jesse.

Which got some people thinking because "what's not to like?"

Well, in Beca's defense, the world is a cruel place to live in. And in order to survive, she needs her walls built up as high as the sky, along with her most trusted buddy by her side and her most accurate weapon of all ready to fire whenever she feels threaten – her sarcasm.

Beca's life was never easy, and Jesse knew this because they practically grew up together, and he was the only one who stuck around. When Beca's parents got divorced at sophomore year, Jesse was there – even he was pushed away several times, he didn't left. When Beca came out to her mom, Jesse was there. That's why Beca trusts him more than anyone else, more than her parents, more than herself.

So her logic only made a lot of sense, especially in high school.

…

12:15 PM

"Chloe, could you explain to me how on earth, did you of all people got detention – for cheating, nonetheless!" Aubrey exclaimed during lunch on their usual lunch table. There was Stacie, who was chewing on her chicken caesar salad special – which she only eats during Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – with a worried expression on her face. And then, there was Chloe, who has her head clutched on her hands as she stared blankly on her food tray.

"Chloe, what the hell happened?" Aubrey asked again, stressed to the fact that her best friend would be put into detention for something she would unlikely do.

"It's all Beca Mitchell's fault." Chloe finally said through gritted teeth, after a few minutes of silence in her part. Aubrey and Stacie both raised their eyebrows as Chloe looked up to face them, her face furious and her hand balled into a fist that her knuckles turn white. "It's all her fault."

"Sweetie, what happened?" Stacie asked as she put a hand on the redhead's arm to calm her down.

Chloe relaxed and sighed to gather her thoughts, remembering every passing moment on how she got the detention she doesn't even deserve. It was during the period before lunch, which is English – Chloe's most favorite subject. And it is the only class she had where Beca Mitchell is her classmate and much to the brunette's disdain, also a seatmate.

They were having an exam, and since this is Chloe's favorite subject, she was prepared for it. She studied on the topic the day after their teacher announced that they will be having the exam on their next meeting, so she knew that she would perfect the exam, even with her eyes closed.

She was focused on answering each question on the paper, finding the answers in every corners of her brain whenever the questions asked what was needed. But her focus was cut short when there was a light tap on her shoulder. Chloe furrowed her eyebrows, both in confusion and in irritation since it was from Beca Mitchell. The girl who hates her guts even she didn't do anything wrong to her. Chloe has no idea, but with all of the sarcasm and retorts of the small brunette – she found Beca an annoying little shit, and she was better off without being her friend.

When Beca looked at her though, the brunette had a calm and innocent look on her face – something Chloe hasn't seen before, since all she ever saw from that face was a death glare and a smirk (the latter only during sometimes). Chloe responded with a raised eyebrow when suddenly the brunette quickly put a piece of paper on her table, and settled back on her table without any glance towards the redhead. Chloe was even more confused. She looked down on the folded paper, and on it was a scrawny hand writing of her name. Curiosity got the better of her, so she started to unfold the paper slowly. When she was about to unfold the last folding of the paper, she heard Beca get the attention of their teacher.

"Mr. Collins, Chloe's got a cheat paper!"

Chloe's eyes widened like saucers, and her face paled. She froze like she was stuck in an ice cube, and couldn't quite react quickly to what was happening. Before she was even to comprehend everything around her, their teacher walked right up to her and grabbed the paper that was gripped by her hands. She looked up at him as she swallowed and saw the movement of his eyes as he reads the paper quietly. He sighed and looked at Chloe with a disappointed look on his face.

"Ms. Beale, I'm afraid you have to go to detention after classes."

The words fell on her like a galleon worth of needles. This is her first time to ever get detention, and she's not even guilty. Heck she didn't do anything, and Beca was just sitting there with her hand on her mouth, trying to stifle her laugh.

"Oh my god, that eye-liner wearing motherfu-"

"Bree, please." Chloe said. Her eyes closed as the stress getting the best of her. "I don't want to hear another curse word. I think I'm gonna explode with profanities if I don't relax."

"At least you got a one day detention, Chlo. Also, since it's your first violation, you wouldn't really get the worst of it all." Stacie said as she rubbed the redhead's back, and Chloe smiled in return. "Unfortunately for you though, I heard Beca's got 2 weeks of detention for being caught on smoking in school property…so, you might have her presence there with ya."

Chloe groaned as she bumped her head on the table.

"Fuck my life."

…

4:35 PM

Beca slouched on her seat as she raised her feet to another chair and rest it there. She was bored as fuck, and since it is detention, she's practically helpless because she won't be able to leave the room. The douchebag of a teacher decided to lock them up in the room until the whole detention time was over. She looked beside her where Chloe Beale was sitting quietly 5 chairs away from her, sulking.

"Pst." Beca started.

Chloe looked at her, then furrowed her eyebrows then looked away. Beca chuckled silently, finding the act adorable. "Pst." She called again.

"What do you want, Mitchell?" The redhead snapped at her, and Beca sat up straight, a bit taken aback.

"Woah, Beale. No need to get snappy."

"Could you just leave me alone? I don't want to hear anything from you. Ever." Chloe growled as she crossed her arms and turned her chair facing away from Beca.

"I just wanted to say sorry."

Chloe scoffed. "Wow, that's really sweet of you Beca. Thank you." She answered sarcastically.

The brunette didn't answer after that.

It remained to be eerily quiet for the two girls after a while, which lead the both of them to shut their eyes and have some nap time.

Beca groaned as she moved from her slouched position on her seat. She pushed herself up to sit up straight and looked around. It has gotten dark. She rubbed her eye and looked at the wall clock that was hanging on the wall at the top of the black board.

6:45 PM

"Shit." She said. She stood up, and looked around once again, this time noticing the hunched body on the chair. She walked towards the person and nudged her with her finger. "Beale." No answer.

"Hey Beale, wake up." She nudges again the redhead with her finger. She did it a few more times before she heard a groan. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Chloe sat up straight, her eyes narrowing as her vision adjusts. She rubs her eyes to wear the sleepiness off of her. "W-what time is it?" she asked.

"A quarter to seven."

Chloe gasped and stood up, quickly walking towards the door. She turned the knob but it wouldn't. "Oh my god."

"Yeah. Brewers is such a douchebag." Beca said as she rubbed her neck and sat on the empty teacher's table in front. Chloe huffed, as she walked towards the window. When she peeked through the blinds, her jaw dropped.

"Oh my god, why is it so dark outside?"

"What?" Beca asked, her eyebrows knitted together. Chloe looked back at her.

"It's pitch black outside. No lights, whatsoever."

Beca walked towards her, and peeked through the blinds to find that the redhead was in fact telling the truth.

"It looks like a fucking host town outside." Beca said, then she looked at Chloe. "Do you have a phone with you?"

"What kind of question is that?" Chloe said, and Beca rolled her eyes. "Of course I have a phone." She reaches behind her to get her phone from her back pocket. When she unlocked it, she saw 30 missed calls but no messages. Her signal is gone too. "I have missed calls from Bree and my Dad. No voicemails. Plus I have no signal."

"Wait, let me check on mine." Beca said, hurrying towards her backpack and retrieving her phone. When she unlocked it, she saw a few messages from Jesse, a few missed calls from her father, and 1 voicemail. "I got a voicemail, a few messages from Jesse and a few missed calls from my dad. No signal also." She looked at Chloe and saw a worried look on the redhead's face. She motioned for Chloe to come over, as she sets her phone to open the voicemail. When Chloe arrived by her side, she opened the voicemail. It was from Jesse.

"Krrrr-B-kkrrr-eca-krrrrkkkk-stay-krrrk-safe! Krrr-it's -worse. Krrrkkk-wha-kkrrrrkkkk-Don't die!"

When the voice mail was over, silence took over the two. And with each passing second, the fear sinking in on both of their brains was giving them both a shiver through their spine. That message from Jesse was something so absurd, and scary and the fact the they have no idea on what's going on is what making their knees weak.

"T-tell me that was just a prank? A stupid prank, and we have nothing to worry about." Chloe said.

"I…"Beca paused, trying to think what the hell is happening. Being trapped here with Chloe Beale being the last thing she is worrying about. "I don't know, Beale."

She can hear Chloe's heavy breathing, as if she's trying to breathe in all the oxygen and releasing her breath all at the same time. All she could do was swallow the lump in her throat.

"How do we get out of here?" Chloe asked.

"Do I look like I know the fucking answer?" Beca said.

"Well, I'm sorry for asking but I thought you were a badass! You of all people should know how to escape rooms!"

"Would you stop shouting?!" Beca ran her hand through her hair.

"I'm not shouting, you're shouting! I'm just freaking the fuck out!" Chloe points to the brunette.

"Goddammit, stop shouting! You're freaking me out!" Beca grips on her hair when Chloe came striding towards her with a furious face and a finger pointed towards her. Chloe stopped right in front of Beca, her nose flaring in anger.

"This is all your fucking –" before Chloe could finish her sentence, there was a loud screeching howl from outside the room, and it sounded like it came from the hallway. They turn their heads towards the door, as they heard a set of footsteps getting closer. "…fault." Chloe finishes with a whisper.

"Do not make a sound." Beca hushes. Sweat trickling on her forehead.

"What the hell was that, Beca?"

"I don't have a fucking clue, Chloe."

Beca tiptoed slowly towards the door, and leaned her ear towards it, trying to hear anything. She swallowed another lump on her throat, but all she could hear was the racing beats of her own heart. She leaned her ear against the door, and she could hear a muffled groan and squeaking sound of shoes on the linoleum floor.

"M-mr. B-brewers?" she said partly hushed, but loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door. She held her breath for a moment to hear clearly, but was met with nothing but a dull quietness. She looked back at Chloe who was crouching cautiously on the floor, looking scarred and expectantly at her.

"Well?" Chloe mouthed.

Beca responded with a shrug and a shake of her head when suddenly, a hand was pushed through the door.

Chloe and Beca screamed, and with it, a loud groaning could be heard through the door.

Beca scurried away from the door and crouched next to Chloe. They were holding each other's hands tightly. They froze and waited quietly while watching the hand that made a hole through the door. The hand was twitching and was feeling the surrounding of the hole, but later on removed itself from the hole.

The two was breathing heavily.

"What the hell?" Chloe hushed.

"Shh, it might come back." Beca said in a whisper.

"What do we do now then? We can't leave this room with that roaming out there!" Chloe's hushed voice in a panic-stricken state.

"We need to look for a melee weapon." Beca said.

"What the fuck is a 'melee' weapon?"

"Weapons you can use with your bare hands, Beale. God, do you even play video games?" Beca asked.

"I have no time to do such un-useful things, thank you very much." Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Beca rolled her eyes. "Well, between the two of us I think you're very un-useful right now. We need to survive, Beale."

"Wait, are you saying we look for a weapon to fight that thing?!"

"Do you have any other awesome idea to get through this?"

Chloe bit her lip to think, but she got nothing.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Beca said as she stood up and looked through drawers and cabinets inside the room. If anyone told her earlier that this is how she will be ending her day, she wouldn't give a fuck about what they say. She never imagined she'll be in this situation and with Chloe Beale nonetheless – but she was determined to survive this mess, even if it means that she'll be with the redhead. They have to be each other's strength now, especially when there's something that's waiting for them outside the room.