Chloe stepped in the kitchen like every morning, wearing her ponytail and sports outfit. She was concentrated on something in her hands.
"Hey babe" Beca greeted her leaning in the counter.
"Hey Becs" Chloe said finally detaching her eyes from the envelopes in her hands and looking at her girlfriend. "I found these at the entrance, someone threw them under the door" She showed both envelopes to Beca and handed her the one that read Beca Mitchell.
Beca grabbed the envelope furrowing her eyebrows and asked, "Yours has your name on it?"
Chloe nodded showing her envelope to Beca. It read Chloe Beale. The brunette shrugged and opened the envelope with her name. Chloe leaned on the counter next to her to have a proper view. Inside the envelope there were several papers. Beca grabbed one and read:
You have been invited to The Fallen Leaves Mystery Party. "Holy C that's a long name"
It will be celebrated on the 12th of July at the Logde with the mentioned name.
The instructions to arrive are also inside the envelope, along with the rest of the instructions.
I hope to see you all there.
It wasn't signed. Beca looked at Chloe who returned an excited look. Both women smiled widely remembering for a moment how their spark started burning harder, two years earlier, in that very retirement place owned by Aubrey. How inside a crowded tent and playing group games they had shared the necessary amount of time to realize they loved each other. And their memories always kept traveling back in time to the very beginning. To one yellow cup. In fact only Chloe knew how it started and why she would cherish that cup so much. Beca had asked her many times but Chloe thought the story would seem silly to Beca.
Chloe was in an awful mood. Well, almost like every Monday only a bit more awful. Her drive back to Barden has been too heated. Her uncle offered to drive her this time and Chloe thought it could maybe be a good opportunity to talk to him, catch up on latest news and start over after the fights they had over the summer. She was wrong.
As soon as they started the drive Chloe's uncle started talking about how unthankful she is, how she should give back to him and the whole family every dollar they lent her, how she should focus on her studies instead of making music with the mouth because everything she was doing was ruining her reputation. He had a point there, after the fiasco in the Nationals... but Chloe didn't feel guilty about it, she couldn't have let Aubrey alone on the stage, she was her best friend. And anyway then as the traffic got worse her uncle started talking about her parents again. She sighed and left the car. Luckily they were already 3 blocks away from campus and she could walk.
The warm breeze only made her headache worse as she made her way towards the building avoiding people greeting her and new lost students who didn't know how to walk in a straight line.
Farther away next to a tree Chloe saw Bumper, the captain of the Trebelmakers. He was with 2 of his friends, one of them sitting on a big fridge-box. Chloe smirked and walked towards them taking a yellow cup from her bag.
"Hey, Bumper. Would you mind sharing?" She asked shooting a glance at the box.
"Woo who is this, miss Ginger here is thirsty" Bumper said in a foolish tone making his friends chuckle.
"Come on, I need some sips for good luck, I'm not having a good start. Besides I know some things you wouldn't like Aubrey to know" Chloe ended her words with a wink. She seemed so secure that Bumper doubtfully looked at her and then motioned for his friend to stand up and give her a can of energy drink. She patiently poured the content inside her cup and handed back the empty can to Bumper.
"Thank you" She said, and walked away.
Chloe could take a sip from her yellow cup and then she stopped her tracks when she saw a cab stopping near her. A cab! She thought. As far as she knew, parents brought the students to campus, or they drove alone. You had to be very lonely if you arrived by cab...
Her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a football ball came flying towards her from the other side. She saw it with the corner of her eye and barely had time to protect her face with her hands. She screamed when the ball hit her hand holding the cup and it seemed like slow motion watching it fly away spilling all the content in its way. In its way to the street.
"I'm sorry!" Chloe heard from behind, but she couldn't care less. She was running to get her cup back. Chloe saw it rolling by the front of the cab and towards the other side of the street. She could reach it just as another car was about to run over it. Luckily the car driver saw her and stopped, next to the cab.
With a sigh of relief, Chloe stood up holding her yellow cup close to her chest, smiling. Once on the side of the street she turned around and saw a woman standing besides the cab trunk. She was looking amusingly at the car that Chloe made stop. She took some time to observe this brunette standing there. So this is the lonely girl... Chloe though. Curiosity started burning her chest.
Chloe leaned in to give Beca a loving lingering kiss before opening her envelope too. She stepped aside and dropped all the papers from the envelope on the counter. Then she grabben one that read:
Your character is Natalie Smith, you are friendly and open to people. They think they know you well but the truth is you only trust a few people with your deepest secrets. Your partner is Alexandra Evans. You should arrive together at the party.
Chloe chuckled, "I wonder who is Alexadra Evans" she said.
"It's me" Beca answered, holding her character description in front of her with a smirk. Chloe reached out for the paper and read:
Your character is Alexandra Evans, you are reserved and talk only when needed IF you like the person who is talking to you. Inside, you're kind and caring but outside you're a mystery. Your partner is Natalie Smith. You should arrive together at the party.
"It's so accurate, this character is like you" Chloe said giggling. Beca winked.
The rest of the papers were a fully detailed description of the characters and instructions for the outfit. Both women were very excited for this party that was held in 10 days. It was something new for them and after a few calls they knew all the Bellas were invited to join too.
