Hello, all! This is a new thing for me so of course all mistakes are my own and I don't own Pitch Perfect or anything to do with them. I don't own any songs, people, or places mentioned. This is simply for fun so I don't want to get sued. Ok, enjoy!
P.s. I'm no expert in the music industry or German so let's just go with it as best as possible. This IS fiction.

Didn't See You Coming

1
Beca sits at her desk at Residual Heat utterly bored. Her headphones bumped out another droning demo that had been submitted to the studio. Seeing as it was her second year as an intern there wasn't much else to do until someone wanted coffee or a food run. So she took it upon herself to listen to demos and if she wasn't going to die from boredom it would be from bad music. Everything was repetitive, auto-tuned, and synthesized and it was driving her crazy. She didn't know what she was listening for but for the past three hours it hadn't come up.

She was dissecting a chorus to fit with another song stuck in her head when she spotted her boss come in through the door. She instantly dropped her headphones around her neck to hear another one of his long winded speeches. This time it was, again, about an international band that was looking to sign to an American label. They were scheduled to come in a couple days so he was prepping them for it in the way he knew, vague threats laced with backhanded encouragement. Even if Beca was a paid intern, it wouldn't help her step up. No one was going to ask an intern to help bag an international band or produce their songs.

Her first year as an intern was pretty basic, get coffee and food, pick up after people sometimes, and be a messenger of sorts. She knew almost everyone that worked there and even had more than one un-awkward conversation with a guy. That was something. This year though Beca was looking to branch out in doing other things. That started with giving her boss one of her mixes but she had yet to do it after a couple of months being back. She was mentally readying herself…for what, she wasn't sure.

Rejection. she thought for a dark second. She shook it off quickly. No point being negative so quickly this is all you want to do. Make music. It's going to happen. Solidifying that thought with a nod of her head, Beca stood from her desk and disconnected her headphones from her laptop. She stowed it quickly in her bag and made her way to her boss' office. A quick look showed it was empty so she quickly walked down the hall towards the studios. He must be working. I should wait. She turned around. You're talking yourself out of it, Beca. She turned back around and continued her journey. Beca was sure she looked crazy.

There were several studios ranging in size. The smaller ones were made for single artists or duos and the larger ones for groups. It was in a smaller studio she heard music being played back and her boss standing next to the soundboard with a producer. She scanned the room from the glass door to see two people sitting on a small couch in the room. They seemed to be listening intensely to the music until one of the guys on the couch quickly strode to the soundboard and the music cut out. He gestured widely about and Beca knew he was not happy about something with the song.

Her boss tried consoling him and gestured about but not as frantically. Beca was so lost in watching the pair that she didn't notice the other man on the couch notice her. He caught the others' attention by flinging the studio door open. Beca was startled by the suddenness and being caught staring.

"We'll ask you." The man that opened the door said as he grabbed Beca by the arm and pulled her into the studio.

"Connor, she's an intern." Her boss supplied quickly.

"With ears!" The other man said. "It's fine." He gestured for Beca to come closer to them and by sheer basic motor skills, she did so. "I'm James."

"B-beca."

"Hi. Ok, listen to this minute and tell us what you think of the vocal layer." He easily and quickly instructed, clearly stuck in his stubborn creative zone. Beca had those a lot and it took a lot for her to stop until she got a sound right. He fiddled with buttons until music poured through the speakers.

Beca's eyes glazed over as she focused on the sounds. There was a steady drum beat and guitar riffs laced together well. It seemed like they were trying to mix a techno sound in as well but it was not hitting the mark. Then voices flowed along with the music and Beca listened intently and nodded her head along. The music quickly shut off and she was snapped out of her thoughts. Beca looked up to see all eyes on her and it made her nervous. Whose bad side would she get on by stating her opinion?

"Well?" James prodded anxiously when Beca was silent for a second longer.

Beca decided to be honest and feel stupid later. "I think the vocal track volume should be turned up a little more if you're going to keep the techno sound. It kind of drowns it out. And if you keep the techno sound it should be moved a half step down to harmonize better with everything else. The vocals is good, it's the techno sound that's kind of throwing it off but if that's the sound you want it needs tweaking."

She looked between the four faces to find shock, contemplation, and scrutiny. Suddenly James snapped his fingers and pointed at Beca. "You're right. You see, Connor, the techno doesn't work with it." He turned to the soundboard with a focused eye.

Connor came up to Beca's side. "But I like the techno sound."

Getting caught up with the creative process Beca spoke up again. "I didn't say it doesn't work, it just needs work. Now that I think about it, how would you feel about picking up the beat a little?"

Connor spoke up again. "I'd like that but he wrote the song so he's got a sound in his head already."

"It's not a dance song."

"Just because it's sped up a little doesn't make it a dance song but wouldn't you like people to dance to your song?" Beca tried to placate though she did not know where her confidence was coming from. Maybe being in a studio and helping an artist with a song was her natural habitat after all.

James seemed to consider this as Beca's boss and the producer talked among themselves in whispers. Beca did not pay them any mind for now but could tell they talked about her by the way they looked at her. James sighed and looked at Connor, who had a hopeful look on his face. He looked at Beca then. "How fast were you thinking?"

Beca grinned and barely contained an excited squeal. A recording artist was really taking her opinions and running with her ideas. She was on cloud nine. "Not that fast but I think a deeper bass would round it out."

Half an hour later Beca was saying goodbye to James and Connor as they left the studio. For a moment she watched them leave and thought about how awesome her future would be if she got to do that everyday. Her smile faded quickly when she heard her boss behind her.

"That was something." His arms were crossed over his chest, leaning against the soundboard, with a blank face. The producer in the chair looked amused but silent. Beca looked between them for a second before remembering words and her job title.

"I didn't mean to interrupt like that. I came to give you a mix of mine and saw you were busy but the next thing I knew Connor was bringing me in and James was playing the song and looking for advice and I couldn't help hearing it and then not tell him but I know I overstepped on your jobs-"

"Stop!" Her boss held up his hands. "Breathe." Beca did quickly. "I admit I was put off by you being thrown into the mix but the guys responded to you well. Even Dopey here was impressed and they're his clients." He nodded towards the producer who gave Beca small smile. "Now uh-whats your name? Betty? Reggie?"

"Beca." She mumbled.

"Right. Give me your songs." He held out his hand to her expectantly. It took Beca longer than she would like to admit for her brain to catch up to what was happening. As his fingers and her mind snapped, she frantically pulled her USB drive from her pocket and handed it over. She was still like a deer in headlights when he began talking again. "You seem to be a natural and if I like these we'll see about putting your skills to better use."

Beca was still reeling that he was giving her an opportunity and listening to her mixes. She smiled and mumbled out a thank you.

"Yeah, yeah, it's all hands on deck for this international band so don't eat your foot." He said becoming serious again. Beca didn't know what to say so a silence spread between them. He looked at her expectantly with eyebrows raised.

"Oh I should get back to work." She mumbled out forgetting it was past 6 o'clock by now. Before she exited the door she turned back. "One more thing, what is the international band called?"

He looked as if she asked him to run a mile uphill. "I don't know why I have spontaneous meetings anymore." He mumbled, then spoke louder. "They're a group from Germany called Das Sound Machine."

She just gave a nod and strode away down the hall. She made a mental note to look up the group…right after telling Jesse that she got to do some producing today. She slowed her walk when she realized that probably wasn't a good idea. She huffed in frustration.

Jesse and Beca had decided to separate for a while to see if they still wanted the same things with each other. Getting together at the end of freshman year and being separated by the summer put a strain on that new relationship honeymoon phase. Honestly, Beca got the idea from a conversation her step monster was having with her girlfriends at a cookout. It seemed the mature and easy thing to do. She wasn't ready for a serious relationship just yet. Jesse agreed rather quickly too so there was no bad blood but they decided to keep their distance anyway. What good could they do focusing on their own wants if they hung out all the time. Besides Chloe, Jesse was the person Beca wanted to tell things to. Not big emotional secrets, just the everyday things that happened to her.

Jesse listened well. So did Chloe but sometimes she got easily distracted and had a one track mind about things. Usually it was acapella, the Bellas, Aubrey, boys, acapella, and the Bellas. It was easy to see why Beca found their conversations somewhat predictable. She wanted to talk to Jesse, he was one of her best friends, he was just...there for her. She resolved herself not to text him though. She suggested the separation for a reason and it would be ridiculous to cave after almost two months. Beca needed to know if she wanted to be with Jesse the boyfriend or Jesse the best-friend. She needed to figure out the difference too. Beca felt deep down there was a difference.

Getting back to campus was two bus rides and a short walk to the Bellas house. Beca sighed heavily as she closed the front door and wondered if she could talk her dad into getting her a car. Some girls were laying about the living room floor and couch watching TV. Beca went straight up to her room and plopped onto her bed face first.

She thought about her day at work and grinned into her bedding. That was so awesome! My boss has my mixes. I helped artists with their song! Getting a surge of energy she sat up, leaning against the wall, and pulled out her laptop. When it was powered on she quickly began typing and clicking. Time to see what this German group is all about.

Holy aca-German Gods, Batman! Beca couldn't help but think again after watching another Das Sound Machine video. Since the first video she had been sucked into the German group's videos for the past hour and a half. She sat on her bed still, with her headphones on, leaning against the wall. The headphones were important to hear the freakishly low bass notes one of the members could hit. Beca was thoroughly impressed and anxious to see what they could do in person. Did she forget the most amazing part? They were an acapella group! How did an acapella group get famous enough to sign to an international label?!

She was sure it had to do with a deal and a crossroad because it was insane. Acapella is popular and nerdy-cool but she would not say that like-ability was enough for a band to tour worldwide. DSM was good though, really good. Most of their songs were in German and a few other European languages, Beca guessed. She even heard one in Japanese but thankfully there were many in English. She still listened to every recording and perused their website that, thankfully, had a translated page. Two hours into her spontaneous research slash stalking her bedroom door opened quickly. Fat Amy strode in towards her bed to plop down.

"Hey, shorty, you missed dinner call. What ya listening to?"

"Just doing homework." Beca quickly lied though she was not sure why. There was nothing wrong with listening to another acapella group. They did it all the time to get fresh ideas for their sets. Being back to back ICCA Champions had a little more pressure added for a third title win so the more help the better.

It was one thing, joining the Bellas her freshman year but another to keep coming back to hold onto the title. It did have its perks, though, like small tours, appearances, and a group house that was bigger than the Treblemakers'.

Fat Amy scoffed and looked at her like she was ridiculous. "You don't do homework in your room, alone. You do it downstairs so there's plenty of things to distract you."

Amy was right but Beca did not have to tell her that. "Dude, it's junior year, I gotta get serious about this stuff eventually."

Amy was still not buying it but decided to let it go this time; she ate herself into a food coma and wanted to take a nap. "Whatever you say." She mumbled and closed her eyes.

Beca watched her breathing even out before she returned to her computer screen and the music playing. The song was one of the recent ones uploaded but Beca could not understand the words. It was an upbeat German song that sounded like it was mixed with another because a melody popped up every now and then. She did not know much foreign music so she could not tell. 'Maybe I should brush up on my German' Beca thought back on one specific semester in high school.

She wondered if that one language credit requirement was a sign now to try to impress her boss when DSM got here. Acapella was her area of expertise at the studio. No one else had her background or was okay with admitting to it like Beca was somewhat reluctant to do. No, that'd be way too desperate. I'll look like I'm trying too hard. A part of her ignored the completely true idea that she did want to impress another acapella group. It was an acapella nerd thing. You can appreciate another group's flare but secretly, and not-so-secretly, want to one-up them.

Before she could get carried away with those thoughts her phone chimed with a text. It was Chloe telling her her dinner was in the microwave. Beca smiled as she text her back. Chloe was a doting mother hen to all the girls sometimes and it warmed her heart. Beca felt like she really lucked out by meeting Chloe and the Bellas. She would never tell them that though. She may be stepping out of her shell slowly but it remained within reach because it was a comfort. Beca finally acknowledged she was hungry so she shut her laptop and made her way to the kitchen. She hummed DSM songs as she ate.