Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect, and all that.
Note: I started this for the Chaubrey week Day 7 challenge: How the Bellas see Chaubrey. I know it's late and it isn't even exactly Chaubrey (yet; I now have half a mind to make this into a multi-chapter thing in which Jessica and Ashley get to know Chloe and Aubrey throughout the year, even as their own friendship develops). But I really wanted to do something for Chaubrey week. I wanted to do something for the A/U day too (i.e. publish an update of my Barden Bellas baseball A/U, but I keep overanalyzing it and therefore keep getting nowhere). So here goes, just so stuff I type actually begin leaving my folders and make it to this blog.
"The blonde is really scary," the slight, sandy-haired freshman suddenly blurted out. She fell back on her heels, ceasing from peering over the shoulder of the plump, curly-haired girl beside her in the wings. "She totally dissed Bumper Allen. She can totally diss me."
"At least the redhead seems nice," the other girl answered nonchalantly as she continued to peek through the curtain. "She was really friendly at sign-ups and stuff."
"It doesn't make me any less nervous!" the smaller girl cut in, almost squeaking, near tears. "I've… I… I've never auditioned before."
"Oh." Her companion glanced back out onto the stage, where an African-American woman with dyed hair had already walked out and was, in fact, receiving curious looks from the two upperclassmen they were auditioning for. "Well," she said, clucking her tongue to hide a grin, "I have once or twice… to a karaoke machine."
The other girl stopped teetering on her toes, looked at her for a full two seconds, then burst into giggles. Smiling, she held out her hand, half in introduction, half to steady her new acquaintance. "I'm Ashley."
"Jessica," came an answer and a shaky handshake in between more laughter. "I'm sorry, that wasn't even that funny but—" She gasped for air.
"You're really nervous, I know," Ashley grinned. "You've been, like, literally shaking the whole time. Hey," she added, nudging Jessica. "I am too. But chill. Just pretend you're singing to something stupid and inanimate, not them. Me, I'm gonna imagine I'm in front of a tall, yellow karaoke machine." She smiled a little. "It'll be okay."
Grateful for the unexpected reassurance, Jessica nodded. But she wasn't too convinced. She always considered herself a trooper, no matter how skittish, but there was just something extra intimidating about the blonde, and even the redhead—if only because in all her cheery confidence she didn't seem to be intimidated in the least by her domineering friend. Jessica's tension didn't ease up when the first audition ended with the two Bellas' voices ringing clearly through the auditorium:
"Thank you, Cynthia Rose; you're a fine belter."
"Oh, totes! That was really good! You are so hearing from Aubrey and I—"
"Yes, you may be hearing from Chloe and me after we thoroughly discuss how your merits may contribute to the Bellas. Thank you."
The blonde then looked at the redhead pointedly, lifting her chin, and Jessica didn't know which was tighter: the line of the senior's lips as she forced a smile, her clenched jaw, or the knots in Jessica's own stomach as she realized that, yes, she was now scared of this girl named Aubrey. Really.
"Geez," Ashley muttered, her nonchalance finally seeming to crack a little. "Make that a karaoke machine that happens to be half-dragon."
"B-beside a fire truck that looks like a unicorn," Jessica found herself saying before she could stop herself.
"What?" It was Ashley's turn to dissolve into chortles.
"I'm j-just doing what you… Or—or she could be a red ice cream truck because she does seem so nice…?"
How Ashley still managed to keep a sweet poker face for her own audition after that, Jessica never understood. She herself couldn't quite keep it together, trying both not to bounce off the stage (nervous energy will always be a thing) and giggle like a madwoman in front of the fire engine/ice cream truck and karaoke machine.
It was the weirdest advice she had ever received, but it worked. When she saw Ashley at the Bellas' initiation a few nights later, she rushed to her side in gratefulness and glee. "See! We did it!" Ashley exclaimed, embracing her.
As they headed for the food table, Jessica saw their now-captains at the far end of the hall. Aubrey was surveying the roomful of giddy girls, stern and statuesque as ever; beside her, Chloe watched too, with more of a twinkle than a glint in her eyes. The two older women murmured something inaudible to each other, with Chloe even burying her nose and lips into Aubrey's hair. Something secret, shared, and conspiratorial washed over their faces.
Jessica could just imagine what tortures a dragon and a unicorn could come up with for a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.
Suddenly, she felt even gladder that Ashley was a Bella too. She looked back at her new friend. "Did we?"