Kacee had gotten to Barden University Campus at the dead of night before students were allowed to come. It's not like they could send her away. So what she was a few hours early, they probably finished cleaning the rooms weeks ago.
Kacee took a deep breath as one of the employees begrudgingly led her to her assigned dorm. They wouldn't be so uptight if they knew the type of household she was trying to escape from.
Entering her room with her luggage and new key, Kacee decided to decorate her half of the room with her film memorabilia instead of sleeping. It wasn't until she was halfway done putting up her Drive poster that she started to doze off.
"Oh, wow." The unfamiliar voice caused her to wake up from her sleep, only to see Ryan Gosling's face a few inches from hers. She carefully removed the poster from her body, guessing it must've fell while she was asleep.
"You've definitely made yourself comfortable." Kacee nodded as the girl gestured to her posters and countless stacks of dvds.
"Yeah, I'm a film major." Kacee sat up, putting on her glasses to get a good look at the girl she'd be sharing a room with for at least the next 4 months.
She was tall, pale, with long brown hair and very thin with well-manicured nails. It wasn't until she bent over to put down her bags that Kacee could see she had large breasts as well. "I'm undecided."
"I'm Kacee." She introduced, holding her hand out to the pretty girl.
"I'm Stacie." The girl responded, shaking her hand.
To Stacie, Kacee looked like a good roommate, but not someone she would usually hang out with. She was wearing sweats, glasses, no makeup, a lot of ear piercings and her hair obviously had never come in contact with a straightener.
"I think the activities fair is today. Do you wanna come?" Kacee offered, but Stacie shook her head.
"No, I have to unpack and get ready for all the welcome back parties tonight." Kacee's eyebrows nearly reached her hairline at that. She didn't know whether to be jealous or concerned.
"Ok, then I'll see you later?" Kacee asked out of politeness.
"Probably not." Stacie answered as Kacee exited the room.
Taking a second to gather her bearings after realizing she'd be shacking up with someone who was literally there for the college experience, Kacee headed down to the activities fair as planned.
On the train to Barden, Kacee had been texting her friend Leah. Leah was deaf, but Leah was her rock and without her, Kacee would've went off the deep end a long time ago. Leah was always there when she needed her and they used sign language or written word to communicate. They'd met through dancing together in high school and have been friends ever since.
After she told her about what she'd just ran away from at home, Leah commended her for leaving early and told her to try and find an outlet at Barden that would help get her mind off things and Kacee intended to do just that.
She rushes outside, not paying attention to where she's going when she runs directly into someone significantly shorter than her, the person's face literally coming in contact with her chest.
Stepping away, Kacee immediately apologizes to the fair skinned girl and together they laugh it off.
"Eager to get to the activities fair?" The girl jokes and Kacee smiles, holding her hand out to the pretty brunette, wondering if everyone at this school was gorgeous.
"My name's Kacee." The girl smiles back, eagerly shaking her hand.
"I'm Beca." She responds as they continue to walk together.
"Hey, any interest in joining our a capella group?" A redheaded girl asks, holding a flier out to the both of them.
Kacee looked at the blonde next to her who did not look welcoming in the slightest. Together, they pretty much looked to be the opposite of her and Beca.
The flier Beca accepted was covered in music notes and looked like it was designed by a teenage white girl who was obsessed with Taylor Swift with a title that said "Barden Bellas." Kacee was far from interested, but Beca kept talking to them and it'd be awkward to just walk away. "Oh right. This is like a thing now."
"Oh totes." The redhead replied. "We sing covers of songs, but we do it without any instruments. It's all from our mouths."
Beca and Kacee shared a look as Beca whispered "Yikes." And yet the redhead went on.
"There's four groups on campus, the Bellas, that's us. We're the tits." Kacee frowned at her word choice.
"The BU harmonics, they sing a LOT of Madonna." That group was wearing preppy clothing and rubbing each other's shoulders.
"Uh, the high notes. They're not particularly motivated." Ahh, the classic stoner group.
"And then there's…" the redhead gestured to behind them where a group of typical party college boys were singing a decent version of "Let it Whip" by Dazz Band.
"So, are you ladies interested?" Kacee shook her head frantically, but Beca decided to be nicer about it.
"Sorry, it's just, it's pretty lame." The blonde instantly jumped down her throat.
"Aca-scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame." She defended with a fake laugh.
"We sing all over the world and compete in national championships." The redhead continued.
"On purpose?" Beca asked, causing Kacee to hold in her laughter.
"We play the Cobb Energy Performing arts center, you bitch." The blonde quipped, causing Kacee to cease her laughter.
"Excuse me?" The tall Kacee intervened, causing the blonde to shrink back.
"What Aubrey means to say is that we are a close knit talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the National Finals at Lincoln Center this year. Help us turn our dreams into a reality?" The redhead pleaded.
"No." Kacee bluntly stated before walking away, Beca following behind.
"Can you believe that actually just happened?" Beca asked, obviously amused by the entire situation.
"Did you see how scared she was when I spoke up?" Beca nodded, laughing at the closeted prejudiced, bitchy blonde. "I like how you just said 'no' all deadpan before walking away."
Together, they laughed and made jokes all the way to the internship booth.
Within weeks, Kacee was well into her training as her job of projectionist for the campus theatre. She hadn't had much experience with 35mm film before, so it was taking her a while to get used to it and she could tell her boss Derek was getting annoyed.
And until she could build an entire reel by herself, she was given clean up duty. She obviously wasn't too pleased, but it was better than not working there at all.
That night, they'd just shown the very dude friendly, Animal House to perpetuate the stereotype that college was a total party experience to all the freshmen there.
The theatre was packed with guys which meant that it was sure to be messy, which meant Kacee wouldn't be getting back to her room until about 1. Hopefully Stacie would be done fucking her flavor of the week by the time she got back. She'd seen Stacie getting fucked roughly in impossible positions enough to last a lifetime
As the guys left the theatre, she stood to the side with a dust pan and broom, offering a tight lipped smile to each and every one.
Once they left, she got to work immediately, putting her headphones in as she swept.
Trying to sweep as efficiently as she could, so she could leave at a reasonable time, Kacee did not notice a guy coming back to get his backpack that he'd accidentally left behind.
He intended to leave right away, but she was singing "Smile" by Lily Allen so perfectly, he couldn't help but to stop and listen.
Kacee had turned to grab the dustpan when in the corner of her eye, she saw a guy a few rows away watching her. Instinctually, she jumped, pulling out her headphones.
"Can I help you?" Kacee asked, attempting to maintain her professionalism despite her heart beating rapidly against her ribcage.
"No, sorry. I just forgot my backpack." The boy stated, obviously amused with her reaction.
Kacee could do nothing, but watch him expectantly, waiting for him to leave. "You have a beautiful voice."
Kacee furrowed her brow, wondering exactly how long had he been there? "Have you thought about joining any a capella groups on campus?"
She took that moment to look at this creep. He was short innocent looking brunette with a bit of color to him. He didn't appear to be a stoner, a preppy gay guy or a douche bag, so maybe he wasn't in any a capella group. But he did come see Animal House tonight which happened to be a total sausage fest, so he was possibly part of the asshole group.
"No." Kacee laughed. "Bad experience."
"Well the Bellas are down two members already. I think you'd be a perfect fit." He pressed.
Kacee gave him an awkward smile before he left, letting out a cynical laugh in his absence. Her? Fit in the Bellas? It was not going to happen.
The next day, Kacee had the day off work and class, so she decided to skype Leah, hoping she'd be online.
She knew Stacie had class at this time, so she wouldn't get any odd looks for signing at the screen without saying a word.
'K.C!' Leah signed with enthusiasm getting Kacee to laugh. 'Hi, Leah.'
'How's school going?' Leah asked, being the only person in Kacee's life to care about her education.
'Good.' Kacee answered honestly. Her classes were easy so far and she'd been enjoying them a lot. Even the mandatory ones.
'And your temper?' Leah asked and could already see the agitation on Kacee's face.
Kacee explained everything about her boss and how he treated her like shit because she was a freshman, making her do the crappy jobs with crappy hours and how her sleeping schedule is fucked up now because of it.
'It doesn't sound like that's much of a stress reliever for you.' Leah stated.
'Don't worry, it will be once I actually start projecting.' Kacee answered, but Leah still didn't seem pleased.
'Maybe you should figure out a new outlet for the time being.' Leah suggested and Kacee knew she was right.
Unfortunately, the Bellas were the first thing to come to mind.