The persistent thumping on her door startled Beca from her sleep. Groaning she pulled herself upright before hitting her phone, squinting down at the bright display. 2pm.

"Beca!" Her dad's voice called out to her, a mixture of concerned and agitated and Beca rolled her eyes before slowly standing up.

"I'm not going away until you open this door." He continued when it became apparent that Beca was neither going to answer him or leave the room. The hammering on her door got increasingly louder until after pulling an oversized hoodie on, she threw the door open.

"What do you want Andrew?" She asked through gritted teeth, glaring up at the older man.

"You've barely left your room all weekend Beca, it's not healthy! You're 16, you should go explore the neighbourhood, you never know you might find yourself liking it." He pleaded with his daughter, nervously running his hand through his hair.

"Oh wow, I haven't even been here a week and you're already trying to get rid of me. I feel so loved." Beca quickly shot back, enjoying the discomfort evident on her father's face. He closed his eyes, briefly massaging his temples before once again trying to engage with his daughter.

"You know that's not what I meant Beca… Just, the year's going to go a lot slower if you spend it holed up in here." He gestured to the room behind her before heading back downstairs, leaving Beca to dwell on his parting words.

As much as it annoyed her to admit it, he was right, one more day of staring at these too bare walls and she'd go crazy. Quickly pulling her hair into a messy bun, Beca grabbed her ipod before charging out of the house, the opening bars of a Fall Out Boy song drowning out her father.

Not wanting the humiliation of getting lost and having to call Andrew, Beca decided to simply walk a short loop around the neighbourhood before heading back to her room. Softly humming along to Save Rock and Roll, she slowly made her way past the grand houses that inhabited her father's neighbourhood. It was no secret that he lived an incredibly comfortable life and it only infuriated Beca when she thought back to the times her and her mom struggled to make ends meet, living off one pay check to the next. Never once did he offer to help.

Beca turned the volume up, not wanting to drag up such painful memories. She let her mind drift instead to tomorrow, it would be Monday, and she would be expected to go to school. Barden High. Of course it was the school Andrew taught at, there would be no escaping him and Beca sighed, not for the first time wishing they no longer shared a surname. School had never been easy for Beca, she was always the different one. The one without the dad, then the one without the mom… Now she was gonna be the estranged daughter of one of the English teachers.

Fuck my life. She swore internally, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach as all the worst case scenarios for tomorrow ran through her mind. Needing a distraction she carefully studied her ipod, searching for the right song. Smiling slightly, Beca paused momentarily before the opening bars of Titanium echoed in her ears and she shoved the device back in her pocket before picking up the pace. Something about this song always calmed her nerves and as it continued to play, Beca could focus on nothing but the music.

You shoot me down but I won't fall

I am titanium

You shoot me down but I won't fall

I am titanium

With the song in full swing Beca failed to notice the blur of red that sped around the corner, barrelling towards her. Because of this she failed to move out of the way of the blur of red and with a small "oof" she found herself on the floor without really knowing how she got there.

Opening her eyes, Beca was immediately met with a concerned gaze from a pair of deep blue eyes. She then realised how close this girl actually was to her and hurriedly scrambled backwards, putting some distance between them. It wasn't like this mattered though as the redhead barely seemed to notice and just edged closer to Beca.

"I'm so sorry! I totally didn't see you, I was completely in my own little world! Are you okay?" The girl talked at about a million miles an hour and Beca could barely process what was happening.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She finally managed to reply, before slowly attempting to pull herself upright.

"Here let me help you!" The other girl stated before quickly taking hold of Beca's arms and pulling her into a standing position. The unexpected physical contact completely threw Beca and she immediately froze up until the taller girl eventually let go of her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again, this time noticing the distance Beca had put between them, a look of hurt briefly crossed her face.

Don't take it personally. Beca wanted to say. Everything's just easier this way. Instead she attempted a small smile that probably looked as forced as it felt.

"Yes, thank you I'm fine." The girls fell silent and all that could be heard was the tinny sounds of titanium still blasting through Beca's earbuds.

"Is that titanium?!" The redhead asked excitedly, her face lighting up.

"Yeah… It's of my favourites." Beca replied, her smile becoming slightly more genuine as she saw the other girl's face light up.

"Mine too!" She looked as if she wanted to say more and was in the process of once again leaning in before Beca jumped backwards.

"I, I've gotta get going. Was nice bumping in to you." Beca shot the redhead a grin before turning and practically running away from the strange girl with no concept of personal space.

Beca resisted the urge to turn around, but if she had she would have seen the redhead gazing after her, a curious yet determined expression etched on to her face. Trying to shake off the strange encounter Beca's mind once again fell back on school and how she was going to survive. Her stomach lurched at the thought of being surrounded by hundreds of strangers and she had to stop to take a few calming breaths.

Pull it together Mitchell. You've got this, you're not a complete idiot. She mentally lectured herself, trying to calm the ever increasing butterflies in her stomach. As she saw the house come back into view, Beca decided that the best way to approach Barden High was to become invisible. She'd keep her head down, stick it out for the year, then Aunt Shelley would come back and she'd never have to see this place or her so called "family" again.

She allowed herself a small smile as she pushed the front door open. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all.