The next morning Beca woke up to a pounding headache and her brother shaking her awake.
"Beca wake up. We have to go tour Barden today. We're gonna be late, get your ass up." He tore the covers off her and realized she had never changed out of last night's clothes. Beca groaned and sat up, cradling the side of her head. She checked her phone and had a missed call from her dad and a text message from a random number. She opened it and the memories of the night before flooded her brain.
"Hey cuteness, hope you got back to your hotel room okay, it was great getting to know you last night and kicking your ass at air hockey. Hope to see you soon. -Red"
Beca smiled at the text and immediately chastised herself for doing so. She was barely a freshman and the girl was a senior. She was also out with her boyfriend, and she wanted to make her sing. There was everything wrong with it. She decided to save her number as Red and get on with her day. Dave agreed to meet her in the lobby so she could get ready in private.
About 20 minutes later she walked down to the lobby and met her brother by the front desk. Today they would be seeing her dorm assignment, the major spots on campus for activities and studying, and get to know some of the advisors. She wasn't really looking forward to it and felt like a child, having her older brother need to take her around to show her things. Her father was an idiot if you asked her, and she would always think so. She had resented him since the day he left her mother for another woman. Her mother was devastated and it took years of therapy to get her back to a normal functioning person. She also resented therapists but that was a whole different story.
Dave and Beca spent the day following perky student advisors as they showed the rest of the freshman group of the day around. The library was a huge 3 story building that looked like it was built in the 1800s. Her dorm was small and all she could worry about was that she needed space for her DJ and mixing equipment. She was hoping she would have a good roommate but she had read some terrible horror stories of college dorm roommates. About an hour into the tour the leader showed them the college radio station building. Inside was filled with mixing, recording, and DJing equipment. Shelves were lined with old records and boxes stacked up against the walls with CDs and tapes. A tall, blonde boy was standing in front of the booth eyeing the crowd.
"Impressive huh?" His Australian accent surprised most of the group. The leader, a young woman, almost melted when he spoke.
"I promise you this will be your life line while you're here. We play the best music in the area, it's also the only radio station you can get to come in clearly within a 10-mile radius. We do summer intern programs so if you're interested sign up at the activities fair." Beca couldn't keep her eyes off the records and knew that this is where she was meant to be. She smiled shyly at the boy and kept on with the rest of the group. He disappeared quietly into the booth to continue to DJ.
The rest of the tour was boring and uninformative. Beca hated her life and her brother had better things to do with his time. School started in a few days and she felt the immense need to explore on her own. She was never good at being kept on a short leash, she needed her freedom and the chance to learn on her own. As the woman in the front of the group kept droning on Dave became impatient and busied himself with his phone, Beca finding it a great time to escape. She ducked behind the pillars at the entrance of the library as they passed by, hoping no one noticed her leaving. Once the group was at least 100 feet away she slipped inside and started looking around. She had never been a huge book person, but she could admire a nice collection when she saw one, and in all honesty the shelves lined with books were almost as impressive as the radio station. She wandered around for a while before finding a book on music theory and sitting down with it. She popped her headphones in and began reading, getting lost in the author's words and the singer's lyrics. About 20 minutes into her reading a hand fell on her shoulder, and though she did her best not to jump she did and looked up with a frightened expression on her face. It fell though, when she was met with fiery red hair and eyes bluer than a cloudless day in May.
"Hey cuteness!" Chloe squeezed Beca's shoulder and sat down next to her. A tall blonde stood behind her, scowling at Beca like she was a vagabond who was asking her for her daddy's money.
"Hey Red, who's your body guard?" She motioned to the blonde who was now folding her arms and silently planning to murder Beca in at least 35 ways.
"Oh, this is Aubrey! She's my best friend and co-captain of the Bellas." Beca remembered Chloe telling her about the Acapella group, and her determination to never be a part of it was solidified when she took in the entirety of the co-captain.
"Ah, nice to meet you, I think." Aubrey just huffed and turned to Chloe, whispering in her ear.
"So cuteness, why aren't you with your group? I heard you stopped by the radio station and met Luke." Beca straightened up.
"Yeah it was really cool, he seems like a nice guy. Are you friends with him?" Chloe beamed, though the younger girl's sudden interest in the Australian worried her, she wouldn't pass up on getting true love together.
"Yeah totes! He and Aubrey used to-" The tall girl nudged her friend and gave her a stunned look that really said, 'keep talking and you'll be cut from the Bellas' so Chloe shut her mouth and continued down a different path.
"Erm, yeah I call him every Friday when he's on the air to request songs. We have the same history class." Beca could only nod and wonder what the red-head was going to say about him and Aubrey. She hoped Chloe knew that she wasn't into him, but even so it wasn't really her place to mention it and the lurking giant behind her put enough fear in her to remain silent. While the three girls were struggling to say something in the absence of words, Beca's phone went off. Her brother was looking for her and asking her to meet him at the gym where the school was holding a lunch for the group.
"Oh, I gotta go my brother is being all like, weird and stuff so…it was good seeing you and I'll catch you later?" Beca put the book on the shelf and gathered her headphones and phone off the table. Chloe smiled and waved good bye.
"Bye cuteness!" Beca scurried away and as soon as she was out of eye-sight and ear shot, Chloe stood up and found the book she was reading.
"Music theory? I knew she was into music." Aubrey only scoffed.
"Why are you even bothering with this hobbit? She looks like she skips class and steals cars for a living." Chloe only rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing very well that Beca would never do those things.
"She really cool, Aubs. I think if we give her a chance she could really make the Bellas even better." Aubrey was stunned.
"What? Chloe no! She has no integrity, style, or manners! Did you see those SPEARS in her ear!" Chloe chuckled.
"Those are called earrings, Aubrey, and I like them! It gives her a bad-ass look which I really like." Aubrey grabbed Chloe by the shoulders.
"Is this another project of yours Chloe because I swear- Tom was bad enough." Chloe could admit that Tom had his moments and could really be an asshole. But he was fun in bed and good company, just not a good boyfriend.
"No Aubrey, there's just something about her. I don't know what it is but I like her. I want you to give her a chance, let me get her involved and you'll love her, I know it." The two girls left the library in silence and went on with the rest of their day.
Beca on the other hand was doing her best to avoid all other interaction with anyone, including her brother. Today was the last day he'd be in town as the hotel room was hers for another 3 days before school started. They ate without speaking to each other and went back to the hotel in silence as well. Dave packed up his things and said goodbye after handing her a hundred-dollar bill and hugging her.
Beca wasn't big on hugs but she hugged him back, thanked him, and locked the door after him. Having the place to herself was nice, and she immediately got to starting a new song. While her favorite thing in the world was mixing and creating new songs, she did always have an affinity for an acoustic guitar and a nice voice. Both which she was blessed with, she let her mix download on her laptop and picked up the guitar. She wasn't keen on writing her own songs but of course had a few up her sleeve. It wasn't something that she shared with anyone but her mom, who got so much joy out listening to her daughter sing that she gave her something new once a month.
She strummed a few notes and did her best to write as she strummed, noting which sound she preferred for the lyrics in mind. She began playing and the words fell out easily, like she had sung it a million times before
I've got my ticket for the long way round
2 bottles of whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow whatdya say
When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere
Oh you're gonna miss me when I'm gone
She strummed a few more notes as she wrote them down, thoroughly pleased with how everything sounded, she knew her mom would like the song once it was finished. She checked her downloads and began to lay down a few beats with different tracks to try to get the sound she was looking for. She spent the next few hours holed up in the room working on her tracks until she passed out and woke up close to midnight. She had more than 1 missed text from Chloe.
"Hey Becs! I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat? My treat!" 6:06 PM
"You don't have to be shy, I won't bite, promise!" 7:14 PM
"Okay, no worries, I'll catch you later Cuteness!" 8:03 PM
Beca groaned. She didn't mean to avoid Chloe obviously, but Chloe didn't know that and that made her feel at least one tiny iota of guilt. She got up and turned off her laptop and turned the TV on. It being close to midnight she thought it safe to assume that Chloe was asleep, so she texted her back.
"Hey Red, sorry about that I was passed out. Maybe next time."
She put her phone down and went to the mini fridge that was stored next to the TV. As she pulled out some leftovers to heat up her phone dinged. There was no way it was Chloe, so she put the food in the microwave and set it on high. Her phone dinged again. She looked over as it illuminated and saw that it indeed was Chloe. She opened the first message.
"No worries, I completely understand!" Of course she completely understood, Chloe didn't seem like the type of person to get upset about something so trivial. She opened the second message.
"I'm still hungry though, I can come pick you up if you are too?" Beca had to smile at that. She was
starting to really like Chloe, though she would never admit that. Chloe was almost everything that Beca wasn't, she was friendly, cheerful, trusting, confident, and charming. Beca always felt like she couldn't trust people around her. She trusted her mom, and was the friendliest with her, but everyone else had to work hard to earn that trust. She dated women on and off because she didn't want to become attached or too close to anyone. No one needed to deal with her issues and she didn't want to deal with anyone else's. She decided to take Chloe up on the offer.
"Red- you're relentless. But lucky I'm hungry. I'll send you my location and meet you downstairs when you're here."
Beca jumped in the shower after she sent Chloe her location and got dressed in black sweat pants and her favorite sweater, which happened to be black with a rainbow skull on the front. Thinking it was probably too hot, she took it off and changed into a black Muse t-shirt and slipped on her black and white Converse. She had been told in the past that she wore too much black but she felt like you couldn't go wrong with it if you really wore it well and it made her the most comfortable she could be when going out. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and room key and headed downstairs. She walked out the double doors and saw Chloe standing outside a yellow Jeep Wrangler with the windows down. The yellow luminescent lights from the entrance of the hotel highlighted her face in such a way that made Beca blush. She was thankful it was so dark outside, or else she stood the chance of being embarrassed even further. Chloe beamed when she saw Beca and opened the door for her. She smiled slyly at the brunette and sped off.
"I hope you have a good appetite."