Chapter Two: New Feelings

Beca feels content.

Especially without the blinding rays of sun that would sneak pass the blinds of her room and probably would've woken her up from this peaceful sleep she is now enduring. But instead, she continues to keep her eyes remaining closed as the darkness around the room soothes her comfortably.

She knows that it is probably close to around noon with the amount of brightness-which is too fluorescent to still be morning and should really get up and do some more work around the apartment you know? Yes, that would be the ideal thing to do but honestly, her bed sounds way much better.

Soft music from her headphones play in her ear as it seems that she fell asleep with them on last night. Or this morning. Whatever. She tries her turn her body to assume a different and far more relaxing position but as she does, the cord from her beats headphones get tangled around her neck and she squirms around with eyes still shut, trying to break free from this mess.

Finally after she wrestled with the cord for a good solid five minutes, she throws her headphones onto the table-which also holds her cell phone and huffs back into her pillows, tasseled hair covering her face as she crosses her arms underneath the pillow that holds the one side of her cheek. Yelling can be heard from downstairs, matching perfectly to the amount of time it take Beca to get comfortable again and she knows it's definitely Stacie, but Beca chooses to ignore the demands and proceeds to go drift back to sleep.

"Beca!" She can hear the girl's name calling becoming louder, signaling her that Stacie is at least almost half way up the stairs and is no doubt strutting her long legs with a purpose up those stairs, ready to pull Beca out of bed by the hair. "Seriously?!"

Oh no. The voice literally sounds like it is right outside of her door.

Beca thinks about getting up to lock her door so she can resume her slumber in peace but before she can even open her eyes to put her plan to action, she can feel Stacie's presence behind her and knows that she is screwed.

So much for sleeping in.

"Wake up," Stacie demands sternly and Beca can tell by not even looking that the girl has both hands on her hips, sporting an unamused face as she waits for the brunette to obey.

But come on. It's Beca who she is trying to wake up. No way in hell is she going to listen.

"Beca…" Stacie tries again, and sounds a lot like her father right about now as he always had to wake her up for school before she ended up being late. "You better be dead or unconscious for sleeping till two in the afternoon." Maybe if she pretends that she isn't breathing, Stacie will go away.

And really? Two? Damn, there's no way she is going to be able to get her sleeping schedule back on track before school starts up again on Monday.

"Becccccaaa." Stacie has lost all other options and caved to whining. It almost makes her snicker into her pillow that holds her face but remember, she is trying to be dead, so she doesn't do that.

Beca can feel the leggy girl creeping up on her backside and doesn't have enough time to react before her butt gets a stinging slap from a firm hand and all her attempts of faking her sleep gets thrown out the window when she responds with a high pitched squeal.

"Bitch I knew it!" Stacie laughs like a hyena at Beca's wincing pain that is now present on her left butt cheek and jumps onto the bed before wrapping her limbs around the smaller girl, who tries to flail away.

"Stacie go away!" Beca is struggling to get anything out at the moment with Stacie's arms pinning her to the girl's chest. "I... was….sleeping!" Beca grunts, voice is winded from the amount of energy she is using and also muffled since her entire frame is being dissolved by Stacie's giraffe legs.

"You've been sleeping for hours now, I think you've had enough," Stacie retorts and Beca feels her smile spread over the skin where her face is pressed up against Beca's neck. "Get up." Stacie gives Beca a far more gentle pat to the area she smacked previously and hops out of the bed.

Beca takes the time to regain her breathing back to normal and throws herself to her back, eyebrows furrowed and eyes squinted with annoyance. An innocent shrug is what she is rewarded with as Stacie sits herself at Beca's desk and opens her laptop.

After many years living together and being as close as they were, passwords were exchanged from the both of them, even Beca's laptop as that item is her most cherished.

"I heard your new song this morning, by the way," Stacie continues to type forcefully on Beca's keyboard-just like she always does and Beca sits up in her bed to lean her back against the headboard. A loud yawn exits from her next as she stretches her arms up high and over her head before she cracks her back from left to right. "I have to say, it might be just as good as your Nsync and Pussycat Dolls one Becs."

Why on Earth did everyone like that mashup so much? It was a piece of trash compared to what Beca could do with her programs now. And she can admit that she picked two killer songs to mash; Bye Bye Bye and Buttons but truthfully, there were so many other options to choose from as Beca made like a hundred mashups.

She rolls her eyes because of course, Stacie goes through her folder and plays the damn song to prove a point and it begins to echo against Beca's semi postered walls.

She tries to think of something else rather than her rookie DJing skills and soon, red hair and blue eyes flood her memory. And it's when Beca's brain fully wakes up from her sleep coma that she remembers who was the reason for keeping her up all night.

Hastily, she flips over to her table and snatches her phone off the charger and smiles warmly when she sees a few text messages from the redhead herself.

Saturday August 20, 8:32 AM

C: Good morning Beca :) Well actually afternoon because I bet you anything you won't see this until three because SOMEONE was awake all night ;)

C: All nighters remind me so much of college….man the memories. Next time you decide to play owl let a girl know and I'll join you! :D

Saturday August 20, 11:44 AM

C: Hmm, seems to be right since I've yet to hear back from you. It has to be like almost noon up there right? Wake up Mitchell! ;)

Saturday August 20, 2:20 PM

B: :-) Good afternoon. I didn't quite wake up at three, more like 2 but will give you some kudos for being close.

B: But honestly you can't blame me. You're just as big of culprit as I am….

"Why are you smiling like that?" Beca breaks her gaze off the glowing screen in her lap and meets Stacie's suspicious glare as she walks to the printer and grabs some papers both of them need to fill out before classes. "I'm obviously right here sooo…" Stacie gloats, gesturing down her frame as Beca rolls her eyes and closes out of her phone.

It's been awhile since Chloe texted her, so she really didn't know when she'd hear from her again. It's actually the first time in like, forever, that Beca feels personally guilty for not replying to the red head.

What the hell was going on with her?

"Who are you texting?"

"No one," Beca can't even admit to herself and try to lie and say that sounded believable.

"Don't lie, Beca," Stacie gives that stern look again and she crosses her arms above her chest. "Who has you smiling like a cheeseball? Is it a girl?" Beca doesn't answer but it seems that Stacie catches the small curve on the corners of her lips and perks up at this. "It is definitely a girl!" Beca flinches at the increase of volume from her friend's body and tries her best to ignore Stacie's inappropriate hand gestures to fluff the situation.

Though the 'v' shape over her mouth with Stacie's tongue sticking out was super disturbing and made Beca feel uncomfortable.

Beca loves Stacie and thinks of her as a sister. Basically blood family. They tell each other everything no matter what it is and have since they were little. So, Beca shouldn't feel hesitant about telling her friend about a girl she met online last night, but that's not the case.

No, Stacie cannot find out about this girl, yet. Beca won't allow it. Plus, nothing big is even going on between her and Chloe anyways so there isn't really anything to tell Stacie.

It's just two innocent strangers texting so far. Nothing else.

"It's not a girl Stacie calm down," Beca chuckles under her breath, watching the excitement basically deflate from the taller girl as she stands on the heels of her feet. "You know you'd be the first person I'd tell if it was a girl. Come on now."

Beca knows she's lying straight to her friend's face since there is no lying when it comes to Beca and how attractive she truly thinks Chloe is, but it's weird this time. Usually, Beca would talk to Stacie about girls she thinks are cute and they'd have a whole girl on girl convo about who's hot and who's not. Chloe though, isn't a girl who Beca can bring to the house for Stacie to meet with no problems. This is all an online interaction and Hell, they live on completely different sides of the country.

And it's not that she feels weird about talking to someone online, but she knows other people will think of it differently.

Thank you Dateline for ruining all hope.

"It's just-" Beca shakes her head and lifts up her phone to show, "all the reviews on my song are sorta cheering me up a bit." She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "That's it."

As she finishes, her phone vibrates in the palm of her hand and she clenches her fist together not to react so sudden by instinct and open the message, knowing it was Chloe.

Stacie had to skedaddle.

A visible frown makes its way across Stacie's face. "Booooo, that's no fun." Her voice is sad for Beca and she fakes a frown as well towards the taller girl, wishing that Stacie would leave her room so she could look at her phone. "But you know what is fun?" Her eyebrows practically raise to her hairline and above from the wicked grin she is now sporting on her face. "Going to the mall!" Stacie claps her hands erratically with a beaming smile and Beca fakes a laugh as best as she can.

The mall is the last thing she wanted to do today-though she did need some new clothes for school.

Of course Stacie wants to go to the mall.

She basically lives there.

"Get your tiny butt up! We are leaving in a couple of hours!"

And Sacie is out the door before Beca could even refuse her orders. Oh well, it will at least get her up and moving for the day. She turns on her phone in the meantime before she actually has to get ready and opens Chloe's message.

C: Why hello sleepyhead. Have a good hibernation ;) Winter is almost over!

C: And why am I being blamed here all of a sudden? :O

B: Thank you, I slept wonderful. And you know why. Because of you, I was up all night

C: That is not my fault!

C: I can't help that I'm so insanely fun to talk to now can I? ;)

B: Did I ever mention how much I enjoy your modesty? Really, it's a great quality ;-)

C: The sarcasm again :(( How can such a tiny person consume so much of it?!

B: Hey now, I'm not that tiny.

B: I'm fun sized.

C: Lol! I have to admit I agree with you ;)

C: Also super cute.

This hits Beca full force, directly into the gut.

Did Chloe just call her cute?

Is that what just happened here?

She tries to shake away the forming grin on her face when she feels her cheeks start to rise and by the heat surfacing to the area as well, she is almost certain that she is blushing like a schoolgirl.

B: Have you seen me? I'm anything but cute. I'm badass Beale.

C: Whatever you say ;) I still think you're super cute!

B: You're cuter

"Did I seriously just say that?" Beca muttered to herself, reading the sending message on her screen and mentally slapping the shit out of her because who in their right mind responds like that? What was she? Twelve and playing a game of tag.?

You're it!

No, you're it!

No! You are!

C: You think so?

B: God yes. I mean, look at you! With your killer blue eyes and long red hair. That's enough to put someone into cardiac arrest but your smile is the real weapon in this scenario.

B: You're beautiful

C: Wowzers, you're quite the charmer aren't cha? :) Thank you Beca.

C: I have a confession….

B: Oh no….please don't tell me you're not a natural redhead

C: Don't worry, I'm the truest ginger you'll ever meet ;) But hey! What would you do if I wasn't? I think I'd be a pretty cute blonde don't you think? ;)

B: I'm pretty sure you can pull off florescent pink hair and still look gorgeous.

C: Well that's a good thing since my confession actually relates around that topic….

B: Oh seriously? I uhh, pink hair? Oh wow….um that's pretty risky

B: But like, it's your body, you do whatever you want. I'm positive it will look great

B: :-)

C: Lol! I'm totally kidding Beca! Never would I dye my hair pink!

B: Oh thank god. The red hair just suits you perfectly.

B: What's the confession then?

C: I mayy or mayy not have saved a couple of your selfies on Instagram to my phone and thought about posting one as my WCW…..

B: ...

B: You did NOT! Haha

C: But I did! You're seriously the most attractive person I have ever laid eyes on and instantly when I discovered you, I couldn't help but be swooned by your face D: I'm so weak!

B: Wow….I'm actually at a lost for words.

B: But, very flattered ;-)

C: Oh god…...I'm never going to live this down am I? I'm just here to prove that you're not only 'badass' but also, super super adorable :)

B: Adorable? Gross, I think that's worse than cute…

C: Whatever Mitchell….

C: How's your afternoon so far?

B: It's pretty good. I haven't moved from my position on my bed so it's pretty fucking great. How was your morning/afternoon? Class?

C: Class was boring. As usual. I did end up doing a lesson plan and taught the kids how to sing the wheels on the bus :)

B: Tell me Chloe. What DO the wheels on the bus do?

C: Go round and round of course. Allllll the way through town ;)

B: Haha that's what I thought but wasn't too sure. What is it that you want to do with teaching again?

C: I want to teach underprivileged kids how to sing :) Possibly out of state since now I'm getting my masters. Don't know where yet but I have a while to decide :D

B: That's pretty neat. You wanna teach me how to sing? I'd love to have you as a teacher. I bet you would get hit on a lot by the immature teenage boys.

C: Not you? ;)

C: But yeah, it's what I've always wanted to do! And no I will not teach you how to sing until YOU teach ME how to.

B: And how on earth do you know that I can sing?

C: A little birdy told me :)

B: Does this bird happen to be around seven foot and have two legs longer than a giraffe's? Also a pair of tits the size of watermelons?

C: Lol maybe…..

B: Dammit. I knew Stacie didn't delete that one video she recorded on snapchat of me singing like she said she was going to. Asshole.

B: Wait, how do you know about this?

C: Well I follow you, obviously, on like every social media possible and Stacie tagged you in a video on Twitter that soon showed up on your timeline and like duh I watched it in a heartbeat. And all I have to say is damn Mitchell, you have a voice :)

B: So much for my hidden talent :-(

C: You should really post covers on Youtube as well. You'd be surprised at how many would enjoy it :)

C: You could be like the next Bieber or something! :O

B: Hmmmm….maybe.

B: And gross no. Not Bieber. At least Tori Kelly. Girl has some pipes on her.

C: Smh, so stubborn but very true ;)

C: So, is Stacie your girlfriend or whatever?

B: Wait what? Sorry I just choked on my water.

B: Girlfriend? Absolutely not. That'd be like incest!

C: I know you two are roommates and have basically known each other since grade school but you know how people are and how fast rumors start. Do you ever check your comments on instagram? Any picture you have with Stacie literally says, "you guys should so totally date" and then another person would comment, "they so totally are dating, like seriously, they announced it on twitter a week ago. Where have you been?" Then there's me searching through a million tweets just to see if it's true or not!

B: Holy shit. Yeah I read some of them but clearly not enough.

C: Obvi! You guys even have a cute little ship name!

B: And that would be?

C: #Steca

B: Hmmmm, clever haha

B: But no, she is my shithead of a best friend and nothing more. I guess I should clear that up huh?

C: Just a little bit ;) Stacie seems fun though! I follow her as well and she seems like a crazy fun time!

B: Ehh, she's alright

C: You guys sound like you love each other sooooo much ;)

B: Hey I love the sarcasm ;-) Am I rubbing off on you already?

B: Haha just kidding. She is awesome. Actually I'm spending the day with her since she's making me get out of bed to go shopping. How much do you wanna bet we spend most of our time in Victoria's Secret?

C: Taking that she looks like a Victoria's Secret angel, I'd have to agree with you lol

B: If she had a dollar for every time she received that compliment, she'd buy the whole damn company.

C: Psshhhhh who wouldn't?! Stacie is crazy hawtttt!

B: Okay slow down. First you compliment me, then you go ahead and do it to my roommate? I don't know if I can trust you anymore…

C: Lol No! I'm just stating the facts here Mitchell. But honestly, she doesn't even come close to you ;)

B:...you see? I don't know whether to believe you or not.

B: Also, Stacie is like totally a perfectionist. Turn off right?

C: Hey, same with my roommate! :D Maybe we could set them up!

B: Yikes, probably huh? Tell me about your roommate since you already know about mine.

C: Well her name is Aubrey Posen. We grew up together, literally, sandbox dates, all the way up to prom dates. Then we went off to college at Barden and joined an acapella group called the Bellas :) She's great and I love her to death. Sometimes she can be a little…...crazy and controlling but she is super fun to be around!

B: Sounds like Stacie would love her.

B: Acapella? That's a thing now?

C: Oh totes! We don't use instruments and all the sounds you're hearing comes straight from our mouths :D

B: Yikes….

C: It was probably the most fun I've had during college. I met a lot of really cool chicks-besides Alice who was a raging witch but other than her, the girls were my sisters :)

C: Aubrey sort of lost it her senior year with getting power hungry since she was captain but she settled down with time. I would always call her the blonde dictator lol

B: Alice just sounds like a bitch. And now that you mention the blonde, I've seen Aubrey on your instagram. I knew that Hitler vibe I felt wasn't just anything ;-)

C: You aren't even ashamed anymore at the level of stalker you're at huh? ;) And I'll tell her that you called her that ;)

B: If she comes up here to kick my ass it's on you….

C: I would never let that happen plus, she'll never admit it out loud but she's a total Michie fan :)

C: See, you even have a name for the fans who follow you! Tell me NOT that that isn't Bieber status! ;)

B: Oh god do they still use that name?

B: And why the hell wouldn't she admit it?

C: Her words, "that girl has nothing but madlib beats and ear monstrosities."

B: Ouch…

B: I think I like her already ;-)

B: But really? Ear monstrosities? What is she a ninety year old insulting someone at a game of Bingo?

C:Lol!

C:Don't listen to Aubrey because I love your ear monstrosities :)

B: Okay then, I feel a little better about them

"Beca Mitchell, you better be getting ready and not still in bed or I'm going to strangle you with a pillow!" Stacie yells from somewhere in her room after the hairdryer was turned off. Beca thinks that she should actually get up soon if she wants to take a shower before they leave for the mall.

Or if she wants to live another day and not experience the wrath of Stacie Conrad. No one gets in the way of the mall and the girl without serious consequences.

Oddly, she smells like she totally just spent the whole day sleeping.

And her hair definitely looks like it, too, as she cringes at the rat's nest taking over her head when she finally gets up from her bed and goes to the bathroom.

She goes through her drawer for a set of clothes to wear after going to the bathroom and washing her hands. Settling on some jean shorts since it's been pretty toasty outside for California lately and a flannel (shocker) to match, she heads back into the bathroom down the hall and starts the shower.

As she connects her music to the bluetooth speaker she set up inside the bathroom while unpacking, shown on her screen is a couple missed messages from Chloe.

C: You should be as I have already reached my limit on compliments to give you ;) Mooch…

C:When are you going to the mall?

B: Sadly in like a half hour. I just got threatened by the devil herself because I wasn't even out of bed yet.

C: Omg GET UP! Lol ;)

B: I am I am! Geeezzz

B: I'm about to take a shower and then we will probably head out

C: Don't have too much fun with your dripping excitement ;)

C: I'll talk to you later :)

B: Trying to get rid of me already? :-(

C: Of course not! There's nothing I would rather be doing than talking to you all day :)

C: I just figured you'd like to enjoy your time with Stacie. I have some errands to run with Aubrey anyways :)

B: I guess you're right.

B: Okay, I'll text you later when we are back

C: I'll be waittttiiingggggg :)

B: Creepy….

B: :-)

Beca wasn't even going to lie and say she wasn't a little disappointed that even after her shower, texting Chloe would have to wait. She doesn't know why and it seems like the feeling is only getting stronger and stronger every text, but not talking to Chloe leaves Beca feeling empty in a way.

As weird as that sounds.

It's like she'd be a hundred percent content at just staying in her room for the rest of her life, talking to this girl-who is someone that Beca doesn't even really know on a personal level. She doesn't know her like she knows Stacie, Amy, or Cynthia Rose. Hell, she hasn't even met the redhead in person and already she feels reeled in by this spell that Chloe mustered up the first time she laid eyes on her.

What the hell?

Boy oh boy, Beca doesn't really know how to react or even what to do right now. Maybe this break away from her phone will allow her to spend some alone time away from the redhead and clear her thoughts.

And also give her the time to spend some much needed girl time with Stacie.


The whole idea of clearing her thoughts and maybe finding some answers as to why she was feeling the way she was feeling for the redhead doesn't really take action like she planned and almost the entire time Beca and Stacie were at the mall, she couldn't for the life of her shake the girl out of her head. Beca even had to keep her phone in Stacie's car while they jumped shop to shop so she wouldn't end up texting Chloe. She specifically said to enjoy her time with Stacie while she does stuff with Aubrey, so Beca wanted to respect that.

But fuck was it hard.

"I'm pretty sure you just bought the entire store with how much lingerie you and I are both carrying," Beca grumbles under her breath and leads the taller girl over to the food court so they could get something to eat and maybe relax for a bit. Beca clearly forgot how exhausting it is to walk around a gigantic mall all day, especially with a girl like Stacie who has store ADD and can't stay in one for longer than a few minutes.

"Hey now, you never know when these little goodies will come in handy." Beca isn't even looking at the girl since she is in front of her but can feel the power of the coquettish wink from behind.

She finds an empty table for the both of them to sit and falls into the wooden chairs with a strangled puff of air. "God, I'm exhausted," she mutters while slamming her head down into her arms that rest on top of the table.

"Why?" Stacie as well joins from across the table and sets her bag down next to all of the other matching pink ones. Her legs cross as she situates herself and moves her sunglasses from her hand to the top of her head, pushing her hair back slightly. "You basically slept all day anyways."

Beca lifts her head up slowly, blowing the hair that has fallen above her eyes away. "I was up all night working on that song so technically I didn't sleep all day."

"Poor babyy." Stacie reaches out to pinch Beca's cheeks jokingly, but isn't quick enough to do it when Beca slaps her hand away from her face with a sharp eye roll.

"Don't," She warns but it isn't taken seriously because her stern glare fades and she breaks into a small chuckle.

"What stores did do you need to go to still?" Stacie asks and gestures her head over to the smoothie booth. Beca follows the nod and soon the taller girl leads them over to the stand. A smoothie sounds nothing but delicious right this moment.

"Probably just Tilly's, Pac Sun and maybe Zumez, but that's it," Beca answers Stacie before giving her order to the girl at the register running the smoothie booth. "Uhhh I'll take a medium beach bum please." Not only is the drink filled with blueberries, pineapple, whey, and everything delicious, there also isn't any sugar used.

How neat is that!?

And healthy!

Beca watches the girl type in the order on the computer and connect her gaze back with Beca's.

"Would that be all?" If you were to ask Beca she would say the smile she receives from the cashier is a little different than the ones she is normally use to. A little more cheesy and a lot more flirty, if she's being honest.

"No that's it." Beca offers a smaller like smile and hands the girl the money.

The cashier declines the money and pushes it away while Beca furrows her brows highly confused. "Oh you pay after, just to make sure everything is correct on your order," she explains sweetly and Beca has never heard that rule before.

And since when did this smoothie place change rules? Never did she have to pay when she got her drink.

The smile the girl has planted on her mouth is still going strong and out of the corner of Beca's eye, she can see Stacie studying the interaction from the distance as she waits for her drink next to the counter. Instead of arguing, Beca slides the money back into her wallet and in the butt pocket of her pants. "Uhh cool. Thanks." And then joins Stacie over by the counter.

"What was that about?"

Beca catches the combined look of suspicion, as well as a threatening smirk that is seconds away from appearing on Stacie's face before responding, destined for a mouthful of teasing. "Nothing?" she answers as a question because she really has no idea why Stacie would suspect anything at all.

Okay, so maybe the girl was extra friendly, Beca admits, but so what? That doesn't mean anything.

"Bull shit," Is all Stacie responds back with and a smirk full of playful amusement smears across her mouth.

"Order for Stacie!"

Luckily, she doesn't continue as she hears her name called. "Yay that's me!" Stacie cheers excitedly and grabs the drink from the young guy's hand who ended up making it. "Why thank you, love." She cooes with a deathly wink and Beca swears for a moment that the guy's heart stopped beating completely. He can't be no older than sixteen and a little on the nerdy side, so what was Stacie trying to do? Give the poor kid a heart attack? Geez. It doesn't seem like he gets this type of attention normally, especially from a girl as hot as Stacie.

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" Beca comments and her deadpan face does nothing to Stacie as she shrugs it off, proudly, while taking the cherry out of her drink and placing it inside her mouth.

"Order for…...Beca!"

The same boy's words get cut off last second with a high pitch squeak as he catches a perfectly tied knot in a cherry stem being pulled directly from Stacie's mouth.

"Oh my God," Beca hurries the grab the drink from the stunned boy's frozen hand and pulls her friend away before she and this cherry stem is the cause of his brutal death. If he ends up fainting, at least Beca is CPR certified.

So there's that.

"What are you doing?" Stacie stops mid laugh at the scene when Beca drags them back to the register.

"Getting you away from a minor before you get thrown in jail," Beca replies simply and it causes Stacie to laugh even harder. "Also, I have to pay for my drink."

"What, why?" This perks Stacie up as she gives her full attention. "We already paid before we got these." Then she goes on about just leaving and Beca isn't really up for stealing a five buck soomthie when jail time could be included if got caught.

"No not me. The girl told me they started this new thing where people pay after they get their drink, just to make sure everything is perfect," she explains and heads over to the register.

As she is walking up, the cheesy smile appears on the cashier's face again but Beca tries not to think too much of it. "How much was it again?"

"Oh don't worry about it." The girl waves her hand and shakes her head. "It's on the house."

Oh wow. Beca was not expecting this. "Uh, are you sure?"

"Totally." If possible, the smile grows by like ten and it leaves Beca feeling too awkward smile back, not really knowing what to do, or why she just got a free drink.

Not that she is complaining or anything. Saves her a couple bucks.

"Thanks," Beca says appreciative and is about to walk away to Stacie, who has a shit eating grinning on her face, but gets stopped in her tracks by the cashier's voice again. She turns around and the girl is holding up a piece of paper that looks like the receipt.

"Don't forget this." Beca is about to decline the piece of paper since she never really keeps track of them anyway, but then she notices pink writing down towards the bottom.

"Oh right." She grabs the receipt with a tight lip smile. "Thanks."

"Have a good day."

And Beca walks away quickly because pieces were starting to fill the puzzle. The flirty smile, the over niceness from the cashier, the not paying for her drink.

It all made sense.

And to prove Beca's theory, written in a bright pink pen was a set of ten digits that ended with a perfectly made heart to dot the 'i" in the name Madi.

"Is that what I think it is?" Stacie points to the receipt placed in between Beca's fingers as she studies what is written on it. Beca doesn't even have to answer before the paper is snatched out of her grip and now Stacie is reading the pink numbers for herself. "It is!" She squeals with way too much joy anyone should have for anything, really. "You totally just got her number!" Stacie ignores the shush she receives from Beca and continues to keep her volume high with a beaming smile. "Madi's number….ow ow!" Stacie shimmies her shoulders in a teasing way, along with unnecessary cat calls.

"Shut up, Stacie," Beca whispers sharply under her voice, dragging the taller girl away from the scene she just caused. She literally thinks she might die of embarrassment.

"Wait…...this is a blank receipt. You didn't pay?!" Stacie doesn't even try to hide the amount of offence in her tone. "What the fuck! Why did I still have to pay?"

"I don't know, Stacie. Maybe look at the proof which is who was given a number and who wasn't." Beca decides to joke back when they finally are away from the crowd of people and back in their seats alone. Stacie responds with a dramatic gasp while her hand comes up to her chest, clutching the area. This causes Beca to break and she is laughing back in her seat, head stretched upwards to the ceiling of the mall.

"Well, are you going to get at that?" Stacie changes to a more serious tone, handing back the receipt when Beca is finished laughing.

Taking the receipt, she crumbles it in the palm of her hand and tosses it into the closest trash can. "Definitely not, dude." The look on Stacie's face resembles one who just got slapped. "I already got a free drink out of it." She shrugs her shoulders, taking a sip out of her free smoothie.

"Annnd you could've gotten laid on top of that!" This response causes Beca to choke violently on the icy liquid in her mouth and she is positive that she is seconds away from choking on a pineapple.

"What?! Oh my god, Stacie," Beca says in between coughs, voice raspy from the smoothie going down the wrong hole. Chest freezes fucking blow.

"Why won't you call her!? She pretty fucking cute and you know I don't think anybody is cute enough for you."

Despite Beca's previous actions and Stacie's blunt amount of word vomit, Beca smiles when she regains herself back to normal because it's so true. The boyfriends and girlfriends Beca dated in the past always had to go through Stacie even before the first date and always, did the taller girl say she could do so much better.

It was sweet actually.

"Okay, yeah she was cute-" Maybe not Chloe cute, but she was decent. Wait, why was she even comparing the two? "-but, I don't know. Just not something I want to get into right now."

"I thought you always had a thing for blondes since like half your exes are beach barbies."

Yeah, blondes were pretty fucking cute, but for some reason, redheads were so much better. Plus, this Madi girl had blue eyes and all Beca could think about was how they weren't as blue as Chloe's.

And also how her smile didn't have the same effect like Chloe's had on her.

Not that she is comparing the two again….

Dammit.

"I just.. I don't know, Stace. Don't want to talk to anybody right now," Beca sighs, dropping her smoothie on the table.

It was half true at least. She really didn't want to be in a relationship with her senior year of college coming in fast and didn't want any distractions. But then the other half was telling her that she didn't want to get into a relationship with anybody simply because it wouldn't be with Chloe. Jesus, she doesn't even know if the girl is single at the moment, let alone swings the same way as her. She could be as straight as a board and all Beca is doing is digging herself a bigger hole. One she could bury herself inside when she gets confirmation the Chloe is a, either straight and into the penis or b, has a boyfriend.

Both are equally as painful she thinks.

"Fine." Stacie finally gives up on convincing Beca to call this chick and sinks back into her chair. "Though I'd hate sharing you with whoever you were interested in, I just want you to be happy. And you haven't dated anyone since that one girl who's name should not be spoken of our first year of college."

Long story short, Beca dated this girl Megan who ruined her life for solid few months. Rule number one, never date a closeted lesbian who only wants to experiment and never come out.

"I know, Stace, but really, I'm fine," Beca says, feeling like Stacie doesn't really believe her but when she offers a small smile, the taller girl mirrors it.

"I know you are," Stacie connects her mouth to her straw and finishes the last bit of her drink. "I just don't want you to lose hope you know. And be a crazy cat lady or something." Beca snickers at this, watching Stacie get up and throw her cup away. If being music producer didn't work out, there's no hesitation that she wouldn't be a cat lady.

Maybe not crazy but wouldn't mind owning a few dozen of those furballs.

"Love for you is out there, I know it. When it will come and how? That's something I don't know."

"Thanks, Stace." Beca has to admit, Stacie is a great person to talk to about serious issues like this one. That is after you get past all those sexual comments and what not but honestly, the girl speaks wise and that's something Beca treasures the most about her best friend.

"Of course, Beca." She sees Stacie starting to pick up some of the bags from the ground and it signals Beca to do the same.

"Let's get some more shopping done."