Author's 1st Note: Umm... I don't know. Hi guys, I love you.

Okay, enjoy the chapter. xD


Beca was eager to get home. She knew she had plans with Amy to look forward to and knew hanging out with the foreigner would definitely get her mind off of some irritating things.

Who did this Chloe girl think she was? Suddenly coming into Beca's life and stirring up feelings within her that should never be messed with. Why? Why her? So what if she had really pretty red hair that cascaded perfectly around her face? So what if her light eyes were the color of the morning ocean and sparkled every time she shined that bright smile of hers? So what? It was nothing special and it definitely shouldn't be making Beca feel anything because of it.

The track star grunted in frustration and stuck her earphones in, raising the volume on her iPod until she couldn't think anymore.

Beca managed to keep the cheerleader off of her mind for the rest of the walk and finally arrived at her house. She went through her clothes and after picking a different outfit to change into, the track star went straight to her bathroom to take a shower. She turned the water on, and after testing the temperature a few times, Beca stepped inside. She washed off the dirt and sweat that had collected on her skin and washed her hair as well. She reached up to detach the shower head and brought it down to rinse off the suds.

Her mind suddenly wandered and Beca found herself thinking about Chloe once again. She wondered what the red head was currently doing. Had she gone home? Was she out with friends? Was she doing her homework? Maybe she was at her house taking a shower too. Beca had no control of her thoughts as her mind started to imagine what that would look like. She suddenly gasped, instantly coming out of her thoughts and looked down. Her hand that held the shower head unconsciously found its way down to her core as the images had grown more detailed.

"Fuck– No!" Beca gritted through her teeth.

This was not happening.

She quickly put the shower head back in it's rightful place and continued rinsing herself off, forcing her previous thoughts to hide in the back of her mind. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about Chloe like that. She barely even knew the girl!


After exiting the shower, the brunette changed in her room and plugged her hair dryer in. She grabbed her phone and checked the time: 5:43 pm. Beca hesitated before sending Amy a text.

Beca: "Hey Amy"

She shoved the phone in her back pocket and started drying her hair. It wasn't long until the track star felt her rear end vibrate. Beca was surprised at the quick response.

"That was fast," she said, pulling her phone back out and reading the message:

Amy: "Heyy short stack! Ready to come

out on the prowl with me tonite?"

Beca snickered and texted back.

Beca: "Almost. Where are we going?"

Beca was hoping where ever they were going wasn't too far from her new house. The track star only had her permit and she didn't feel like driving with her dad to go meet up with her new friend. She knew he would ask questions she wouldn't want to answer and would probably want to introduce himself. Beca decided if the location was close enough she would just walk, but if it was farther she considered riding her bike. Her phone went off again.

Amy: "Billy's Burger Joint. I'll pick u

up in 15 min. Whats ur address?"

Amy had a car? Even better.

Beca sent her the address and finished drying her hair. She quickly curled it and touched up her makeup, which turned out to be just some mascara and more eyeliner. She grabbed her money and house key and was about to walk out the front door when her father arrived home.

Mr. Mitchell stepped back when Beca almost ran into him,

"Hey, where you off to, kiddo?"

The brunette huffed, "Dad, I'm seventeen years old. Will you please stop calling me that."

Her father chuckled, "Okay, I'm sorry. I forget sometimes." Beca didn't respond and tried to push passed him. "Hold on," he said as he brought his arm up to block the door and Beca glared at him. "Where are you going?"

"I got invited to go hang out with a friend. I'll see you later." Her father removed his arm and smiled as he watched his daughter walk out of the house.

"I told you you would make friends easily!"

Beca rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Dad," she muttered as she walked to the end of her driveway.

Amy hadn't arrived yet, so Beca put her ear phones in as she waited. She yelped when she suddenly felt a hand tap her shoulder and quickly turned around to see who it was.

"Woah!" Jesse shouted, jumping back when Beca equally frightened him.

"Dude!" she yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Sorry!" he cried and held up a big white bag, "I was just taking the trash out. I saw you standing there so I thought I'd say 'Hi'."

Beca eased her breathing, "Jesus..." she sighed and the boy chuckled.

"So how are you? I haven't seen you at school."

Beca wasn't in the mood to have small talk with her new neighbor. Jesse did seem like a nice kid, but there was something about him that the track star found slightly annoying.

"Fine, I guess."

Jesse wasn't phased by her short answer and smiled,

"Yeah? What teachers did you get?" Beca bit her lip. She was ready to tell him to buzz off when a car horn beeped behind her.

Amy rolled down her window, "Let's go, new girl!"

Jesse narrowed his eyes, "Is that Fat Amy?" He smiled when he recognized her and waved, "Hey, Amy!"

Beca didn't wait and made her way to the Australian's car. Amy noticed Jesse behind her and waved back,

"Hey, Jess! Is this short stack your new neighbah?" she asked while Beca sat in the front seat next to her and closed the car door. She hoped it her actions cue Amy to hit the gas and leave, but much to her disappointment, they stuck around a little longer. Jesse came up to the opened window and popped his head in, getting too close for Beca's liking. She leaned back in her seat as far as she could as the boy spoke,

"Yeah she moved in a few days ago. Where you guys going?"

"Billy's," she simply replied.

"Oh nice. Well you two have fun! I'd go too, but I've got a lot of homework to do tonight." He shrugged and gave a crooked smile, expressing his dislike for the unfortunate fact. He then looked at Beca, "See ya later," he smiled and left.

"Please, no." Beca muttered, loud enough for the Australian to hear and she laughed.

"Yeah, he can be a handful sometimes." She backed the car out of Beca's driveway and they made their way to the burger joint.


The place wasn't too far from Beca's house. It was a tad bit too far for a comfortable walk, but Beca could have easily ridden her bike there. They got out the car and the track star looked up at the big pink and blue neon sign that glowed, "Billy's Burger Joint". Beca found herself a tad surprised at how many people were packed inside.

"Wow. There's a lot of people here."

Amy came up next to her, "Yeah, it's a pretty popular spot. The food is great. I come here all the time." Beca nodded and looked over to see a giant statue of a cartoon, heavy man, smiling and holding up a big cheeseburger.

"I'm guessing that's Billy?" Beca asked, amusingly pointing at the structure.

"Yep. That's him," Amy grinned.

Beca snickered, "Nice." She followed the foreigner into the diner and commended the nineteen fifties theme it was decked out in. There was something very intriguing about the quaint restaurant and Beca couldn't help the small smile tugging at her lips.

The hostess led them to a booth and Fat Amy would occasionally stop at random tables to greet friends she recognized. She would briefly introduce them to Beca, who would respond by giving a tight smile and awkward wave. They finally sat down and the brunette wasted no time reading the menu. She hadn't eaten since lunch time and after running as much as she did, she was starving.

"Hey, Amy."

Beca peeked out the top of her menu to see Bumper hollering at Amy from a corner table behind them. He was surrounded by his group of friends and was currently smirking at the blonde Australian.

Amy turned around and rolled her eyes, "Bumper," she replied. She turned back to look at her menu, not able to see the amused smirk that had spread across Beca's face. After looking it over, Amy ordered a regular cheeseburger with a vanilla shake while Beca ordered a bacon cheeseburger and matched Amy with a cookies n' creme milkshake. It luckily didn't take too long for their food to arrive and after some distracting small talk, Beca was relieved to see her food in front of her so quickly.

"Here you go, ladies," said the waitress as she placed the baskets in front of them and smiled, "Enjoy."

The track star immediately dug into her burger and Amy chuckled,

"Slow down, short stack. You're gonna choke."

Beca looked up at her with her mouth full. The pieces of burger pushing against her cheeks made her look like a chipmunk, triggering Amy's laughter once again. Beca tried not to laugh, afraid she was going to spit out her food. She quickly swallowed it and shook her head,

"I haven't eaten since lunch time. I'm starving," she explained, following her statement with another big bite.

"Well, I'm glad you like it then." Amy smiled. As they continued to eat, Amy waited until Beca was done with her burger, which only took maybe three minutes, before starting up another conversation.

"So, are you ready for tomorrow?"

Beca dipped some of her fries in ketchup and shoved them into her mouth before she answered, "Yeah," she shrugged, "I'm pretty good at running, so, I'm not too worried."

Beca had heard beforehand that Barden High School was known for their very successful sports teams. Their football team was the most praised. The gym trophy case was filled with their many championship victories throughtout the years. They were currently going undefeated for a record of three years in a row and were headed to their fourth. Next came their basketball team; standing at a close second when it came to popularity and trophies. Then finally taking third place was the Barden High School track team. Beca couldn't lie, upon hearing such information, she found herself driven to take their track team and move it up the chain of command.

Amy nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I'm sure you'll do gr–Ahh!" She yelled, when she suddenly felt something squishy hit the back of her head. Bumper and his boys started laughing hysterically and practically fell out of their booth. Beca couldn't believe what she just saw and her protective instincts stepped in.

"Hey! What's your problem?" she shouted, pushing herself up from the table and glaring at the immature boy. The boys weren't influenced by her attempt at being threatening and continued to laugh. Bumper held up his hands in defense and shook his head innocently, infuriating Beca even more. "Don't make me go over there and kick your–"

"Beca it's fine." Amy interrupted. She stood up and tried to ease the fiery brunette. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom and wash it off." She scooted out of the booth and turned around to face Beca one more time, "Don't kill anybody!" Amy hoped Beca would listen to her request and just ignore Bumper and his crew. After the Australian disappeared into the bathroom, Beca huffed. She sat back down and frustratingly crossing her arms.

The track star grew annoyed at the sight of Bumper, so she looked away and faced the front door. She immediately regretted her decision when Chloe suddenly stepped into the diner. Two other girls followed behind her and Beca's eyes went wide as she watched them be lead to a table in her direction. She quickly turned away and tried to hide her face in her hair.

"Please don't notice me... Please don't notice me," Beca quietly mumbled to herself.

"Beca?"

Shit.

The track star looked up with a fake smile and acted like she was surprised, "Oh! Hi, Chloe. I didn't even see you come in," she lied, hating how her pitch always seemed to elevate whenever she spoke to this girl.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe looked down at the table, "Are you on a date?" she asked, referring to the second basket of food and empty seat across from the younger brunette.

"What?" Beca glanced over to see what she was talking about and finally understood, "Oh, uh, no. I'm here with Amy. She's in the bathroom."

The red head smiled, "Oh, okay."

"Who's this?" asked a tall blonde, as she walked up behind Chloe.

"This is, Beca. She's in my cooking class," she explained. "Beca, this is my best friend Aubrey." Another tall girl suddenly joined them, "Oh, and this is Stacie. She's co-captain of the cheer squad."

"Hey," Stacie grinned.

Beca gave a tight smile, "Hi."

Stacie was giving her a mischievous look, which Beca found a bit strange, but Aubrey was looking at her with a much more uncomfortable expression. Almost as if Beca had green skin and antennas sticking out of her head.

"You don't look like you'd be in cooking class," Aubrey commented.

Beca quirked an eyebrow, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"I think she'd make a cute little chef." Stacie interjected, winking when Beca looked at her.

Chloe chuckled, "Alright, I'll get these girls out of your hair before you really get to know them." She started pushing the girls in the direction of their table, "See ya later, Bec."

"Bye," Beca said, even though she knew the red head wouldn't hear her. They were seated at a table across the diner, but Beca still had a clear view of their table. She found herself occasionally glancing over at the ginger as she waited for her friend to come back from the bathroom. The track star sighed in relief when she finally did.

"Good as new." Amy said, sitting back down in the booth. Although she hadn't known Beca for very long, the Australian was gifted at reading people and noticed something had changed in the brunette. "You okay?" she asked.

Beca snapped out of her daze, "What? Yeah, no I'm fine." Amy didn't believe her, but she didn't want to pry. Instead, she just gave a simple shrug,

"Alright."

Amy changed the subject as they continued finishing their meals. Amy took silent mental notes on how Beca kept glancing over a table behind them. When the brunette wasn't looking, Amy looked over her shoulder and was intrigued when she saw Chloe. She smirked to herself and decided to keep a close eye on Beca during any future interactions between them.


At some point Amy convinced Beca that dipping french fries in milkshakes was delicious. The track star didn't believe her until she eventually gave in and tried it. She was surprised, it wasn't as gross as she thought it would be.

They paid for their food and stood up to leave. Beca pulled out some ones from her pocket to leave a tip and looked over at Chloe one last time. She was caught of guard when the red head was already looking at her. Chloe smiled and waved a quick 'goodbye' to her and Beca couldn't help but return the smile and wave back. She left the tip and caught up to Amy, who was waiting for her by the front door. The blonde smiled when she noticed Beca's cheeks were a darker shade of pink than they usually were.


Beca was a little disappointed when the evening ended so quickly and they made it back to her house. The Australian parked in her driveway and looked over at her,

"Did you have fun?"

Beca gave a small smile when she realized she really did have a good time. She missed her old friends from her last school, but she was glad to have already befriended someone like Amy. She helped ease the stress that came with the move and helped Beca not feel like such a loser. The brunette nodded as she replied,

"Yeah, I did. Thanks for inviting me."

Amy grinned and lightly slapped her arm, "Of course short stack. We'll have to do it again."

Beca smiled, "Sounds good." She got out of the car and waved Amy off as the Australian drove off. When Beca entered her house, she found her father sitting at their dinning room table with a bunch of papers scatter around him. He looked up when she walked by.

"Hey, Beca," he greeted, smiling as he removed his reading glasses, "How'd it go?"

Beca thought back to the pretty decent night she just had, but since she never really liked sharing things with her father, she simply replied with,

"Good."

Her father had grown used to these types of answers, but she didn't say it went bad, so he slowly nodded his head and pouted his lip a bit,

"Well, alright. That's good to hear."

Beca gave him a quick smile in return, "Yeah, so I'm gonna go do my homework now," she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her bedroom.

"Okay. If you need me, I'll be here. I've got some homework of my own to finish." He laughed at his own attempt of a joke but Beca remained unamused.

She went to her room and shut the door behind her, dropping her head back until it collided with the wood. She sighed as she closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. She couldn't believe how much of an impact she was allowing Chloe to have on her. She had only known the girl a few days! This had never happened to Beca before. No one had ever made her feel this unexplainable way and certainly not this fast.

Beca could feel herself getting overwhelmed and she had the strong urge to go for a run. If it wasn't for the homework she knew she had to get done, she would have. Instead, she settled for blasting her music in her ears and trying her hardest to focus on anything other than Chloe.


Author's 2nd Note:

Fun Facts:

1. "Billy's Burger Joint" is inspired by "Bob's Big Boy" (anyone catch that?) ;)

2. The high school is inspired by the real life high school I graduated from two years ago.

3. The library in the background of the cover, is the actual library from my high school. ;D

4. I will continue to use real life places I know for the story.

Let's see if throughout the story someone can figure out where I went to school. x)

Thanks for reading and writing wonderful reviews. You guys keep me going. :D

P.S. I'm back from vacation so, yay! More writing time! xD