Chapter 11: The Riff-Offs
This is pretty cool.
Beca thinks to herself as the Bellas arrive at the empty pool, soon to be the stage for the much-awaited Riff-Offs. She can see other, non aca-people gathering, and the Trebles are already warming up their vocal chords by dissing the other groups. The energy is intense, and Aubrey is clearly freaking the fuck out, even though she tries really hard not to show it.
The Bellas take their place on one corner of the pool, as she sees Jesse on the other corner, smiling at her with a wicked grin.
Jesse is feeling really good with the Trebles tonight. He feels excited, elated, and it has a lot to do with the fact that this is his game, and he's really good at it. Also, the fact that Beca is there to hear him sing again really helps pump him up.
"Who d'you think is the cutest Treble?" Beca hears Stacie ask Ashley.
"They're all jerks," Cynthia Rose remarks.
Almost all of the Bellas are new to this, and they're feeling their way around like a bunch of lost puppies. She hears a lot of comments about a lot of things ("Bumper's annoying", "Donald is kinda hot", "My boobs hurt, I feel like this means something", "What's that smell?"), but she can't help but look at the Trebles, the mortal enemies, cool as chilled fucking cucumbers. Interesting, she thinks. This is gonna be one hell of a night…
"Hit it!"
As soon as the BU Harmonics start the siren, everyone claps and cheers, and it's game time.
"Welcome to the Riff-Offs!" The crowd goes wild. "Who's ready to get vocal?" says Justin the Announcer, and all the groups scream their lungs out… except the Trebles. They're too cool for that.
Beca's arms remain crossed in front of her as Jesse communicates with her from across the pool.
"I'm gonna take you down."
"I don't care."
"Fair enough." Beca is trying to keep the energy in the air from creeping into her bones, but her fellow Bellas, Jesse, and the damned competition is keeping her from playing it cool.
"Our first category is…"
In the next moments, Beca sees the heightened pressure as the two main players, the Bellas and the Trebles (more like Aubrey and Bumper), tense up.
"…Ladies of the 80's!"
Aubrey and some of the Trebles race to the center of the pool and…
Stomp, clap. Stomp, stomp clap.
"Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!"
The rest of the Trebles join the first four, and Beca raises her eyebrows at the display. This is music. This is real music from the 'lame' a capella bands that she once rolled her eyes over. She can't help but be absolutely fascinated. Not to mention, Jesse bobbing up and down like a kid at Christmas.
"Oh Mickey, you're so—"
"You're so fine, and you're mine. I'll be yours till the end of time…" The BU Harmonics take the stage after Baloney Barb shushes the entire Treblemakers. Oh, well that's something, Beca thinks. She's never seen anything quite like this. Live music from live groups of people, live mixing of different songs. No script, no cues, take it or leave it.
The rest of the BU Harmonics joins in one by one, "Ooh, you make me feel so shiny and new…"
Suddenly, Aubrey thinks of something. "Okay guys, follow my lead."
"…touched for the very first time—"
"Like the one in me, that's okay…." Aubrey tunes with a flick of her wrist. The girls nod their assent to the song that Beca has no clue of.
"…Put up your dukes, let's get down to it!" Aubrey says, before the rest of the girls join in.
"Hit me with your best shot. Why don't you hit me with your best shot?" Since Beca doesn't know the song, she keeps her distance and lets the girls take over. The BU Harmonics move out of the center, while Bumper makes a disgusted face at the classic song.
"Fire away—"
"Ey…" a Highnoter interrupts them. "It must've been love," she sings. "But it's over now…"
The crowd laughs, and it's the end of this category when Justin the Announcer calls the Highnotes (clap clap) 'cut off'.
"Let's check out our next category…"
"So we just pick any song that works?" Beca asks Chloe. "And you just go with it? Nice." Beca understands now. So this is the Riff-Offs: a high-stakes, live, a capella showdown.
"…Songs about Sex!" Justin declares. Though Aubrey freaks a bit, the Trebles' overconfidence gets the best of them, as Cynthia Rose beats Donald to the stage.
"Na na na, come on. Na na na na na, come on, come on, come on…" Cynthia Rose's raspy voice echoes clearly through the air, and the rest of the Bellas join her in near perfect harmony. Beca stays at the back because she's just getting the feel of this, as Stacie walks up to where Cynthia Rose is basically owning Donald.
"Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it…" Stacie and Cynthia Rose grind against each other, making for a really good show. The Bellas have their game on as the rest of the group gain the confidence to groove along, harmonizing perfectly.
"I got this, man," Jesse hears Donald tell him, as he walks up to the center and silences Stacie, who is either trying to intimidate him or eye-fuck him by her movements. Or both.
"Sex, baby. Let's talk about you and me…" the rest of the Trebles join in. "Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be…" They're not called the Bad Boys of A Capella for nothing.
Aubrey pulls Stacie away, but she protests. "Wait, Aubrey, I can do this. I have another one…"
"Let's talk about sex baby—"
"Baby all through the night I'll make love to you…" Stacie nearly palms Donald's chest.
"Like you want me to…" Fat Amy chimes in.
(This isn't about the Hoobastank mic anymore, Beca realizes. She feels an itch to get her game on, when Jesse find an in...)
"And I—"
"And I guess it's just the woman in you," he cuts, "that brings out the man in me." The Bellas groan, but he affectionately points to Beca. This is for you.
She rolls her eyes. You think you're really clever, don't you?
"I know I can't help myself. You're all in the world to me…"
The Trebles have now begun to sing the song full out, perfect harmonies, while Jesse milks it for all that it is. His eyes are directed at her, clearly reveling in the irony of the situation. They're winning, but hey, at least they're winning by singing a song directed to you, Beca thinks to herself. The bastards. She blows him a sarcastic kiss.
"It feels like the first time. It feels like the very first time…" When Jesse starts moving his jacket to taunt her, That is it.
She bites her lip, her nerves tingling as she runs up to him. Okay, you want game? I'll give you game.
"It feels like this first time—"
"It's going down, fade to Blackstreet, the homies got RB collab creations, bump like acne, no doubt, I put it down, never slouch, as long as my credit could vouch a dog couldn't catch me straight up…"
Beca spews out the rap lyrics like a veteran, silencing the entire crowd. Jesse doesn't even try to hide a gasp as he backs away and lets her have the stage. Whoa.
"Tell me who can stop when Dre makin' moves attracting honeys like magnet giving them eargasms with my mellow accent…"
Jesse cannot believe his eyes, or ears.
"Still movin' this flavor, with my homies Blacksteet and Teddy, the original rump shakers…"
The Treble faces are nowhere near comprehension, and everyone is silent for a beat. Beca is giddy with the lyrics at the tip of her tongue, and Jesse feels the adoration in him bubble up with how cute she looks when rapping.
"Keep going," he coaxes. Beca's face is almost literally lighting up as she turns to the Bellas, who are still trying to process the situation.
"Shawty get down, good lord…"
Jesse's eyes grow large as he feels her melody brush against the hairs at the back of his neck. Holy shit.
"Baby got 'em open all over town," she continues.
"Strictly biz, she don't play around, cover much ground, got game by the pound…"
"Mhmm," the Bellas start to harmonize, as Beca turns towards them to guide them. Jesse's mind is blank, and the other Trebles look positively bewildered as the Bellas build on each other to school their sorry asses.
"I can't get her out of my mind, (Fat Amy throws Bumper the finger. Burn.) I think about the girl all the ti-ii-iime…" Beca turns around to face Jesse. Payback, bitches.
"I like the way your work it."
"No diggity."
"I gotta bag it up, baby," she sings, looking at Jesse with a smirk, and it's all she can do from Z-snapping his face.
Jesse is captivated by this magical creature before him, rapping and singing a soulful melody, and his heart is melting with every quarter note. He subconsciously starts to bob his head at the tune, which is a no-no for the Trebles, but really, who can help it? The whole crowd gets animated as they start chiming in.
Beca goes around, amazed at what she just started. People are listening to her make music with the Bellas, cheering her on and going along, and she's never felt more wonderful in her life.
"I like the way you work it (no diggity), I gotta bag it up. We out," she finishes strong, and Jesse can't help but be so damned impressed.
Every single one of the Bellas is thinking the same thing: Bitches got owned.
"I mean, you're welcome," Beca adds. The crowd is ballistic.
Jesse smiles to himself. Is this love?
Their celebration is short-lived, however, as Justin the Announcer cuts them off (clap clap) with a mere technicality. The Bellas are so pissed, and Aubrey looks just about to burn the whole fucking place to the ground.
"Are you serious?" Beca is not liking the news either.
"The Trebles win!" And the crowd goes wild. Again.
"Oh! Beca, I'm sorry, it was awesome," Jesse calls after her amidst the noise. Of course Jesse likes the win. This is his world, and he'd be damned if he didn't like the feel of triumph. Still, as much as his energy is poured into the moment, his mental faculties keep replaying Beca's voice.
He steels a glance back at her as the Trebles are off with their merrymaking, and suddenly, with the Trebles isn't where he wants to be right now.
"I've never heard that rule! Ladies, ladies, come on. Come back," Aubrey says as she ushers a sorely devastated group of Bellas away from the wild winners. Bumper, however, manages to still brag to Amy, patting each of her boobs with their microphone prize.
"Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong," Aubrey says to her Bellas. Beca is sure she's directing that comment to her.
"I'm gonna melt that Cabbage Patch kid," Amy joins them with eyes filled with vengeance.
Though a bit upset that they didn't win, Beca knows that what they pulled off was, for all intents and purposes, one hell of a set. They were brilliant, then were fucking fantastic, and to hell with the winning; it was the first time that Beca realizes that these girls are talented. They are all talented. And she could really make something of this.
"Guys, what we just did was great, right?" she asks them.
"Calm your pits, Beca. We still lost." Aubrey is the queen of negative.
"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome. We were actually listening to—"
But Aubrey cuts her off. She swears to god, that megabitch is testing her with everything she's got. They try a hands-in, but it just won't. It's just not their night tonight. As the crowd disperses and they all head back, Beca sees Jesse leaning by the poolside, waiting for her.
"Whoa, hey there, gangster," he says to her, suddenly coming up to walk alongside. "Smooth moves back there."
"Thanks, I was totally thinking about you the whole time."
His mind goes a bit blank at that, and he opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. Keep it cool, man.
She saves him by laughing a bit and shaking her head. It's sarcastic. She is being sarcastic.
They walk back out together, each taking home a new understanding from the night's events.