Aubrey's Christmas riff-off idea did go ahead. And Beca wasn't surprised in the slightest when she walked into the Bellas rehearsal space on December first to see tinsel and a huge banner strung across the room.
"Merry Christmas!" Chloe called brightly.
(She'd spent her entire free period decorating. The Bellas had better appreciate her efforts.)
As Stacie, Cynthia Rose, Beca, Fat Amy and Lily took in what Chloe had done (looking a little shell-shocked), Aubrey passed around reindeer antlers, Santa hats and Rudolf noses.
"Absolutely not". Beca shook her head, as Aubrey gave her a bright red nose. "I'm not dressing up".
"Beca Mitchell", Aubrey said warningly. "This is not going to turn out like Halloween".
(Halloween had turned into a screaming match, where Aubrey threatened to pin her down and force the costume onto her. Fat Amy had nodded enthusiastically because she was not afraid to crash tackle her friend.)
"Put the antlers and nose on", Aubrey said sweetly.
And Beca (grumbling loudly), slipped the antlers behind her ears and squeezed the red ball onto her nose.
"Gather around!" Chloe called suddenly.
"Instagram that shit!" Stacie declared, as they posed for a Bellas group shot.
"I am Instagramming that shit!" Chloe agreed.
(If Jesse found out she would never, ever live it down.)
"Alright", Aubrey said. "We have organised a Christmas riff-off for two Fridays from now- and when we're back for the New Year we have a performance".
"And then the semi-finals are in March", Chloe added. "And we really want to knock the Treblemakers off their perch, so we'll be rehearsing hard".
"We aren't wearing our flight attendant uniforms for Christmas, are we?" Cynthia Rose checked.
(Aubrey frowned slightly at the fact that her uniforms were described as flight attendants.)
"No, Chloe and I are organising something".
"It could be something off Mean Girls!" Stacie said enthusiastically. "It could be something off Mean Girls, isn't that a good idea?"
"Absolutely! My sexy fat arse could pull that off!" Fat Amy said confidently.
"Oh my God!"
Mean Girls was probably the only movie that Beca had sat through in approximately eight years, something that Chloe had dragged her downstairs to watch on a visit to Barden.
(Eleven year old Beca had tried to escape, protesting the whole time, but Chloe had insisted that she'd love it.)
"I hadn't thought of that!" Chloe's piercing blue eyes lit up, and Aubrey beamed.
"That's good, Stacie! Chloe and I will definitely consider it".
As Stacie and Fat Amy animatedly discussed their newest outfits, Beca sunk further into her chair.
December was going to be a very long month.
"Hey weirdo!" Jesse called, running after Beca. "Beca! Wait up!"
She slowed down, removing the plastic earphones from her ears (because Sheila and her father hadn't been able to find the exact pair of headphones that Henry had broken). "Hey nerd".
Beca Mitchell was a mystery. The tiny girl was so different around so many people. Around him, she bit sarcastic remarks in retort to his prodding, all the while fighting back one of those amazing smiles. But around her family, she was almost silent (he put that down to moving from Maine to Barden that year, but that was only a guess). And around the Bellas, she laughed and joked- except around Aubrey.
(Jesse couldn't work out if the blonde intimidated her or what, but they did not get along.)
"Are the Bellas doing a secret Santa?" Jesse wanted to know.
They were. Beca had drawn Stacie's name and was tempted to get her a bottle of nail polish and a box of condoms.
"I got Bumper", Jesse complained. "Freaking Bumper Allen".
"Could have been worse", Beca shrugged. "You could have gotten Aubrey Posen".
Jesse chuckled. "Is that who you got?"
"No, I got Stacie. I'm getting her a bottle of nail polish and a box of condoms. But that's not the point; I still have to get her a present. Having seven and a half brothers and sisters has its disadvantages". She gave him a small smile.
"Speaking of Christmas, what can I get you, Miss Mitchell?"
"What?" her eyes widened. "Jesse-"
"Hey! I need to get my best friend or lover a Christmas present!" he protested.
"Don't say lover".
"Got your eyes on anything?" he pressed on. "Come on Becs-"
"I don't want anything for Christmas".
He frowned. "Well you're just no help at all".
"Oh my God!" Beca's eyes grew wide as Chloe paraded into their living room. "Aubrey, no. I'm begging you; do not make me wear that".
Stacie Conrad, according to Chloe Beale, had good ideas. Stacie Conrad, according to Beca Mitchell, should never speak again.
Because Chloe was parading around in a Mean Girls-esque Christmas outfit.
"How great are we going to look!" Aubrey enthused. "Mum!"
"Very nice Chloe sweetheart", Sheila complimented. "Are you all going to be wearing that?"
"Yes", Aubrey said, at the same time that Beca answered, "Absolutely not".
"Beca", Aubrey glared.
"So not going to happen".
"Beca", Chloe said gently.
Beca could tell by the tone in the redhead's voice that she'd be talked into wearing that red and white monstrosity. And she hated her for it.
"Beca", Aubrey said in exasperation, "What are you wearing?"
"I think I'm highly appropriately dressed", she reported, the red overcoat that she'd found in the hall closet reaching her knees. "Aubrey-"
"Take the coat off, Beca", Aubrey said with a sigh, and Beca groaned.
"You're insane. You're actually batshit crazy".
Exchanging glances, Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy grabbed Beca by the arms and Chloe tugged on the buttons.
"Oh my God-"
"Stop moving", Chloe instructed.
"We look hot", Stacie pronounced. "We look as good as the old Bellas! Why are we not Instagramming this shit?"
That was probably a matter of opinion, but no one objected.
(Chloe Instagrammed that shit.)
"Alright, hands in!" Aubrey instructed.
"On three or after three?" Cynthia Rose wanted to know.
"On three".
"After three?"
"Why can't we work this out?" Fat Amy wanted to know.
"Screw it, let's just do it".
Beca shuffled onto the stage, feeling Jesse's eyes on her.
"Distracting the enemy, good work Shortie McGee", Fat Amy said confidently, and Beca flushed.
"wow", Hat said in approval, looking up and down at Stacie. Stacie winked back, and Chloe pulled her closer.
"Stacie, focus".
"Good girl Stacie", Fat Amy said with a wink.
"Amy!"
"Wow", Jesse said under his breath.
(Beca Mitchell might have been oblivious to how she looked, but Jesse Swanson sure as hell wasn't.)
"If the Bellas and the Trebles collaborate, we could get really far", Beca said.
"What?" Aubrey almost shrieked. "Absolutely not. Why would you say that?"
Lily chuckled silently and Cynthia Rose grinned.
(They saw Beca and Jesse together. And they too had bets going. Fat Amy said the New Year, but Stacie said by the time the school year split for summer.)
"Let's do this!" Bumper whooped. "We're gonna crush you", he tossed in with a grin and Aubrey stuck out her arm to hold Fat Amy back.
"Amy, no".
The High Notes started with 'Feliz Navidad' (Aubrey and Beca groaned in unison, much to the amusement of the Bellas, because the night before they had attended Hailey and Henry's preschool Christmas concert and that song was prominent) before Jesse cut them off with 'White Christmas' (and no one missed that he was singing directly to one Beca Mitchell).
"Jingle-"
"Bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock!" Aubrey started, and Stacie swung her hips forward.
Essentially, they were re-enacting Mean Girls.
(It was like watching a scene from Mean Girls, but Jesse doubted that Beca had ever seen it.)
"Wow", Jesse said under his breath, as Beca's hips swung to their music.
"Dude", Bumper warned.
Bumper wasn't going to let the Trebles lose, and Aubrey wasn't going to allow the Trebles to win.
"Hey Becs!" Jesse said with a grin, as she buttoned up her overcoat. "Cold outside?"
She almost chuckled (because he and Donald had serenaded the Bellas with 'Baby Its Cold Outside), buttoning the final button. "How does it feel to lose to a bunch of girls?"
"I saw your Mean Girls dance, Becs", he said instead. "How'd they get you to sit through that?"
"Oh, they didn't", she said breezily, glancing up.
(Shit.)
Jesse noticed it too. The sprig of mistletoe they were standing under, taunting them.
"Beca", Chloe called, making them both jump apart guiltily. "Are you coming? We're all going out to celebrate!"
"I'll be there in a second", she called, colour rushing to her cheeks. Chloe nodded with a grin.
"We'll meet you out at the car then, okay?"
"Okay".
(Chloe had borrowed her parent's minivan for the night, telling them that they needed a car to go out for celebratory ice cream.)
"You were great tonight", Beca said sincerely, stepping slightly to the left.
"So were you", Jesse said honestly.
(He wanted to kiss her. but that would probably scare Beca and get him gutted like Aubrey Posen.)
"Good night Jesse", she said instead.
"Night, Becs". He watched her jog out to the front of the school, climbing into Chloe's car.
The night air was cold.
But the tension between Beca and Jesse was steaming hot.
"What was that about?" Stacie nudged Beca, as her tiny friend scrambled into the backseat.
Beca ignored her, stretching her seatbelt across her front. "Let's go Chlo".
Chloe just smiled knowingly in the rear view mirror, and Beca blushed as red as her hair.