The alarm went off at 6 again. This time Beca was up first. She took the first shower, and Chloe was up and smiling brightly when Beca returned from the bathroom. Beca had no idea how Chloe could be that happy that early in the morning.
The girls and their moms came down for breakfast, again sitting at the table with Tracie and their teammates. Duets were up that day, which meant that the team only had two numbers that day – Beca and Chloe's jazz duet, and Jessica and Ashley's tap duet. The other girls would be joining them to watch and support their friends. Chloe was a bit more relaxed, partially due to only having the pressure of one number. They also wouldn't be competing against anyone in Alyson's studio. Denise and Cynthia Rose hadn't qualified for nationals, and it was unlikely they'd have competed anyway after Alyson's homophobic remarks.
Everyone ate breakfast, and they talked excitedly about their group number winnings from the previous day and the duets competing that day. Beca and Chloe held hands while they ate their breakfast. Their teammates teased them a little, but neither girl minded. They were just glad to be able to be out in the open with their relationship. Chloe managed to eat all of her breakfast without too much difficulty.
The girls and their moms headed back to their room, making sure they had their costumes, tights, shoes, and accessories for the duet. They headed straight to the competition and got into their costumes. They did some last-minute hair and makeup checks and began stretching and warming up for their duet. Beca practiced her double pirouette, nailing it every single time. She and Chloe helped each other stretch so neither girl would miss her split. Jessica and Ashley were in a different spot in the dressing room, doing some basic tap warm-ups.
Both pairs took turns running their numbers in the dressing room. Tracie gave both pairs a few last-minute pointers, and then the four girls headed backstage. The four girls held hands and gave each other some little confidence boosts.
Jessica and Ashley were up first. Like before, their number had the audience engaged. They were clapping along to the rhythm, and Jessica and Ashley really showed a lot of personality. They walked backstage, and, just as Beca and Chloe were about to give them congratulatory hugs, Jessica pulled Ashley in for a kiss. Beca and Chloe were shocked! They knew Jessica and Ashley were close, but they didn't realize it was anything beyond friendship.
"So, you two?" asked Beca. Jessica and Ashley nodded.
"You're surprised?" asked Jessica.
"I thought our little performance during Rent would have tipped you off," said Ashley.
"Oh my god, is there anyone on this competition team who isn't gay or bi?" asked Beca.
"I don't know. Lilly maybe?" asked Chloe. All four girls laughed.
"Okay, enough about us," said Ashley. "You two need to go out there and kill that duet!"
Beca and Chloe's duet was called, so the two girls walked on stage and hit their beginning poses. The music began, and they flashed big smiles at each other and began their dance. The girls did their special parts beautifully, and they were perfectly synchronized for the parts they did in unison. The judges were very interested, and the audience cheered wildly when they were done. The two walked backstage, proud of their performance. They met Tracie and their parents and teammates in the dressing room, and everyone cheered for the two duet pairs.
"Excellent job, ladies!" exclaimed Tracie. She wrapped up all four girls into a huge hug. "Even if you didn't win with the judges, you certainly won the hearts of the audience."
It was almost time for the awards ceremony, so the girls just quickly put the competition uniforms over their costumes. The four girls headed to the stage while Tracie, the parents, and the other teammates sat in the audience. Beca and Chloe's duet won for jazz, and Jessica and Ashley's duet won for tap. Beca and Chloe got first overall for duets, and Jessica and Ashley got second, their scores separated by 0.4 points. The announcer called Beca and Chloe up to the microphone. As usual, he asked which dance studio they attended, and the girls shouted "Tracie's Dance School!" into the microphone.
To the girls' surprise, he then said, "That was an unusual mix of music. Where did you get it?"
"I mixed it," said Beca. "I sang 'Don't You Forget About Me' and Chloe sang 'Party in the USA.'"
"Wow! You can dance, you can sing, and you mix music. Is there anything you can't do?" asked the announcer. Beca smiled nervously and gave a small shrug.
After the awards were over, everyone headed to the dressing room. Tracie congratulated the girls on their wins, and everyone headed back to the hotel. It was mid-afternoon, and nobody had eaten lunch yet. Beca and Chloe and their moms got some sandwiches at a nearby deli, and then they decided they'd all head to the hotel pool to swim for a while.
Chloe came out of the bathroom in a blue bikini that made her eyes pop. Beca couldn't help but stare when her girlfriend came out of the bathroom. Ellen nudged Beca with her elbow and said, "You're drooling."
"I am NOT!" exclaimed Beca. She grabbed a black bikini out of her suitcase and walked to the bathroom in a huff. Chloe just laughed at the exchange. Beca walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later in a black bikini, and Chloe just stared at her.
"My eyes are up here, Chloe," said Beca, laughing.
"Yeah, yeah," said Chloe. "Let's go swimming!"
The girls headed to the pool with their mothers. Apparently, their whole team had the same idea. Aubrey and Stacie were sunbathing next to each other in lounge chairs. Jessica and Ashley were resting on floats in the deep end, and Lilly was swimming underwater with a big pair of goggles. After a while, Aubrey and Stacie joined the others in the pool, and the group played Marco Polo for a while. Nobody ever caught Lilly because nobody could ever hear her say "Polo!"
Everyone got out of the pool around dinner time. The mothers decided to let the girls hang out together for a while. Aubrey's mom convinced the hotel to let them use one of the meeting rooms. They ordered a bunch of pizza for the girls. Everyone hung out and ate pizza for a while. The moms were engaged in their own conversation while the girls excitedly chatted about the competition. They were so pleased with their group and duet wins, and the girls doing solos the next day were a combination of excited and nervous.
The meeting room at the hotel was next to a movie room. Aubrey and Stacie found out from the front desk staff that it was free to use for hotel guests. The girls headed to the movie room to hang out while the moms stayed in the meeting room to continue their chat. The group went through the hotel's movie collection and chose Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Beca was annoyed that it wasn't a musical, but she got outvoted.
Beca cuddled up to Chloe and was quietly snoring on Chloe's shoulder within the first half hour of the movie. Chloe decided to just let Beca sleep. She knew Beca really didn't like movies that weren't musicals, so she might as well let her sleep. It was better than listening to her moan and groan during the movie.
The girls enjoyed the movie, but Aubrey complained that it was a bit too different from the book. The others hadn't read the book, but Aubrey had read the entire series. "Seriously, they switched the ages and powers of a few of the characters, and I had a hard time remembering who was who. The ending doesn't fit any of the books. You really have to read the series. It's so much better than the movie!" The others rolled their eyes.
Chloe nudged Beca awake. "Movie's over, sleepyhead. You even slept through Aubrey's rant."
"Oh," said Beca. "Sorry."
"It's okay," said Chloe. "I know you don't like movies." She gave Beca a tight hug.
"We should go back to our moms," said Aubrey. "It's getting late, and those of us doing solos need to be at the competition early tomorrow."
"Okay, but I want to kiss you first," said Stacie. She planted a kiss on Aubrey's lips that quickly became heated. The others started cat-calling. Aubrey broke the kiss, blushing furiously.
"Hey, stop it!" exclaimed Aubrey. "My mom doesn't know yet." The others quieted down, and then they all headed to the meeting room to get their moms.
"We were just wrapping up our conversation," said Lynn. "We have five of you with solos tomorrow, so you'd all better get some sleep."
A/N: Okay, so I wasn't originally planning to specifically say Jessica and Ashley were together. I was going to leave it up to the reader, but this idea came to me and I just couldn't resist.