Beca was relieved to find out she didn't break her hand but dislocated a few fingers which explained when her and was in so much pain and swollen. The school had called her father which resulted in Beca being sat down and getting yelled at for an hour after being asked about her hand. She knew she deserved it so she didn't get a smart mouth when getting yelled at. Beca has a history of violence with bullies but she also believes it stems from her mother abusing her. Most people would think that after being punched, kicked, and slapped for years would cause the girl to not want to put her hands on any one else- they were right for the most part, but when it came to her friends and family, she wouldn't hesitate getting into a fight which is what always happened.
The group of seven were sitting in Beca's room, listening to her and Stacie explain what went down in the principal's office.
"If we don't do this, he said he'd have no choice but to expel us so could you guys please help us out?" Stacie asked and the five other teenagers immediately agreed.
"Now would be a good time for your 'Love Is Louder' movement," Beca winked at her girlfriend sitting on her bed.
"You know, after the soccer game, I made us all shirts with 'Love Is Louder' written on it," Chloe smiled. "I have a picture on my phone."
"Seriously?" Beca asked sitting beside her as Chloe looked for the picture after nodding her head.
"What's that?" Benji asked and Aubrey was the one who spoke up this time.
"It's a saying Chloe came up with," the blonde informed everyone, watching as her friend's phone was passed around the room for all of them to look at the picture. "Love is louder than hate, love is louder than bullying, love is louder than bullshit," she trailed off.
"I think that's amazing," Emily said smiling at the phone. "We could all wear the shirts at the event to make it an actual movement."
"I could make a giant ass poster," Benji suggested and him and Emily high fived.
"I can help you with it if you want," she offered and he smiled at her before nodding.
Beca smiled. "Guys, we might actually make this work," she said wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's waist when she moved to sit on her lap.
"Should we divide certain parts to certain people to make it go quicker?" Jesse asked with a furrowed eyebrow and Beca nodded.
"Yeah, the principal wanted all of us to sing a few songs as well as speak up about bullying so Emily and I can write a song for us," she said. "Benji and Em have the poster, Chloe already has the shirts but can you and Aubrey work on trying to get a few other speakers?" The two nodded and she looked at Stacie and Jessie. "Stacie, can you text the soccer team to see if they would be interested in being a part of it and Jess can you text the baseball team?"
"Sure thing," Jessie replied and Beca clapped her hands.
"I want it to be serious but if there's not any fun, everyone will be bored and not want to listen so I want to make it the best we can."
"This is our chance to change the school," Chloe smiled and they all agreed before excitedly throwing idea after idea out into the room as Aubrey wrote them on a piece of paper.
"The girls are in but want to know what they'd be doing," Stacie said reading off her phone.
"Same with the baseball team," Jesse added. "What will they be doing?"
Smirking, Beca asked, "Can they dance?"
"I think so," Jesse said with furrowed eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because you and Stacie can so I want you two to come up with a choreography to Talk Me Down by Alyssa Reid," she smiled. "I think it's a great song for this specific movement and if need be, I can make another mashup."
"So this is the start of the Love Is Louder movement?" Chloe smiled.
"Remember us when you get famous for this," Benji laughed but was serious.
"Or it can be all of our movement so if it goes anywhere, we'll always have Love Is Louder," she said gently. "We all know both Beca and Emily will end up in the music industry, Stacie you're hot as hell and really tall so you'll have no problem modeling." They all smiled at her positivity as she continued uplifting everyone's spirits. "Jesse and Aubrey, you two are fucking incredible actors and Benji, I've seen the short film you put together for your creative writing class last year."
"What about you?" Emily asked with a smile, curious as to what she thought she was going to do.
"Oh, I'll just marry Beca and become famous that way," she joked but Beca playfully slapped her arm anyway. "No, I'm thinking about vet school but I definitely want to keep the Love Is Louder Movement and do something with it. It'll just be easier if you six are famous so we can spread the word and who knows," she smiled. "Maybe I'll get with Benji in the directing business and be like Elizabeth Banks."
"Sounds like you need to figure out whether or not you want to go to college to be a vet or director," Beca laughed as she kissed her girlfriend gently.
"We'll find out but can we all make a promise?" the redhead asked looking at who friends who nodded their heads. Chloe raised up her pink and said, "No matter where life takes us, we'll always have each other and our movement."
"I promise," Aubrey said getting up to link her pinky with her lifetime best friend.
"Forever and Always," Beca smiled adding her finger and soon after, so did the rest of their friends.
The past four days went by a little rocky because a few of the athletes couldn't dance, but Stacie and Jesse fixed it by putting them in the back. One baseball player purposefully pretended not to be able to dance just so he could get close to Stacie who smacked him in response. When it came to dancing, she didn't want to mess around.
Benji and Emily spent a whole day on the giant poster, painting it to match the theme of Chloe's shirt. It wouldn't have taken them nearly as long if Benji didn't indulge them into a paint war halfway through.
Chloe and Aubrey had managed to get a couple kids who were willing to speak out about their bullying which they were grateful for and made sure the two students: one freshman and another senior, knew they were appreciated.
And lastly, after Benji and Emily finished their poster, the two soon-to-be-step sisters worked on the song that was coming around real well.
"I absolutely love it," Beca smiled after she played the track back. "You're such a kick ass song writer."
"Thanks," Emily hugged the older soccer player. "We're a team though; it wouldn't have been made into an actual song had you not worked your magic and produced it."
"We should probably get over to the school so we can all go over the choreography with everybody before Friday," Beca said and they hathered up their belongings and headed over to the school where their friends as well as the baseball and soccer team were already running through the song.
It all went by pretty quick and before they knew it, the group of friends were being introduced in front of the whole school gathered in the gymnasium. They were all wearing the black t-shirt with a pink heart and 'Love Is Louder Than Hate' written on it in bold white letters.
"What's up, Barden High?" Jesse yelled into the microphone as they all walked out into the middle of the floor. There were cameras positioned to where they would catch the whole thing courtesy of Benji getting permission from the principal. He had a good feeling about what they were about to do so he opted for videoing it and putting all the footage together. The large banner Benji and Emily had made was hanging up on the back wall so that everyone could see it.
"Before I get started, I just want to let you all that we have a few performances and other fun things so it's not all completely boring," he chuckled. "But it is going to start of pretty serious and we all know why. There have been several incidents involving the dreadful act of bullying. It happened to me as a kid, it happened to my best friend Benji, and even Aubrey," he said and they all stood in a straight line. "It's still happening to Beca, Emily, Stacie and now Chloe; Barden's sweetheart. I'm not going to sit here and talk about my friends because that's not fair; I don't want to belittle anyone else who's getting bullied so if it feels like we're being self centered, just know that's not our intention."
"The only reason we're here is because a couple bullies decided to go after Chloe, so unlike my good friend Jesse," Beca said patting his shoulder. "I am going to make this about her because what happened should have never happened." The brunette looked at the girl beside her and smiled. They had talked about coming out as a couple because everyone already knew so it wouldn't do any good to deny it. "The rumors are true; Chloe and I are together not that it's any of your all's business. She wasn't ready to come out but she was forced out of the closet which is something nobody should have to deal with. Not only was she verbally attacked, but also grabbed by a girl who I now know by Amanda." She took a breath and started walking towards students in order to make her point across. "See, none of us," she said pointing to her and her friends behind her. "Knew who she was. We still don't even know who the other girl is but frankly, we don't care; she's just another bully."
She stepped back into her spot and stood still. "I'm going to pull a Mean Girls and ask: who here has felt personally victimized of any other student- or faculty member, of this school?"
The majority of the student body raised their hands and she nodded. "I'd say about 97 percent of you guys raised your hands and I know there are several more bullies in this school than the three percent who didn't raise their hands. Assuming, the three percent were the bullies." She inhaled before continuing. "That ratio doesn't make any sense. If someone has been bullied, or victimized in any way, why bully someone else? We all know the saying, 'bullies are only bullies because they're not happy with their life' but if you know how it feels to get bullied, then why do you willingly choose to inflict that same pain on others? That is the one thing that I don't get and never will. I also don't get why you guys use mine, or my girlfriend's sexuality to bully us? Is it because it's something easy for you to bully someone for? Because we're different?"
The brunette started to get riled up so she paused to take a few breaths before continuing on. "None of this is okay. Nobody should be made fun of because of their sexuality or the color of their skin, or just because they're strong and brave enough to say, 'I'm different and I'm proud.' Say you're a fan of football and your favorite team are the cowboys but you meet someone who enjoys the Broncos. Are you going to harass them because they like a different team? Or what about video games or music? If someone doesn't like the same game or artist as you, does that give you any right to push them or shove them into a locker?"
A few students mumbled 'no's' and Beca was glad to know she still had everyone's attention. "Just please start thinking about others' feelings before you start to harass them on something because it's different." She took a moment. "I mean after all," Beca smirked as she looked back at Chloe. "Love is louder."
The school cheered and they got on to their first performance which took everyone by surprise when both the baseball and girl's soccer team walked down to the floor. Benji thought it'd be a good idea to have them matching but also wearing different shirts to show diversity which went with their general point on the bullying issue. For this particular song, they decided on just playing the song and everybody dancing to make it more of a visual instead of taking the chance of them getting. distracted by the singer. Talk Me down by Alyssa Reid started blasting through the speakers as the student athletes danced together; it was a lot of floor work.
Beca came face to face with Cameron who smiled at her before dipping her before pulling her back up into a spin like everyone else. The whole performance was a success given the few days they had to come up with everything.
Aubrey and Chloe had brought out one of their speakers they got and he talked about how he was bullied so much, he attempted suicide. His older brother had walked in the room right after he had hung himself and got him down before any real damage happened. It was his freshman year and everyday seemed to get worse; he was brutally beaten by a group of guys who just wanted to teach him a lesson all because he made the mistake of talking to one of their sisters. They would follow him home, taunting him with laughs after they made disrespectful comments about him or his family.
Beca looked beside her at Chloe who was silently crying so she stepped closer and pulled her into her arms as she kissed her forehead.
"I was always so confused and thinking, 'What did I do to deserve this?'" He said with a pause. "The more it happened, those thoughts turned into, 'I accidentally looked at Brad so I know him and his friends are going to beat the shit out of me later.' This went on for another year before they all graduated and hopefully found better things to do thank beat on a scrawny kid," the senior remembered. "My family always asked what happened when I came home with a new bruise and I was forced to lie to them and say I was playing too hard in gym. I invite you all to be more kind, please. This school needs it."
As he handed Jesse the microphone, the younger one pulling him into a hug before letting him go, the school clapped as they watched him sit back in his seat.
"Thank you, Derek," Jesse said in the microphone and Chloe kissed her girlfriend's cheek before she walked over to the keyboard that was put in the room. She had finished her first original song and was convinced by her friends to play it in front of everyone. "We're going to take a few minutes to hear Beca perform a song she wrote all by herself." Jesse began making jokes Beca didn't pay attention to as she focused on trying not to fuck up in front of the whole school.
As the brunette adjusted the attached microphone, she turned to her friends who all gave her a thumbs up, huge smiles on their faces.
"Hey," she felt the need to say something before starting. "I don't write my own songs; I just make mashups." she let out a small laugh as well as a few other students. "When I realized what I was doing, I couldn't believe that I had made something completely original so just to make sure I didn't have a stroke and was just imagining it, I had Emily listen to it." She smiled over at the younger brunette. "I have doubts some doubts about the song but my friends swear that it's good so if they're lying, please don't tell me."
The whole school laughed and Beca began playing her song about her girlfriend, her eyes never leaving Chloe's which kept a smile on the redhead's face. Beca's hands skillfully played the piano as the chords produced a beautiful melody and rhythm. The recording was a lot faster than her performing it live which allowed her to make it more intimate.
To be young and in love in New York City
To not know who I am but still know that I'm good long as you're here with me
To be drunk and in love in New York City
Midnight into morning coffee
Burning through the hours talking
Damn, I like me better when I'm with you
I like me better when I'm with you
I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time 'cause
I like me better when
I like me better when I'm with you
She continued to play the small riff, taking the time to look down at her hands as she did so. Stacie had a huge smile on her face as she leaned into Chloe as a playful way to tease her but also show she loved how much Beca loved Chloe. All their friends sat in silence as they watched Beca, smiles on all their faces.
I don't know what it is but I got that feeling
Waking up in this bed next to you swear the room
Yeah, it got no ceiling
If we lay, let the day just pass us by
I might get to too much talking
I might have to tell you something
The brunette looked back up at her friends and winked at Chloe who had started crying again, only this time because she was taken back and happy in her relationship with Beca. Out of all the guys she's dated, none of them treated her as good as Beca did let alone write her a song.
Damn, I like me better when I'm with you
I like me better when I'm with you
I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time 'cause
I like me better when
I like me better when I'm with you
Stay awhile, stay awhile
Stay here with me
Stay awhile, stay awhile, oh
Stay awhile, stay awhile
Stay here with me
Lay here with me
I like me better when I'm with you (yes, I do, yes, I do, babe)
I like me better when I'm with youÂ
I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time ,cause
I like me better when
I like me better when I'm with you
Better when, I like me better when I'm with you
As soon as Beca quit singing, the whole school stood up and cheered. Screams began to infiltrate the brunette's ears and she knew then and there that she definitely wanted to do perform on a professional level.
When she stood up, her friends stood up although Chloe didn't wait to get to Beca. Instead, she took off in a sprint before jumping in her girlfriend's arms, causing her to take a few steps back before regaining her balance. She didn't know what came over her, but she couldn't help but kiss the brunette as she held onto her legs to make sure she didn't fall.
"Bechloe!" they heard their friends scream which caused them to smile through the kiss. Chloe eventually pulled back after a few seconds because they were still in school and PDA wasn't really allowed regardless of who it was.
"I love you so much," she whispered to the brunette who was looking up at her with a smile on her face. "That was so beautiful. Thank you."
"Anything for you," Beca winked and let go of the redhead's legs so that she would get down. Their friends pulled them into a group hug before their last speaker was brought out, soon followed by a a speech from Chloe about the Love Is Louder movement who hoped to do something with it. The group of friend's also held a fun little dance competition; a few students v.s the group of friends. If someone came up that wasn't a good dancer, they would obviously joke around with their own dancing to make everyone laugh but a few other teenagers were pretty good, so they gave them a challenge.
They all eventually settled down after the dancing and a few other games to make everyone feel included before seven stools were brought out.
"Beca and Emily had written a song specifically for this occasion," Aubrey smiled over at the two soccer players. "It's an incredible song and it fits so wonderfully with the bully issue. These two girls are so talented and I'm honestly proud to call them my friends. It's a powerful message so just listen to the lyrics."
The seven teenagers sat down on the stools that were brought out, Beca playfully shoving Stacie out of the seat beside Chloe. Emily just hugged the blonde who sat down beside her.
"You're so unnecessary," The blonde laughed but sat on the other side of the redhead on the end. Benji was on the left of Beca leaving Emily beside him followed by Aubrey and lastly, Jesse on the end.
A few baseball players and soccer players knew how to play instruments so Andrew, a second baseman was on the drums, Jessica was on the piano which surprised Beca, Emily and Stacie because they didn't know she was musical at all. Another baseball player with curly brown hair named Ryan was on the bass leaving Ashley on the violin- another surprise to her teammates, and another soccer player on the cello.
Stacie did a few runs before Beca began singing.
"Everyday is so wonderful
Then suddenly
It's hard to breathe
Now and then I get insecure
From all the pain
I'm so ashamed," Beca sang along with Chloe, Emily, Stacie and Aubrey harmonizing with her as Jessica played the melody.
"I am beautiful
No matter what they say
Words can't bring me down
I am beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can't bring me down
Oh no
So don't you bring me down today," Chloe sang into the microphone as she looked at her classmates and teachers.
Beca had asked Chloe to take the first chorus so that she would hear herself sing those specific lyrics and hopefully believe them instead of sulking on what the two volleyball players had said.
"To all your friends you're delirious
So consumed
In all your doom, ooh
Trying hard to fill the emptiness
The pieces gone
Left the puzzle undone
Ain't that the way it is," Emily sang and went into the chorus with Aubrey, both their voices going great together. Both Jesse and Benji joined in halfway through which allowed for more harmonies to ensue.
"You are beautiful
No matter what they say
Words can't bring you down
Oh no
You are beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can't bring you down
Oh no
So don't you bring me down today."
Benji took the extra parts as the rest of the group sang the bridge, his voice and genuine charisma working well with the arrangement.
All their voices blended perfectly with one another which put smiles on all their faces. Everyone
"No matter what we do (no matter what we do)
No matter what we say (no matter what we say)
We're the song inside the tune (yeah, oh yeah)
Full of beautiful mistakes
And everywhere we go (and everywhere we go)
The sun will always shine (the sun will always, always, shine)
And tomorrow we might awake
On the other side."
To put more emphasis on the lyrics, all seven teenagers stood up and walked towards the students as they all sang in perfect harmony while the two teams of athletes walked back out on the floor, all of them singing along which ended up convincing the student body to.
"Cause we are beautiful
No matter what they say
Yes words won't bring us down
Oh no
"We are beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can't bring us down
Oh no."
They thought it'd be a great idea to finish with one person so Stacie was the "chosen one" according to Jesse.
"So don't you bring me down today
Oh, oh oh
Don't you bring me down today, yeah
Don't you bring me down, ooh
Today," Stacie finished, her voice almost as soft as Chloe's was.
As their rally ended, the principle said a few words before letting the students go; the group of friends staying to help clean up.
"You guys really outdid yourselves," he smiled as he walked up to the laughing teens.
"Well we figured if we're being forced to do something, we might as well try to make it a positive thing," Stacie said with a smile. "I think it turned out great and hopefully, the bullying goes down but if not you'll need to actually do your job."
"I have a feeling today was monumental for not only you guys, but everyone else here," he smiled. "You guys are free to go, we'll clean it up."
The group of friends smiled before grabbing their bags and heading out to the now vacant parking lot, smiling and talking about how well it went and how proud they were.
"Hey, is it okay if I put the video up on YouTube when I'm finished editing it?" Benji asked carefully sitting his cameras in his car.
"It's fine with me," Beca shrugged and everyone else agreed.
"Are you guys coming to the game tomorrow night?" Emily asked her non-soccer playing friends.
"Of course we are," Jesse smiled as he leaned against his car. "It's the semi-finals. We're not gonna miss it for the world."
"Aww, thanks, Jess," Stacie smiled as she hugged him.
"You guys have to promise you'll kick some serious ass and not get injured, okay?" Chloe asked more intended for her girlfriend.
"Can't make any promises, Chlo," Beca smiled as held her hands up. "They're a really tough, violent team so if I get hurt, I get hurt. I'm giving it my all."
"At least promise me you won't get into a fight," she said sticking her pinky up and the brunette sighed, locking their pinky's together.
"I promise," she smiled and kissed her.
"Alright, love birds," Aubrey voiced. "Chloe and I need to get going."
"I love you," Beca said as she held onto the redhead's waist.
"I love you too," Chloe replied before furrowing her eyebrows at the brunette. "What?"
"Nothing, I just really fucking love your eyes," she smiled making the girl blush. "And your red hair," she added running her fingers through the soft red hair. "It's so perfect. You're perfect."
Chloe smiled and pulled the younger girl in for one last passionate kiss.
"I'm out," Jesse said getting in his car followed by Benji.
"Me too," Stacie added and Emily just sighed as she got in the passenger seat of Beca's car.
"When you're all big and famous," Chloe said playing with Beca's hands. "Please don't forget me."
"Oh I won't," Beca smiled, shaking her head violently. "I'm taking you with me. All the way to the top."
The redhead laughed and gave her one last kiss before stepping back. "Alright, I better go before Aubrey has a meltdown."
"Be safe, weirdos," Beca called out with a wave as her girlfriend and friend got into Aubrey's car.