With Friends Like These
Prompt from Tumblr User Anonymous: Bechloe High School AU. (See full prompt at the end; I don't want to give the whole story away.)
Beca Mitchell sat quietly, watching Chloe Beale from across the cafeteria. Beca sighed as she looked away. She had a huge crush on Chloe, and Chloe barely knew she existed.
Beca left the cafeteria and made her way to the music room. She had to finish the mashup she had been working on for the cheerleaders. Mrs. Matthews, the Cheer Coach, had asked Beca if she would put something together for the cheerleaders to use in their upcoming competition. And, since Mrs. Matthews also taught music, she knew what Beca could do.
Beca had promised to have the set completed by today, so the cheer squad could start choreographing their routine for the Regional Cheer Competition. Beca needed to do one more run-through and make a few tweaks before giving the jump drive to Mrs. Matthews.
Beca had finished and was pulling the jump drive out of her laptop when she was startled.
"Hey, Beca," a voice Beca recognized as none other than Chloe Beale, spoke to her. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's, um, that's okay," Beca mumbled. "What are you doing here?"
"Mrs. Matthews sent me to see if you were done with the setlist," Chloe said.
"Oh, I, uh, yeah," Beca stuttered. "I'm, uh, I just finished."
"Oh, God," Beca thought. "Why am I so lame?"
"It sounded good," Chloe said with a smile.
"You heard it?" Beca asked with a look of surprise.
"Just part of it," Chloe said. "I liked it. I can already imagine some moves that will fit it."
"Oh, that's, uh, um, that's good," Beca said.
"Are you ready to go?" Chloe asked.
"What?" Beca asked.
"If you're finished, we can walk to music class together," Chloe said.
"Oh, uh, yeah, that would be nice," Beca said.
Beca stayed where she was and Chloe stood at the door, looking around. Chloe cleared her throat, and Beca jumped slightly.
"Oh, right," Beca said. "Sorry."
Beca put everything in her laptop bag and made her way to the door. Chloe smiled at her, and Beca blushed.
"Let's go," Chloe said.
~ With Friends Like These ~
"Oh, Beca," Mrs. Matthews said as Beca and Chloe walked into the music room. "I'm glad you're here. Do you have the setlist finished?"
Chloe broke off from Beca and walked over to sit with the cheerleaders.
"Um, yeah," Beca said as she reached into the pocket of her laptop bag. "Here."
Beca handed the jump drive to Mrs. Matthews.
"Thank you, Beca," Mrs. Matthews. "Chloe? Aubrey? May I see you both for a moment?"
Beca walked over to take her seat as Chloe and Aubrey walked over to Mrs. Matthews.
Mrs. Matthews held up the USB and said, "Girls, this has the setlist that Beca has put together for the Regional Competition. I want you two to stay after class so you can listen to it and we can discuss it. We need to start working on our routine as soon as possible."
"Of course, Mrs. Matthews," Aubrey said.
"It's good," Chloe said with a smile as she quickly glanced over at Beca. "I heard some of it before Beca downloaded it."
"I'm sure it will be great," Mrs. Matthews said. "You may take your seats so we can start class."
While Chloe was talking to Aubrey and Mrs. Matthews, Beca caught herself staring at Chloe. She quickly looked away. She then looked around to see if anyone noticed when she saw Regina and Gretchen, two of the cheerleaders, smirking at her while whispering to each other.
"Shit," Beca thought as she felt her cheeks grow warm.
After that, Beca stared down at her hands so she wouldn't get caught staring at Chloe again.
Chloe and Aubrey rejoined their friends, and Mrs. Matthews began class.
~ With Friends Like These ~
Later that evening, Beca was sitting in her room, working on her homework when she heard the text notification on her phone. She looked at her phone to see a text from an unknown number; she opened it.
Unknown Number: Hi. Is this Beca Mitchell?
"What the Hell?" Beca mumbled.
Beca: Yes, this is Beca Mitchell. Who is this?
Unknown Number: Thank goodness. I thought Fat Amy gave me the wrong number.
Beca: Fat Amy gave you my number? Who is this?
Unknown Number: Sorry. It's Chloe Beale.
Beca's eyes widened, and she tossed her phone from her. Why is Chloe Beale texting her? Beca retrieved her phone and texted back.
Beca: Not to sound mean, but why are you texting me? You don't even know me.
Unknown Number: I may not know you now, but I want to. Plus, I wanted to tell you how much I loved the setlist you put together for us. I just know with your music and our moves, we will def win the Championship.
Beca: Oh. Thanks.
Unknown Number: You're welcome. I have to go, but I'll see you at school tomorrow.
Beca: Okay. See you tomorrow.
Beca sat there with a furrowed brow. "Chloe Beale wants to get to know me? That was surreal," she mumbled.
Beca shook her head and opened one of her playlists and continued working on her homework.
~ With Friends Like These ~
Two weeks later, Beca and Chloe have been texting almost every night. Beca sat at home one night, wondering why Chloe never paid much attention to her in school. She had said that they were becoming friends, but Chloe doesn't say or do anything while they are at school.
Beca looks at her phone and decides to text Chloe.
Beca: Hey, why don't you ever talk to me in school? You said we were friends.
It took a few minutes before Chloe's reply came through.
Chloe: Sorry. I just want to keep you to myself for a while. I really like you, and I think we can be more than friends. If that's something you want.
Beca read the text several times to make sure she understood what Chloe was trying to say.
Beca: What do you mean by "be more than friends?"
Chloe: Exactly what I said. I really like you, and I want to see you outside school. Would you want that?
Beca's eyes widened. "Is Chloe asking me out on a date?"
Beca: Are you asking me out on a date?
Chloe: Yeah. Is that okay?
Beca's heart started pounding, and her face lit up with a big smile.
Beca: It's more than okay. I really like you, too. What did you want to do?
Chloe: I don't know. I'll think of something and get back to you. For now, can we keep this to ourselves? You know how my friends are.
Beca: Sure. I get it. I'll talk to you later.
Chloe: Thanks. Talk to you later.
Beca set her phone down with a bigger smile on her face. Chloe Beale, the girl she's been crushing on forever, likes her and wants to take her out.
In school the next day, Beca was walking to her locker when she saw Chloe with some of the cheerleaders. A couple of them looked at her as she walked by. Chloe had her back to her and turned to see what the other girls were looking at.
"Oh, hi, Beca," Chloe said and smiled.
"Um, hey, Chloe," Beca replied.
Chloe turned back to continue talking, and Beca continued on her way. Beca did hear some giggling come from a couple of the girls but thought nothing of it. All she could think about was that Chloe smiled at her and said hi in front of her friends.
Later, Beca was in music class, trying not to stare at Chloe or smile like an idiot. At one point, Gretchen and Regina were looking at her but quickly looked away when Beca saw them.
Regina got Chloe's attention and began talking to her. Gretchen stood and made her way over to Beca.
"Hey," Gretchen said.
"Um, hey," Beca said hesitantly.
"Look, Beca, Chloe's birthday is coming up soon, and we're having a party for her," Gretchen said. "It's a surprise party. And we think you should come."
"Um," Beca said, looking around.
"She really likes your music," Gretchen said. "A couple of the girls and I thought you could maybe make a birthday playlist for her. And play it at the party."
"Oh, um," Beca stammered a bit. "Wh-when is it?"
"It's two weeks from Saturday," Gretchen said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Here's a list of some of Chloe's favorite songs."
Beca took the paper and looked at Gretchen.
"If you could use these in the playlist, that would be awesome," Gretchen said.
"Um, okay, I can do that," Beca said, glancing over at Chloe. "Are you sure Chloe will want me there?"
"Absolutely," Gretchen said. "She keeps going on and on about your music. She'll be so surprised to have you there. She'll love it."
"Okay," Beca said, smiling. "I'll be there."
"Great," Gretchen said and left Beca alone.
"Wow," Beca thought, looking at the list of songs Gretchen gave her. "I'm going to Chloe Beale's birthday party."
Later that night, Beca got a text from Chloe. She didn't text for long because she was afraid she would tell Chloe about the surprise party.
They stopped texting, and Beca let out a heavy sigh. Beca didn't know if she was going to be able to keep this secret from Chloe for two weeks.
~ With Friends Like These ~
The next day, Beca walked into the cafeteria and smiled when she saw Chloe sitting with her friends. She walked over to her usual table, where her best friends, Fat Amy and Benji, were seated. As she sat down, they both were staring at her.
"What?" Beca asked.
"What's got you all smiley?" Benji asked.
"Oh, nothing," Beca said coyly, glancing over at Chloe.
"You look like you're in love," Fat Amy said. "Has someone finally caught your eye?"
"Possibly," Beca said.
"Do tell," Benji said.
"Okay, it's Chloe Beale," Beca said. "And I guess I should be thanking Amy for getting things started between us."
"Me?" Fat Amy asked. "What did I do?"
"You gave Chloe my number," Beca said. "I was a bit upset about it at first, but I got over it quickly. Chloe and I have been texting for the past month, and she said she likes me and asked me out on a date."
Fat Amy frowned. "Um, Beca, I'm happy for you, but I didn't give Chloe your number. I would never do that without asking first."
"What?" Beca asked. "But, she said you gave it to her. Why would she lie about that?"
"I honestly don't know what to say about that," Fat Amy said. "I'm sorry, but whoever gave her your number, it wasn't me."
"I don't understand," Beca said.
"Maybe Chloe was mistaken," Benji said. "And it was somebody else who gave her your number."
"But, who would do that?" Beca asked, her brows furrowed. "There are only four people in the whole school that I've given my number to. There's you two, Jesse, and-"
Beca stopped and looked over at the cheerleaders' table. "Emily."
Beca was angry. How dare Emily give Chloe her number without asking her. The only reason Emily still had it was because they had worked on a class project together last semester.
"I don't think Emily would do that," Benji said. "Maybe it was Jesse. He is dating Aubrey, who is a cheerleader."
"But he knows I don't like having my number given out to just anybody," Beca said. "He may be a bit of douche, but he is still my cousin and knows better. It has to be Emily."
Beca glared over at Emily, laughing and chatting with the cheerleaders. She moved her gaze over to Chloe, only to find Chloe watching her with a soft smile on her face.
Beca couldn't help herself and smiled back at Chloe. She then shook her head as if to clear it and looked down at her sandwich.
"Calm down, Beca," Benji said. "Don't go flying off the handle until you're sure it was Emily. Besides, you were just thanking Fat Amy for giving Chloe your number since it turned out okay."
"I get that," Beca spat out. "But what I don't get is what Emily gains by giving my number to Chloe. Something doesn't feel right about this."
"So, ask Chloe about it," Fat Amy said. "See what she says."
"You're right," Beca said.
Beca pulled out her phone and wrote a text to Chloe.
Beca: Why did you lie to me about Fat Amy giving you my number?
Beca looked over at Chloe once she sent the text. Her brows furrowed in confusion when Chloe never flinched or looked at her phone. She looked over to Emily and noticed Gretchen and Regina looking at a phone and laughing.
"What the Hell?" Beca mumbled as she pulled up her phone and sent another text.
Beca: What the fuck did you do, Gretchen and Regina?
She hit send and glared over at the table to see if they reacted. Gretchen and Regina looked down at the message and looked up with wide eyes to find Beca glaring at them.
"Shit," Gretchen muttered.
"Something wrong, Gretch?" Chloe asked.
"Um, what? No," Gretchen said. "Everything's fine."
"What's going on with you two?" Aubrey asked, looking at Gretchen and Regina. "You've both been acting weird for a couple of weeks now."
"I think it has something to do with the phone they're looking at," Emily said
Gretchen quickly moved her hand to hide the phone. Her eyes widened when she saw Beca striding over to their table.
"Chloe, may I speak to you for a moment?" Beca asked, causing the other girls to jerk their heads toward her.
"Is everything okay, Beca?" Chloe asked, confused at what was happening around her.
"Why don't you ask your besties, Gretchen and Regina," Beca said, gritting her teeth.
Chloe and the others switched their looks to Gretchen and Regina.
"What is Beca talking about, Gretchen?" Stacie asked.
"I have no idea," Gretchen said.
"Regina? Do you have anything to say?" Jessica asked.
"I don't know anything," Regina said.
Suddenly, the phone Gretchen was holding was snatched up by Beca.
"Give that back!" Gretchen squealed as she grabbed for the phone.
Chloe jumped up to stand by Beca. "What's going on, Beca?"
"Look at this," Beca said, handing Chloe the phone.
"That's not yours," Regina said. "You can't look at it. That's an invasion of privacy."
"And pretending to be someone else is against the law," Beca said.
"Who was she pretending to be?" Jessica asked.
"Me," Chloe said, looking through the phone Beca had grabbed from Gretchen. "Oh, my God!"
Chloe had tears in her eyes when she looked up from the phone.
"I can't believe you told Beca about that," Chloe said, looking at Regina and Gretchen. "That was told to you in the strictest of confidence."
"Wait," Beca said, looking at Chloe. "Is what they told me true?"
"What did they tell her?" Stacie asked.
Chloe looked at Beca and then looked away.
"Is it true?" Beca asked softly, staring at Chloe's profile.
Chloe wiped her eyes and nodded slightly.
"Can we talk?" Beca asked Chloe. Turning to find all the girls staring at them, Beca whispered, "Alone?"
Chloe nodded again.
"Excuse us," Beca said, taking Chloe's wrist and leading her away from the table.
Regina and Gretchen started whispering as soon as Beca and Chloe walked away.
Beca led Chloe to an empty corner of the cafeteria and stood facing her. She pointed to the phone still in Chloe's hand.
"Read the rest of the stuff they wrote," Beca said. "Please."
Chloe swallowed and nodded her head. She looked at the phone, and a smile came to her face.
"So, you like me?" Chloe said, looking up at Beca.
"I do," Beca said.
"I like you, too," Chloe said. "I also read something about asking for a date."
"You weren't the one who asked me," Beca said.
"What if I said I wanted to?" Chloe said.
"Seriously?" Beca asked. "You want to go out on a date with me?"
"I'd love to," Chloe said with a cheeky grin. "I thought you'd never ask."
~ With Friends Like These ~
Back at the table, the girls were still watching Beca and Chloe. Regina and Gretchen quietly stood as if to leave when Stacie said, "Where do you think you two are going?"
"Um, nowhere," Gretchen said as she quickly sat back down.
"Tell us what you two did," Aubrey said.
Regina and Gretchen then told the girls at the table about texting Beca and pretending to be Chloe.
"We saw Beca staring at Chloe with heart eyes and thought we'd mess with her a bit," Regina said.
"Beca doesn't give her number out to just anybody," Emily said. "How did you get it?"
"From your phone," Gretchen said. "You really should pay closer attention to where you leave it."
"What exactly did you hope to gain from your little joke?" Aubrey asked.
"I don't know," Regina said. "Just embarrass her. She's just a music nerd; what difference does it make?"
"The difference is," Jessica said, leaning in to get closer to Regina. "Chloe told us she had a crush on Beca in confidence. And you two used it to try and embarrass Beca, which in turn embarrassed Chloe."
"Don't get too used to those uniforms," Aubrey said. "I'll be informing Mrs. Matthews of this little prank of yours. I'm sure she'll agree that you two should be dismissed from Cheer Squad."
"God, it was just a joke," Gretchen said. "Besides, Beca likes Chloe, too. So we actually did Chloe a favor by telling Beca."
"It doesn't matter if Chloe and Beca like each other," Aubrey said. "It was Chloe's secret and not something for you to tell Beca."
"Whatever," Regina said, standing and looking at Gretchen. "Let's go."
The two got up and stormed off. The girls watched them go, shaking their heads.
"Unbelievable," Jessica muttered
"I need to apologize to Beca," Emily said, standing up.
"Um, maybe you should wait a few minutes," Stacie said with a smile, looking over at Beca and Chloe.
Emily followed Stacie's gaze and saw the two standing and smiling at each other. She couldn't help but smile when they were suddenly kissing.
Emily sat back down at the table.
"I hope they'll be done soon," Emily said. "Lunch is almost over."
The kiss was over in less than a minute. Both girls pulled back with smiles on their faces.
"So, Friday night?" Beca asked Chloe. "I'll pick you up around six, and we can get dinner, maybe see a movie?"
"Friday night it is," Chloe said, leaning in to kiss Beca again.
Full prompt: Bechloe AU. Chloe is the popular girl, and Beca is the music geek with a huge crush on Chloe. Beca gets a text from an unknown number saying it's Chloe, so they start texting for a couple of weeks. What Beca doesn't know is that it's actually Chloe's mean girl best friends messaging Beca to make fun of her.