Aubrey
The activities fair really hadn't gone well. They'd managed to get one interested person who could actually sing, and she definitely didn't fit the "bikini-ready body" idea. The one girl that she had told Chloe was "too alternative" had called a cappella lame right to their faces, just as she'd predicted. She really hoped this wasn't the end of the Barden Bellas.
She headed back to the apartment and parked her car. She saw Chloe pull up in her car just as she was taking out her things, so she waited for her. The two friends headed inside in silence.
Chloe was the one to break the silence.
"Well, that sucked," she said.
"You can say that again," said Aubrey, trying to smile.
"Well that-"
"I didn't mean literally."
"I know," said Chloe. "Just trying to make you smile."
"This is all my fault," said Aubrey. "If I hadn't humiliated all of us at the ICCA's, we wouldn't be practically begging people to join."
"Stop," said Chloe. "You didn't do it on purpose. And if we really were a close-knit group of ladies like they told us when we joined back in our freshman year, I wouldn't be the only one sticking around after the incident."
"I guess," said Aubrey.
"My turn to make dinner," said Chloe. "Tacos?"
"Sure," said Aubrey.
Aubrey and Chloe normally chatted while one of them cooked dinner, but Aubrey was silent that evening, too lost in her thoughts to talk. Chloe seemed to respect that, waiting until they started to eat to say anything.
"It's going to be okay, Aubrey," said Chloe. "Auditions aren't for another month."
"This is the first activities fair where we were practically begging people to join. Our only prospect was Fat Amy," said Aubrey. "I still can't believe she calls herself that."
"Well, she can sing," said Chloe. "And she's not shy."
"But she's going to be a handful."
"I'm sure you can get her to listen."
"I hope so," said Aubrey. "So, what do we do?"
"Let's post flyers. We can put them up in the dorms, the dining hall, and the library. We can even put one up in our apartment building. Almost everyone living here is a Barden student. Maybe I can find my shower duet partner and convince her to audition."
"You don't even know what she looks like."
"And I don't care," said Chloe. "We don't need to have the prettiest girls. We just need good singers."
"If you say so."
"So, have you thought about this year's setlist?"
"We're using the same one we've always used," said Aubrey. "Why would we use anything else?"
"The Trebles change it up all the time."
"Well, the Bellas don't stray from tradition. We know these songs will get us to the ICCA's, so that's what we're using."
Luckily for Aubrey, Chloe didn't push the idea. "It was just a thought."
Beca
Beca pulled up to the apartment building. She realized she didn't have any groceries in her new place, so she headed to the nearest store on her way back to grab a few essentials. She was pretty sure the campus radio station internship was unpaid, and she didn't like the idea of having to go to her dad when she ran out of money if she got takeout every night. She didn't really know how to cook, so she got the easy stuff - cereal, pop tarts, Uncrustables, Easy Mac, and some milk, juice, and soda. She grabbed her backpack and groceries out of the trunk of her car and headed inside. She was making her way up to the second floor when she glanced over and saw none other than those two girls from the activities fair who'd tried to get her to join their a cappella group. She slipped back into the stairwell and watched them from the small window in the door, hoping they didn't see her.
Her eyes widened when she saw them stop in front of their apartment - the one right next to hers. Which one of them sang with me this morning? Beca wondered. Once they were inside, Beca went back through the door and down the hall to her apartment.
For a moment, Beca considered that maybe she'd been singing with someone else. She walked through her apartment, taking note of the direction of the bathroom. It was definitely their apartment.
She tried to calm herself down as she put away her few groceries. So, she was almost completely convinced the blonde hated her. What was her name again? Audrey? Something like that. The redhead had been sweet, but Beca had insulted them both by saying that a cappella was lame. She still didn't know why she'd lied to them and said she didn't sing. Then again, if they'd known how much of her time in high school had been spent in the choir room, starring in the school musical, and participating in the glee club, they'd have probably tried harder to convince her to join. Heaven help her if they'd found out what she was doing at age twelve, but Beca was pretty sure nobody knew about that. It's not like she'd won.
Beca asked herself what the harm would have been in joining their group. She decided it really didn't matter because she'd already burned that bridge.
Beca fixed herself a bowl of Easy Mac and sat down in front of the television. She fired up Netflix and found a show to watch. She made up her mind that she definitely wouldn't be singing the next morning, especially not if the neighbor started it.
The next morning, Beca started her shower and heard the neighbor singing again.
When the bones are good, the rest don't matter
Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter
Let it rain 'cause you and I remain the same
When there ain't a crack in the foundation
Baby, I know any storm we're facing
Will blow right over while we stay put
The house don't fall when the bones are good
Beca definitely knew the song. They only played it every third song on the radio. Still, she wasn't about to join in. With her luck, it was that horrible blonde who definitely already hated her. She wasn't taking any chances.
She took her shower and then ate a pop tart for breakfast while flipping through her e-mail and social media on her phone. She saw she had one from Luke, the radio station manager, telling her she could start that afternoon. Before she left for school, she looked briefly out of the peephole in her front door to see if the hall was empty. She really didn't want those girls to know she lived next door.
When she was reasonably sure the hallway was clear, she exited her apartment. Once she was outside, she realized she had been absentmindedly singing the chorus of the song her neighbor had been singing that morning. She got in her car and headed to school.
Aubrey
Aubrey woke up to her roommate singing loudly in the shower. What was it with Chloe? Why was she so convinced she could get her mystery duet partner to join the Bellas? Still, she put her ear to the shower door, curious to hear the voice. However, the only voice she heard was Chloe's.
When Chloe stepped out of the bathroom, Aubrey asked, "How's your duet partner?"
"I didn't have one this morning."
"Maybe she wasn't showering."
"No. I definitely heard the shower next door turn on, and it's still going."
"It was probably a one-time thing, Chloe."
"Maybe."
"Since you get home from school first, do you mind going around and posting flyers?"
"I'll have one up in every building in the complex," said Chloe.
"I'll take care of the dorm buildings, the dining hall, and the library," said Aubrey.
"That should do it," said Chloe.
"Let's just hope nobody looks us up on YouTube," said Aubrey.
Chloe patted her shoulder. "I blame Alice for that."
"Too bad you're the only one who does."
"You don't?"
"I was the one who puked, not her."
"She was the one who worked you into that state. Please stop blaming yourself. I know I said you got us into this at the activities fair, but I didn't mean it. I was just upset."
"I know," said Aubrey. "I need to take my shower. I'll see you after school."
"See you then," said Chloe.
Aubrey got herself ready, ate breakfast, packed herself a lunch, and then walked out of the apartment. She froze as she turned toward the stairwell. She spotted the "alt-girl" from the activities fair, just as she was leaving the hallway and entering the stairwell, and she was quietly singing the chorus to "Bones" by Maren Morris, which happened to be the song Chloe had been belting out in the shower. There was absolutely no way she was going to tell Chloe about this. She'd make it her mission to recruit the girl.
Beca
Beca finally found something she was legitimately interested in doing. She was really excited to head to the radio station after her classes. She couldn't wait to get into the deejay booth and play the music mixes she'd been making all summer.
She walked into the building and gave her name to the guy at the front desk, who pointed her toward a door marked "Studio." She walked in and looked around, wide-eyed. The first thing she noticed was that there must have been thousands of vinyl records all over the place. She wandered around for a minute or two before standing by the DJ booth, looking in the window. The guy DJ'ing finally noticed her and came out of the booth.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," said Beca.
"Have you been standing there long?"
"Um, no, I was, uh... I just got here. Like now. I wasn't standing here for a while or anything…"
She awkwardly approached the booth.
Luke turned and said, "Freshmen aren't allowed in the booth."
Beca quickly stepped back and mumbled, "Sorry."
"I'm Luke. Station Manager. You must be Becky, the intern."
"It's-" Beca was cut off by another student entering the studio. He looked vaguely familiar to Beca.
"Hey, man, what's up? I'm Jesse."
"I'm Luke. You're late."
As Beca followed look, Jesse called to her, "Hey. I know you."
"No, you don't."
"Yeah, I do."
"He doesn't," Beca said to Luke.
"Totally know her," said Jesse.
Luke appeared to be uninterested. "Okay, cool," he said. "Well, you guys can figure it out while you're stacking CD's."
He pointed to a crate full of CD's.
"When you're done, there's more," he said, pulling out another crate. "Now, you guys will be spending a lot of downtime together, so please, just no sex on the desk. I've been burned before."
No problem there, thought Beca. Unless there's a cute female intern.
"I do know you," said Jesse. "You and I live in the same building."
"There are, like, thirty apartments. A lot of people live in the same building," said Beca. "This sucks. I wanted to play music."
"Not me," said Jesse. "I'm here because I really love stacking CDs."
He took a CD from the crate and put it on the shelf. "Yeah, I am loving this!"
"You're such a weirdo," said Beca.
"Yes I am, and so are you. It's a good thing because we're going to be best friends and/or lovers."
"Friends, maybe. Best friends, I don't know. Lovers, no. And I hate that word!"
"Come on, give me a chance."
"No way. Super gay, here, dude."
"You are?"
"Jesse, I'm serious. I've never in my life been attracted to a guy. Girls, on the other hand…"
"Right. So, what do you think happened on the desk?"
"I don't want to know," said Beca.
"Think it's still covered in semen?"
"Too bad I don't have my blacklight. Then we'd know for sure."
Chloe
Chloe got back from school, grabbed herself a quick snack, and headed out through her apartment complex with flyers in hand. She put one up at the leasing office as well as each building in the complex on the bulletin board near the mailboxes. When she was done, she returned the few remaining flyers home and then changed into a sports bra and leggings so she could go for a run. She figured she'd get a head start on cardio that semester.
She headed back inside and took a quick shower.
She began to sing.
Did a full 180, crazy
Thinking 'bout the way I was
Did the heartbreak change me? Maybe
But look at where I ended up
I'm all good already
So moved on, it's scary
I'm not where you left me at all, so
If you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody
If you wanna believe that anything could stop me
She was shocked when she heard her mysterious duet partner join her on the chorus.
Don't show up, don't come out
Don't start caring about me now
Walk away, you know how
Don't start caring about me now
The voice dropped away when she began the next verse, but it joined her on every chorus. When Chloe finished her shower, she decided not to say anything this time. She wasn't sure why she hadn't had a singing partner that morning, and she was worried she'd scared her with her earlier comment. Either way, she was tickled to have a duet partner.
She dried off, dressed, and pulled a stir fry dinner out of the freezer. It was ready just as Aubrey walked in the door.
"Hi, Aubrey!" she chirped.
"Hi, Chloe," she said. "This is pretty happy, even for you. What's up?"
"I did my cardio, and then I took a shower. And she sang with me!"
"Who?" asked Aubrey, eyeing Chloe suspiciously.
"I don't know her name," said Chloe. "But it's definitely the person I sang with yesterday."
"So, you have no idea who she is?"
"Nope," said Chloe. "Do you?"
"Why would I know?"
"I was hoping you'd seen her," said Chloe. "I guess not."
Aubrey didn't answer Chloe. She just got them each a glass of water and sat down to eat dinner.
Beca
Beca got back from classes and headed into her apartment building. She walked up the stairwell and saw the cute redhead from the activities fair standing at the door of the apartment next door to hers. She was wearing a sports bra and leggings and Beca couldn't help but look. The girl had some serious abs and an amazing ass to go along with her already gorgeous face.
Beca slipped back into the stairwell. She didn't want to get caught staring, and she still didn't want her neighbors to know who she was. She knew they'd bug her to join the group, especially since one of them knew she could sing. No way was she doing that. She was going to do just enough so that her dad would leave her alone about college. And she most definitely was not getting into a relationship with anyone. Besides, the girl was probably straight. Beca seemed to always fall for straight girls.
She dropped her backpack in the living room and headed into the bathroom. She heard the shower next door going, followed by the gorgeous singing voice. She figured it was likely the redhead, seeing as she looked like she'd come back from a run or some sort of exercise. She recognized the opening lines to Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now." She didn't know all of the words, but she couldn't help joining in on the chorus.
She felt like such a loser for standing in her bathroom listening to her neighbor sing in the shower, but there she was. She was an even bigger loser for singing with the neighbor when she wasn't even showering.
When the song was over and the shower was off, she froze, waiting for the voice to comment. She never heard one.
She headed back to the kitchen, made herself a sandwich, and found some mindless show to watch before bed. Her professors hadn't assigned any reading yet, so she figured she'd relax while she still could.
That night, she found herself dreaming of inviting the redhead to shower with her, doing a different kind of duet.
The shower she took the next morning was intentionally cold. She was relieved her neighbor hadn't taken another shower that morning.
Chloe
Aubrey seemed out of it at dinner. Chloe wasn't sure why. She'd been proudly telling Aubrey about all the places she'd posted flyers and that she'd already started her cardio for the semester. She'd had to call Aubrey's name several times to get her attention.
"Huh?" she asked.
"Aubrey, I was asking how it went with posting the flyers," said Chloe. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Fine. I'm fine. The flyers are up."
"Good," said Chloe. "I really think we're going to get a whole bunch of great singers this year."
"Either that or die trying. Like my dad always says, 'If a stranger offers you candy, make sure there's enough to go around.'"
Chloe had yet to hear a quote from Aubrey's dad that both made sense and wasn't demotivating, to say the least. She'd learned early in the friendship not to point this out to Aubrey.
"But, you're okay?" Chloe asked. "You seem awfully quiet."
"I'm just overwhelmed. It's our senior year. It's our last chance to win the ICCA's. I'm scared we won't get the right people."
"There's time, Aubrey," said Chloe.
"I'm going to get started on reading for my classes," said Aubrey. She put her dishes in the dishwasher, headed to her bedroom, and shut the door.
Chloe sat in silence, wondering if she'd done something to upset Aubrey. She cleaned up dinner before deciding that maybe she should get started on some of the reading for her classes.
She cracked open her Russian lit textbook just long enough to decide that she wasn't in the right frame of mind to study that subject just yet.
She headed to the living room and found a stand-up comedy special on Netflix that helped take her mind off of both Aubrey and her shower duet partner for a while before heading to bed.
Aubrey
For the first time in their friendship, Aubrey had lied to Chloe. She hadn't flat out lied to her face, but she'd been intentionally vague. It was a lie of omission. She didn't know the neighbor's name - that much was true. But, she knew the girl living next door was the tiny brunette who had made fun of a cappella singing. She wasn't about to tell Chloe that. Still, Aubrey felt awful for not being entirely truthful to Chloe.
She didn't say much at dinner. Chloe was so busy chattering that she likely hadn't noticed. She'd been going on and on about posting flyers, her run, the shower duet, etc. Aubrey tuned her out. She hadn't even realized she'd done until she heard Chloe say her name a few times.
Chloe had seemed far more hopeful than she was about getting a bunch of new Bellas. Aubrey wasn't even sure they were going to get enough women to show up, much less anyone who could sing.