The next few days past by in a blur as Beca was somehow convinced against her better judgement to join a godawful a cappella group, and she nearly forgot about the occurrence as a whole until today. Aubrey had been on Beca's case almost as badly as Beca's dad, and the tension between the two of them could be cut with a knife it was so thick. Aubrey's mood seemed to worsen with every quip that came from Beca's mouth, and the defensiveness that Chloe offered didn't help either.
If Aubrey would only listen for one moment- or if Chloe could understand that Beca didn't need someone to stand up for her- Beca was sure that everything would be smooth sailing so to speak. As Beca's own frustration mounted it came to a head when both she and Aubrey broke out in a heated argument at the end of their second practice. The other girls were filing out the door except for Chloe, who was hovered around the two of them anxiously.
Beca wasn't even sure what was being said then, or what had caused the argument in the first place, so caught up in her anger as she was. Beca moved to stand directly in Aubrey's space to intimidate the blond, wearing that smirk she knew would infuriate Aubrey further, and said something asinine that completely tipped the scales. Aubrey's arm swung up as if to hit her, so Beca reflexively ducked. There was a loud crunch from above her, and once Beca had righted herself she saw Chloe hunched over with her hands clutching her face. Aubrey looked absolutely horrified and started sprouting apologies frantically while somehow still finding a moment to blame Beca for Chloe's injury.
There was blood everywhere.
Aubrey tersely coaxed Chloe to sit down and to remove her hands from her face. When Chloe did, she looked over at Beca and then Beca's stomach churned grotesquely at how twisted Chloe's nose was on her face. Her nose was clearly broken. Remind me to watch Aubrey's right hook, Beca thought guiltily. Beca swallowed nervously, and moved to apologize as well. She opened her mouth to start speaking, and had raised her hands in a remorseful gesture-
and then the moment from the other day happened again. There was a pause as Aubrey stopped moving and Chloe stopped bleeding, and then everything flowed in reverse.
Beca was filled with a sense of astonishment as she watched Chloe move backwards to stand upright and back. Similarly was Aubrey as Aubrey again positioned herself across from Chloe and her arm was raised until the point where Aubrey's fist met Chloe's nose. Aubrey's whole arm moved back as Chloe's nose shifted into the correct shape, good as new. Then it was Chloe and Aubrey both standing there interacting with a space that Beca previously filled. The reverse then flowed faster as the door to the room opened again and the other girls began walking backwards into the room one by one.
Beca had started shaking as she'd watched, eyes wide as the pieces started coming together. With her hand raised like this, she was rewinding time itself. Wasn't she?
When the girls were all huddled around again for their group's closing remarks, all hands in, Beca walked over to join them. She wobbled for a moment, almost, as a wave of dizziness hit her. She then dropped her hand and a blast of mismatching singing hit her harshly as Aubrey called the practice to a close. Beca cringed at it all with the oddest deja vu. Beca remembered what happened next and was proven correct when Aubrey yet again opened her mouth to ask Beca to stay behind.
Petty excuses flew from Beca's mouth as she gathered her bag and bolted from the room. She left Aubrey and Chloe behind her, Chloe's voice trailing just enough that Beca could hear the placating tones behind it as Chloe attempted to calm Aubrey. Beca didn't care. She left the room with more knowledge, but also with more questions than before.