Chapter 8
Aubrey's POV
"Radio silence!" Chloe exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. "I don't know what happened, Bree. I got so close, and boom, she doesn't even look at me in class anymore!"
"Maybe she feels awkward?" I shrug. "I don't know, Chlo, I really don't. But hey, today is aca-initiation."
She gives me a small smile. "True."
I grab a small handgun and shove it into the waistband of my pants. "Let's aca-rock this."
"Aubrey, no. You've taken this a step too far." Chloe laughs as she too arms herself, then grabs a bunch of pillowcases. "How are we going to kidnap all of these girls in time?" We have ten girls we need to get to.
"Well, I was thinking we could split up?" I offer, and Chloe scoffs, shaking her head vehemently at me.
"And risk alone time with Mitchell?"
"Chlo, you're alone with her every day."
"In a classroom full of other people." She argues back, a triumphant grin on her face when I don't respond.
"She could've killed you when you went for lunch." I offer, and she rolls her eyes at me.
"There were too many witnesses."
"She could've lured you off somewhere alone."
"Then I would've killed her." She says it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Why are you trying to defend her?"
"I'm not!" I exclaim, and she raises her eyebrows at me in skepticism. "I'm really not. I'm just trying to prove to you that splitting up for a little bit is ok. I'll even kidnap Mitchell myself if I have to."
"You would do that for me?" Chloe asks, and I roll my eyes.
"Yes, of course. I'm your best friend."
"Thanks." She lets out a sigh of relief and gives me a brief hug. "I'll take Stacie." She winks at me as she pulls away, and I roll my eyes, despite the growing blush on my cheeks.
"Whatever, I don't care." I lie, and she laughs. I can tell by the look on her face that she sees right through it, but I'm not changing my story. "I don't."
"Yeah, ok." She pulls her phone out and shows me a picture of Stacie's abs, and I growl at her.
"W-why are you showing me this?" I sputter, much to her pleasure.
"Because you can't deny she's easy on the eyes. Or that I'm right."
"Oh my God, if I admit you're right, will you stop making fun of me?" I groan, and she jumps up and down like a five year old, clasping her hands together and squealing.
"You totally like her!"
"I don't like her, I just think she's hot, ok?" I roll my eyes for the umpteenth time. "She's part of the mission."
"Alright, alright." She still has that stupid grin on her face, though. "Let's just go before we're late." We walk out of the apartment, armed and ready. "Aubrey?"
"Yeah?" I ask softly at the timicity in her voice.
"Be careful, please?" She whispers, despite being alone. "I can't lose you. You're my best friend."
"You won't lose me, Chloe. I'll be ok." To lighten the mood, I add, "That midget couldn't take me out if she wanted to."
"Oh my God." She laughs, then pulls me in for a quick hug. "I love you."
"I love you too. Now, let's go!" We split off in opposite directions.
It doesn't take me long to walk to Baker Hall. Finding Mitchell's room isn't terribly difficult, either. I knock on the door, holding the pillowcase behind my back as I wait for an answer.
"Who are you?" Kimmy-Jin answers the door, and I give her a big smile as I step in. She grunts as I push her to the side.
"Aubrey Posen." I introduce myself, and Mitchell groans from her bed.
"Why the hell are you here?"
"To kidnap you." I deadpan, and she groans again. "Now stand up and make this easy on me."
"Old woman, much?" She teases, wiggling deeper under her blanket with a satisfactory smirk.
"Shut up." I growl back. I know she's trying to get on my nerves, but it sucks that it's actually working. "Get up, or I will pull you out of that bed myself. Don't think I won't." I put my hands on my hips, returning her cocky grin.
"Oh my gosh, fine. Just don't touch my shit." She stands up slowly, making her way over to me. "Must you put that thing on my face?"
"I must." I slide it on her head, and she gags.
"Oh my GOD this stinks! Do you ever fucking wash it?"
"Nope. Move it." I push her out of the room, not even bothering to help her when she almost falls.
It doesn't take much time to get the rest of the girls (although Mitchell does complain a lot). I line them up in order once we're back at the amphitheatre, then signal to Chloe, who's waiting by the board next to me.
"The sopranos: Jessica, Mary Elise, Lilly," Chloe whips their pillowcases off as I call out their names. "The mezzos: Cynthia Rose, Stacie, Kori. And our altos: Fat Amy, Denise, Ashley, and Beca." I grit my teeth a little on Mitchell's name, but thankfully no one (except maybe Chloe) notices.
I hand Chloe the glass full of liquor and say, "We shall begin by drinking the blood of the ancestor's before you."
"Dude, no." Mitchell says when Chloe stands in front of her, and Chloe responds with something (I can't hear) that makes her sigh but take a sip.
Once everyone has taken a sip, Chloe stands next to me again. "Now, if you'll place your scarves in your right hand." Chloe says, and I hold back a laugh when Mitchell looks around to make sure she has hers in the right hand.
"I, sing your name," they all sing their names, and after a light wince, I continue, "promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman." They once again repeat after me. "And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker, or may my vocal cords be ripped out by wolves."
They have confused looks on their faces as they say it, but I smile nonetheless. Chloe and I agreed earlier that it was the perfect addition, what with our rivalry and my uptight-bitch persona. "You are all Bellas now." The girls- all except Mitchell- start screaming with happiness.
"We did it." Chloe leans in to tell me, and I wince when I see Fat Amy grabbing the Boone's Farm, claiming she wants more and chugging it.
"Did we?" I ask her, and she sighs in return.
"I mean, we got Mitchell and Stacie in, so we're good?" She looks around at the new Bellas.
"Alright girls, initiation time!" I call out, and they all cheer again. "Let's go!" Chloe and I take the lead, leading the girls to the empty pool on campus.
"Mitchell doesn't look happy." Chloe notes in a whisper, glancing back at the girls behind us.
"Yeah." I nod. "This isn't exactly her scene though…" Chloe opens her mouth to answer, but I see Bumper Allen in the distance. "Later."
"Ladies, welcome to Aca-Initiation night. Prepare to soften the beach." I make my way to the alcohol, Chloe immediately following. The rest of the girls disperse, and I see Fat Amy and Mitchell talking in the middle of the aisle.
"Anyway…" Chloe draws my attention back to her, and I grab us both cups of beer to fit in. "What was your dad thinking, a capella?"
"Obviously something right, because she's here, isn't she?" I snap unintentionally, but immediately apologize when Chloe shrinks back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"I know." She sounds slightly sad, and I sigh. "Seriously, it's ok. He's your dad; of course you're going to defend him."
"I love him. He's never been wrong." I shrug.
"He was wrong with Asher." She points out, her voice going weak with sadness, and I pull her into a hug.
"Well-"
"Asher wanted to be good, Bree. He…" She sighs again, and I can tell by the shakiness that she's crying. "He loved me, I know he did."
"I know, Chlo. I know." I rub slow circles in the space between her shoulder blades. "I know it hurts."
"Be careful with Stacie." She warns, pulling away. "I know you like her. You don't have to keep lying, I can see it. Just… please, don't get hurt like I did. I'm not sure I'm cut out to be the strong one." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mitchell and Jesse Swanson talking.
"I will. I'll be back, I have to play Bellas leader for a minute." Chloe's eyes follow mine, and she nods.
"I'm gonna call Tom, actually." I groan, and she shrugs. "What? It's harmless fun, no strings attached."
"It better be." I give her a small smile, then walk over to talk to Lilly. It turns out being a pretty one-sided conversation, though, as she doesn't say anything.
"Do you need a drink? I'm gonna go get you a drink." I hear Jesse say, and I turn to watch the two of them. Mitchell tells him yes, then Chloe runs up, taking his place. She glances at me, and I nod, realizing she's using Mitchell being alone to our advantage.
"Hi! I am so glad that I met you!" I hear her say through both the ear com and in general- she's pretty loud. She leans in super close, and I laugh when I see Mitchell's awkward expression. "I think that we're going to be really fast friends."
"Yeah, well you saw me naked, so." I can't tell exactly, because it's dark, but it looks like Mitchell winks at her. Amy walks up to me and takes up my attention.
"You know, so there's like ten of us. That means one of us is probably a lesbian."
"You think?" I ask, trying not to laugh. "Which one do you think it is?"
"My money is on black beauty." She whispers, and I try not to let my jealousy flare up when I see Cynthia Rose checking out Stacie.
"Ahh."
"Don't tell her I said that."
"I won't." My attention is caught back to Chloe, her and Mitchell's conversation having been forgotten until now.
"Alright, I'm gonna get a drink. This ginger needs her jiggle-juice." She shakes her hips and slaps her butt for emphasis, and I nearly choke when I see Mitchell check her out. "See you later!" Chloe walks away from her.
"Make good choices." Mitchell calls out after her, and I scoff. Thankfully, Fat Amy doesn't notice, and she starts talking about her hair. I only half pay attention, nodding at the right times. I glance around and see Chloe making out with pretty boy Tom again, and when I look back, I see that Amy's gone.
I walk up and tap her arm until they separate, Tom glaring at me. "Yes, Bree?"
"I need to talk to you." I give her an urgent look, and she nods.
"I'll see you later, Tom?"
"Sure." He pecks her on the cheek and slaps her butt as we walk away. She rolls her eyes, but lightly grins.
"I've seen that smile before." I warn as soon as we're out of earshot from everyone else, and she sighs.
"It's different, Bree."
"Yeah, sure." I wave it off- that's not why I pulled her away. "I got an idea for Stacie."
"Yeah?" She perks up.
"I get a feeling she's not entirely straight." Chloe's eyes widen, and I shake her off again. "Hold on, let me finish. It's just a hunch. But I'm going to fake date her if I can, see if I can get some information on Mitchell."
"That's a good idea. See if we can get any information from her." Her smile returns. "Also, you totally like her!"
"This is purely for the mission, Beale." I say, and she deflates. I hate lying to her, but it's important to. "We have to get as close to Mitchell as possible. You know, so we can eliminate her."
"Eliminate?" Chloe and I both jump, and we slowly turn to see a wide-eyed Kori standing behind us. "Are you going to kill Beca?"
"Kori." I warn with a light growl when she yells, and Chloe swiftly grabs her hands behind her back and covers her mouth in one motion.
"What do we do?" Chloe asks with wide eyes, and I sigh.
"What we always have to do."
"No."
"Yeah."
"Can't we-?"
"There's nothing we can do, Chloe." I pull out my handgun. "Do you have a silencer on you?" She nods, using her chin to point under her waistband. Kori starts screaming under Chloe's hand, and Chloe knees her in the back, causing her legs to give out under her.
"Hurry up and do it already." Chloe harshly whispers, handing me the silencer. I attach it to the gun and point it between Kori's eyes, sighing sadly.
"I'm sorry it had to end like this." I shake my head sadly, then pull the trigger. Kori's body falls backwards onto Chloe, and she grunts with the weight. "We need to be more careful." I glance around, but no one's there.
"Yeah." Chloe stands up, pulling Kori up with her. "We need to get rid of this."
"I have an idea."
"Thanks, Zeke." I salute to the captain, and he nods, grabbing Kori's lifeless corpse out of the trunk of our car.
"Any time, Posen. Beale." With that, he drags the body out of the woods and into his car.
"Are you ok?" Chloe finally asks, and I nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I try to smile at her, but she and I both know it's not real. "Do you think anyone noticed we left initiation early?"
"Honestly, everyone is probably too drunk to even care." We climb into my car, and I nod.
"You're probably right." I stare out the window for a minute, not wanting to move. "Let's just go home."
"I agree. We can continue this tomorrow."