Chapter 13

Chloe's POV

"Good morning, Miss Beale." Dr. Mitchell says to me as I enter his classroom.

"Morning." I grin cheerily at him and take my seat next to Mitchell, who's grinning at me. "What?"

Whispering, she responds, "guess who got a ninety-five percent on the test?"

I force out a chuckle. "Why not a hundred?"

With a simple shake of her head, she replies, "Dad knows I wouldn't do that well on one of his tests even if I could. It'd give him the impression I was listening to him."

"Why are you so tense with your dad?" I ask, hoping I sound nonchalant and not desperate for answers.

"It's a long story." Her voice falls flat and she looks down at her notebook.

Sensing that, if I ask her, she'll pull away again, I say, "maybe another time."

She looks up at me again when she hears the sudden raspiness of my voice, a pain I can only compare to getting stabbed. Without breaking eye contact, she slides her thermos mug to me. "Drink this."

I shake my head slowly. "Thanks, but I'm ok." Betraying me, tears flood my eyes, and I turn to blink them away.

"It's just tea, Beale. It will make your throat feel better." When I shake my head again, she shrugs. "I'm not going to poison you."

"Why are you so persistent?" I blurt out, and she blinks at me in shock before responding.

"You seem like you need someone." She repeats her words from the other day, then looks away and takes a drink of her tea. If I'm being completely honest, the idea of having something to soothe my throat is tempting, but I can't risk it. Glancing at her again, I'm only partially shocked- but very scared- to see a light blush on her cheeks.

"And you think you're that someone?"

She shrugs and looks back up at me, her blush even darker. "I'd like to be." Right in this moment, I realize this is the most vulnerable I've ever seen her. A twang of what feels almost like guilt settles in the pit of my stomach, and I sigh.

The feeling scares me, honestly. The last time I felt anything at all for someone on a mission was Asher. Just like here, it started with guilt…

"Beale?" I blink and turn to look back at Mitchell. "Where'd you go just now?"

"Sorry." I give her a soft smile, and she returns it.

"It's fine." After a beat, she asks, "Did something I say freak you out?"

"Why are you taking this sudden interest in me?" I almost slap myself when the words leave my mouth, and all I can think about is how pissed Aubrey is going to be later when I tell her this. "Of all people, why me?"

Once again, she shrugs. "You're different. Everyone tries to hide behind a mask. They pretend to be someone they're not. But you, you're just you. You don't try to hide yourself from the world." She takes a second to breathe. "I'm sure you've been through shit. I can see it in your eyes. But you don't let it hold you back like everyone else does."

"Oh." I breathe out, thoroughly shocked by the words she's just said. "You really see right through me, don't you?" I try to mask my nervousness with a chuckle. If she can read me like that, this is bad. This is a whole new level of Chloe, you could get yourself killed on this mission.

Mitchell notices my nervousness, but misinterprets it. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"Good." I breathe out, trying to mask my fear with a smile. She looks like she doesn't believe it, but before she can say anything, Dr. Mitchell walks up to the front of the classroom.

"I'm impressed with your test scores in this unit, guys." He announces, and he gives me a soft smile. "Now in this unit, we're going to be comparing two Shakespeare plays. Anyone have any guesses?"

After a beat, I raise my hand, and he points to me. "Hamlet?"

Dr. Mitchell grins. "Yes, that's one of them. Anyone know what the other one will be?" No one raises their hands. "Romeo and Juliet."

I can't help but smile at this. My dad's favorite play was Romeo and Juliet, and he used to tell me stories about how that was how he met my mother in high school, during a performance of that play. He, naturally, played Mercutio, while she played Lady Capulet. Nonetheless, they fell in love.

During the rest of Dr. Mitchell's lesson, I can feel Mitchell glancing at me, but I pretend not to notice as I take down notes I know I don't need. As soon as we're dismissed, I bolt, ignoring her call after me. I know she's probably confused, but I need to get out of there.

I let out a sigh of relief when I make it to Bio Chem safely. Stacie immediately flops down next to me when I sit down, and she frowns slightly.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." She says. "Are you ok?"

I give her a small shrug and smile. "I'm ok."

She gives me a skeptical look. "Chloe Beale, if I know you at all, I know you're lying to me."

Too bad you don't know me, I think bitterly. "I'm ok, I promise. Just a little tired."

She opens her mouth almost as if to argue, but seems to decide against it. With a grateful smile, I grab my book to read, just to be interrupted by my phone ringing.

"Aubrey?" I immediately answer, my brow furrowing with worry and confusion. She never calls unless there's a problem.

"You need to get back to the apartment now." Her voice sounds pinched, as if she's trying to sound quiet and urgent at the same time.

"Are you ok?" I feel Stacie's eyes watching me as I stand up, immediately getting ready to ditch.

"The General is here."

"Shit." I mutter. "I'm on my way." With that, I hang up and turn to Stacie. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What's up?" She stills looks slightly concerned.

"Take notes for me? A family emergency came up and Aubrey needs me."

"Sure." She nods with an easy smile. "Give Bree a hug for me."

I smile. "I will." After giving her a hug of my own, I leave class and head down the hall and toward the nearest exit. As I'm leaving, though, a voice stops me.

"I need you to protect her at all costs." Dr. Mitchell whispers, his voice low and urgent. I dash behind a column in the wall and glance toward his room, seeing him and a senior I recognize to be named Luke Stroma, who runs the radio station Mitchell works at.

"Yes, sir." He nods respectfully, and I notice his British accent is gone. He turns and starts walking my way, and I pull my phone out to seem more natural.

Of course, Luke notices me; he looks at me with narrowed eyes as he says, "Chloe Beale. What are you doing here?" His false British accent is back into play.

"Just waiting for a friend. We have this period off." I give him a large, fake smile, and he slowly nods before walking away. As soon as he's gone, I speed walk out of the building as quickly as I can without seeming too suspicious. As soon as I'm far enough away from the college, I break out into a run, not caring that it's almost ninety degrees outside and that I'm wearing skinny jeans.

"Stacie isn't Mitchell's bodyguard." I pant out as soon as I get into the apartment, and General Posen and Aubrey both give me confused looks. "Luke Stroma is. I heard him talking to Dr. Mitchell. He swore to protect someone; it has to be Mitchell."

"Good work, Beale." General Posen nods at me appreciatively, and I don't miss the jealous look on Aubrey's face at his praise.

"Thanks, sir, but Aubrey has some information too."

When he gives her a small nod, Aubrey shares her information. "Stacie Conrad and Beca Mitchell have been best friends for their whole lives. The girl Mitchell was in love with in middle school got killed. Apparently it changed her forever."

"This is all good information too." He gives her one of his rare smiles, and she stands a little taller with pride.

"Thank you, sir." After a pause, she asks, "shall we continue watching Conrad?"

General Posen nods. "She could still be useful to me- I mean, the mission." Before we can respond, he adds, "and keep an eye on this Stroma guy." With that, he storms out of the apartment.

"That was weird." I tell Aubrey, who nods.

"I've never heard him say something he didn't want to before like that."

"I'm sure it was nothing." Even as I say it though, I know she's going to spend the next week overthinking it.

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Later, after an uncharacteristically quiet dinner, I decide to watch the cams in Mitchell's dorm. Jesse Swanson is sitting with her on her bed, and her roommate isn't in the room.

"Thanks for coming over." Mitchell says to Swanson, who gives her a goofy grin.

"Anything for my favorite cousin." He laughs when she slaps his shoulder. "What's bothering you?"

She sighs, holding her face with her hands. "Not what, but who." I feel my heart jump in my throat, and I find myself having to force myself to hope she isn't talking about me. "It's one of the Bellas. I can't stop thinking about her. She's… she's like a beautiful enigma."

"That was poetic." He responds, and she glares at him. "I know how you feel though."

"How could you possibly know how I feel?" She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.

Swanson laughs. "I met a girl like that once in high school." He sighs wistfully. "Her name was Andie."

"I don't know what to do about this girl. She's hot and cold. Just today, she practically ran from me." This time, I actually gasp out loud. It's me. Mitchell likes me. The scariest part, though, is the fact that her liking me doesn't scare me as much as it should… And that is a huge problem in itself.

"Maybe she has conflicted feelings about you." Swanson's voice brings me back to the present.

"There's no way she likes me, dude." Mithell responds with a bitter laugh. "How could she? I'm me."

"She'd be lucky to have you." He gives her a sincere smile, and my chest tightens when she smiles back.

"Thanks, Jess."

"Of course." He shuffles around on the bed, grabbing a laptop. "Now, we watch The Breakfast Club. I wanna watch you watch the end of this movie. Then I can die a hero."

She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she's happy when she says, "you're such a weirdo."

I close the lid of the laptop, and it feels like my heart is beating a hundred miles a minute. There are only two things I'm sure of right now: one, Mitchell has a crush on me. Two, I cannot, for no reason ever, tell Aubrey that I don't know how to feel about it.

When I say goodnight to Aubrey, we make eye contact for a minute, and I know she can tell there's something on my mind. She must be pretty worried about her father to say anything though, because all she says is "goodnight" before heading to her room and closing the door behind her.