Chapter 1

"Ha! You can sing!"

Beca spun around, her heart jumping out of her chest as the shower curtain was whisked open. It was Chloe, that red-haired girl she was talking to at the Activities Fair. How she got there and precisely what she was doing eluded her. Surely mid-shower wasn't the best time to begin a conversation? The DJ barely had enough time to process such questions before the intruder continued.

"You have to audition for the Bellas." Beca couldn't concentrate on anything. She was confused: after all, one moment she was peacefully washing in her cubicle when the next she was being interrogated on her vocal range. Her eyes darted around, searching for somewhere else to look. She stiffened up, the grasp of her shampoo tightening against her chest.

As Beca opened her mouth to respond, Chloe pressed on. "You were singing Titanium right? That song is my jam. My lady jam. Can you sing it for me?" The room began to feel increasingly stifled and Beca was becoming overwhelmed. An impromptu audition was the last thing she needed.

"Dude no, get out!" she hurriedly replied, fuelled by a combination of panic and anxiety.

"I'm not leaving here till you sing, so…" The Bella sighed, settling down for the long run.

Great. Didn't Chloe have somewhere else to be? Beca shuffled further into the corner, uncertain in her response as the discomfort diffused through the air. After what seemed like forever, she finally caved in.

She tentatively began singing, now with a more timid voice than before. Soon Chloe chimed in, providing the harmony to Beca's melody. Her voice was angelic, a sweet burst of sunlight even in the unpredictable acoustics of the shower. The DJ looked up and was immediately caught in the redhead's charming gaze. Confidence surged through her as her own eyes delved deeper into those sparkling pools of heaven. For what felt like an endless moment, the pair serenaded, complimenting each other almost intimately.

Beca stepped back as she finished the chorus, gradually becoming aware of how close she'd crept towards Chloe during their engrossing duet. A sense of serenity enveloped the pair as they smiled at each other; they could both sense the close, personal bond that had been formed through song. It stunned Beca in an unfamiliar way: she wasn't used to such feelings.

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty confident about all… this," Chloe said, gesturing towards her "junk".

"You should be," Beca gave back before the cubicle door opened. What must've been Chloe's boyfriend entered, gesturing for her to follow him back. With her objective now complete, Chloe complied.

"See you at auditions!" she said as she gave Beca a cheerful smile on her exit.

For a minute, Beca simply stood in the cubicle. She was stunned. So stunned that she almost forgot that she was mid-wash when she was interrupted. After a while, she continued her shower, yet the cool water did little to slow the growing lust she was cultivating.

That evening, Beca lay restless in bed. Even after trying to lose herself in her latest mix, all she could think about was Chloe. She couldn't shake the feeling off, nor could she even determine if she was falling for her - it was such an unfamiliar dilemma.

Now becoming almost desperate for a distraction, she turned towards her phone. Her mind whirred as she scrolled through the various feeds of musicians and artists on her social media. Just as she began to slip into a tranquil slumber, her phone pinged. She opened the notification, expecting to find a message from Jesse. Instead, her heart skipped a beat as she recognised who had texted her:

Hey Beca, it's Chloe. Sorry if I spooked you earlier - when I heard such a beautiful voice I had to see who it was. Auditions are tomorrow afternoon. See you there!!

Beca dropped her phone. She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she cursed under her breath. The sheer sight of Chloe's name had set her off into a frenzy. After recollecting herself, she looked back at the screen. A cacophony of emotions was screaming at her, freezing her fingers in place. After a little time and several attempts at writing a tangible response, Beca wrote back:

No worries Chloe, I'll try and be there tomorrow.

Chloe's reply was almost instant:

Yaay, my going-to-be-favourite brunette is going to sing for me :D Sweet dreams lovely!!

Beca lay back down again, her pulse slowing to its usual rate. On the contrary, her mind was still ticking rapidly as she debated her feelings toward Chloe. She was never looking for any of this, yet with eyes so inviting and a personality that charming, how could she stop herself? Moreover, the way Chloe talked to her, looked at her, even sang with her all felt so intimate - was she always like that, or does she see something different in her? Beca yawned, snapping her out of her complex reverie. Deciding to leave the discussion for another day, she settled down for her night's rest. A smile crept across her face as she reminisced over that day's unusual experience.