Beca arrives at Barden University, casted arm and all. She quickly befriends her roommate who insists on helping her discover who her soulmate is.
Beca threw herself onto her dorm bed, exhausted from the exertion of walking around the quad. Her casted arm was throbbing. So she wrangled some pain killers from her bag and dry swallowed a few pills. Meanwhile, she pulled out all the collected flyers at the Activities Fair and tossed them on her desk.
"God, I need a nap," she mumbled aloud as she fell onto her bed, cradling her casted arm. She reached up and snagged her earbuds off the desk with her good arm. Once her music was playing, she fell asleep.
Aubrey and Chloe were in their living room pouring over the charts they had made from Chloe's mood ring color journal. "It seems weird to have it be … one color. Like all the time," Chloe mournfully lamented. "I'm almost sad."
" Chloe," Aubrey began to chastise her best friend. "You weren't happy when you thought your soulmate was angry and moody. And upset when they were hurt. But now you are sad?"
"Now I don't know what they are feeling," Chloe stated matter of factly. "My ring is always platinum."
While they didn't have names, the two friends narrowed the list of potential soulmates down to about three dozen girls who had spoken to them at the booth and six guys, including three that helped set up the booth. "Okay, Chloe. This is as far as we can go on this today. Let's get some sleep."
Beca woke up to a growling stomach. A glance at her phone told her she had just enough time to get to the dining hall for dinner, or she'd be paying for her own food that night. She threw on a flannel button-down, pulled on her converse shoes, and headed to eat.
Balancing her tray on her cast while gripping it with her good hand was a feat. She put her food on the table then went to get drinks so she wouldn't spill anything while trying to carry too much. When she returned, a tall brunette was sitting not too far from where she'd put her food.
"Hi," the other woman said in greeting. "I'm Stacie. Hope you don't mind me sitting here." Beca gave a noncommittal grunt and straddled the seat. As she began to fumble with the paper on her straw, the other woman reached out and plucked it from her hands. "Here." She ripped the paper off and stuck one end into Beca's soda, leaving part of the paper on the top so her hands wouldn't touch the top of the straw.
"Thanks," Beca grumbled. "This," she said, waving her casted arm around, "frustrates me." She took a slurp of her soda. "Beca. I'm Beca," she mumbled. Beca ducked her head and began to eat, hoping the girl wouldn't want to visit. She wanted nothing more than to get some food in her belly and get back to her dorm. She'd been fortunate thus far and hadn't been there the same time as her roommate. Nonetheless, she knew running into the girl who shared her dorm room would be inevitable at some point in time.
Unfortunately, the other girl was a Chatty Cathy. If Beca had to guess, Stacie might be a bit lonely. When the girls finished eating, Stacie reached for Beca's tray. "You don't have to do that, dude. I can get my own tray," Beca fussed.
"Oh hush, Shortstack. Take the help when you can get it." Stacie dumped the trays then they both walked to the door. "Where you headed?"
"Baker Hall," Beca replied.
Stacie brightened up. "Me, too." She then got serious. "I hope I didn't annoy you while you were eating. This is my first time away from home, and I don't know anyone. I haven't even met my roommate yet."
"Same. I got here yesterday, and all I managed to do was go to the Activities Fair today." Despite Beca's typical short temperament with other people, she knew how Stacie felt and tolerated the additional conversation.
Luckily, the dining hall was not too far away from Baker Hall. At the entrance, Beca told Stacie she'd enjoyed visiting with her. "I'm sure I'll see you around." The short walk exhausted Beca, so she headed over to the elevator bank to take the ride to her third-floor room while Stacie headed to the stairwell.
Beca leaned against the elevator wall while the bells tinged off each floor until the door slid open. She walked down the hall and fumbled with her key to put it in the slot when she felt someone standing behind her. Beca whipped around to see Stacie towering over her. "Dude! Stalk much?"
Stacie just gave a grin and pushed open the now unlocked room. "Nope. This is my room." They both walked inside.
Groaning, Beca fell onto her bed. She had to admit that she could have gotten a worse roommate. At least this one was easy on the eyes and good-natured to boot.
"Well, at least I've met my roommate now," Stacie chuckled.
Beca woke up with a giddy feeling in her stomach the following day. Today she was going to the electronics store with her father for a new laptop and tabletop mixing equipment. She rolled over and saw Stacie stirring in her bed as well.
"Hey," Beca said.
"Ugh," Stacie grumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Not a morning person?" Beca asked. Stacie just grunted.
Beca caught herself laughing. "Me either, normally." Then an idea came to her. Stacie would be a great buffer between her and her dad. "Do you have plans today?"
"Nope. Classes don't start until Monday," Stacie mumbled as she rolled over and sat up. "What's up?"
Beca explained that her dad was a professor at Barden. "That's the only reason I'm here and not in Los Angeles trying to work up the ranks in the music industry." She avoided going into details. "Anyway, he's buying me a bunch of electronics today. Wanna go with?"
Stacie agreed to tag along to serve as a buffer between Beca and her dad. They both went to the showers and went to eat breakfast. Beca was warming up to Stacie and decided that maybe accepting a little help from one person was okay.
As they were finishing up eating, Stacie said to Beca, "okay, I know we aren't really supposed to ask about this. But I'm about to meet your dad, and I've been dying to know since I saw you putting your tray down in here last night." She reached over and tapped Beca's platinum soulmate ring. "I want to hear all about this."
Aubrey and Chloe spent all Saturday getting ready for the a capella auditions the following week. The Treblemakers, another team on campus, had won the ICCA Championship the previous year and earned the right to select the audition song. This year's piece was Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.
Chloe sent a carefully crafted e-mail to each participant who expressed interest in auditioning for the Bellas explaining the audition process and making them aware of which song to prepare. Of course, the Treblemakers had fallen down on their duties as champions, so Aubrey made sure that announcements went out on the campus radio station and flyers were placed in the dorms.
The two captains poured over the score sheets from the previous captains and made adjustments here and there. Once the score sheets were finalized, nothing was left but to wait until auditions.
"What's there to say?" Beca rolled her eyes. "I don't believe in soulmates."
"WHAT?" Stacie's shock rang out through the cafeteria. "Beca, your ring is platinum, and you don't care? You've met your soulmate, Shortstack. Celebrate."
Stunned, Beca looked at her ring. "Well, that's new." She had long since quit looking at her ring since it rarely changed from yellow. Indeed, her ring was platinum. Her breakfast began to rumble in her stomach as nausea began to build. "Fuuuuuuck," she hissed. She ran her hands through her hair then rubbed her temples.
"Seriously, B? Your ring turned platinum, and you didn't notice?" Stacie's grin spread from one ear to the other. "Aren't you excited? Now tell me all about them."
"I don't believe in soulmates," Beca mumbled.
"What?"
Beca got up and grabbed her tray before repeating herself. "I said, I don't believe in soulmates." She dumped her tray then swiftly headed back to the dorm, staring at her ring the entire time.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she muttered aloud. "First, my ring is like stuck on yellow. Connected to someone who is happy mode in perpetuity. Now it's turned platinum, and I don't even know who the hell my soulmate is."
Soon, Stacie's long legs enabled her to catch up to Beca, who was almost running back to the dorm. "Easy there, tiger. Don't wear yourself out."
Beca stopped and turned to her roommate. "What does that mean," her voice full of venom. "Don't wear myself out?"
"I just, well, your arm's in a cast. And last night, I didn't mean to look. I wasn't being a creeper; I promise. But I saw your side as you were getting into bed; your shirt kinda slid up a bit. That's a hell of a bruise." Beca was still glaring at Stacie. "I guess I mean … shit. I don't know what I mean. You've gotta be hurting." Beca stayed quiet. "I'm sorry. I overstepped, B. Come on, let's get back to the dorms."
The roommates walked back to their room in silence. Beca sat on her bed, staring at her soulmate ring, still in shock that she hadn't even noticed it had turned platinum. Stacie was doing her best to not look at Beca, afraid she'd crossed too many lines with her new friend. Finally, Beca got up and grabbed her jacket. "Well," she said. "Come on?"
Stacie grinned and bound after her roommate.
Aubrey pulled the enchiladas from the oven while Chloe finished setting the table. They knew that their coveted friendship time would be limited once school started, particularly when Bellas' practices started.
"I'm proud of you, you know," Aubrey said. "You've made it all day without mentioning your ring." Her eyes twinkled as she teased her best friend.
Chloe scooped up some refried beans with a piece of her tortilla and popped it into her mouth. "Not for lack of me thinking about it." Suddenly she gasped. "Aubrey, what if my soulmate doesn't make the cut to be a Bella? Or worse, what if she doesn't show up? Do you think we should add interviews to our selection process?"
"Interviews?" Aubrey arched her eyebrows.
"You know, ask them how the last year of their life went, anything important they'd like to share, what were they doing in June?"
Aubrey laughed. "Absolutely not, Chloe. We will not turn auditions into a fact-finding mission for your soulmate. This is your soulmate we're talking about. You're destined to be together. Period. Besides, your soulmate may not even be at the auditions."
As Beca and Stacie walked to Dr. Mitchell's office, Beca told her roommate why she didn't believe in soulmates. "My parents' rings turned platinum when they met, and they only managed to stay married seventeen years. What kind of soulmate is that? Seventeen years certainly isn't forever. And soulmates are supposed to be… forever."
Stacie spun her ring around on her finger. "I doubt I'll find my soulmate for a while. He's a hunter," she said, motioning to her crotch.
"You call it a he," Beca smirked. "Besides, my ring has always been broken. Rarely did the color change from yellow, and nobody can be that happy all the time."
When Dr. Mitchell and the girls got to the electronic store, Beca knew precisely what she wanted. She'd been researching on her phone since her parents told her this was going to happen. Stacie's eyes grew wider with each piece of equipment that went into the basket. The final section they stopped by was the phone section where Beca threw a pair of wireless Bose noise-canceling earbuds into the cart.
"Okay, Dad. I think that's about it," Beca said. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Dr. Mitchell said he was and would get reimbursed through the insurance company. "I would have done it either way, though, Becs. I know I haven't always been the best father, but I love you."
Beca rolled her eyes as she rolled the cart up to the checkout.
Stacie learned more than she ever thought she'd know about her roommate's passion as she helped set everything up in their dorm room. She was impressed that Beca had done her homework and purchased equipment that would fully maximize the use of space on her side of the room.
"Where do you want these, B?" Stacie held up the pair of Bose earbuds Beca had put in the cart at the last minute.
Beca shrugged. "Dunno, dude. Those are for you."
"Seriously? No way!" Stacie ran over to hug Beca and was met with a stiff arm.
"I'm tough to be around, a little rough around the edges. Just my way of saying thanks." Beca grinned at her roommate. "And maybe for a future apology needed. Besides, my dad was footing the bill."
Stacie asked her what he meant when he talked about insurance, settlement, etc. Beca explained that she was on her way to spend the summer at his house in Barden before school started and had been in a horrible accident.
"I almost didn't pull through. Thus the cast and this." She pulled up the right side of her shirt and the top of her sweats to reveal the ugly yellow mottled bruising that was still healing. "Let's just say nothing I was bringing with me made it through that wreck intact."
"Spent most of June and the better part of July in intense pain, especially with those torturers otherwise known as therapists. I went to physical and occupational therapy to be able to function again." Beca shook her head as she remembered the experience. "Good news is, I get this cast off tomorrow afternoon after first day classes."
The first few days of classes went by in a blur for the two first-year students trying to navigate their way around campus and adjust to college life. Monday, her dad took her to his doctor to get her arm cast cut off. Despite her arm being wrinkled, it was no paler than the rest of her body.
On Wednesday, Beca had her orientation at the campus radio station. She awkwardly approached the booth. The station manager came out and offered his hand. "You must be Beca."
A brunette guy rushed in. "And I'm Jesse."
The manager frowned and said, "I'm Luke. And you're late."
Jesse looked at Beca, then realization crossed his face. "Hey, I know you!"
"No, you don't." Beca frowned then spoke to Luke. "He doesn't."
Luke rolled his eyes and gave them their tasks before walking out. "And no sex on the desk. I've been burned before," he called out over his shoulder.
Jesse turned to Beca. "You were at the Activities Fair. We signed up for this internship at the same time. I mentioned your cool cast. Hey, where's your cast?"
A sinking feeling hit Beca. Surely this dorky guy wasn't her soulmate, but she kind of did remember meeting him. She nonchalantly sneaked a peek at his soulmate ring, a turquoise color. While she didn't know what that color meant, it wasn't platinum. So she was in the clear.
"Sorry, Jesse," Beca said. She raised her hand, showing her soulmate ring. "I'm taken."
By Thursday, Beca was utterly exhausted. She hadn't seen her roommate or even had time to play with her new equipment. She perked up a bit when she heard Stacie's key in the door. "Hey, stranger."
Stacie held up one finger then pulled her earbuds out. "These are the bomb, B. The music is fire, and when I flip on the noise cancellation, the rest of the world fades away. How has your week been?"
The roommates decided they were tired of cafeteria food and wanted to splurge by going to the Asian fusion joint across from the university and catch up. "Dude," Beca said. "For a minute, I thought this guy was my soulmate and was petrified. But when I saw his ring, I knew I was in the clear. So I told him I was taken."
Stacie covered her mouth but not before a few pieces of rice came flying out when she laughed. "You didn't. Beca! You don't even know who your soulmate is, and you are already abusing the honor." Beca just shrugged. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"
"Reveling that I survived my first week of college? Why?"
Stacie pulled a flyer from her back pocket. "I found this on the board in the dorms. You had a similar one in your stack of flyers from the Activities Fair."
"Tryouts for the Barden Bellas? Oh no, Legs. I don't sing. Besides, why were you going through the flyers from Activities Fair?"
"Come on, B," Stacie grinned. "That's the day your ring changed to platinum. You had to meet them on the quad, right? You don't have to sing. Just come to auditions. Look around to see if you feel a connection with anyone. Besides, you can check out everyone's ring color. If they aren't at the audition, I'll go with you to some of the other organizations you talked to that day."
Friday's classes were short. Professors and students alike were ready to have the first week of classes over. Beca swung by her father's office as promised and gave him an update of her week and how she was doing. When he suggested she get involved in some activities to meet people, she told him she already had gotten an internship at the campus radio station. "Plus, I'm going to the audition for an a capella group this afternoon." That wasn't exactly a lie, except she hadn't decided if she was actually going.
When she got back to the room, Stacie was already gone. Beca looked around and saw a note on her bed. It was written on the back of the Bella audition flyer. Don't flake out on me, Shortstack. Theatre 2. Beca chuckled as she looked at the simple crude map Stacie had drawn for her.
Beca eased open the back theatre door, hoping the black curtains would absorb any sunlight she was leaking in. She stood in the wings of the stage watching people perform. Everyone was singing a few bars of Since U Been Gone. Several of them were damned good. She was incredibly proud of her roommate, Stacie, and was glad she got a chance to watch her perform.
As each person walked off stage, she would try to get a glimpse at their soulmate ring. She caught her breath as another brunette with curly hair about to her shoulders walked into the wings. Her ring was shiny silver - platinum. But the short girl giggled and ran into the arms of a taller dark blonde girl who also had a platinum ring. Beca breathed a bit easier.
She heard a voice say, "Okay. That's everybody."
Beca realized that she hadn't actually interacted with the people auditioning, rather the uptight blonde and smiling auburn haired girl who had been handing out flyers. If her soulmate were to be anybody, it would be one of them. She peeked her head out around from the wings and saw the captains sitting in the first row of seats behind a small wooden table serving as a desk.
She and the redhead locked eyes. Everything around her fell away. There was no sound, no movement, nothing. Only her and the redhead. Beca wasn't sure how long she stood there staring. The next thing she heard was an angelic voice.
"Wait! There's one more."
