Hey awesome nerds... I have two things to say
1: Happy 35th birthday to the amazing Brittany Snow!
2: I may not get to post as much here in a couple of weeks. My mom has to go into the hospital for a triple bypass open-heart surgery, so I'll be taking care of her and my family a lot more than I usually do.
Now, on with the story! I hope this chapter lives up to your guys' expectations- I wrote it in a day, so there may be mistakes.
Chapter 18
Aubrey's POV
"Aubrey." I hear Chloe's voice at my door, slightly muffled by the wood, and I sigh. "Bree, please let me in."
"No."
She sighs and knocks lightly on the door for the umpteenth time today. "You need to make yourself presentable before your dad gets here."
Of course, I've thought about this. In fact, I thought about it all night, right after Stacie screamed at me. My dreams last night were haunted with both her and my father yelling at me. Stacie telling me I'm not good enough for her, and General Posen telling me I'm a disgrace. You're not my daughter, I remember him saying, while Stacie laughed haughtily in the background, both of them looking at me as if I'm something gross they accidentally stepped on and didn't know how to get rid of.
At the thought of last night, I stand up and stumble my way over to the trash can. The bile comes out easily, which is sort of shocking considering I haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday.
Naturally, Chloe hears me getting sick, and she raps softly on the door again. "Aubrey, please, just open up. He's gonna be suspicious if you're like this."
"Just tell him I'm sick." I mutter, wiping my mouth off with a tissue and flopping back down on my bed.
"But you're not. You know I'm a terrible liar!" She whines on the other end, and I roll my eyes.
"You're an undercover spy, Chloe. You know how to lie."
"Not to him I don't."
I groan, knowing she has a point. "I don't like this at all, just so you know." After standing up and opening the door, I walk out of the room.
She practically throws herself at me as soon as she can. "Thank you!"
I chuckle humorlessly and fondly roll my eyes at her. "You're welcome. Now when is he getting here?"
The look on her face is enough for me to know she's surprised, and I get why; normally, I'm the one to know these things, not her. I'm the organizer, the one who always has a plan. Chloe Beale is the complete opposite. "In an hour."
"Fuck!" I practically scream, and she winces. I pay her no attention though as I run back into my room and grab a pair of jeans and a yellow, flowy shirt. "I'll be right back!"
"Go Aubrey go!" She cheers, and I turn around just enough to shoot her a pointed glare. "Sorry."
I take the quickest shower known to mankind, hardly even waiting for the water to warm up before I hop in. I don't even bother to wash my hair, knowing my father won't know the difference- I just took a shower yesterday after Bellas rehearsal, after all.
At the moment, I'm suddenly glad Chloe convinced me to cancel today's rehearsal. Dancing and singing on top of watching Mitchell- who, for some reason, I still find hard to trust- and meeting with my father.
When I get out, I see Chloe at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. I sit down across from her and pull out my phone, seeing five missed texts from Stacie, and one from Luke. I ignore the ones from Stacie- I'll look at them later- and look at the one from Luke;
Hey, is there any way I could ask Chloe out?
I laugh out loud for the first time all week, and Chloe looks at me in shock. "What?"
Still laughing, I turn the phone around, and she gags. "That's… eww. No."
"He's cute." I shrug, and she just shakes her head before shoveling more food into her mouth. With another shrug, I turn the phone back around, facing me, and look at the texts from Stacie.
Aubrey, I'm sorry I yelled at you.
Can we please talk about this?
I have no right to say this, but I miss you.
You know what, I do have a right to say it. I miss you, Bree, and I want you back. I'm sorry I yelled at you last night, but it's the truth.
Ok, I get it. You don't want to talk to me. But please don't make it obvious at rehearsals, I don't need the girls getting on my case about it. Beca alone is enough.
I groan and drop my head into my hands, my phone falling onto the table in the process. She's right, really- this is my fault. She had every right to yell at me, and even more so to push me away when she did. The only thing that surprises me is that she wants to be with me again.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asks, with a hint of worry in her tone, and I glance up at her before staring down at the table again.
"Stacie." It's all I have to say to know she understands.
"Oh." She stands up and walks over to my side of the table, then wraps her arms around my torso lightly. I lean back into her embrace, and she presses her face into my hair. "You really need to talk to her, Bree. She misses you."
I snort and lay my head against the table. "I know."
We both jump when there's a harsh knocking on the door, and Chloe quickly pulls away. With one last glance at me, she moves to open the door. I take a minute to straighten my hair and fix my features into one of business, and I'm left to simply hope I don't look as much of a trainwreck as I feel.
"Aubrey, Beale." General Posen walks in, looking as big and fierce as ever. This time around, though, the pride I normally look at him with is tinged with confusion and betrayal. I'm still not sure if the video Walp showed us is even real or fake, but I have to believe it's legit, just in case.
"Father." I stand up and salute, and he returns the gesture.
"What do you have for me?" He asks, and I turn to Chloe. I'm starting to regret not going to Stacie's with her last night.
"We found out her mom works in the White House, but we don't know what position." I almost snort when my father doesn't even look surprised by this bit of information; the evidence is pointing more and more toward the fact that the video was indeed real.
"Is there anything else?" He asks, and- by some miracle- both Chloe and I shake our heads at the same time.
"Hm, ok." He shakes his head lightly and looks directly at me. "I'm expecting more from you next time." With that, he stands up and escorts himself out of the building.
After a beat or two of silence, I turn and look at Chloe. Her face is pale, and she's biting her bottom lip nervously. "Are you ok?" I finally manage to ask, and she nods.
"It was the best thing Stacie and I could think of last night. We couldn't come up with anything he would believe, considering he already knows so much about her."
I sigh, and she sits back down at the table. "How can you just believe this so willingly?"
She actually laughs, which surprises me. "Two reasons. One, the video. It's hard to fake evidence like that." She points out, and I nod; she has a point. "Two, I've seen the softer side of Beca that you haven't. I just know she wouldn't have killed him unless she had a reason to." Her voice softens, and I can tell she's holding back tears.
"Are you ok?" I ask again, but we both know that, this time, it has a different meaning.
Slowly, she shakes her head. "No, but I will be. It's just so hard to learn that your father wasn't the man you thought he was, you know?" I nod my head, because I know all too well.
If I'm being honest, I probably have it harder than Chloe does. I'm not trying to one-up her or anything, but my father is still alive. At least she doesn't have to face him and stare into his eyes, knowing that behind the tough exterior is a cold-blooded monster.
"Do you think we should try to stop them?" Chloe asks, drawing me out of my thoughts.
"I thought we were stopping them."
She shakes her head, tugging at her bottom lip with her teeth. "Do you not remember what General Posen said?" She asks, and I shake my head. "He said Beca is the 'key to the Vice President.'"
Now that she's pointed it out to me, I remember him saying it. "So what? You want to take down my father?" Enthusiastically, she nods, and I shake my head. "No, Chloe. We couldn't do it if we tried."
"We have to try. What if the country is in danger?"
I roll my eyes and stand up, now ready to go back to my room. "I'm not discussing this with you. This country is fine. We'll just keep an eye out on Beca, as discussed already."
"Aubrey-"
"Chloe, don't." With that, I walk into my room and close the door behind me. I hear her sigh, but I ignore it, and the pit of guilt in my stomach, as I lay back down in bed. Only when I'm sure Chloe won't notice do I let the tears fall once again.
"Sectionals are next week, ladies. This needs to be perfect!" I run my hands through my hair in frustration as the girls practically collapse onto the floor. "If we don't get this the right way, we won't go on to regionals. If we don't get to regionals, well, we can just say goodbye to the ICCA's-" I stop talking when I feel the bile rising in my throat, and I feel a presence right next to me.
"Calm down, you're ok." The voice surprises me, as it isn't Chloe's, and I look over to see Stacie smiling softly at me.
"Thanks." I whisper back, then turn toward the girls. "Take five minutes, ladies." They all cheer breathlessly as Stacie guides me to the bleachers. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chloe and Beca sitting on the floor near the piano, their hands entwined and smiles on both of their faces. I can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy for what they have, then I remember it's my fault I don't.
"Are you ok?" The leggy brunette still holding my arm sits down next to me, and I can't help but lean into her slightly.
"That's a loaded question."
She gives me a sympathetic smile, and her hand moves from my arm to my hand. I notice her eyes flick down momentarily to my lips, but neither one of us acts on it. "Let's start with physically."
I nod. "Yeah, all good there."
"Mentally?"
I bite my bottom lip and sigh. "I'm getting there." I look up at her, grateful she doesn't look as if she's pitying me. "It's just so hard, realizing my father isn't…" I trail off, unsure how to describe what it is I'm trying to say.
Thankfully, I don't have to. Stacie says, "Isn't as good as you thought?"
I nod again. "That's one way to put it."
Softly, she presses a kiss into my temple, and my stomach flips. "I'm here for you."
"What made you change your mind?" I ask her.
She shrugs, her smile never once fading. "You're a good person, Aubrey, I just know it. And I trust you to do the right thing."
"Because that makes me feel better." I snort, and she sighs. "Sorry."
"It's fine." She pulls away enough to look at me. "Come over tonight, we can talk."
After a moment of thinking, I nod. "Ok." I glance down at my watch, noticing it's been seven minutes already. Standing up, I call out, "alright ladies, let's get back to it!"
"There's my Aubrey Posen." Stacie smiles momentarily before groaning with the rest of the girls, but I notice her small wink as she walks out to the middle of the room.
Chloe and I make eye contact, and she gives me a small nod before grabbing her water bottle and starting to sing the beginning of the set.
With a small smile of my own, I join the rest of the girls and do my part. We still aren't the greatest, but I just have to hope we'll get there.
