Needless to say, Aubrey was pretty easy on us the rest of the week, I didn't have the energy to do much else between Bella's practice, my internship, and school. I did have the time to sit and listen though and turns out, as Amy had so blatantly put it, Cynthia Rose is a Muse. I found out while enjoying some wonderful taco's Stacie made,
"I just put a small field around us, no one in that field can see us as we cannot see out, pretty fun little power I have. I will try to make this short and sweet as possible, I know you're tired." She reaches over to take one of my taco's and I am swift to smack her hand, it was an automatic reaction, and I feel no fear in doing it. She seems to sense that I am already comfortable, a chuckle pulling from her chest as she takes my food anyway, "Okay so, I'm your muse... of sorts. I can shield you, and do some minor healing. I can distract your enemy without harm being allowed to me while I do so, and I can sing you to sleep in a few seconds." Her brows lift to make sure I'm following along, and I eat through another taco with a nod, "You didn't really save me from anyone or anything, just found me hiding away from the world and brought the light back to my life." I nod again, looking around as a few of the girls meander through the force field but don't seem to take notice of either of us,
"This is probably super handy if you need to talk to me privately huh?" I ask with a grin, and she nods at this, a giggle leaving her as her hand waves out towards some of the congregating girls,
"Sometimes we would prank them if they were being super sassy for some reason, it's too bad we can't hear what they are saying though, only see them, but they don't know that." I can only imagine the kind of trouble the two of us would get into, but my focus is on the last taco, getting it down before SBT's is a must. Cynthia Rose lowers the field of privacy, and we talk a bit more on music and other things. Feeling my energy level falter, I stand and we both make our way out with the other girls... I don't know if I have the patience for this today.
Wow... that went terribly... we were so off pitch, the dancing was off-step... long story short it was a complete disaster. Now as we stand here, Chloe begins crying because Aubrey is going off, then she admits she has something called nodes. After she explains what it is and just how much it affected that performance, Amy of course makes a comment about herpes and we leave. Sounds about like a normal afternoon for us, right? I pack up my stuff and when we get home Aubrey calls an emergency Bella meeting, sitting us all down in the living room,
"We are going to have to train harder, that was so embarrassing, and I can't believe you guys didn't put forth the effort to at least try to make us look good." She berates us, her captain voice on as we all watch her pace about the floor. Rolling my eyes I can't help but scoff, and her glare is immediately upon me, "Something to say, Beca?" I roll my neck, deliberately taking my time just to annoy her,
"Actually yeah, we are fresh out of the gate, you seriously couldn't expect us to know everything as pristinely perfect as you want in such a short amount of time... we have all been trying to get into a routine this week, which has been getting jacked up b-..." Aubrey lifts her hand to stop me from speaking further, and I cross my arms in protest but keep quiet regardless,
"Yeah, I get it, life." She rolls her eyes as if our lives outside of the group were an annoyance to her, "But Bella's should be your life, we can do this if you guys would just focus." A grumbling reply is heard and she shakes her head, "We will have to try harder, practice every day this week Bella's, and an extra hour and a half of cardio since I noticed none of you are implementing it on your own." Another collective groan is heard before everyone is dismissed, moving to get on with their lives.
I'm swift to get upstairs to change, grabbing a few textbooks for after my shortened time at the radio station, I stuff them in my backpack in hopes that I can get a little quiet time in the quad. Heading back down the stairs I swing the bag over my shoulder and almost knock into Amy and Stacie, their eyes big and pleading. I bide my time as I walk past them, heading towards the kitchen before Lilly and Chloe stop me with a sandwich and some snacks. The redhead promptly turns me around and slips the food into my bag, closing it up and leaning to kiss my cheek, while Lilly just lays her head on my shoulder, looking back at the two pouting women by the door,
"This isn't fair she talked to Chloe all day the other day! They even napped together! Cynthia Rose had her all morning, we are trying not to overwhelm you but I miss you!" Stacie bumps out her bottom lip, but Amy is quick to push her to the side. She stumbles a bit with a squeal of disapproval, the blonde uncaring as she tries to position herself,
"Look at me I can be sexy and sad simultaneously too, pick me to walk you to the radio station." She makes fun of the succubus by mocking her pout, all while randomly touching pieces of her body and making... hilarious gestures and movements. I shake my head, brow quirking as I look them both over,
"How about all three of us go?" Lilly says something along the lines of needing to hack into the Pentagon... so I just lean my head against hers and she sighs contentedly. Chloe hooks her finger in the loop of my pants and gives me another kiss to the cheek, this one makes me blush,
"You're so sweet, thinking of us all the time." Is whispered against my ear, and I find my eyes roaming to look down her shirt... I mean in this proximity the low cut top is just... so open... ahem. Nodding I gulp hard, getting a knowing look from Stacie as I untangle myself from the duo and head for the door,
"Thanks for lunch! See you guys later!" I hear Cynthia Rose call out her goodbye from upstairs, "Legs, Ames, let's go or I'm gonna be late." The others bid me farewell one more time, the only voice I don't hear calling out, of course... is Aubrey's.
Time at the radio station was quiet, Jesse tried his best to flirt with me, lifting funny pictures of old records over his head in an attempt to make me laugh. It almost worked, then he would move it away and the hilarity ended. He's been doing this flirting thing just about every time we meet, and I decided now would be the best time to let him down easy,
"So here's the thing..." I start, and his expression lifts excitedly, who knew I could have such an effect on people, "I'm into women, exclusively..." I almost set my hand on the desk... you know which one, before I cringe back swiftly, "And I don't want to be presumptuous but considering I've been on the receiving end of your flirting all week I thought I would make things clear... for you." I get a little awkward there at the end, I like Jesse and he really does make me laugh, but he's just not my type. His hand lifts to hold his chin as his brows pull into contemplation,
"You know what, it's all good, I'll just need to fill out the other application." I blink once... twice... then tilt my head,
"Other... application?" My eyes don't know where to land, observing him now, he doesn't seem upset, or put off, just like he's relaxing,
"Oh yeah, you see I filled out the boyfriend application, apparently I mixed it up with the best friend application. So I'll need another form..." He cracks a smile, and I can't help but chuckle along with his lame joke,
"Alright, I'll get you the paperwork, but no foul-ups this time, you only get one copy." I point my finger and scold him almost like Aubrey might do to any one of the girls. His response is to lift a hand and mock salute to me, before we both bust out in laughter. It takes a minute to calm down, and suddenly Luke pops out of the DJ booth, asking Jesse to get him some lunch.
The silence of the quad is surprisingly unnerving, I thought perhaps I could get more studying done, maybe take a small nap, but it's just sort of weird. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, and there are people around, just not anyone paying any attention to me. So I pull my headphones on and just as I'm about to get back to writing my paper I see two shoes stop next to me. Looking up I suddenly find I wish I had taken advantage of the time I had,
"As much as I love spending time with you stacking CDs…and I do. I love it, like more than life. I figured we could do some other fun things that don't make us wanna kill ourselves, right?" I hear Jesse spout off, and I can almost feel someone bristling, that's odd...
*Yet not uncomfortable like it's bad? Look around... discreetly.* I let my eyes roam as I catch a juice pouch that is thrown at me, working through the straw... there. I spy Stacie, Chloe, and Aubrey a ways off, huddled closer as they try to pretend not to watch us, *So you can feel their reactions? Oh that's hilarious, I don't think they know they've been caught.* I can't help but grin, my attention fully back on Jesse,
"So, brought some movies. Jaws, E.T., The Breakfast Club, Star Wars and Rocky. Best scored and soundtracked movies of all time. That's what I wanna do when I grow up. I wanna score movies. Bring people to tears, you know. Blow their minds. I feel like only music can do that." I nod along as he has his shpeal moment, leaning on my hand as I look over the movies he has brought. My tongue flicks out to pull the straw of my juice pouch into my mouth, a bold move really, but he is unphased thankfully, though that burning jealousy aura I feel from the girls only gets larger,
"Yeah. You must really sweep your girlfriend off her feet." I comment with a chuckle, and he pushes me, his own laughter ringing out,
"I don't have a girlfriend!" He knows that I know, but we tease regardless, my sarcasm coming to the front,
"You have juice pouches and Rocky." My eyes widen as I drive home my point, but he only sticks his tongue out at me and continues,
"Okay, so what do you wanna watch first?" He reaches down to grasp one of the movies, but from their perspective it must really look like something else because the irritation that comes with jealousy flares up into my throat, making me take another drink of my juice. I continue to offer my ignorance, but the feeling of three sets of eyes on me is getting quite sweltering,
"Wanna do something else? We could relive my parents' divorce. Or visit a gynecologist..." I lift my brows, a smirk coming to play as I keep teasing him,
"What, do you not like movies or something? Like any movies? You don't…What the hell is wrong with you? How do you not like movies? Not liking movies is like not liking puppies." I just look at him for a while, chewing my bottom lip, to admit my distaste... or not,
"They're fine. I just get bored and never make it to the end." Rolling my eyes I give them a bit of a reprieve, though Jesse is having none of this as he swiftly throws his hands out to his sides,
"Endings are the best part." He declares, my eyes hooding a bit as I swiftly tear down his argument,
"They're predictable. Like, the guy gets the girl and that kid sees dead people and Darth Vader is Luke's father." His hand presses to his chest as though I've wounded him, and he leans in with a skeptical eye,
"Okay, right, so you just happen to guess the biggest cinematic reveal in history?" I laugh at this, and the easing of the girl's tension rises swiftly back to the surface,
"Vader in German means father. His name is literally Darth Father." I answered swiftly, the straw coming back to my lips as I puff out my cheeks, content with my winning the debate,
"Huh. So you know German. Well, now I know why you don't like fun things. You know, you need a movie education. You need a movie-cation. And I'm gonna give it to you." Both of my brows lift, sucking down the last of my juice as I give a small shake of my head,
"Yeah, in between Bellas rehearsals, which after SBT's are now... always." When his head lifts again a sparkle of mischief is in his eyes,
"Are you guys getting ready for the riff-off?" He knows he's got me now, that smile says it all, and his laughter as my face falls is abundant,
"What the hell is a riff-off?" I comment, not quite sure if I actually want to know. After his explanation I throw myself back on the grass, groaning loudly in protest. I let the girls minds wander a while longer before finally getting up to head out. Jesse of course, made me promise to watch at least one movie with him before the week is up. With a wave I headed the opposite direction of the still staring trio, honestly, a tad annoyed that they would feel the need to spy on me. I may be getting my memories back, and feelings along with that, but they have no right to act this way. What, do they think I'm going to up and take off with this guy?
*Even if they did think that, wouldn't it be best if they just talked to us about it? Isn't communication a thing anymore?* My sword huffs, just as annoyed as I am, and it only gets worse when I feel their aura's closing in on me. I wonder if they can feel the things I am, as smothered as I feel, all three of them unable to control themselves as the feeling closes in on me. My chest constricts a bit, and I look behind me, only spotting blowback hairs of three different shades... hiding from me. I feel the irritation rising further in my throat, and I tense hard, feeling the need to run. So I turn back towards where I know they are hiding and I stare, waiting as they slowly pop up, shame on their feature. Frowning deeply I growl low in my throat, turning again as I sprint off in the other direction, towards release, towards nothing. I must have taken them by surprise because I get away from them so quickly it's almost like they don't even try to follow, though I know from their shouts they do. At this moment I may have forgotten that I can run... ridiculously fast, and a breath later I'm in front of my house. Instead of stopping I shoot through the door, up the stairs, and into my room, dropping the bag on my bed as I barely stop. Turning on my heel I move to take off, only to slam right into Aubrey, of all people,
"Beca! Jeeze! What are you running from?" She acts like I hadn't seen them, trying to turn it on me, so I'm swift to push past her, "Come back!" I hear behind me, again nearly crashing into another body. Chloe Beale stands there with a pout,
"We just wanted to check on you..." She's the first admit they were there, and she seems ashamed, "I know it feels like a lot..." I lift my hand and shake my head hard,
"That's the thing, you don't know at all!" She is silent as I push past her as well, the last wall standing at the base of the stairs,
"We are sorry... stay and yell at us... that would be better than not getting to talk to you at all..." Stacie pleads quietly, and I have a small mental flashback of just how hard it is for Stace when I am mad at her, how hard it is for all of them. My stomach roils in irritation, but my compassionate side starts to shine through, feeling the wrinkles of anger smoothing from my feature. Cynthia Rose rounds the corner to see us all there, four sets of eyes turn to her and she lifts her hands,
"I told ya'll to leave her alone. Told you Becs needs time to breathe without all of us down her neck but did you listen?" Her eyes close and her hands rest on her hips, "We gonna go for a walk, ALONE, and if you make me use the force field then we will be gone longer, you need to control yourselves." At the end of her words, she gestures for me to come with her, and we leave behind quite the sour-looking trio.
Walking with Cynthia Rose around town was quite the adventure, she took me places I could not remember ever having been, made me try new food, and even let me buy her something for getting me out for a while. When we sit down to watch the sunset over some of the buildings, she finally decides to talk about it,
"You have always needed time, to process things, to decompress, that's why you started making those days where we all just had a good time with each other. You haven't really been able to just chill since you basically have to relearn everything, and it doesn't help that those three won't let you be for a while." I slurp my slushie, stealing one of her fries as we just look on towards the changing sky,
"It was just so much, to suddenly feel their emotions and know they didn't trust me enough to be out on my own for a couple of hours..." Her hand lifts at that, and she shakes her head,
"It's not that they don't trust you Becs, they are afraid. Fear makes people do ridiculous things, like spy on the girl they didn't get a chance with before, but praise be somehow might get a second one. Though after that stunt I'm not sure I would be wanting to give in so quickly either." She chuckles and rests her hand on my back, a comforting gesture between the two of us, "They don't want to lose you... again. So they don't know how else to handle it without being around you all the time." I agree to a certain extent, giving my hand a wiggle through the air,
"I'll have to talk to them about it when we get home, hopefully, we all have time." Chewing my bottom lip she brings the hand on my back up to clap against my shoulder,
"That's a good start, and when you all are on the same page, the house will calm much more I'm sure. Come on, we have to get to the riff-off." With a whine, I stand, tossing away our trash to the bin before dragging my feet behind her.
The abandoned pool is full of people, and as Cynthia Rose and I slide down the ladder we find the whole group surrounding us,
"We didn't know if you guys were ever going to show up!" Aubrey says just a pitch to high for comfort. Everyone around us suddenly tenses and we shuffle our way over as the roulette begins. Jesse tries to tease me but I blow him off easily, staying off to the side of the group as they have a time of their song choice. After the first group is 'cut off' as it were, I find myself getting into the music more as the girls battle it out with the guys. It's the last straw when Jesse starts singing to me, gesturing at me, I know I have to think quickly. Zooming through the girls and right in front of him, I start rapping so fast I don't think anyone knows the song I've chosen. Looking back at them I know this to be true, that is until the goober behind me tells me to keep singing. When I do Amy is the first to raise her eyebrows in recognition and join me, then the others slowly make their way in. As I see everyone in the pool joining in, even some of the Trebles, I can't help but smile. Too bad we lost, yeah, we lost, we were supposed to say 'it' and I said 'it's' so now we are being railed by Aubrey... again,
"Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong." My eyeroll is immediate, and I look around because I can't seem to catch anyone's eye right now,
"I'm gonna melt that cabbage patch kid." I hear Amy whisper behind me, this brings a smile to my face and a little more confidence in my words,
"Hey guys, what we just did was great, right?" I see a few of the girls go to nod, only to immediately halt at Aubrey snapping,
"Calm your pits Beca, we still lost." When my stormy blue eyes meet her emeralds, I stare at her a while too long,
"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome. We were actually listening to…" Her hand lifts and she interrupts me in such a way that I want to scream. It comes out as a scoff instead,
"Okay everybody, hands in. "Ahh" on my count." Our hands start to come together, and of course, Amy is the one to completely and utterly destroy the thought of this being easy,
"On three or after three?" That sets off a whole argument about which point we actually do it at, and in the end, everyone just sighs, Stacie's hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose,
"Why can't we figure this out?" I step back from the group, and a frustrated growl presses past my lips. Turning I see a group still sitting at the bottom of the pool, it was the group that was basically pushed out by the Trebles and Bellas going back and forth. I think there's a rule about it somewhere if they don't jump in after three songs they are automatically disqualified. Anyway, the odd thing is, they stand at the bottom of the pool just staring up at us, at our group,
"Uh... guys...?" I question softly, trying to pull them from their continuous bickering, it's slightly terrifying to watch as the group starts to move towards us, noticing that I've been watching now. I feel a heavy weight on my chest as they get closer and closer, my throat dry as I try again, "GUYS?!" I question louder, pulling the attention of the group, finally. They are quick to scramble to my side, the group of BU Harmonics descends upon us slowly, their eyes never leaving me as they approach, "Hey guys... what's up?" The frontman, 'Balogna Barb' I think is what they called her, steps forward, menacing smile firmly in place,
"Rebecca Mitchell, we are to take you to our leader this instant, any resistance will lead to death." Her voice doesn't sound at all like the one that had been singing out a tune maybe fifteen minutes ago, gargled and angry noises breaching her lips,
"That's not Barb..." I hear Chloe whisper, the entity snapping her hand out to grab my wrist. The searing heat that drives through my arm makes me cry out and suddenly the girl is forced away from me by Stacie, her wings whipping out to toss her like a doll. She rises, their facade no longer in place as black ooze drips from a cut in her forehead,
"ATTACK!" She screams, and I get my sword out Stacie grappling with one of the Harmonics while another charges for me. The two groups barrel into each other, matched person for person, but not move for move. The way they fight is lazy, slow... it won't be difficult to overtake them, but I don't want to cut down a person. I need to remember they aren't people... there are some innocents here though,
"AMY! Get the bystanders out of range!" I call out, the rest of my team fighting smoothly in their own little world. I see a bright light, and can't help but look around quickly, Chloe suddenly has glowing gold armor and a sword much like mine, only smaller. Aubrey has silver donning her body and an impressive white staff which she swings out. Stacie's body holds black armor, skimpy yet helpful I'm sure, her claws growing out larger and longer to slash away at anybody who comes near. Cynthia Rose carries a purple cloth robe, and backs up from the group a bit, staying in the rear as she pushes her empowering spells upon us. The effect is swift, our strength doubling to help us overcome these hellions without too much effort. I jab my sword into the heart of the one I was fighting and turn to find Barb charging straight for Aubrey. Everyone else seems preoccupied with taking care of the rest of the corruption soldiers, so I charge forward, jumping between Barb and Aubrey, but before I can so much as swing my weapon Lilly appears behind her, body donning flexible black leathers, the pair of daggers in her hands stabbing into both sides of the shocked Harmonic. Breathing deeply I look around at the mess that was made, Barbs hand grabbing my ankle as she slowly oozes from her wounds,
"He's coming for you... we may have been easy, but we learn every time we fight... and there was so much information to absorb this time... See you again very soon..." And with that, she hits the ground, the sudden heaviness that surrounded us gone. Pulling my leg from her grasp I roll her over, only to find the wounds are gone and she is breathing as though she merely sleeps. Chloe approaches slowly, her weapon and armor gone just as quick as it had come,
"They aren't dead... you created this enchantment of sorts that would only destroy the corruption within, not the person without... all of us would fight for you, but to kill people who were merely in the crosshairs was..." She swallows hard at this, everyone else slowly approaching us, "...so you made that, and now we don't harm those who didn't want a part in this." Her hand rests on my shoulder, my head nodding of its own accord,
"We need to get these people back to their dorms, everyone grabs a person, search them for their keys, and go drop them off. We will meet back at home, get cleaned up and rest, we have had a long week." Leaning down I grasp Barb's keys that had been jingling out of her pocket, hoisting her body over my shoulder before marching on my way without looking back at the group.