The first week of Beca's Sophomore year

Beca had never been one to hoard items out of sentimentality and she had never been more grateful; moving into her new dorm room took under an hour and gave her the chance to take a nap before her boisterous friend arrived. Beca's dad had insisted on "helping" her move her stuff the five minute walk from her old from to the new one, but as soon as Beca had finished putting her things where she wanted them she pushed him out and heaved a sigh of relief. The two's relationship had significantly improved over her freshmen year but that didn't mean that Beca's was willing to spend any more time with the man than she had to. There really wasn't much to talk about with someone who things teaching comparative literature to apathetic college students for a living is a meaningful profession. The obvious disdain in her aspirations of DJing definitely didn't help things. But the pair were able to spend the odd hour together every second week or so without too many arguments arising.

Beca had barely put her head on the pillow when she felt herself being crushed and unable to breath.

"Shawshank!"

"Hmphh"

Beca couldn't get a single coherent word out as her larger than life Australian roommate was currently lying on top of her, pushing her petite frame deep into the mattress. The pair swiftly caught up on their summer, no mention of Jesse, before they ran out of the dorm. It was time for the activities fair, something Beca had tried her best to avoid.

"Is this really necessary? Like people won't want to join if I'm scowling at them so I might as well just stay home."

"Awhh who's a grumpy shortstack. You're such a grumpy shortstack. And nope you're not avoiding this cause if the freshmen have to be amazed by my sexy ass then they will need you to keep them from swooning."

"Fat Amy! I'm not a baby. And why are all the freshmen lesbians all of a sudden? Cause I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"Could've fooled me Shawshank. You've been pretty whiney so… Why would they be lesbians? Anyone can appreciate my hotness, it's not a sexual thing just a bonus of having eyes and good taste. Like this one time…"

Beca zoned out, not quite mentally prepared for another one of Fat Amy's incredibly far-fetched stories that she would rather not know were true. She took her phone out quickly and texted the only person she knew would give her some sympathy. If she replied that is, Beca didn't want to push her relationship with Chloe but she figured a few casual text conversations could help speed things along and get them back to normal as soon as possible.

Beca: Hey Chlo. You've probably memorised the Barden calendar, but today is the activities fair. What's a good way for me to get out of it? Could you get Posen to terrify freshmen instead? Not feeling the need to take charge, like at all. Miss you

"Who are you texting? Mysterious boyfriend? Ooh you're blushing… I'm definitely right! Why didn't you tell me? How hot is he. If he's fine you better share just saying."

"Fat Amy you can't share boyfriends, like I'm pretty share that's not a thing. Also I'm not texting a mysterious boyfriend so It's kinda irrelevant. I.. uhh… I was texting Chloe."

A rare silence followed, Fat Amy unsure how to respond. None of the Bellas, other than Aubrey, knew the reason for Chloe's disappearance or where she had gone. Although Fat Amy was more astute than she was given credit for, so was well aware of Chloe's feelings for Beca and suspected that her grumpy roommate was the cause of Chloe's departure, and that she would be completely oblivious of what she thought was an obvious face. Fat Amy knew that pushing Beca and teasing her relentlessly, although incredibly fun and entertaining, was not the way to handle this situation. Eventually shortstack would figure out that she had a big ol' toner for a certain redhead, but in the meantime she wanted to find out where things stood between the two girls so that she could report back to the other Bellas and they could hatch a plan for the reconciliation and hopeful "adult" ending.

"How's ginger doing these days? I miss her, and she makes you less grumpy."

"I'm not that grumpy, I think the word you're looking for is badass, or whatever. She's teaching kids how to sing and read music in Zambia."

It took the two the rest of the journey to the activities fair for Beca to catch Fat Amy up on Chloe's activities. As the new captain of the Bellas, Beca had to stay at the activities fair all day, with different Bellas switching in to join her throughout. The first shift was Fat Amy and Beca, the latter still grumbling about the fact she'd had no say in becoming captain. As the latest winners of the ICCAs, the Bellas' stand had a lot of freshmen signing up for auditions, to Beca's chagrin, she figured the more people auditioned the longer she would have to sit and listen to the majority of them crucify a perfectly good song. What Beca was completely unaware of was the looks she was getting from a fair amount of the student body, some out of the acapella circle. The acapella enthusiasts looked at Beca with something that resembled awe, at the girl who had quickly gained a degree of notoriety for dragging the Bellas into the twenty first century as a mere freshmen.

The non-acapella students interest in Beca was far more superficial; Beca had always been attractive, but somehow this summer there was something different about her. Beca had an aura that had started to draw people to her, and the ear monstrosities had been switched out to softer jewellery and the eye liner reduced a little, making her more approachable than before. Her whole vibe screamed apathy and borderline disdain, something that made more college students want to figure out, and be the exception to. This was the case for freshmen Daisy Williams. Thanks to her Norwegian ancestry, Daisy had natural platinum blonde hair, rich brown eyes, prominent cheekbones and a delicate frame. She was the type of girl who had guys and girls alike lusting over, her genuine personality making many of them fall for her. Daisy wasn't arrogant by any means, but she was certainly used to people responding to positively to her. Daisy had always loved singing and was keen to meet other likeminded girls, so it made perfect sense for her to try acapella and join one of the groups at Barden. She had read about them all before going to the fair so that she could make sure she joined the group that she was the best fit for. The Barden Bellas had been an incredibly appealing option in the activities fair pack. ICCA champions was a very impressive accomplishment and Daisy had already heard about their enigmatic leader who had taken charge in her freshmen year and made sure the Bellas succeeded. Daisy had been very curious about her, and was very excited to meet her. She spotted the Bellas' stand and approached nervously. The first thing Daisy noticed was one of the most attractive girls she had ever seen. It wasn't just her physical appearance, but there was just something about her that made Daisy want to learn everything about her. This girl was clearly engrossed in something else, focusing solely on typing on her phone, completely unaware of the freshmen standing in front of her.

"Shawshank?" This was spoken by a large blonde girl and looked like it was addressed to the girl Daisy was staring at, in what she hoped wasn't a creepy way. She thought maybe Shawshank was a nickname, but seemed like a very odd choice. And it definitely didn't seem to fit the beautiful brunette that in front of her. Maybe there was a story behind it, or perhaps the girl just really liked the movie Shawshank Redemption. Daisy was snapped out of her reverie when mysterious girl started to speak.

"Huh? What is it Fat Amy?

"There's another freshmen here."

"Oh.. Right."

The girl looked up, staring directly at Daisy with deep blue eyes that felt like they were staring into her soul.

"Are you looking to audition for the Bellas?

"I… uh… yeah… I love singing." Daisy cringed, she sounded so awkward and the girl probably hated her already. The figured she should probably elaborate a little and fill the awkward silence.

"I'm Daisy, I'm new here."

"Yeah I figured. You look like a freshmen. Beca."

Daisy's stomach dropped a little at this. Did she look young? Was she being immature? This girl… Beca, was making her doubt herself in a way she never had before. Beca definitely didn't like her, her answers were nearly exclusively monosyllabic and as short as possible. Daisy hoped that maybe she would be able to make Beca come around if you got into the bellas.

"Umm, do I sign up here?"

"Yep—" Beca's phone started to ring, she glanced at it. Once she saw the name of whoever was calling her whole demeanour changed. Her face lit up and her eyes sparked with anticipation. Daisy stood there awkwardly while Beca answered the phone, curious about the person who could evoke such a strong reaction in the enigmatic girl.

"Chlo?" Beca laughed, a melodic sound that was completely different to the abrupt and slightly sharp responses that she had given to Daisy. Beca was smiling to herself as she listened to the person speaking on the phone.

"Ugh yeah it's the worst. There are so many freshmen that just love singing and want to be a Bella and join a sisterhood or whatever. Like why? Synchronised lady dancing really isn't that great…"

"You know full well why I joined. You would have hunted me down, or forced me to sing titanium again." At that remark Beca started to blush, her cheeks suddenly crimson and her previously cool and unaffected demeanour had shattered. Beca was flustered, and it was adorable. Daisy was desperate to learn how she could make Beca react to her that way.

"You heard what?"

"I am not mysterious. I just like privacy and avoid human interaction."

"You didn't let me avoid you, that's different."

"Yeah I still have a few hours stuck here, then it's my shift at the station."

"There's one here now."

"Yeah, I know. I'll get back to it now."

"I could call you for longer later?"

"Bye Chlo, love you."

Beca uttered that last line so casually that Daisy was trying to figure out who this Chlo was, and what she meant to Beca. The girl didn't seem like the type to say she loved anyone casually, so this person must mean a lot to her.

"Who was that?" Daisy blurted it out before she could stop herself.

"Her other best friend." The blond girl responded for Beca. Daisy felt herself relax at this.

"Oh, uh that's nice?" Great, super awkward reply Daisy. She cringed to herself.

"Yep. Here's the sign up sheet, see you at auditions." Beca's utterance to her was short and was definitely her cue to leave. Daisy signed up and walked away in a daze, wrapped up in what she had learned so far about Beca. Daisy had never been interested in girls in any way beyond platonic friendship before, but she knew that her feelings about Beca were certainly not limited to wanting a potential friendship. And that thought was terrifying.

"Ooh looks like someone's got a crush." Fat Amy sounded amused at herself as she grinned mischievously at Beca.

"What? Who?" Beca was genuinely perplexed at this as she had only spoken to freshmen all day. And her phone call with Chloe had been far too brief, and certainly not what Fat Amy would be referring to.

"That girl who just left, Daisy. She had a big ol' toner for you."

Beca snorted at this, finding it absurd that girl would see her that way. Beca had tried to keep the interaction as short as possible and probably come across as being mean, bitchy etc. Beca wasn't concerned about this, she just noted that she hadn't exactly been friendly.

"No seriously shortstack, she kept staring at you. And she hovered."

"I think you're seeing things Fat Amy."

"If you say so…"

The rest of the day passed without any eventful occurrences, just more signups and a multitude of eye rolls from Beca.

Beca spent the next few days moving between her bed, Jesse's dorm and the radio station. She made sure to spend time with the other Bellas as much as possible too, Beca hated to admit it but she had really missed them over the summer, particularly Fat Amy and Stacie. She had even been getting coffee with the pair daily, with Jesse joking that she was dating them rather than him. Beca had laughed but was also well aware that he wasn't entirely wrong with his observations, as she had been doing a stellar job of avoiding him since the start of the semester. It's not that she didn't like him anymore, but Beca just wasn't sure what to say to him now that she knew she was thinking about a certain redhead every time she got "intimate" with Jesse.

Beca knew she wasn't being fair to Jesse. She had to break up with him, but finding the right time was proving to be far more difficult than she had anticipated.