Chapter 12: Camp Posen
"Up and at em ladies! Let's go! Let's go!" Aubrey clapped her hands as she waited outside the bus steps for all the sleepy Bellas. It was 7am and the drive had already taken well over the hour Aubrey promised. Most of them were barely functioning. Chloe and Beca got out of their seats and bumped into each other.
"Excuse you." Beca mumbled.
"Excuse you, too." Chloe gave her a little shove.
"Touch me again, see what happens." Beca shot a warning finger behind her at Chloe.
"You wish I'd touch you again." Chloe's eyes narrowed as she whispered in Beca's ear. She grinned smugly when she saw the look on Beca's face before she spun around and exited the bus.
Once the bellas were lined up, Aubrey started marching in front of them like she was a sergeant in the army and they were her fresh recruits. Thankfully, a tall blonde who looked like the muscular male version of Aubrey came to their rescue.
"Ahh, Aubrey." He came and put his arm around her to interrupt her speech. "You haven't changed a bit." She couldn't suppress her wide smile and wrapped him in a hug.
"Hey, Uncle Chris."
"So, ladies. Much to Aubrey's disappointment, this is not a boot camp. We're a high end campsite that has some luxury amenities for our higher paying customers if you know of anyone needing our services." He gave a wink, sneaking a little salesmanship in. "I hope to give you some measure of relaxation as you try to work out the issues you've been having as a group. We have team building exercises, cabins with 2 bunk beds per room, two swimming pools, 2 tennis courts, a lake safe for swimming, fishing, and other group activities, and I have personally set aside some time slots at the theater building for you to have your infamous bella rehearsals I've heard about. Since my niece has helped out here every summer and knows her way around, I've allowed to be in charge of your experience here. So please don't hold that against me." He gave Aubrey a little squeeze when she rolled her eyes. "I'm Chris Posen, and my office is located in the building directly behind me if you need anything or Aubrey abuses you too much."
"Alright, thanks, Uncle Chris." Aubrey gestured him away with a tight smile. He gave her a wink and then mouthed 'good luck' to the rest of the bellas.
"Now, ignore all the fun things he filled your mind with. We are here for team building, rehearsing, eating, and sleeping."
"We can't have like a couple hours of freetime, captain?" Fat Amy's voice was like a child's whine.
"You may have one hour of free time per day in between breakfast and team building. Curfew is 9:00pm. I will be checking your bunks personally. Speaking of which here are cabin and bunk assignments." She began handing out the keys.
"We're five years old now? Can't pick our own rooms?"
"You have yet to show me why you deserve that privilege." Aubrey handed her the key and envelope without making eye contact. Beca opened the envelope and muttered several curses under her breath.
"What was that, Mitchell?"
"Nothing, General Posen, sir." Beca stood in fake salute and smiled sarcastically. When Aubrey turned around she tossed a key to Chloe. "Here ya go, roomie." Chloe awkwardly caught her key and shot daggers into the back of Aubrey's head.
"Now, ladies, make your way to your cabins and unpack. I will give you thirty minutes before we meet by the lake for our first team building exercises. I'm sure some of you will be thrilled." She shot Chloe and Beca a mischievous grin.
Chloe and Beca unpacked in their cabin with Jessica and Ashley across the room giggling about one of their inside jokes.
"Do you want top or bottom?" Chloe tossed her bag at her feet.
"I'd thought you'd know the answer to that." Beca shot her a bitter grin similar to the look Chloe gave her on the bus.
"Don't be gross." Chloe narrowed her eyes.
"Bottom." Beca returned to seriousness. "If I fall out of the bed, I'd rather not get a concussion." Chloe just rolled her eyes and tossed a book on the pillow of the top bunk.
The Bellas lined up once again as the sun was starting to reach a blinding height. They all feared for the day ahead of them being left at the mercy of Aubrey and not a camp worker.
"Okay. Our team exercises will involve you being paired with a partner. We will be keep score and the winning duo at the end of the weekend will get a free voucher for an all inclusive stay at the camp to be cashed in within a year." Some of the bellas nodded in approval, seeming excited by that incentive.
Beca felt a sense of dread. She knew Aubrey was going to pair her with Chloe, she'd bet her life on it. What she never could've expected was what Aubrey pulled out of the duffle bag.
"Beca. Chloe. Since you're basically the reason we're here. You are paired. Here." She snapped a handcuff on Chloe's left wrist and Beca's right wrist. Before they could run, she snapped them in place.
"You've GOT to be kidding me." Beca flared.
"Listen. I know its unconventional but I've seen companies come here every summer for team building and they always leave feeling like they've accomplished something. And I've seen my mom lead many couples to reconciliation with her unique methods."
"We're not a couple!" Beca and Chloe shouted in unison.
"If you just try to have some faith in my process you'd be surprised how well it works. Now, if you genuinely try and do what I ask and you still hate each other when we get back to Barden, then you can fight all you want and I won't stop you. And I won't try to fix us for Nationals. Okay?"
Chloe couldn't help but feel guilty for the desperation in Aubrey's voice. She turned to Beca sincerely. "I'll try if you try."
"Fine." Beca shook her head and looked off in the distance. Jessica and Ashley were paired; Cynthia Rose and Stacie were paired, the two bellas that no one really knew much about (Jen and Heather)were paired, and Lilly and Fat Amy were paired.
"Kinky." Fat Amy held up her hand and winked at a stoic Lilly.
"Okay, girls. You are allowed to be uncuffed for meals, restroom breaks, rehearsals, and sleeping. Otherwise, cuffs stay on. Now. Follow me!" Aubrey lifted her arm and led them to their first activity.
"Alright, ladies, first stop is an obstacle course. It is the very basic one so it really should not be too challenging. We will time each pair and see how we do." When Aubrey turned around she gasped in mild horror. "Amy where is Lilly?!"
Amy looked at her handcuff that was no longer attached to her person. She started frantically looking around. "Boss, I'm literally just as surprised as you." Amy held up her hands in surrender. Aubrey huffed and simply attached herself to Amy.
"I will be Amy's new partner."
"Yayyyy meeee." Fat Amy raised her free hand in mock celebration.
Jessica and Ashley finished rapidly. They didn't fall in the water or mud and squealed when they reached the end. The odd duo out finished behind them, falling a few times. CR and Stacie also finished without any falls.
"We work good together, babe." CR winked and Stacie just rolled her eyes. Fat Amy purposefully fell a few times just to get Aubrey muddy, much to the delight of the bellas. It was Chloe and Beca up next, the last pair to try and beat Jessica and Ashley's time.
"Okay, let's do this." Beca's competitive nature took over. Thirty seconds in Beca had slipped on the log and pulled Chloe into the water making a splash in the small water hole. They both grunted and tried to yank the other one out to try again. They fell once more before making it to the next stage.
As they tried to get through the netting one by one without getting tangled they both grumbled and pulled on each other trying to force their way through.
"Hold on!" Beca shouted as she tried to get her foot free.
"Hurry up!" Chloe yanked her forward. Beca slipped through and awkwardly fell into Chloe. Next was the mud pit. There were stepping planks with just enough room for two people to stand and they had to carefully step to each one to get across. Chloe stepped first and Beca carefully stepped beside her. They were uncomfortably close and trying to avoid eye contact. Chloe rested a hand on Beca's hip to steady herself as she stepped to the next plank. Beca flinched and they both went crashing into the mud.
"Shit!" Chloe shook the mud out of her eyes.
"Forget the fun activities, this is entertainment enough for me." Stacie leaned back and watched the two struggle through the course with a wide grin. They fell a couple more times in the mud pit, which Chloe shouted that Beca was doing it on purpose. They finally finished, in easily last place. They shot each other angry stares muttering blames under their breath.
The rest of the day went similarly. Every activity Aubrey had them do ended with either Jessica/Ashley or Cynthia Rose/Stacie winning and Beca/Chloe in last. As they walked around the camp and performed different activities they would push and pull and stumble over one another like school kids. It was a relief when Aubrey finally announced it was lunch. As soon as the key popped the cuff open Beca and Chloe flew apart to get cleaned up.
During rehearsals, Aubrey tried to switch Stacie with Chloe which was an even bigger disaster than Chloe and Beca's disharmony. Stacie was taller and bigger than Chloe and as much as Beca tried she couldn't pull off the dance move with Stacie. She ended a few minutes early and dismissed the bellas to relax for a bit before curfew. Beca sat by herself on one of their piers by the lake. Chloe saw her when she came out of their cabin and thought briefly to go check on her. She could tell by the brunette's posture that she was just staring blankly out at the water, deep in thought. And her shoulders were slumped so she was probably feeling upset about something. A couple weeks ago she'd be sitting there with her. Hell, a couple weeks ago they would be killing the handcuff competition as well as bella rehearsals. She hesitated and then took a step to go talk to the isolated brunette when she bumped into Aubrey.
"You doing okay?" Aubrey asked, freshly showered.
"Yeah." Chloe nodded, wrapping herself with her own arms.
"I'm not trying to make you two miserable, you know? I've seen these methods work and I'm just hoping it works for us."
"Yeah, no I understand. Me too." Chloe glanced toward Beca before deciding to just go to bed early.
It was about midnight and Beca was tossing, turning, huffing, and puffing. Chloe's eyes widened in annoyance, unable to sleep with the restless girl below her. She yanked her covers and silently hopped off the top bunk.
"Beca." She whispered.
"Huh?" Beca's head spun to face the redhead standing right by her bed.
"Wanna go outside for a bit?"
"Why?" She sat up hesitantly.
"Because we can't sleep. I thought we could talk or maybe try to work on our dance section. You know, without everyone watching and making us nervous?"
"Fine." Beca stared suspiciously, opting for walking around the campground over sleepless minutes on an uncomfortable mattress. They both put on their sweaters and quietly snuck out, hoping not to wake up Jessica or Ashley.
They had walked out to the lake which was close to the cabins, in silence.
"So…" Beca started.
"I think our best shot at getting our routine down is to just pretend."
"Pretend?" Beca asked curiously.
"Pretend I'm not me. Pretend I'm someone you actually...like." Chloe swallowed, having difficulty getting the words out. "Or even someone you're indifferent about. You know the moves; I know the moves. We're only screwing up because of...whatever…"
"Yeah...yeah ok." Beca nodded. Chloe stepped into position and Beca followed her, closing her eyes, trying to imagine someone else. All she could picture was the Chloe before spring break, before the wedding, before…
Chloe pressed play on her phone and they started moving in the motions of the choreography Chloe had written up months ago. When it came to the spin, Beca still stumbled and let Chloe go, before she dropped her. Chloe didn't say anything, but just restarted the song on her phone.
"Again." Chloe walked back to Beca and stood in the starting position. Once again Beca messed up and her hands were in the wrong spot, making Chloe stumble awkwardly and accidentally hit Beca in the mouth.
"Sorry." Chloe said immediately, although it did feel a little nice to slap the girl who had been making her life miserable.
"Why is this so hard?" Beca put her hands on her head and started pacing. "Why is this so fucking hard?"
"You tell me." Chloe put her hands on her hips.
"I don't get what happened to us." Beca let out a deep breath and stared at the lake with her back to Chloe.
"You want the truth?" Chloe's voice was cold but firm. Beca didn't respond but just turned around to face the ginger. "We never should've hooked up at the wedding. I wanted it and I thought you did too, but clearly I was wrong. I never thought you'd ever look at me the way you have the past few weeks. Like you're disgusted by me or something. You treat me like shit when all I've ever been was a good friend to you. And I'm sorry I wanted more, Beca. I wouldn't have acted on it if I'd known you were going to turn into this terrible version of yourself. And its fine that you rejected me, I mean it hurt...hurt more than almost anything I've ever felt. But I do not deserve to be treated the way you've treated me. And the reason we keep messing up is because you can't get past some block that's in your head. I don't know if its because all you see when you see me is a drunken night you regret or if you just hate me so much now that you can't even perform a dance move that you used to be able to do in your sleep."
"I don't hate you." Beca looked down at her feet.
"Then stop acting like it!" Chloe turned her head away and took a deep breath. She refused to cry in front of Beca again. Beca stood still for a moment, thoughts swirling around in her head. There was so much she wanted to explain to Chloe. She had so many conflicting emotions and she had no idea how to vocalize them. But she knew she hated herself for putting Chloe through this. She just thought pushing away would make her problems go away, but it was only making everything worse.
How do I tell her I don't actually regret it? How do I say I was just scared of someone actually loving me back? How do I explain that all I could hear were the words of my pastor from church as a kid condemning me to hell if I liked girls? How do I accept myself if I want to actually be with a girl? How do I admit I'm gay...if I'm gay? How do I make her pain go away? How do I make the thoughts of wanting to kiss her again go away without pushing her away? And how the hell do I hold it together just to get through this damn routine? I can't let everyone down because I'm having a freaking identity crisis in my brain every fucking day! Beca's eyes darted around the grass as the thoughts flooded her brain. She wished she could say something to make things right with Chloe, but no words came. She just took a deep breath and nodded at Chloe's phone, "Let's try again. We can get this right."
"Fine." Chloe exhaled, wishing for a different response. She wanted an apology or explanation, or something. She wanted Beca to just talk to her like she used to. Instead she settled for starting the music again as they started practicing again.
After a few attempts, they were actually finding their wasn't perfect, but they were definitely getting better. There weren't anymore outbursts or angry comments the rest of the night they practiced.
Aubrey and her creepy Vulcan sleep-hearing were activated. She sleepily opened her eyes and peeked out the window to see Chloe and Beca working at getting their parts down. She smiled and let out a smug, "Hmm." She wasn't even a little bit angry that they had broken curfew by hours.
It neared one in the morning and Beca let out a yawn. "I think I'm ready to actually sleep now. Especially if we're going to be subjected to more Aubrey abuse."
"Good, me too." Chloe smirked and grabbed her phone. "I think we got better."
"Yeah." Beca nodded and they walked awkwardly back to the cabin. Before Beca opened the door she turned to look at Chloe and whispered, "I'm sorry I hurt you." And she scurried to her bed before Chloe could give her a response.
Aubrey was more than pleasantly surprised as the rest of the weekend progressed well. Chloe and Beca even won one of the team building competitions. Jessica and Ashley ended up winning the voucher. The bellas nearly collapsed in relief during their last rehearsal when the whole team actual got the moves down. Chloe and Beca even exchanged a relieved smile with each other.
"Wonderful work this weekend. Wonderful." Aubrey put a hand to her mouth. "I know I'm hard on you guys, but I do it because I care so much about our family. You exceeded my expectations this weekend, though. Now let's go home and get ready to kick some ass at nationals!"