2013

Beca Mitchell could name a lot of things she liked. She liked playing soccer and basketball with Jesse, listening to music, sleeping etc. But the one thing she truly detested was athletic camp.

After noticing her keen ability and increased interest in sports, her parents mentioned that, if she wanted, she could participate in the activities the camp was providing.

The camp itself wasn't a traditional summer camp either. The "campers" didn't live on the campgrounds but were instead dropped off and picked up by their parents each day.

Beca made friends with the other kids in her group and at the end of each week she would email Jesse, who was spending his summer in Tennessee, updates on how camp was going.

To Jesse

From Beca

Subject Title: Camp Life

"Dude. This place literally SUCKS. Like, you would think that for a sports camp they would let you pick which sport you want to play but NOOO. WE'VE BEEN PLAYING SOFTBALL FOR THE PAST 2 WEEKS!! I FREAKING HATE SOFTBALL!! But anyways I made some friends here so that's fun I guess. My groups pretty cool. This one guy, Alex, he swims and plays rugby which is basically like soccer but you use your hands. Weird, I know. And then there's Mj who plays basketball and soccer like me and you. She's seems pretty chill, I think you'd like her. There's one girl Stacie who plays volleyball. She technically isn't in our group but she's cool and invited us to her house to hang out and play video games. And the crazy thing is, all these kids are from around here but I've never seen them before. They must go to the other school. But yea that's me sooooo...I hope your cousins haven't killed you yet and that you get back soon so you can meet these weirdos."

Hanging out at Stacie's house was...different to say the least. After their day at camp, Beca and her newfound friends would usually hang out together, but Stacie's house just always gave off a good vibe. They would play video games, watch TV, play sports, and just hang out. Stacie's family had a large entertainment room as well as a huge backyard so it was easy for the gang to find something that would keep them occupied.

One day they decided to race bracket-style, one versus one with the winners of each round facing off against each other until the winner was determined.

They were sat about in Stacie's room, preparing themselves for the race. Stacie was creating the bracket on an old whiteboard she had when she was a child.

"Oh god, I hope I don't have to race Alex," Mj said to herself wearily as she paced around.

"Wait Stacie, how are we gonna do this with an odd number of people?" Beca asked, pausing her conversation with Jesse and Alex.

Jesse had returned from his small vacation a few weeks before and was introduced by Beca to the others who seemed more than happy to welcome him into their group.

They all look at each other. Mj let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh I forgot to tell you guys. There's a girl from our school who lives down the street. She's a dancer/cheerleader named Chloe and I'm sure she'd want to race with us," Stacie replied before turning her attention back to the board

There was a small collection of 'ohs' that could be heard throughout the room.

"Chloe's cool guys, don't worry about it," Stacie assures them before stepping to the side of the small whiteboard. "Ok these are the rounds and who's going against who and all that good stuff. First up we have Alex and Beca. Then Jesse and Mj. And finally me and Chloe."

"YES! You're ass is so getting owned Swanson!" Mj exclaimed, clearly ecstatic by her luck.

"I say winner get ice cream that the losers have to buy for them," Jesse says.

"I'm down with that," Beca agreed.

"Don't be so sure of yourself Bec because you're gonna lose our match. I'm like the Flash," Alex said dramatically.

"Yeah but lamer," Mj muttered.

The group, except for Alex, erupted in laughter.

"All right guys let's go convince Chloe to do this race so the Flash can get his ice cream," Stacie says in between giggles.

They made their way down the street to Chloe's house.

"Why am I in the front? Where's Stacie at?" Beca said turning around before they approached the door.

"She had to run back to get the board. Just knock on the door and ask if she wants to race with us down the street," Jesse replied.

Rolling her eyes, Beca hesitantly approached the door before looking back at her friends. Taking a deep breath, Beca quickly pressed the doorbell.

"Coming!" said a sweet voice from inside. She could hear a dog barking through the door. She looked back at her friends. Mj gave her a thumbs-up and Beca smiled slightly before turning back to the door just in time to see it opening.

"Hi!" a girl said in a voice that was a clearer version of the one Beca heard previously. As she looked at the girl she couldn't help but notice that she was really pretty. The girl's red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her bright blue eyes seem to bore into Beca's soul. She got butterflies in her stomach as the girl smiled brightly at her.

Shaking off these feeling, Beca started shyly with, "Hi...we're umm...we're looking for Chloe? Umm we're friends with Stacie and we were wondering if you wanted to race down the street with us. We're have a ummm ummm tournament type thing where the winner gets ice cream the losers buy for them."

The girl look at Beca's for a second, then looked past her shoulder and spotted the rest of their group who had quietly approached Beca.

"Well my name's Chloe and I'll race you guys for ice cream. I just have to gk ask my mom first. Be right back," she said quickly before turning back into her house.

"Well that went ok, I think?" Beca said, still trying to shake off the weird emotions that Chloe brought upon her.

Just then, Stacie returned, whiteboard in tow. "Let's do this."

"So your name's Beca?" Chloe said.

Beca looked to her right. She had been walking farther ahead than the rest of the group as they made their way to the ice cream shop. Surprisingly, Beca had managed to beat Alex and the rest of them, dubbing her the winner of their competition.

"You know, I knew Mj and Alex and Stacie, but I didn't know you two," she said gesturing to her and Jesse, who was trying to do cartwheels in the street with Alex.

"Yeah, we go to a different school than you guys. I met Mj, Alex, and Stacie earlier this summer at our sports camp thing," Beca said offhandedly.

As they made their way to the ice cream shop, Beca and Chloe chatted about random topics. Beca truly enjoyed her time spent with Chloe and was sad to see her go back home.

Present Day

"Chloe Beale?" Beca said to herself. Sighing, she made her way over to Chloe's lab station.

"Oh, hey Beca," Chloe said, smiling politely.

"Hi," Beca replied smiling at Chloe before saying, "it appears that we are lab partners. So...," she ended slightly awkward.

Chloe's features seemed to brighten up upon hear this information. "Awes. I'm honestly glad we're partners because some of the people in this class aren't...the most motivated," she said chuckling quietly as she moved her bag from the chair next to her.

Beca chuckled with her before sitting in the chair. They looked at each other before Chloe asked Beca, "So how are you?"

Before she could replied to the question, however, Mr. Russo spoke.

"Alright class, before I make the official seating chart, is everyone where they would like to be? There should only be two pairs at each lab table, four people at one table at most."

"I've been good. Just really busy with basketball and soccer, you know?" Beca replied, slightly shrugging her shoulders. She had that same unidentifiable feeling in her chest that she did when she first met Chloe. "How about you?"

"I've been good too. Same thing though, busy with cheer and school, you know?" she said winking at Beca before turnkng back to face Mr. Russo as he explained the project.

Beca fought back the blush threatening to appear on her face. She wondered if Chloe could feel the weird tension between the two of them. It seemed to be the only thing Beca could focus on. They were sat close enough that Beca could smell Chloe's perfume.

She tried to focus on other things that weren't Chloe. There weren't that many students in this class, 16 kids including herself. She attempted to get Mj's attention, but she was being a good student and paying attention to the lab run-down Mr. Russo was giving. When Mr. Russo wasn't talking, she was talking quietly with Cameron. Beca looked at the clock.

12:49

Only one more class after this Mitchell, 6 more minutes. She stared off into space not thinking about anything in particular when Chloe bumped her knee slightly. She snapped outout her trance and looked at Chloe, who appeared still be listening to Mr. Russo. But as she looked down at the desk, she noticed a folded piece of paper that hadn't been there before. She looked at Chloe again, but her face remained impassive.

Opening the note, Beca read over it.

You should give me your number. for the project/lab report.

-CB

Beca smirked before writing out her number on the paper and discreetly passing it back to Chloe's side of the table.

The bell rang signaling the end of class.

"Alright class we will begin dissections next time," Mr. Russo said as the students filed out the classroom.

"I'll see you around Beca," Chloe said smiling slightly before leaving.

Beca stayed behind to wait for Mj who was packing her bag. She watched Cameron and Mj embrace before she left the classroom too.

"Dude. Dude. DUDE! I got this in the bag for sure! I mean did you see that hug? That was a lover's hug, dude, I'm telling you! This plan is going so smoothly!" Mj said, excitement evident in her voice as they walked to English class.

Beca, however, stayed silent as Mj rambled on, her thoughts focused on a certain redhead.