First thing in the morning, Kacee texted Leah all about last night and her best friend was happy to hear that she'd restrained herself when presented with violence and she was proud of whatever Kacee had going on with Jesse even if neither girl wasn't quite sure exactly what it was yet.
Kacee didn't need Leah's blessing, but she felt better about the situation after telling someone who preferably was not a Bella.
Getting to work early, Kacee got started on building the Inception reel. She had finally earned the privilege of projectionist much to Derek's annoyance. And since she'd signed up for weekend afternoons, she got the peaceful and quiet shifts where there would be about a dozen people in the audience, maybe less since it was Sunday.
It wasn't until the film started going that she started to wonder where Jesse was. They never clarified the exact time or place and they didn't exchange numbers so Kacee was just going to wait for him when the film was over.
Kacee had seen Inception more times than she could count, so she knew the dull knocking was not diegetic to Saito's second layer.
Realizing it was the door to the booth, Kacee rushed to open it, hoping it wasn't Derek doing an impromptu check on her.
"I brought popcorn." It was Jesse and he was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt that fit him so perfectly, Kacee couldn't help but to check him out as she let him into the booth.
Kacee pulled up a stool for him next to hers in the tiny space next to the loud projector. Their proximity and the fact that they were going to have to talk a bit louder was already making this weird for her.
Jesse offered her some popcorn as he made himself comfortable, but she declined hoping he didn't find it rude.
It was Jesse, of course he didn't! "Top reason why you love Inception other than the music, go!"
She furrowed her brow at that. "Why other than the music?"
Jesse shrugged before nibbling on some popcorn. "To most, the music is a given."
Kacee couldn't believe his word choice. "To most? Are you the only person on the planet who doesn't like Hans Zimmer's work?"
Jesse kept his eyes glued to the screen, murmuring in response. "I like Hans Zimmer just fine. Just not his recent stuff."
Even with his mumbling, Kacee could hear everything he'd just said. "So by recently, you mean the Batman trilogy, every Pirates of the Caribbean film and the Sherlock Homes films?"
As sheepish as he was, Jesse continued to debate with Kacee. "In comparison to A League of Their Own, Lion King and Gladiator, those scores don't even come close."
It didn't matter how good looking he was at the moment, Kacee was getting awfully close to strangling the boy. "Ok, then who would you say is better than Hans himself?"
"John Williams. His career has been consistently badass since the 60's. That man is responsible for the chills you get whenever Darth Vader's on screen and for every tear you've ever shed during Harry Potter." All Kacee could do was shake her head. "How are we friends again?"
Jesse smiled at her before answering. "Because we are two mature adults with a common interest in film who will continue to respect each other despite differing opinions."
Kacee just glared at him wordlessly before holding her hand out for some popcorn. Jesse hesitantly gave her the bag before returning his attention to the psychological heist film. Dom had just met up with Eames when Jesse could feel something being thrown at him. Looking down at his lap, he knew he shouldn't have given Kacee that popcorn.
Turning to look at her, she feigned ignorance, trying to hardest to look innocent as she stared at the screen in front of her. "Sorry Kacee, but there's only two people I trust. One of them's me. The other's no longer you." Jesse recited before taking his bag of popcorn away from her.
She gawked at him before breaking out into laughter. "Did you- just quote- Con Air?" She made out between laughs and Jesse could do nothing, but smile at her.
Since Kacee was the only person who was willing to listen to Beca's mixes, Beca gave her every single track that she'd ever made and Kacee'd been listening to them nonstop to balance out the monstrosity of a mashup the Bellas had on repeat for months now. That's how she recognized remix to Bulletproof on the bus while she listened to the school radio via her ipod.
The song had long been off by the time Beca got on the bus, but Kacee wanted to give Beca her accolades anyway. "Congrats, Beca!" Kacee yelled when she took her seat, making all the girls jump. Beca smiled back at her for 1)Not realizing how loud she was talking and 2) Being the only person who cared about her song being played. The two girls high fived, oblivious to the glare Aubrey was giving them.
While stopping off at the gas station, through her headphones, Kacee heard a thump and then saw the treble coach bus speed past them.
"Did anyone hear that?" Kacee asked aloud, causing Beca to look at her incredulously while shaking her head no.
"I'VE JUST BEEN SHOT!" The girls took one look at each other before jumping off the bus to see what Fat Amy had been yelling about and if she was serious.
Beca, Cynthia Rose and Lily were the first ones out, Kacee trailing behind, surprised to see Amy covered in what looked like beans.
"Bumper threw a big ass burrito at me!" Now that was just playing dirty, no pun intended.
In the disgusting gas station bathroom, the four of them tried their hardest to get the stains out of Amy's shirt, but it just wasn't working. Luckily, she still had her blazer on the bus that would hide most of it. That meant no removal of clothes like last time which probably pleased Aubrey to no end.
Back on the bus, Kacee was plotting a way to get back at Bumper for his little prank. It had to be public and mortifying and he would deserve everything he had coming based on how shitty he treated Amy. Yes, they were on opposing teams, but they're from the same school and the trebles win every year, so why was he going out of his way to torture her?
But because of Chloe singing an annoyingly catchy song, Kacee's plotting of revenge was going to have to be put on hold. And she didn't even like Miley Cyrus.
"I hopped off the plane at L.A.X.
With a dream and my cardigan
Welcome to the land of fame excess,
Am I gonna fit in?
Jumped in the cab,
Here I am for the first time
Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign
This is all so crazy
Everybody seems so famous
My tummy's turnin' and I'm feelin' kinda home sick
Too much pressure and I'm nervous,
That's when the taxi man turned on the radio
And a Jay-Z song was on
And the Jay-Z song was on
And the Jay-Z song was on"
All the girls stopped singing and looked to Beca the only person who wasn't singing to join them in their spontaneous jam session. Chloe started the musical number and she had nodes. And if the rest of them got wrangled into that guilty pleasure of a song, then so was she.
"So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
I'm noddin' my head like yeah
I'm movin' my hips like yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
I know I'm gonna be OK
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah, it's a party in the USA"
But their party was cut short when they ran out of gas. In all honesty, it wasn't Amy's fault. It was mostly Bumper's fault for being an asshole and their fault for not remembering to fill the tank while Amy was being overdramatic about being hit with a burrito.
So Amy called Bumper for a lift and that's when Kacee realized that he liked her. The teasing, the taunting, the fact that he had her number and Amy was gorgeous with a lovely accent.
Getting on the boys' fancy coach bus, Kacee couldn't help but to compare Amy's situation to her own and she was jealous. Sure, Jesse never was cruel to her, but he never showed that he liked her either. He never went out of his way to get her attention, they've only hung out once and they never even exchanged numbers. Yes, Kacee was happy to not have ever been hit with a burrito, but at least Amy and Bumper talked and here Jesse was, sitting across from her not having said a word since they got on the bus.
She'd never even seen Lily speak to a treble before and there she was at the front of the bus, getting cozy with Donald!
It was just hiting her that their friendship was very hush hush. And not even just from Aubrey, from the trebles too and she knew for a fact they didn't have to make any stupid wolf pact when it came to girls.
If Bumper and Donald could openly talk to a Bella, then why couldn't he?
Backstage at the semifinals, Kacee chose to focus on their competition instead of whatever it was that she had going on with Jesse.
It was obvious that the Bellas weren't going to beat the footnotes with their usual routine, but that wasn't what was bothering Kacee. The longer she watched them, the more confused she became. The leader of the group seemed really familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on as to why.
The other Bellas were letting the performance get under their skin, but Kacee shrugged it off mumbling "I can do better footwork than that."
"Aca-huddle, now." Aubrey ordered. "The top two teams go to the finals, so we just have to beat one of them. If we do it exactly the way we rehearsed it, we will get there, ok? Exactly." She finished with a pointed look towards Amy.
Kacee knew they were doomed, the crowd loved the footnotes and they were definitely going to love the trebles. What they weren't going to love was the tired ass routine they were about to do.
And as they sang, Kacee could tell by the audience's reactions that her prediction was right and all these months, she'd been trying not to care about the competition, but she'd be damned if she didn't go down swinging.
Like an answer to her prayers, Beca had started belting the chorus to "Bulletproof" which matched perfectly with their flat medley. Kacee felt obliged to join her in belting it out. And while Aubrey was glaring daggers at the two of them, Kacee and Beca exchanged grins at their rebellion.
As soon as they were out of sight from the audience, Kacee pulled Beca into a hug, but their celebration was short lived when Aubrey rounded on them. "What the hell, Beca! Were you trying to screw us up?"
"Are you serious?" Beca retorted.
"Newsflash! This isn't the Beca show!" Aubrey harked and Kacee felt the need to put her in her place. "Excuse me, but I was singing Bulletproof with her and no, we were not trying to screw you up! Quite the opposite actually!"
"We're sorry that we messed you up, but it's like Kacee and I are the only ones with eyes. Did you see everyone pretty much dozed off during our set-" "It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it. Why don't you ask someone other than your fellow mutineer what they thought about your little improvisation." Aubrey snapped.
The rest of the girls avoided their eye contact, but Beca called Amy out anyways. "It was cool, but… it did take us a little bit by surprise…" she admitted and it wasn't even that bad of an opinion.
"Yeah, a lot by surprise! I told you not to talk to them at the activities fair because I knew they weren't Bella material." Aubrey spat at the duo, but Chloe tried to stop her.
"Aubrey, don't-" "No, that's ok. You don't have to pretend like you have a say in the group, right?" Beca asked, cutting Chloe off and Kacee couldn't help but to laugh.
"I don't know why you're laughing Kacee, when I know you've been talking shit behind my back since the semester started and you dress more like a boy than Cynthia Rose." Although that was true, Kacee knew that the only way Aubrey could've gotten that information was from Beca or her roommate, Stacie. And it was obvious now, which one wouldn't do that to her.
"And Beca, your attitude sucks, you're a grade A pain in my ass and I know you're hooking up with Jesse." If any form of contentedness was left on Kacee's face before that, it was gone now.
"Woah, woah, Aubrey calm down, we're not hooking up. I swear-" Jesse appeared trying to defend himself, but for some reason it pushed Beca to the edge. "Jesus Christ! That's perfect! Of course you're here right now! I don't need your help ok? Could you back off!"
Beca wouldn't be reacting like that if she was innocent and Jesse wouldn't have looked so heartbroken about it either.
Kacee tried her hardest not to cry. It wasn't like Beca or even Jesse were aware of her feelings, but that reasoning didn't make the pain go away. The two of them were integral parts of her college life and now unintentionally, they both just ruined it.