Ch 5
Getting off wrong
sorry bout the lack of capitalization and constantly changing the spelling of Stacies name. (got wordpad so grammatical mistakes never get fixed)
but anyway, i really hope you guys are getting into the story. dont be afraid to follow, comment, or favorite! ppleeease and thank you. it means a lot! and remember, just because a ship is mentioned or heavily implied doesnt necessarily mean it's endgame so bare with me hah
Saturdays can either be one of the best days of the week, or one of the worst. For the Monday to Friday nine to five' ers, Saturdays provide a day for relaxing and house work. For some, it's just another day of work. And yet, for others, Saturday's are the day you spend in bed puking from a Friday night party hangover. On this particular Saturday, just about all of Barden's a capella singers were experiencing the latter. Aca - initiation night had hit many of them hard. it was one of the first parties of the year, and no one held back.
Beca Mitchell was the exception. She didn't believe in drinking. For her, alcohol was to be reserved to one glass of wine at formal occasions only. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't one of those holy rollers who would damn you to hell for drinking. She had a past with the drink. It started when she was five. She and her parents were walking around their block, back when times were good for the family. She had seen a homeless man drunk on the side of the road and inquired why he looked so sad. Her parents explained that it was because he had let the drink get the better of him. Beca felt a great pity for the man, and the image of him slumped over in the alleyway stuck with her for years.
As she grew older, her parents grew apart. She would come home from school to find them fighting. Eventually it became an everyday occurrence. The screams and slams wouldn't bother her anymore. It took her till she was 13 to realize that she was seeing less and less of her parents. When she was 14 she learned that it was because her mother had turned to drinking, and her father had started seeing someone else. They were divorced before she was 15. Beca had hoped that the divorce would help her mother stop drinking. She could be free and not have to deal with the stress of the marriage anymore. However, it did just the opposite. She ended up going into a deep depression and was arrested for DUI. Beca hated seeing her mother like that. She would lay in bed, unable to sleep, wondering what she had done to make her parents so unhappy.
When her mother was released from prison, she went to see Beca immediately. She wanted to apologize for her actions. Beca considered asking her what she had done to make their marriage fail, but she was too scared to face the truth. Instead, she begged her mother to go to rehab and to get better. And she did, but the damage was still done. Beca never wanted to see anyone in so much pain and suffering again, and so she vowed to never drink, even just once.
So while the others were waking up that morning with headaches and poor spirits, Beca was waking up to a clear head, and one clingy red head. Chloe was still draped around her from the night before. Beca titled her head to look at the sleeping girl. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear gently. Chloe stirred slightly, and then rolled off of Beca and curled into a ball next to her. Beca sat up and smiled at her friend. Could she call her a friend? I mean, she'd busted into her shower, kidnapped her, and had to be rescued because she was so shitfaced. Truthfully, Beca didn't care. There was something about this girl that made her ignore all those things. Something that made her want to open up. But she knew it was too soon for her to do that. She couldn't take being hurt again,
She rubbed the sleep sand out of her eyes. ugh what time is - A presence on the other side of the room disturbed her thoughts.
"Um..hi kimmy."
Kimmy jin sat at her desk, hands folded, watching the other occupants closely. Her expression was unreadable. Beca forced a weak smile. Kimmy looked at Beca, then down at Chloe, and then at Beca again. Saying nothing, she rose from her chair and quietly left the room. Beca could have sworn she saw Kimmy smile as she was walking away.
okay then, kimmy just keeps getting weirder and weirder. where was i...oh time. 11:10. shit it's late."
Beca tapped Chloe lightly on the shoulder. There was no response. She tapped her again, this time a little more forcefully. Still nothing.
"Chloe!" She shoved her hard.
"mmmmmmm" Chloe grumbled. "Aubrey i don't want to get up."
Beca licked her lips and shifted uncomfortably. "umm..its Beca."
Chloe shot up and shook her head in confusion. She looked around the dorm room, eyes squinted. "I honestly have no idea how i got here." She confessed.
"You were really drunk and Amy had already had to take Aubrey home, so i figured i'd rescue you."
"Awww. thanks becs." Chloe said, still squinting. She rubbed her head and groaned.
Beca got up and opened the main draw on her desk. She shuffled through some papers before she found what she was looking for. She removed two advils and handed them to Chloe.
"I don't have any water, but i'm sure these will still help." she handed Chloe the advils, who promptly downed them.
"thank you."
"no problem."
Chloe smiled up at Beca. "Remind me that i owe you."
"Chloe it's fine. really,"
"No for real. i owe you lunch or dinner one of these days."
"it's really ok."
"Im gunna do it no matter what you say." Beca rolled her eyes and sighed "Fine fine. your right. You do owe me. So get ready. Your gunna have to pay the piper."
"your really something else." Her enchanting blue eyes sparkled with very word. "Hang on, i gotta call Aubrey and see if shes ok."
Chloe reached underneath the pillow and pulled out her phone. She dialed Aubrey's number. It only rang once before she had picked up.
"hey Bree. no calm down im fine. Becas. yah that Beca. She's the only one we know. still there. Saturday. "
Beca's eyes narrowed as she strained to hear Aubrey on the other side of the line unsuccessfully.
"CRAP I TOTALLY FORGOT." Chloe dropped her phone on the bed and gasped at Beca. "We have Bellas rehearsal at 12 :30!"
"You're kidding me." Beca rolled her eyes. Rehearsal was the last place she wanted to be right now.
"THERE IS NO KIDDING WHEN IT COMES TO REHEARSALS." Apparently, Chloe hadn't hung up before she dropped her phone.
Chloe shot up out of Beca's bed. "Oh my god i gotta get ready!" She took Beca's hands in hers. "Thank you so much for everything Becs, but i gotta run. I'll see you at rehearsal ok?"
"Uhh sure. Anytime." With that Chloe burst out the door.
Beca huffed out a breath, lips pursed to the side. As she got ready for rehearsal she wondered just what exactly she had gotten herself into. It was the first rehearsal of the year, but what did that mean? Would they spend an hour doing scales, or would they sit around and get to know each other? A good 20 scenarios ran through her head, but none were even close to how the rehearsal actually went.
It actually started off quite pleasantly. The girls socialized and looked at photos of the old Bellas. That all changed when rehearsal officially began. Aubrey was cracking the whip on those poor girls right from the start. They quickly learned that Aubrey didn't fuck around when it came to the Bellas, or the Bella oath. She proved that she was in fact dixie chick serious about it with the expulsion of both Kori and Mary Elise. Beca protested her actions, questioning if they were in fact necessary or not, but was quickly shot down.
The next three hours consisted of the basics. First, they learned to walk in heels. That took a good 30 minutes and almost caused some ankles to break before Aubrey moved on. She asked if anyone could beatbox, to which Amy responded that she was the best beat boxer in Tasmania with teeth. However, her repertoire consisted of whispering "dogs and cats and dogs and cats. wha what? ahhhhh explosion. all the animals are dead."
Needless to say Aubrey didn't approve. Stacie asked at least 10 times when lunch was, and Lilly kept mumbling something that no one could understand. Aubrey handed out the songslist of every song they had ever done, and Beca couldn't help but notice that there weren't any modern songs on it.
"We will begin with I saw the Sign."
Stacie smirked and Amy coughed. "not surprised"
Aubrey glared over at the two. Amy made the lock and key motion on her mouth, and handed the fake key to Stacie, who deposited it in her pants.
"Not gunna stay locked away down there now is it?" Amy asked.
Stacie smiled. "You'd be surprised. I can fit a lot safely in there."
Aubrey handed out the score sheets. "Today we will just work on choreography. Make sure to look at the song before tomorrow so when can try and put it all together."
Aubrey and Chloe did their best to demonstrate the choreography. Stacie needed some guiding on not being super sexual, which Chloe happily obliged on. She also took to demonstrating her ballet skills and nearly whacked Aubrey in the face. Amy was rather comedic in her approach to the moves. She added her own gestures and twerks where there weren't any. The once graceful moves were given a new life, but not necessarily the right life. Cynthia Rose actually had no problem learning the dance. She could see the steps once and remember them. It was recreating them as accurately that was the problem. She was all about that thug life. Finally there was Beca, poor uncoordinated Beca. The simplest choreography threw her for a spin. The girls were practicing the step where they make a simple square with their arms. Beca watched the other girls frantically trying to figure out the move, when she felt two soft hands slide down her arms.
"it's like this." Chloe whispered, pressing her body into Beca's back. She lightly interlocked their fingers as she guided Beca through the moves. Beca turned her head to look at Chloe, leaving their faces only centimeters apart. Vibrant blue eyes met stormy ones. Chloe smiled kindly and Beca's lips curved into a slight smile. She snapped back into reality when she noticed the other bellas staring from behind them. Fat Amy , Denise, and Jessica watched them closely. There was a look on their faces that Beca couldn't quite identify. It was like they were annoyed by what was going on, but also something else. It was almost like they were intrigued.
Beca shrugged it off and decided to play it off like she knew what she was doing. She couldn't let her bad-ass appearance falter. "I know. I know how to do it Chlo."
Chloe didn't release her grip, "I'm sure you do but lets just go through it one more time." She guided Beca through the motion again. Cynthia Rose made quiet mock kissing noises, earning laughs from the other onlookers.
Finally after three unsuccessful hours, Aubrey called the practice.
"Thank god i asked to go the the bathroom three hours ago." Lilly mumbled.
Aubrey turned to her. "nothing. i hear nothing." She gathered the girls and explained to them that they would keep rehearsing for a gig next week. She was very visibly stressed. She needed the Bellas, not the circus. These girls weren't ready, and Aubrey didn't think they ever would be. They couldn't even get the traditional 1, 2, AHHHH correct. At least Amy was enthusiastic about it. Before the girls left, she had one more bone to pick.
"oh Beca a word?"
Beca turned offering a fake smile. "Whats up?"
Chloe stood on the far side by the piano pretending to talk to Ashley but watching the interaction.
"You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the fall mixer." i can't have my bellas looking like hooligans in public. Aubrey thought to herself.
"You really don't like me do you?" understatement of the century.
"I don't like your attitude."
"You don't even know me." Beca challenged.
"I know you have a toner. For Jesse." and its breaking my best friends heart.
Beca looked on in disbelief. "A what?!" Beca wasn't sure exactly what Aubrey had been implying, but she knew that whatever it was it probably wasn't good.
"A toner." Beca still looked confused. dumbass. Aubrey elaborated. "A musical boner. I saw it. At hood night." She glanced down at Beca's waist. "Its distracting."
Beca responded with her typical attitude, which only succeeded in further aggravating the blonde captain. "ah thats not a thing and your not the boss of me so.."
the funny thing was that in this case, Aubrey was the boss of Beca, and her not accepting that drove Aubrey off the edge.
"You took an oath."
"That oath cost you two other girls today. I'm pretty sure you need me more than i need you."
Aubrey searched for words but none came. Beca smirked and turned away, knowing she had won the argument.
"I can see your toner through those jeans!"
Beca turned back around and gestured towards her center. 'That's my dick!" wouldn't be surprised.
Chloe sauntered her way over to Aubrey and tried to assure her that it would all be ok. Meanwhile, Beca met up with Stacie at the doorway.
"Did you catch any of that?" She asked. Stacie nodded.
Beca sighed as they exited the gym. "I got off all wrong."
Stacie shrugged. "Been there before. Sometimes it's just better to fake it till ya make it."
Beca stopped walking, face twisted in horror. "I...thats not what i...i...thats not what i meant."
XXXXXXX PP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Jesse why are you crying?"
Beca had been minding her own business stacking cd's at the radio station when she realized that something was missing. Jesse wasn't there aggressively flirting with her. She wasn't sure she wanted to admit it, but she was not ok with this. She went searching for him. She expected to find him zonked out somewhere on the second floor. Instead what she found was Jessie, faced buried in his hoodie, sobbing over an Ipad.
"Because Beca. Do you hear the people sing?"
Beca squinted at him. "Dude what?"
"Singing the song of angry men." He stared at her, tears still falling.
"I don't hear anything except you talking nonsense."
"This is the music of the people who will not be slaves again." He stood dramatically, placing the Ipad down.
He began to sing, "When the beating of your heart, echos the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start, when tomorrow comes!"
Beca widened her eyes and took a step back. He rushed up to her and stared intently into her eyes. "Will you join in our crusade?" he sang.
He turned around as if there were other people in the room. "Who will be strong and stand with me?" Pointing to the booth he continued, "Beyond that barricade is there a world you long to see?"
He turned back to Beca, "then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free!" He threw his fist into the air.
"Come one beca!" he looked expectantly.
She continued to gawk at him. "I'm sorry, i didn't realize we were planning a revolution. Let me go get the cannons and rifles for you."
jesse's jaw dropped. "Oh come on." he pleaded.
"What?"
"Do you hear the people sing? you don't recognize that song? It's the song that built a revolution! and got a little boy killed."
"Sounds like a great tune." She said sarcastically.
"Les miserables?" He prompted, trying to jog her memory.
"How could you tell."
Jesse face palmed. "For goodness sake you dont know Les miserables?"
She shook her head no. "Did you really expect me to?"
He sighed and shook his head disapprovingly. "You won't be getting away with this one Mitchell."
Beca grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back downstairs. "Come on. We have shit to stack."
That night, as she fell asleep, she found herself quietly humming and realized, she did indeed hear the people sing.