A/N: Just a heads up, adoption is mentioned in this chapter. I don't want to catch anyone off guard. As always, enjoy and let me know what you think :)
By the time they had finished their brunch and made their way over to the rehearsal space in order to set up, Chloe had managed to give herself a headache.
Just one of a few. No family too. Who am I?
No matter how many times she went over the riddle, she couldn't come up with an answer.
She was no expert on riddles, but she was sure they were supposed to make at least a little bit of sense. Just one of a few. That could be plenty of things.
Songs that Aubrey would actually allow the Bellas to sing. Days left to complete her Lit paper. The number of times Beca had let people touch her headphones.
No family too. It didn't exactly fit any of Chloe's previous thoughts.
She'd always known deep down that riddles were dumb. And now she had the proof.
Even if by some miracle she did find an answer, how was she supposed to know if it was the right one? The only person who knew had hung up on her, never to be heard from again.
Huffing in frustration, she dragged the last few chairs into position while Aubrey reviewed the whiteboard.
Apparently during her internal struggle with word play, Chloe had also managed to explain the situation thus far to Aubrey, who'd proceeded to document the night's events on the blank side of said whiteboard.
"Okay, you left the library around ten, which is the same time that Beca called. You then noticed someone following you. They continued to follow you until you were closer to the dorms, at which point they stopped at the bus shelter, and then… well, we saw the aftermath of what happened this morning." Aubrey summarized.
"Correct." Chloe nodded, taking a seat as she squinted at the whiteboard. Aubrey somehow managed to visually complicate this small amount of information.
"So basically, you know nothing." The blonde sighed.
"Her name might be Iris." Chloe offered, bristling slightly. It wasn't her fault she'd been given next to no information on whatever the hell was going on. "That's if whoever was on the other end of that phone call was using her actual name."
Personally, Chloe would have gone with code names, but that's just her.
"You've got her bag. Check for a driver's license; we can at least confirm her name." Aubrey commented, casually writing the dead girl's name on the whiteboard.
"Oh. Right." It was so simple; Chloe berated herself for not thinking of it sooner. It didn't take much digging around to find the license; the plastic card clearly visible in the bottom left side vinyl cover.
Eerily enough, in the same place Chloe kept hers.
"Iris Jones." Her voice wavered as her eyes bored into the grainy photo of the girl in question. If Chloe had blonde hair, they would have been completely identical. It left a sour taste in Chloe's mouth.
After correcting the name on the whiteboard and taking a peek over Chloe's shoulder, Aubrey seemed to agree.
"Oh my aca-gods. A twin then. An identical twin." It was a stretch, but how else could you explain someone having the exact same face as your best friend.
"A twin that was never even mentioned once?" Chloe scoffed. It didn't make sense. Her family didn't have secrets, everything was shared. Chloe could regale stories about her parents that no daughter should ever have knowledge of. Every party, every relationship and every problem the Beale children had ever had, had been shared with their parents.
It couldn't even be argued that the Beales hadn't wanted more children, and had somehow given a daughter away. Chloe's five other siblings were a testament to that. A big family had always been at the core of who they were. Every family gathering Chloe could remember had been held outside out of necessity. The extended family just couldn't fit into one house, let alone one room.
"Maybe you're adopted." Aubrey blurted out. Chloe recoiled, as if she'd been slapped.
"Excuse me?"
"It's the only logical explanation Chloe. This girl looks exactly like you." She pressed, sitting next to her friend.
"She's blonde." Chloe defended. There was no way they were twins. It wasn't possible. She'd know if she had a sister. Her parent's would have told her if she was adopted. They wouldn't hide something that big from her.
"You can dye hair Chloe." Aubrey countered.
"You're wrong. I'm not adopted. Mom… she would have told me." Chloe bit her bottom lip. "I… We all have red hair. The whole family. You've seen us. It's like a Weasley family reunion when we're all together. Except for Uncle Joe, but he's almost bald so it doesn't count. Red hair is a recessive gene. I'm their child Aubrey. I—"
"Chloe…"
"You're wrong. There's another explanation, there… there has to be. There are supposed to be seven other people in the world who look just like you, maybe we've just found one of mine." She was grasping at straws, she knew she was, but it was easier than dealing with the alternative.
"Chloe…" Aubrey tried again, but Chloe just shook her head, looking down at the license in her hand.
"January 30, 1993. She's almost eight months older. We're not twins." Her jaw was clenched; Aubrey just looked at her with sad eyes.
"Okay."
"I'm not adopted."
"Okay."
She took a shuddering breath, avoiding eye contact with Aubrey, instead choosing to read the other details of the license.
Female. Blonde hair and blue eyes. 5'4". Jacksonville, Florida.
Chloe closed her eyes. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could ignore the fact that Iris had a life out there somewhere, a life that she'd never return to.
She placed the license back in its rightful place, briefly scanning the contents of the purse. Coffee shop loyalty cards, credit cards and a few crumpled notes that looked like they'd hastily been shoved inside. There was also a picture, Iris with her arm around a younger boy. A brother maybe.
Chloe tossed the purse back into the bag. She didn't want to see any more of this woman's life, knowing she no longer existed; knowing that they shared a face.
"You should check that for other clues." Aubrey suggested, sounding almost eager, like she was enjoying this strange branch of private investigating.
"Maybe later." Delving into someone's life and picking it apart wasn't exactly high on Chloe's to do list. She still had a Russian Lit paper to finish after all. And with Aubrey's earlier comment, she was rebelling on principle.
"Chloe this is serious, what if—"
"I said later." Chloe wasn't having any of it; she didn't really want to hear what Aubrey had to say. Besides, the other Bellas were arriving.
"Would you just liste—"
And then a phone rang, cutting her off with Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
"Aubrey Posen." She answered the call, moving away from the group to allow for some privacy. Chloe took the opportunity to mingle with the Bellas and get her mind off of current events.
Stacie was showing off her latest nail art while Fat Amy entertained them all with one of her many Australian adventures, this one involving a python and a didgeridoo.
Beca was the last to arrive, making a bee-line for Chloe whilst muttering an apology for running late. Something about Luke and Jesse and wishing they would just drop their pants and measure instead of asking Beca to settle whatever their fragile masculinity was fixated on that week.
Chloe couldn't care less about tardiness though, the sight of the brunette improving her mood immediately. Holding up a finger to the girl, she quickly retrieved the to-go bag from on top of the piano where she'd left it, holding it out to the DJ upon her return.
"You always forget to eat breakfast when you have your Saturday shifts, so here. I didn't finish it at brunch this morning, so I saved it for you." Chloe practically beamed, while Beca inspected the baked goods.
"You ordered a muffin?" She asked.
"Technically Aubrey ordered it." Chloe pointed out with a grin on her face.
"You hate muffins." Beca eyed her with faux suspicion.
"No I don't."
"Yes you do. You think they're stupid because they don't even have icing, and I quote, what's the point. You hate muffins." Beca reiterated, smirk on her face.
"Okay, so I don't like muffins. But you do."
"This is a raspberry cheesecake muffin." Beca stated, her mouth slight agape after double checking the contents of the bag.
"I'm aware." Chloe beamed. "It's your favourite."
"Thanks, Beale." A lovely shade of red rose up Beca's neck as she looked down at her boots. Chloe just continued to smile at her.
That was until Aubrey made her way back over to the group.
"I'm uh, just going to go put this bag in the bin. I'll be back." Aubrey shot the brunette a look, but made no move to stop her.
"Chloe, I need to speak to you. Privately."
"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of everyone." Chloe challenged.
"Fine." Aubrey had had enough, apparently. "They want me to come down to the morgue so I can identify your body."
Chloe's mouth fell open. The rest of the Bellas wore a look of confusion.
Except for Lily, who just nodded solemnly like this was an everyday occurrence and no cause for alarm.
Beca had been happily picking apart her muffin with a smile on her face when Jesse came up behind her, poking her in the ribs.
"Becaw!"
Beca swung her free hand around to smack him in the arm.
"Jesse, what the fuck?"
"You had this dopey smile on your face, figured you'd want me to snap you out of it before your rep was ruined." He joked.
"Oh so you're stalking me now?"
"You wish. I was on my way to class, but then I saw the Beca Mitchell smiling for no apparent reason, so I had to investigate."
"You're an asshole. You'd be smiling too if you were eating an awesome muffin." To punctuate her statement, she shoved a large piece into her mouth.
"Oh, that's what it is? So it has nothing to do with your toner for a certain Bella woman?"
Beca glared. And continued eating her muffin. Who knew how much longer she'd have before returning to Aubrey's reign of terror? She was going to make the most of it.
"Where'd you even get the muffin anyway? There's no way you had enough time to get here on time and stop for a snack."
The flash of red on Beca's cheeks was enough of an answer, but she said the name anyway.
"Chloe."
"She brings you breakfast?"
"No, you idiot. She didn't finish it when she ate, and so she saved it for me."
"But Chloe hates muffins. They don't have icing." It was a fact Jesse had come to know by proxy, thanks to Beca's giant toner and all.
"That's what I said!"
"You know what this means, right?" He grinned.
"Jesse, no. Do not go there." Beca shook her head.
"C'mon Becs, stop denying it. She's totally into you."
"Jesse, no. None of this false hope crap. She's my best friend, other than you before you start whining about it, and that's enough for now. Just drop it okay." She took another bite, figuring she couldn't put her foot in her mouth if it was already full.
"And what happens if it stops being enough?"
"Jesse!" So what if she sprayed crumbs in his direction, the boy deserved it and her wrath needed to be adequately expressed.
"Ugh, fine. I'm going, but only because I don't want to be late. We're watching Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho today and analyzing the mise-en-scene in order—"
"Goodbye Jesse." She pushed him in the direction of the arts building. Gently, mind you.
"But before I go," He turned on his heels to face her, before walking backwards to make sure he was well out of reach from Beca's tiny lethal hands. "Was there even a bite already taken out of that muffin or did she 'save' the whole thing for you?"
She ignored him, and tossed the empty bag into the nearby bin. Stupid Jesse and the stupid intact muffin.
Back inside the rehearsal space, Aubrey had filled in the rest of the Bellas on Chloe's situation. The confusion surrounding Chloe's 'body' had quickly been overtaken by concern.
Jessica had hugged her and offered kind words of support. Cynthia Rose had offered an ear, should Chloe ever want to talk about anything heavy. Lily may have mentioned something about hacking into the phone and tracking down whoever made the call, but no one could quite hear her anyway, and if they had been able to, they'd probably have been terrified by her choice of words.
"If that's not Chloe's body in the morgue, why have they called you to make the identification?" Stacie asked, her scientific curiosity getting the better of her.
"The fingerprints are a match to Chloe's." Aubrey explained.
"And since my parents in England right now, Aubrey is my emergency contact." Chloe continued.
"That's impossible." Stacie frowned.
"Nah, they let American's fly overseas. Shocking I know." Fat Amy spoke this time, trying to lighten the mood with humor.
"No, not the travel; the fingerprints. Matching fingerprints are impossible. Everybody has unique prints. Even identical twins, while similar, don't have the same fingerprints. It's impossible." Stacie clarified, in full bio major mode now.
And then confusion was back. There didn't seem to be a reasonable explanation, and with everybody falling silent, Chloe spoke up.
"Does the riddle 'Just one of a few, no family too, who am I' make sense to anyone?"
The majority of the Bellas shook their head. Ashley thought the answer could be an orphan, but there was really no way to tell. Not without the mystery caller's confirmation.
"Back to more pressing matters," Aubrey interrupted their brainstorming. "We've got a body in a morgue with Chloe's face and fingerprints, and we need to do something about it."
"I can't let my parent's think that I'm… dead." Chloe hesitated
"And if I could get some samples of this girl, Iris, I might be able to tell us more." Stacie offered.
"I think I have an idea." Hearing Lily at regular volume, whilst easier to understand, was still beyond weird, and everyone turned to look at her with mild shock. "We need to steal the body."
When Beca re-entered the rehearsal space, the Bellas were all huddled around the whiteboard, talking animatedly.
"Having fun without me?"
They all turned around to face her with guilty looks; Aubrey recovered and quickly flipped the whiteboard back to its regular Bella strategy.
"Now that someone is finally here, we can begin." Ignoring Beca's question, she clapped her hands together. "Places everyone."
And suddenly it was as if the Bellas hadn't just been plotting what was most certainly illegal. And morally wrong on so many levels.
They started off with vocal exercises, finding harmonies and such before moving onto cardio, which was also their warm up for choreography.
Beca, as per usual, put in the minimum effort required; however she wasn't the only one. Chloe's lack of enthusiasm was quite frankly unsettling. Ordinarily, Chloe was the one with encouraging words, pep in her step and enough energy to power them all through their set ten times over.
But today was different. She wasn't smiling as much, and when she was, it seemed forced. She lacked her normal bubbly energy. It was completely out of character and Beca was not a fan.
So when Aubrey called a break, Beca decided to do something about it.
"Hey Chlo." The girl in question was looking around for her water bottle, so Beca offered hers.
"Thanks Becs, what's up?" She asked, before taking a swig from the bottle. Something that Beca tried very hard to not be distracted by, although the bob of Chloe's throat had other less than PG ideas.
"Uh, I just noticed you seemed kind of out of it today. Y'know just making sure you're okay and stuff." She tugged on the hem of her shirt, somehow having forgotten that the whole 'feelings' thing was way out of her comfort zone. A smile came over Chloe's face. It was reassuring, a sign that Beca was doing the right thing.
"Just working through some stuff, I'll be fine." Technically it wasn't a lie. Beca just nodded, not really sure how to proceed. Was she supposed to press for more information? Drop the subject? A hearty fist bump?
"If you ever want to talk about things, like I'm here. Well not here here, except I am now, but what I mean is that I'm here for you." She wrinkled her nose. "Was that really lame? It sounded lame."
"Yep." Chloe giggled, nodding. "But in the best way."
"Ugh, well yeah, if you need to talk, I have two ears so…" Beca trailed off, biting the inside of her cheek. Why did she try dealing with this whole emotions stuff again? Oh right, actual Disney princess Chloe Beale, that's why. She was only snapped out of her thoughts by Chloe's hand on hers.
"Thank you. Seriously. For this and the water." She flashed another smile before pressing a light kiss to Beca's cheek. Before Beca even had time to process, Aubrey called the red head over leaving a blushing Beca to stand by herself as she internally floundered.
After practice, the Bellas (bar Beca) stayed behind to go over the plan one more time.
"Jessica and Ashley, you're on lookout duty. I'll go into the morgue to meet with the medical examiner. When asked to identify the body, I'll say I need a minute to collect myself to be sure. Hopefully I will then be left alone with the body, which is where the next step of the plan comes in." Aubrey explained, surprisingly calm about the whole thing.
"Yeah and if the doc doesn't leave, my improv' skills and ability to look sexy in a lab coat will come in handy." Fat Amy added, giving Chloe the thumbs up.
"Exactly, while Amy provides a distraction, Stacie will come in with a cadaver. Early twenties, blonde hair, similar height and weight if possible, and we'll swap it over with this other body."
"Iris." Chloe stiffened. "Her name is Iris."
"Right. Iris. We swap Iris' body with the cadaver; Lily wipes the hard drive of anything relating to her file and we get the hell out of dodge." Lily gave Aubrey a salute.
"And if anybody asks, we're interns." Stacie said. "I'll be able to have enough lab coats for us all, so we can blend in."
"I'll be waiting in a van pulled up at the loading dock. We'll have enough room to transport everyone as well as look like we're supposed to be there." Cynthia Rose this time. "I've got buddies who can supply the van, they'll help me out."
"Where are we going to store the body?" Jessica asked.
"There's going to be an empty space where the cadaver came from." Stacie had already thought about this. "I can shuffle around some of the bodies and make sure Iris will be right at the back. That way other students are unlikely to come across her. I'll even put a note on the cold chamber so that everyone keeps out."
Chloe looked at each of the girls, each and every one of them ready to break the law for her. It was surreal, and nothing like the sisterhood the previous Bellas had advocated. She'd done a good job of not crying up until now, but realizing what these girls were prepared to do for her, her eyes began to fill with tears. The happy sort, although she was a little overwhelmed with the whole range of emotions, so it was kind of hard to tell.
"We're going to get answers Chlo." Stacie put her hand on the red head's shoulder. Usually she knew what words to say in order to cheer someone up, but there wasn't really anything you could do for a friend in this situation. Certainly nothing more than what they were already doing.
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you're mean to break at least one law during your time at college, we're just getting ahead of the game, Ginger." Again, Fat Amy was lifting the mood, and succeeding this time. "So how come the cops have your finger prints on file anyway?"
Chloe's cheeks tinged red.
"I may have tried to out drink Aubrey at a bar one night, and then proceeded to flash my boobs to an officer of the law as we left the establishment."
Stacie held up her hand for a high five as Fat Amy hollered. Aubrey just frowned. Now was not the time for jokes, they had a body to steal.
"If we meet back here in an hour, will that give everyone enough time to get ready?"
The girls all nodded.
"Good. Let's do this."