Cups and Chloe Beale

"See you at auditions!"

Who in the name of all that was good and holy in the world barges into a complete stranger's shower? That was what Beca Mitchell wanted to know. And not only did the redhead burst into her shower- the shower of a complete stranger- she demanded to sing. She demanded to sing and flat out told her that she wasn't leaving until she sang.

(Beca wanted to scream and reach for her BU rape whistle, but she thought that she would be safe in the thirty second walk from Baker Hall to the showers. Clearly not. What kind of college had her father sent her to?)

And yet- perhaps scared for her life- she awkwardly made her way to the a capella auditions, standing back and watching the nerds (including the super nerd she had met at the station, the same nerd who had serenaded with Kansas her from his car).

She wasn't about to get out there and belt out Kelly Clarkson, like the friendly Australian she met at the Barden DJs booth (because apparently around Barden, DJ didn't stand for disc jockey. It stood for deaf Jew, and she felt like a moron) or the nerd from the station (and good God, could he sing!). She stood in the wings of the stage, awkwardly shuffling, trying to decide whether or not to march out onto the stage with all the confidence she didn't have, until that redhead spoke up.

"Wait, there's one more!"

(Apparently, those blue eyes had x-ray vision.)

"I didn't know I had to prepare that song", she said awkwardly.

"That's okay! Sing anything you want!"

(No girl could be that happy all the time. She and Jesse would be the perfect happy couple and they could have happy happy children together.)

She reached out for the yellow cup. "Can I-"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically, and Beca took a seat cross legged on the stage.

They had told her she could sing anything she wanted.

(The uptight blonde beside the redhead looked like she wanted to punch her in the head. The fake smile she had received at the activities fair was replaced by a scowl.)

"I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle of whiskey for the way. And I sure would like some sweet company, and I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say?"

The redhead's grin grew even bigger, and the blonde's scowl darkened.

Kimmy Jin had left an hour earlier, going somewhere with her Korean friends (Beca didn't care). So Beca put her big headphones on and sat down at her desk, the thumping bass line filtering through her headphones and blocking out the world.

Which was probably the worst thing she could ever do.

Because before she knew it her chair was spun around and she came face to face with the redhead from the showers. Her heart leapt up into her mouth and she didn't even know how to react.

Beca let out a blood curdling scream, jumping up, her headphones holding her back. Ripping them off, she leapt up onto the bed, holding her BU rape whistle to her lips.

"Dude!" she said finally, once she was eighty percent sure her internal organs were back in their respective spots ("swallow your heart, Beca, I'm sure it'll slot right back into place"). "What the hell is wrong with you, get out!"

"Good news!"

"Get out!" Beca fell to the mattress, her heart thumping.

(Apparently, nowhere was safe in that university. She was going to have to install a few extra locks on the door.)

"Guess what?"

Her chances of getting the redhead out of her dorm without guessing, she assumed, were little to none. So she just sighed heavily, her hand inching towards her rape whistle, not meeting the redhead's eyes.

"What?"

"You're a Barden Bella!"

"Sweet Jesus", Beca yelped, as the other girl went to hug her. "Dude! I don't even know your name!"

(How was it, that out of the three people she had met at Barden, she had managed to find the coldest, the nerdiest and the friendliest? And the friendliest possibly was her stalker?)

"Oh!" she stopped moving towards her, sticking her hand out. "I'm Chloe".

"Beca", she muttered in reply, gingerly taking her hand. "Why- how did you get into my room?"

"You should lock the door; you don't know what kind of crazies are out there". Chloe's blue eyes twinkled and Beca didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the girl standing opposite her.

"Why are you in my room?"

"You're a Barden Bella now! Well, you will be in like an hour".

"Wait, what?"

"aca-initiation night!" and Chloe produced a yellow bag- pillow case- out of her pocket.

"What the hell? Dude!" Beca backed away, pressed up against the wall.

She was going to be tied up and gagged and killed in her own dorm room. Paranoid? Perhaps. But there was a crazy in her room and she didn't know what to think.

"No, its Bellas tradition", she explained, plopping down beside Beca on the bed (making the tiny brunette scoot over). "It's alright, Aubrey take it off as soon as we get there. Can you teach me the cup thing?"

"What?"

"The cup thing! That was aca-amazing! can you teach me?"

"Dude-"

"Please?" and she turned on the puppy dog eyes that Beca was fairly certain her younger cousin had invented (she had babysat the kid once and she had somehow talked Beca into telling bedtime stories- freaking bedtime stories- until ten thirty at night).

Sighing heavily, she grabbed her cup of pens of the desk. "Fine. On one condition?"

"Anything", Chloe said confidently.

"You stop sneaking up on me", she accused. "No more breaking into my shower or my dorm room or- no more breaking in!"

"Deal". Chloe grinned, holding her hand out to shake on it.

"We're gonna be really fast friends", Chloe told her and Beca just nodded, forcing away a smile.