A/N No major plot twists. Just lots of friendship feels
"So all those rumours about Benji and Coach Wilkins were not true?"
"So not true! Have you NOT heard? Apparently Benji is straight and... well equipped?"
"Erhmygerd! Really? So Aubrey's been telling lies?"
"Like totally! Just like she lied about breaking her nose falling from that cheer pyramid. Hellooo? Everyone saw that video."
- sniggers - "I'm voting Beca Mitchell for Prom Queen."
Aubrey Posen was having a bad day. No, make it a bad week. She was fuming. She could not understand why one bad thing after another was happening to her. That all these bad things currently happening were perhaps her fault never actually crossed her mind. No, it was definitely not her fault.
She was the victim here, goddamnit!
She was the one sporting a broken nose, two black eyes and a chipped tooth. And if that was not bad enough, she just got dumped by the perfect boyfriend and now date-less for prom. Judging by all that sniggering and gossiping she heard while in the toilet cubicle just now, her future being Prom Queen was looking less and less certain.
Aubrey Posen seriously believed she was the epitome of Little Miss Perfect. Because she was. She really was. Perfect hair, perfect body, perfect life. Blonde, beautiful and rich. Captain of the cheerleading squad, Grade A boyfriend on her arm, future Prom Queen. That was her story. That was how it supposed to be in the natural order of things.
And now some stupid nobody, some freak of nature goth girl decided to stain her life...with her bad hair, bad clothes and bad attitude?
She worked hard to get where she was, damnit! Aubrey Posen did not get where she was being a wallflower. It took a lot of deceit and cunning. A lot of conniving, backstabbing and in some cases, bribery. And now all her carefully laid plans were laid to waste. All her Machivellian plots she worked so hard on ripped asunder by that...that horror.
Aubrey felt that familiar bile rising up her throat. She took a deep breath and fought it down. This would not do. This was not how it was supposed to be. She had to restore everything to the right order. With her on right on top, of course.
Hmm... prom date will not be a problem. Prom Queen even less so - she had made sure of that. Now, the only problem left was Beca Mitchell.
"Hi Jesse."
"Hey Jesse."
"Oh hi, Jess."
Jesse smiled and nodded at each greeting in turn, getting more and more puzzled. He must have been greeted with even more smiles and simpers than usual. He had always been friendly and said hey to whomever he knew in the halls but these few days were a bit ridiculous.
"Hi Jess."
"Oh hey Cara."
The girl looked like she was about to faint. Jesse just smiled and walked on. Behind him, he could hear a squeal and a breathy "Oh my god, he knows who I am!?" Jesse just shook his head. That was a little weird.
And speaking of weird...
"Hey weirdo."
Beca closed her locker to find Jesse's laughing eyes looking down at her. After that day, they had come to some sort of uneasy arrangement for a lack of a better word. It was still a little awkward between them but somehow it was fine because they knew it would just be a matter of time. The most important thing was Benji had returned to school the very next day, head held high with his friends around him and they all hung out on the weekend. As far at things went, it was ok.
"Whatcha want nerd?"
"Nothing. Just want to...(Hey Jess)... hi... walk you to class."
Beca sighed and scowled, "I can find my own class, thank you very much. And in case you are wondering, these halls are safe."
"I don't know, Becs... (Morning Jesse!)... umm good morning..." Jesse was staring confusedly at a gaggle of girls who just greeted him with huge smiles before turning back to Beca. He said earnestly, "These halls are NOT safe, Becs. Last week they found a rabid racoon. (Hi Jesse)... hey, hi...who knows what's going to happen next? You might get a zombie attack."
"Oh I will be perfectly safe," Beca said, trying hard not to laugh. "I am not sure about you though."
"Come on, what could happen to me? I am a strapping young man; not a tiny creature like you."
"Oh I don't know. The halls are choked with your fan club at the moment. They might tear your hair or try to grab your underwear. While you are still in it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jesse was walking beside Beca now. Three other separate girls said hey to Jesse again. What's wrong with all the girls these days?
"Are you telling me you are not enjoying all this new attention?"
"What?"
Beca rolled her eyes. He was her friend but boy, was he dumb as fuck sometimes.
"Thank god you are pretty, Jesse."
"Umm..thanks? For the compliment?"
See?
Beca shook her head in despair at how dense he was. "Now you are solo; presumed dateless for prom, you are fair game, dude."
"What?! Is that what this is all about? That is.. a little... scary." He did looked a little petrified. "Was that why Mary-Lee was hanging round my locker giving me suggestive looks? And someone popped some lacy panties into my locker with a phone number? Oh god... and a jock strap too. With a phone number."'
Jesse was shuddering a little. Beca was trying to stifle her snort.
"Just pick a prom date already. There you go. Problem solved."
Jesse just stared a little at Beca, who was busy texting on her phone.
"There's no other girl I want to go to prom with," he said, willing himself to say out the words he really wanted to say.
It went over her head.
"So? Pick a dude already." Her eyes were still fixed on her phone. A few dings of incoming messages came up.
"Whose texting you?" Jesse said trying to take a look.
"I don't know. Bobby? Some weird message. Look," Beca passed her phone over.
Jesse frowned at the message, reading it quickly. "Oh that's easy. He wants to get into your pants."
"What?"
"Yep. Don't text back. Show me another."
"This one? From Matt?"
"Yep, wants to fuck you hard."
"Dude! He only asked me whether I like macaroni cheese."
"Yeah. Trust me. Hit me with another."
"OK, this one must be innocent. He sent me a pic of a cute kitten."
"He wants to know whether you like ..ermm you know... and up for a threesome."
"Oh my god!"
"Just don't answer back. Just delete all of them. Trust me, I'm your guy translator."
Beca shook her head in wonder. They were outside her classroom now.
"So...are you coming to the match today?" Jesse asked smiling. Beca looked a little unsure. "Aww Becs, you have to! It's my last game. And it's the championship! You used to come to all my matches."
"Don't push your luck, Swanson. Find yourself a new cheer... umm.. cheerleader."
It was too late for her to bite that sentence back. Yep, they had not talk about his big break-up yet. Beca was blushing a little now.
"Sorry, Jess," she mumbled.
"It's fine." Jesse's smile was a little tight but he then grinned. "You owe me for that though. I expect you to turn up today in your shortest skirt and some pom poms."
"Over my dead body."
"Yeah, whatever. Just come. Even if you are dead."
Beca was scowling now. Then something dawned on her. "Hey! You asked me whether I wanted some mac n cheese the other day. What the hell are you trying to say, Jesse?"
"Are they still talking?" Chloe whispered, looking round the corner.
"Yeah." Stacie answered. She frowned a little before laughing. "Jesse is trying to explain something and looking really uncomfortable. I wonder what he's trying to explain."
Chloe looked at both of them. Jesse was gesturing a little earnestly now and although she could not see it, Chloe knew Beca was probably rolling her eyes at his explanation. Beca went back to looking at her phone before walking into her class. They could see Jesse giving a huge sigh of relief before pulling his backpack higher up his shoulder and walking away.
"Do you think he's going to ask her to prom?" Chloe asked.
"She's going with Luke, right?" Stacie questioned.
"Nu-uh!" Chloe said. "The prom committee (aka me) just put down a ruling no outsiders allowed. Not having anyone hiring escorts, coming with aunties and such like. That would be just terrible."
"Chloe! Beca will be in bits! She was all set to go with Luke," Stacie whirled round, staring at her. The tall brunette then broke into a huge smile. "You devious, clever bitch you! I love it!"
Two-all. Half time and the score was tied. Jesse wiped the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his jersey. Man, that was a hard half. The boys looked a little tired and deflated but they had to keep on. It had been the worse kind of luck that Coach was suspended. All thanks to Aubrey. True, once word filtered up that it was just a bunch of rumours and spiteful gossip, the suspension was lifted but they had lost that momentum.
"Jesse! Jesse!"
Jesse was now smiling. He recognised Chloe's sparkly, perky voice a mile off. And as he turned round, it was like his prayer was answered. There was Chloe and Stacie waving their pennants wildly at him, calling him over. And sandwiched in between was Beca, scowling as usual.
He jogged over to the stands.
"Heyyyy, you guys made it!" Jesse said happily. "Umm.. even you, Becs. And you don't even look dead!"
"Oh she wouldn't miss it!" Chloe trilled. "That was exciting, Jess! And that goal you scored was something else."
"Thanks! Becs, where's your pom poms?" Jesse was laughing now.
"Shove it down the throat of the guy who asked me the very same question," she replied, baring her teeth at him.
"Come on, Becs. You have to be more perky than that." Stacie urged.
"Yeah. Team." Beca deadpanned, waving a flag half-heartedly.
"OK. That's enough for me. We will win for sure with that kind of cheer," Jesse teased her back.
He was smiling so happily that Beca could not help but smiled a little back. He looked truly happy to see them here. She could see they had a hard first half and could use some support. The cheerleading team was just going through the motions, not even trying. Beca knew Aubrey probably put them up to it, being the vindictive bitch that she was and she hated her for that. She could just see that blonde bitch chatting up some footballer jock by the stands and throwing them evil looks from where she was.
"I have to go back for the pep talk. See you guys after?" Jesse was now saying. "Good luck hug?"
"Dude, you are sweaty! How about a handshake?" Beca said.
"Here!" Stacie leaned over and gave Jesse a quick peck on the cheek.
"Yeah. Good luck kiss!" Chloe kissed his other cheek, leaving a red lipstick mark. Jesse was just smiling far too widely, looking expectantly at Beca now. She scoffed and he just shrugged and was about to turn away when she grabbed his shoulders.
She pulled him closer and landed a huge smack on his lips. It was over far too quickly.
"Now win, you bastard."
She let him go and Jesse ran back. His head was in a spin and he knew there was a huge grin plastered on his face. The boys who all had seen the display were looking at him with wonder.
"Dude...what was that?"
"Did you just got kisses from all the three of them?"
"Dude, your game is as strong as fuck!"
"Shut it y'all." Jesse said. He felt lighter and more energised somehow. He felt like he could take on the whole team and anything was possible, "Look, we've got this, boys. The trophy is just there. We just need to reach out and take it. So bring your game now. We ARE going to win!"
He played like a man possessed. And seeing their captain playing like that just made everyone tried a little harder. They were a different team in the second half, chasing every ball, taking every chance they could. The other team did not know what hit them.
Jesse was shouting encouragement out to his team mates, making sure they were all on point. The crowd was behind them now, cheering for every chance they took. He could also hear Chloe and Stacie and Benji shouting and cheering. And her voice. He could picked up her voice easily, even with all the deafening cheers now coming up from the stands. It made his heart sang.
"Come on Jesse!" Beca was yelling now. "Come on! Get that stupid ball!"
Stacie and Chloe were staring at the small brunette. Yeah, both of them and Benji were cheering like mad but nowhere as voracious as Beca. It was something else to see. The girls were trying to hide their smiles but they needn't bother; she was so into the game she could not see anything else.
"What the fuck? That was a stupid challenge!" Beca was bellowing now.
"Becs! You can't swear! There are kids about," Chloe said.
But Beca did not hear her. There was a pass and the team had surged forward towards the opposing half. Another pass which Jesse caught neatly. She was clutching Stacie in anticipation. "He's going for it, girls! He's gonna score!"
And there was a huge gasp.
"Oh my god!"
He was on point. He was going to score. Then Jesse felt the spurs of that defender's boots straight into his shin. He yelped and fell. Stupid fucking defender. No way he was going for the ball. It was a foul. He was lying on his back on the grass now, grabbing his hurt leg; the concerned faces of his team mates now hovering over him. The first aider was by his side in no time, checking his leg.
"I'm fine. It just hurts like hell," he said. There were some lacerations on his leg and that stung a little. He stood up with some help and walked a few steps. He could see Beca standing up on stands, looking pale and anxious.
"I'm fine."
It was definitely a foul.
"Let me take the fucking free kick." Jesse said, more than a little angry.
So there he was in front of the goal. The goalkeeper dancing a little on the spot, trying to psych him out. He just glared at him, harnessing whatever badass Beca vibe he had picked up over the years. He had to be cold. He had to be clinical. He had to be hard. The image of where the ball were to go was fixed firmly in his mind. A deep breath. A thunder of a heart beat. A high pierced whistle. And he took the kick.
It was pandemonium a moment after.
"Oh my god, Jesse! That was incredible!"
Can this be true? Was Beca Mitchell hopping and hugging him excitedly? Jesse could not grin any wider or his face would split. They had ran onto the pitch after the final whistle. They had won 3-2, thanks to that penalty kick. She had ran straight for him, face shining and jumped into him, now hugging him tight. He hugged her back just as tight and she did not seem to be bothered with him sweating. Chloe and Stacie came storming after, hugging both of them tight. Followed by an excitable Benji.
"Dude, you won it!"
"Was there any doubt?" Jesse laughed back.
He was about to topple over with all of them hugging him like this. He wouldn't have it any other way. His team mates were all being swarmed by the excitable supporters. It was their first championship win in years and everyone was visibly excited.
"Guys, I have to get the trophy now," Jesse was saying happily and they finally let him go, still smiling. "There's an after party. See you guys there?"
"Yeah, sure thing!" Chloe squealed.
"I'm so there!" Stacie yelled. "The hunter gets hungry seeing all that action!"
Beca was still holding on to his arm excitedly.
"You coming Becs?" Jesse's eyes were on her.
She was still so excited but she shook her head. "I got work tonight. I'll drop by if I can."
"Oh. Sure."
"Yeah. Luke can drop me." she was saying now.
Jesse was now aware of the tall blonde man who was just outside their immediate circle. He was lounging casually just looking at them with a smile.
"Hey Luke." Jesse said, tipping his head up in greeting. "Didn't know you came."
"Hey. Can't miss it. Beca's been talking about it all week," Luke said coming over to the group. He came round, smiling down at her and she grinned back, letting go of Jesse's arm. "That was some good football you played there. That defender was a wanker, tackling you like that."
"Thanks." Jesse replied blandly. He looked at everyone in turn, not missing the way Beca was smiling up at Luke, her hand in his. "I have to go. See you guys later, ok?"
He turned back and jogged over to his delirious team-mates, admist a chorus of "See you later, Jesse" from the group. A while later, he was holding their hard won trophy and it felt great. He was smiling. He was more than happy. He was the champion. But he could not help feeling like he won the game but lost the girl.
A week later
"Well, what do you think?"
"Ugh. I can't believe you made me watch The Hobbit!"
They were filing out of the theatre with the rest of the audience who were also loudly discussing the film.
"Don't take the title personally, short stuff," Jesse teased. He continued excitedly. "Don't you think it's better than the first one? And did you see the Peter Jackson cameo in the beginning. That is so Alfred Hitchcock! Alfred Hitchcock used to do cameos in his films all the time."
"I am not going to pretend I understand a word you are saying," Beca said, rubbing her temples. "It's not like it was a bad movie. It's fine. I was just expecting the dragon to die, in the end, that's all."
"Becs!" Jesse said horrified. "You were not paying attention! It's a trilogy. They are setting it up for the third one."
"Money grubbing villains taking money from movie nerds like you," she grumbled. Jesse was grinning at that very apt description when he realised he was missing his car keys.
"Fuck. I must have dropped my car keys inside."
"Want me to help look?"
"Nah. Just wait here. I'll be back in a minute."
It actually took him ten minutes - half of it trying to convince the cleaner he was actually trying to find his car keys and the other half, rifling through the floor, sticky with soda and trodden on popcorn. By the time he found Beca, she was standing stiffly against a pillar. Two men were crowding around her and he could see they were getting their flirt on. She was just looking thunderous.
"Hey, babe." Jesse called out and in the next minute, he was beside her, winding his arm around her waist. "Whose your friends?"
The guys looked at him. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't know you had a boyfriend. Sorry, dude."
Jesse just nodded, eyes still on them. They were now slinking away.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"So ready."
They walked away, heading toward the carpark. He was still holding her hand and she did not let go.
"You want to get something to eat?" Jesse asked.
"OK."
They got into the car and Jesse drove off. She was a little quiet. Jesse glanced at her a little worried.
"You ok? Those jerks said stuff to you?"
Beca was quiet for a minute and then she let out a derisive snort. "I just standing there alone, minding my business. Just because I'm alone and they think I am fair game? Men are such asshats! Honestly! All of them! Such assholes! Men are all assholes! Umm... Except you, Jesse. "
"That's good to know? I'm still a man, you know, Becs."
"Thanks for saving me back there, fake boyfriend." Beca glanced at him. They were at a red traffic light and Jesse glanced back at her.
"Hey, I was not saving you. They didn't know it but I was actually saving them."
She was smiling now.
"Yeah, they should totally buy me lunch next time they see me. They didn't know how close they were to certain death."
Beca was laughing out loud now and Jesse just felt happier now she was laughing. He drove off when the light turned green. A huge noticeboard by the side of the road caught their eyes.
"Holy mother of god! What the hell is that?"
"Did you see that?" Jesse was saying, his Taco Bell burrito halfway up to his mouth. "Did you see that? Tell me you see it. Tell me I was NOT hallucinating."
They had gotten some takeaway Taco Bell and were seating on the bonnet of his car, at their favourite spot, looking out at the town below.
Beca swallowed her mouthful, took a deep glug of her soda before replying, "Dude... no one can miss it. I think you can even see it from the moon."
"Whatever possessed her to do that?" Jesse whispered, still not taking a bite from his burrito. He was still reeling from seeing that huge ass billboard of Aubrey Posen asking all and sundry to vote her for Prom Queen. True, nominees could canvas for votes and whoever got the most votes will be crowned Prom King and Queen but taking out a billboard at the side on the road was a bit much. It was like the 50 ft woman asking you to vote. And it was a little scary seeing a huge ass version of your ex-girlfriend over you like that.
Beca shrugged. She couldn't care less. She thought it was really funny.
"There must be one hell of a crazy in her waiting to get out," Jesse said, finally biting down onto his burrito.
"Just the one?"
Jesse choked on his burrito, coughing and spluttering. Beca slapped him hard on his back.
"Dude."
He was wiping his tears from trying to laugh and cough at the same time. Jesse quickly took a drink and cleared his throat loudly.
"Don't do that, Beca."
"OK, try not to kill you next time."
Jesse made sure he had that laugh out of him before he took another bite. They ate and laughed and talked, moving from one nonsensical topic to another. It had been a while since they had such a good chat like this. There was no awkwardness now.
The stars were out now and they were now leaning up against the windscreen, next to each other, just staring at the stars. Even the silence was comfortable.
"So you want to talk about it?" Beca said casually.
Jesse thought about it for a moment and sighed. "There's nothing much to say. She's crazy."
"Oh we know that."
They were chuckling loudly now with Jesse wiping his tears of laughter away again.
"Seriously, Jesse. Are you ok?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I dunno," Beca said in the growing dark. "It's the longest relationship you've been in, dude. You guys were together a little more than a year. It must have meant something."
Jesse was silent, just breathing slowly, staring at the stars above.
"I mean she must have taken your v-card, right?" Beca's voice was teasing. "And maybe you love her a little? Come on, man. It's me. You can tell me."
Jesse was blushing a little in the dark.
"I don't think I was in love with Aubrey." he said slowly.
"You player! You tapped that and you didn't even love her," Beca was shouting a little now, punching him in the arm.
"Hey that hurts," He rubbed that spot on his arm a little. They were silent for a while.
"The relationship was all wrong, Becs," Jesse finally said. "Don't get me wrong. It was fun in the beginning. I was dating Aubrey Posen. Head cheerleader and all that shit. I was all starry eyed. But you know, the scales fell off my eyes pretty quickly and things just went downhill."
It was like a dam had broken.
"There are things she did that bothered me so much. All the fake stuff, all the parading around. And I hated the way she talked about you. You are my best friend, Becs, and she talked so much smack about you. I knew she missed you out from her party on purpose and that was low. Then 'that' happened. I'm so sorry for that, Becs. I should've stood up for you. She was being so nasty . You have no idea how sorry I am."
Beca just nodded in the dark.
"She and I fought and I should've broken up with her then." Jesse sighed, knowing how true that was. "Then Pukegate happened and everyone seemed to abandon her. I felt a little sorry, you know. I couldn't leave her then. I could almost deal with her crazy. I mean, everyone has their crazy, right?"
Beca tried hard not to laugh. A retort about Aubrey's crazy was at the tip of her tongue but she bit it back. She just listened, letting him vent.
"I could deal with her crazy. No problem. And I tried being a better boyfriend. But I didn't like the person I've become, Becs. I stopped spending time with you guys and god, I was such a sucky friend. I didn't realised what a terrible friend I was."
"All those lies she was spreading. I thought it was just some harmless gossip. But not when innocent guys like Benji get hurt like that. That was it. I was done. You might have punched her, Bec, but that punch knocked ME into my senses."
Jesse finally trailed to a stop and heaved a sigh of relief. That felt good. Talking to her like that felt good. She always had a way of making him better. Jesse turned to look at Beca's profile in the half darkness. She was looking up at the sky, her head tipped back, her hair falling back from her pale face.
"I also realised something else as well."
He fell silent, a little unsure now.
"What is it?" she murmured out lazily as she closed her eyes. A slight wind picked up and blew a few strands of her hair and Jesse had the urge to tuck the loose strands back..
"I realised I don't have any feelings for Aubrey. Perhaps I never have and I was just lying to myself. I just know I don't love her."
Beca chuckled, frowning a little. "How do you know that? How do you even know when you are in love with someone?"
"Trust me. I know," Jesse whispered, staring at her. "I know how it feels to fall in love."
Beca laughed and turned to him in disbelief, "You are such a dork! What was that? A line from which movie?"
Come on, man. Do it. Just say it. Oh god, Jesse, just tell her. Just tell her that you love her. But Jesse could only stare at how beautiful she looked, smiling up at him like this.
Beca shook her head and looked away, chuckling. "Come on, nerd, I have to get home. I promised Luke I work on those mixes for next week's gig."
