19: Part 1

Beca Mitchell is 19 when she meets Chloe Beale.

Chloe is the lead singer of an indie band from New York called The Flyaways, and This New Thing is opening for them when they play in Atlanta. Beca and Jesse can't possibly be more ecstatic because The Flyaways are pretty much the only thing that has been playing in Jesse's dorm for what feels like months. Their eclectic mix of instrumentation combined with Chloe's powerhouse vocals - the kind that maybe belonged on Broadway, not in a tiny club in Anywhere, USA - had made them both fall instantly in love. And maybe there's something in Chloe's voice that makes Beca a little nervous, like a kid with a crush, but when the promoter, Stacie, calls Jesse to ask if they will be able to fill a spot on the bill, there is no way they're going to say no.

In the two weeks leading up to the show, they practice every day, and Beca silently curses herself for everything that isn't absolutely perfect. Jesse, detecting Beca's internal frustration, just looks up from his guitar and smiles his sleepy smile, brown eyes hiding behind his now-shaggy hair, and says, "Just chill, Becs. Everything's going to be good."

Beca sighs through her smile and gets right back at it because Jesse is right. Jesse is always right and Beca needs to get over herself and just do it because they have done gigs a hundred times before. This doesn't have to be any different.

-xxx-

The drive to Atlanta takes an hour longer than anticipated, no thanks to some crazy traffic on I-75, and they are both thankful that they decided to come up a day early so they could have some time to explore the city. They quickly drop everything off at the hotel and head straight back out to meet Stacie for lunch so they could check out the venue before load in. Stacie is a great girl - late 20s with jet-black hair, blue-green eyes hiding behind black-framed glasses, and an overtly sexual demeanor that honestly kind of scares Beca - and is one of the main reasons they had played so many gigs outside of Savannah. She had seen them at one of their first shows, back before they were even playing off campus, and found them afterward, introducing herself as a promoter and offering to get them some shows in the Atlanta area. "Some shows" wound up being virtually anything she came across they might fit in with, and they certainly weren't complaining.

After lunch, they go to the venue and he shows them around Little Five Points. Jesse gets lost inside Wax-N-Facts (Beca's not sure how because the place is the size of a shoebox, but she's learned quickly that anything can happen when you get Jesse around vinyl) and eventually comes out with an entire milk crate full of vinyl. Beca has no clue where it's going to fit in his dorm, but she smiles anyway as Jesse rambles on about all of his "great finds." There was only one thing Beca knew of that made Jesse as happy as playing on stage, and that was new vinyl. Sometimes they'd waste hours laying on the floor and listening to all sorts of bands Beca had never heard of, Jesse telling Beca everything he could think of about the band.

"I'm full of interesting facts," he would always say.

After shopping and dinner, they head back to the hotel, making sure to thank Stacie not only for lunch and showing them around, but for getting them the show.

"Of course," she says with a smile. "You know you're my favorite kids."

-xxx-

As Jesse lugs in the new vinyl, Beca holds the elevator door, and it's there that she first sees Chloe. She steps on the elevator as well, shooting Beca a smile and a Thanks a lot. All Beca can do is stand there, dumbstruck, as her stomach flips in that awesome-but-not kind of way.

"Are you getting on the damn elevator or what?" Jesse asks, snapping Beca out of her haze.

"Sorry," she says, stepping on and hitting the button for their floor.

"You should have been born blonde," Jesse mutters, shaking his head, and Beca punches his shoulder, causing him to yelp. She doesn't miss the way Chloe has to bite her lip from laughing at them.

"Are you..." Beca looks up at Chloe, and then gestures to the buttons.

"Oh, I'm on seven, too," Chloe says, smiling again.

Beca returns the smile and tries not to stare. She has never been shy about any of the other bands they have met while playing, but there is something about Chloe that has her hands clammy and butterflies taking up residence in her stomach. She chalks it up to nerves about the show; it's the biggest one they have played, and The Flyaways will be a hard band to open for, what with Chloe's killer vocals and all.

The ride to the seventh floor is entirely too short, and Beca holds the door again so Jesse can make his way out without getting smashed and offers an after you to Chloe before letting the doors go.

They end up following Chloe down the hall, realizing that by some twist of fate, Chloe's room is right next to theirs. Maybe it isn't so much fate as it is the fact that Stacie had booked the rooms, but either way, it puts Beca's nerves into overdrive. Once they're in their room, she feels like she can breathe again.

"Holy shit," she says, her voice a breathy whisper as she leans against the slightly peeling wallpaper, hand on her chest, trying to relax.

"What?" Jesse asks, flopping on the bed to thumb through his new vinyl collection.

"That was her!" Beca nearly shouts, falling back on the bed next to him. She picks at a loose thread on the typical flowery hotel bedspread, her nerves still making her fidgety.

"That was who?" Jesse looks over, confused, and Beca shakes her head.

"Chloe," she says, as if Jesse should just magically understand.

"Chloe?"

"Chloe Beale. You know, lead singer of the band we're opening for tomorrow? The one with the killer vocals we've been drooling over for months now?"

"Oh!" Jesse sits up, excited. "No shit? We should go say hi!"

Beca shakes her head, panicked. "No. No. We are not stalking her at the hotel. We'll see her tomorrow." She isn't really sure why she is so nervous, but there is no way they are marching over there and interrupting her in her hotel room just to say hi.

"Why don't we just say hi now?" Jesse says, already up and out the door before Beca can tell her legs to move.

"Jesse, don't," Beca whispers harshly, grabbing Jesse's arm before he can knock.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this, B?"

"Because this is big, Jesse, and I don't want to ruin anything. I promise we'll talk to her. Tomorrow. After we play." Beca stops, hoping this will pacify Jesse, but the girl's face remains unchanged. "Just look at it this way. If we knock on her door now and tell her we're playing the show tomorrow, she might look at us like we're some crazy stalker fans and will have no idea if we're lying or not. We introduce ourselves tomorrow while we're loading in or after our set, she'll know we're not crazy. And maybe... just maybe... she'll have enjoyed the set and we've already got that first good impression instead of looking insane."

After a second, Jesse finally drops his arm, and Beca can breathe a sigh of relief. She can tell Jesse doesn't really buy it, but he stops nonetheless. "Fine. But only because I don't want you being mad at me the rest of the night," Jesse says, stepping back into their room, and Beca rolls her eyes. "Maybe you should smoke with me. You're super tense these past few days."

"I'm just nervous," Beca says as they drop back onto the bed.

While Jesse continues to go through his new records, Beca flips through the channels on the TV and gives up after the fourth time through and she still can't find anything on. She kicks off her shoes and relaxes against the pillows, folding her arms behind her head. Her eyes slip closed as she tries to calm herself down about the show, but Chloe's face pops up instead. Specifically, it's Chloe's smiling face, looking at her from across the elevator. She focuses her thoughts on other things - the show, the project due next week for her English class, anything really - but it all slips back to Chloe's face and she stops trying to fight it.