Even though she has to sing with him, at least she will be in a setting where the rest of the cast is involved.
When she arrives at the auditorium set, the stage for the Regionals competition, everyone is there including Camp and Brittany Snow. She runs over to Brittany to give her a hug hello, and then pulls her over to the side.
"Did you hear about Skylar and Camp?" Brittany asks her before she can say anything.
"Yeah, he just told me right before we filmed a scene together," Anna replies. "How's Camp doing?"
"She seems ok with it. She said she thinks he is starting to have feelings for someone else," Brittany whispers.
Anna's mind is in overdrive. She thought for a few moments in the last few days that Skylar might be interested in her, but she just dismissed it because he was with Camp and he was just a charming sort of guy. "Did she say who?" Anna asks, trying not to sound too interested.
"No," Brittany answers, "But I didn't want to badger her over it, I mean they just broke up a few hours ago."
Anna nods, and as Brittany rejoins the group she scans the room. Camp is talking animatedly to Rebel, and Skylar is chatting with Ben. Everything seems alright for the moment. She is relieved when the announcement is made that they will only have time to work on choreography today, because she is emotionally exhausted and doesn't think she'd sing well right now if they needed her to. She just wants to return to her hotel room and process the day's events.
Camp disappears to go film her one scene with Brittany where the two of them will act as judges, and Anna is happy to be away from her ever-present stares. She's so focused thinking about Camp that she hasn't noticed him staring at her.
He can't help but stare. There's just something magnetic about her. She's in the middle of a crowd of guys twice her size, making some kind of sarcastic, witty remark that has them all laughing. As he approaches he hears that she's teasing Ben about how he just snorted while he was laughing.
"You know," he tells her, "You shouldn't mock people twice your size. It's just common sense."
She laughs, "Good point. But you know I'm better at running away and hiding. I can fit into kitchen cabinets, suitcases, infant car seats."
"Yeah but you have to be able to run," Ben quips, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She's squirming, trying to get out of his grasp. Skylar feels a twinge of jealousy as he knows Ben has had a thing for her since they filmed the first movie.
"Put her down," Skylar tells him, trying to not sound as annoyed as he feels, "If you drop the star of the movie on her head, we're all screwed."
"Oh please," Anna scoffs, "You all are far better singers than I am."
"Whatever, Miss Oscar Nominated actress," Ben teases, putting his hand up in front of her face. She slaps it away, and again Skylar feels his internal organs constrict. He walks away from the group, suddenly in need of water.
As he's standing near the refreshments table, Ben walks over to him. "How are you handling things with Camp?" he asks his friend.
"I'm fine," Skylar replies, trying not to snap at him. The guy really has done nothing wrong.
They both turn to watch Anna, who is now practicing the choreography with the girls, and keeps dissolving into laughter at some of the more sexy moves. "I look ridiculous doing this!" she exclaims, although it's clear by the expressions on the guys' faces that ridiculous isn't the word they'd use to describe her.
"She's adorable," Ben says out loud. "What do you think? Should I ask her out finally? I mean I'm single, she's single."
Before Skylar can think of something to deter his friend, Ben continues, "I mean look at her. She's beautiful, intelligent, and so, so talented it's almost sick. And on top of it all, she's great. Sweet as can be and modest too. She's the entire package, man."
Skylar just stares at her. Ben is right. He's known that for some time, but never really considered that he might have a shot with her. She's out of his league, right? Right?
Maybe not.
"Go for it," he replies with as much enthusiasm as he can muster. If Anna is interested in Ben, there's only one way to find out.
Ben grins, clapping Skylar firmly on the back before rejoining the group. He watches in horror as Ben strolls right up to Anna, pulls her aside, and starts talking to her. She's smiling, nodding her head, and Skylar can't breathe for a moment. After what seems like forever, Ben walks back over to him.
"So I did it, I asked her out," Ben says breathlessly, "But she said she's busy tonight. In fact, she said some of the girls on the cast are going out to some bar and restaurant for dinner, and she invited me and you to come along. Better to hang out with her in a group than not at all. And she didn't flat out say no."
"She specifically mentioned me?" Skylar asks, hopeful.
"Yeah man," Ben replies, "She did."
"Do you think Camp will be there?" Skylar wonders.
"Probably not," Ben answers, "She mentioned going to some fancy restaurant with Elizabeth Banks later."
Skylar is relieved to be finished filming for the day, and he has a few hours to himself where he can head back to the hotel and get ready for tonight.
Anna was completely thrown off by Ben. She didn't know he liked her, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she can't say she's noticed him before as anything other than a friend. He's incredibly kind and cute, and she thinks she might give him a chance. But, just to be clear to him that for now she's only interested in him as friends, she tells him to bring Skylar.
Skylar takes forever getting ready by mulling over his outfit and hair for a long time. When he finally arrives at the restaurant, he's a few minutes late. He walks in and sees Kendrick, Ben, Alexis, and Rebel already sitting at a table together with one seat empty. He's happy that this is a small town and a place well off the beaten path and not that many people are recognizing them here.
"Isn't this place great?" Ben asks him as he sits with the others, "Anna found it."
"Yeah, it's great," Skylar agrees, smiling warmly at Anna. He can't help but notice that her cheeks flush slightly. She looks gorgeous in a dark blue scoop neck top, short black skirt, and boots. Her hair is in loose ringlets and her makeup is much lighter than Beca Mitchell's. He flags down the server for a beer.
"Try not to get plastered tonight," Anna teases him, flashing him a bright smile. "We've got a lot of kissing scenes coming up and I'd prefer it if you didn't reek of alcohol."
"As you wish," he replies, holding his beer up in the air as if to toast her.
Ben and Rebel are sitting on either side of her, leaving him across the table. Skylar watches as Ben starts asking her a slew of questions, obviously trying to engage her in conversation. She's answering him, throwing in a few anecdotes that have the whole group laughing, and Skylar can't help but notice that even though Ben is the one asking the questions, she's looking at him when she answers.
As it gets later, the place grows louder and darker as people drink more. There's music playing and some of the other patrons have started dancing. "Want to dance?" Ben asks Anna, and she nods.
She's grateful that it's a fast song and they don't have to touch while dancing, and she looks over at Skylar, surprised to find him staring right back at her. And what is that expression on his face? Disappointment?
She's just trying to be nice to Ben, to give him a chance. After all, Skylar was in a serious relationship until just a few hours ago. She doesn't want to be anyone's rebound. But she can tell already that she has no chemistry, no spark with Ben. She shoots Skylar an anxious look, as if to say, save me.
He's out of his chair in an instant, coming over to them. "Mind if I cut in?" he asks Ben, gesturing to Alexis who quickly starts dancing with Ben instead. He and Anna move aside and have started dancing when the song ends and a slow song starts playing.
She looks nervous for a moment before stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Good thing I'm wearing heels," she jokes.
"You could have stood on my feet," he laughs, placing his hands on her hips.
"Hey," she says, looking up at him, "Thanks for saving me. Ben's great, it's just that—"
"It's never gonna happen?" he finishes for her.
"Yeah," she nods. "God, I'm such a mess."
He shakes his head at her, "A hot mess," he says without thinking, and then hopes she doesn't think he's overstepping.
"Thanks," she smiles shyly. "You know I love playing Beca, but her clothes? Totally not my style. And all that makeup takes forever to wash off!"
"You look better this way, more natural. You don't need all that makeup," he agrees. "You know we all appreciate that you're doing the movie with us."
"I wanted to," she answers.
"Then why did it take you so long to decide?" he questions.
She freezes, looking down at the floor. "Personal reasons," she replies quietly.
"Like?"
"Chemistry," she says vaguely.
"You're not helping," he shakes his head.
"You know, getting along with everyone," she explains.
"But everyone loves you," he says, baffled.
"It wasn't so much me worrying about people liking me," she says, the alcohol making her brain a little fuzzy, "It was more me worrying about liking people."
"Oh," he says, wondering who she's talking about.
"You know, chemistry," she says, looking directly into his eyes for a long moment. And just as her meaning resonates with him she pulls away, heading in the direction of their table. He is still stunned when they sit down again and Anna acts as if nothing happened between them just now.
Internally, Anna is freaking out. She can't believe she basically just told Skylar she has a huge crush on him. What is wrong with her? The guy has only been single for a few hours! Again, she needs distance between them and that doesn't seem to be an option.
To make matters worse, Ben is unrelenting in his flirting. On one hand, Skylar has to give the guy credit for being so brazen about it; on the other hand, he wants to punch Ben. "Dude," he says to his friend, pulling him over the bar for a talk.
"I was just talking to Anna," Skylar tells Ben, "And I'm sorry, but she's not interested in you. She likes someone else. She doesn't want to hurt your feelings or make things awkward."
"Who does she like?" Ben asks.
"Umm," Skylar falters, looking down at his drink, "Me, actually."
"She told you that?" Ben gapes at him.
"In so many words, yes," Skylar replies, "And look, neither of us planned this or anything. I'm just newly single. I'm not going to head into a relationship just yet. But there definitely is something going on between us. I thought it was just playing Beca and Jesse getting to my head, but it's more than that. I'm sorry, man."
Ben doesn't say anything for a long while, sipping his drink thoughtfully. He turns to Skylar, "Just promise me this," he begins, "That if you are lucky enough to get her, you won't be an idiot and screw things up. Seriously, she's one of a kind."
"I promise," Skylar says, and he means it.
He looks over at Anna as she laughs over something Rebel just said, her smile practically lighting up the room, and he knows that Ben is right.