Sometimes I wish I'm not the author of this story. It sucks when you know the twists before they happen! I'm always spoiling myself. Damn it. And I really wish there's an effective way I could distinguish all the Guests from one another because there are some who posts on the same date.

sherralotz, Moxain, Yan: I love it when 'I hate you' or 'WTF' becomes the sweetest thing. LOL.

Guest (Mar 13), DieZeitVergeht, Guest (Mar 11), FilipinoBlood, asdfg: It's kind of funny reading all your reactions. *evil laugh*

Illithyia: It's my next big challenge.

avidreader: Thank you so much for investing some of your time to read my story. :)

NightmareWalker: I am truly thankful that we don't know each other personally. God, I can imagine you following me night and day, complaining how I'm toying with your emotions. LOL. But really, I find it as a compliment.

iamtitaniuuum: Still, breaking up by lying to her is a jackass move.

guest, leijan: Please don't die.

Guest (Mar 12), itsmefiebs, randomperson: Thanks! :)

PitchPerfectLover: Beca should really watch out for Aubrey from now on. LOL. You know, I love you for laughing at all my jokes, like, every single time! :) And you must really love Stacie's character, don't you?

gleekathoner: Pang MMK ba? :)

shifter boy: Chloe's not that kind of a girl. Don't worry.

Rennie Laroche, chile101: There's a reason.

charliepollock1357, atty jannie: Taking the easy way out is too cliche Beca would hate it.

oilzz and stuff, brittanysnodes, Guest (Mar 11): Beca will pay the price. *winks*

lucakutya: This is officially my favorite review ever!

Natali1798: I'm really sorry for putting Chloe through all these. I can totally feel every pain she's felt since the prologue.

Guest (Mar 11), sokpovung, DJBMitch, fullasincerity: Yeah, they will have a happy ending. One of the disadvantages of fanfiction. I can't really play the will-they-or-will-they-not game on you, people.

Crabapplekid89: Well, the scene I have in mind is Beca simply running away after dropping the bottle of wine. The others were just too stunned to even process the whole thing and follow her. :)

ItsLazyGurl: I laughed at Sparknotes. That would be my legacy. LOL. We can totally discuss things if you want. With regards to your inquiry, Chloe was definitely mad. I mean, she spent over a year mourning and then one night of sex only to end up in a break-up. After getting your heart broken, it's not comforting to see the same woman who had been sooooo in love with your [ex] girlfriend, isn't it? Seeing "Stacie" there gave the impression that Beca had been perfectly fine, who knows what could have happened in the span of time, while Chloe grieved.

MysticFalls94: To be honest, originally the line was "After all, I realize that you really are nothing to me." But then I was afraid that Chloe won't take it seriously because of the fact that the word "nothing" kind of have a different meaning to them.

RobOverstreet, airdr12: Aww.

Reading your reviews, I feel the need to warn you that "Stacie" will play a super minor role this time.

CHAPTER EIGHT: Dogs

In the Private room, Thud and Lilly sat side-by-side on the sofa watching in awe the Head Phoenix casually consume a bowl of macaroni and cheese. The word was out – the girl with the ladybug tattoo had found out about the truth, that the love of her life was in fact alive. So, how in the world could Beca Mitchell be acting abnormally too laidback about the whole thing? They expected an extremely rare bliss to replace her typically straight face at least for some period of time, or if the reunion had gone towards the opposite direction, a more moody version of the horrible monster. Either of them would be perfectly fine. Neither was the case, unfortunately, because the brunette simply ate her brunch meal in her usual state of a very quiet cricket.

"It didn't go well, huh?" Cynthia-Rose started, passing a bottle of Heineken towards her friend. "I was expecting that you'd bring Chloe to work if it actually went well."

The other went on to stuff a spoonful of macaroni and cheese into her mouth, idly chewed on it without even throwing back a glance to show at least the tiniest amount of interest on the on-going [one-sided] conversation.

"So it did go well," was the next supposition when there was neither confirmation nor denial. "Otherwise, you would have never come back."

Annoyingly, there was still no single clarifying statement about the set of assumptions.

"Just tell me where the fuck we are at the mission! Is it still on, Mitchell?"

Beca finally directed her dark blue eyes at the inquisitive person and mumbled, "Fidelity to The Society."

There. Thud, somehow feeling sorry for his boss, huffed in dismay as he openly paid up a twenty-dollar bill to the Asian woman inaudibly celebrating next to him. Fine, he lost the stupid bet – the Head Phoenix seemed to have chosen the code over the love of her life. Again. – but what was more hurtful than losing some petty cash was the thought that two hearts were purposely broken. The notorious brunette would possibly never admit it, but actions would always speak louder than words.

On the other hand, Cynthia-Rose could not determine how she honestly felt about the revelation. She should be happy that the Head Phoenix was selflessly performing her duty, proving her utmost commitment to the organization by sacrificing the most important person in her life. However, she could not help but wonder how Chloe was handling the situation at this particular moment and at the days ahead. Well, if Beca herself was finely coping then maybe the rest of the team should follow her lead.

"By the way," the mighty Phoenix spoke. "She accidentally met my neighbor too. You're right. She seriously thinks she's Stacie."

"That's not going to help you win Chloe back."

"I'm not trying to win her back, am I?"

Sadly true. And so CR let out a heavy sigh, feeling a little guilty. "We have a problem to worry about. Stan-"

As if on cue, the door flung open revealing a fuming Stan Mitchell with Fat Amy and Jesse standing behind him as the back-up party. Thud immediately bolted towards the intruder, grabbed him by the shirt, prepared to crush him any time until his boss advised him to terminate the job. He willingly let go of the tall young man in obedience yet left him with considerable amount of I'm-watching-you look. The young Mitchell didn't care, conversely. His eyes were already fixed at his sister whom they had all thought to be dead. He didn't have to say anything, the brunette already understood the whole picture that was about to unfold.

"There's a dead guy on the dance floor," Stan unconcernedly notified the club managers. "He told me I can't meet with the Head Phoenix."

CR shook her head in displeasure before making a call to the bar and order some people to clean up the mess downstairs.

"S-Stan broke the guy's neck," stuttered Jesse, earning him a nudge from the other IT expert beside him. They shouldn't be meddling. Their only task was to bring Stan to Pandemonium 2.0, and it had been already successfully completed.

"I could have you killed for it," Beca threatened her own brother, abandoning her seat to approach him.

He scoffed, "Why? Fidelity to The Society? Well, I'm not sworn to that bullshit of a code. I don't care if he was trying to fulfill his duty. I'm here to see my sister, the alive one, and that's what I intend to accomplish."

"You've seen her, and now you may leave."

Beca made sure to present her cold pair of eyes at him, unyielding, before turning her back on her old team. Thud protectively stood in front of the group of intruders, blocking their view of the Head Phoenix, his arms folded over his chest and his face strongly implying that the spontaneous meeting had come to a close. Stan, however, refused to accept the bargain. Without any premature warning, he ran past the concrete body towards the mighty Phoenix, tackling her down in fury; Lilly had to move away from the sofa if she wanted to stay out of their way and live another day. The back-up party gasped in surprise while Thud was all set to throw the guy away. But CR, relaxed, instructed everyone to leave the two alone – it was just one of those manifestations of a healthy sibling rivalry. She had seen their worse fights.

The younger Mitchell elbowed her brother right on the jaw and with the loosened grip, hastily pushed him off of her back. She stood up, flipped her wavy hair into place, and straightened her clothes; she had no intentions to continue this gibberish brawl. But Stan was poised to attack once more, throwing a jab that was easily deflected. Either he never learned or the knowledge had most likely vanished in the span of over a year. Beca caught his arm, pulled it towards his back with a cracking twist then rammed him against the wall. He hurriedly reached for a dart missile from the nearby dartboard fixed on the wall with his free hand and stabbed it into his sister's left leg more than a couple of times. She made small grunts in reaction, but forced herself to ignore the whole point of reflex. Nonetheless, he took advantage of her slight moment of weakness and pushed her off with the strength of his back.

Maddened, Beca carelessly removed the dart from her flesh - trickles of blood seeped out of her skin - and drew out her pocket knife, pitched it towards her brother, pinning his sleeve to the wall with a minor amount of his skin scrape in the process. He grabbed the knife, but just as he did, the mighty Phoenix was quick enough to give him a head-butt followed by a set of hard punches on his face causing that dizzy feeling swirling in his brain. She reclaimed the knife to position it by his neck; one more move on his part and it would be very easy for the unimpaired beast to slit his throat.

"You. Little. Piece of shit."

Beca rolled her eyes at her brother's words of endearment before releasing him from her wrath at once. Fine, they missed each other, and that was one way to demonstrate it. She handed the knife over to Thud for cleanup which he gladly agreed to undertake while Fat Amy rushed to Stan to attend to his injuries – his sleeve was stained with his own blood and his lips were bleeding. The younger Mitchell subsequently limped a little as she fetched a bottle of beer for an anxious Jesse, her very own way of telling him 'Calm down, bitch. I won't kill you'.

"You opened up a club and didn't invite me, kiddo." Stan glued his livid eyes towards the Head Phoenix. Thud and Lilly, not used to hearing the nickname, stiffed a laugh. Kiddo.

"You're not sworn to a bullshit code, remember?" the younger Mitchell shot back.

"You're fucking alive and you never bothered to inform us!"

She pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response.

"We're in," he firmly declared. "Jesse, Fat Amy, and I… we're all in."

"No."

"Why not?" Stan asked in utter frustration. "Are you really that much of a monster to refuse any help from us, huh?"

"Yes."

God, this woman could be so fucking stubborn!

"We used to be one hell of a team, kiddo!"

"I've got a new team now." She then glanced at the Asian woman who was awkwardly standing next to Jesse. "That's Lilly; she's in-charge with the computer stuff. The big guy's Thud; he works all-around. And you know CR."

Fat Amy and Jesse both turned to the quiet IT expert, scrutinizing. What the hell could she do that Beca would actually prefer her services?

"Now if you don't have any more concerns, please do leave," CR told them based on the impression on her boss' face. "We have a mission to finish here, people."

"So you're just going to leave Chloe again, is that it?" Stan posted the question to his sister, ignoring the demand. He wasn't going to give up just yet, and the redhead was usually the perfect bait to tame the cold-blooded monster. He was going to win this debate; a triumphant grin was already set to make an appearance.

The mighty Phoenix, contrary to everybody's expectations, simply displayed her infamous blank stare. "Yes."

Stunned, Stan and his back-up party were left with their mouths gaping open. What the fuck! She just rejected the person she once swore to kill for and die for. Who was this monster who had the face of Beca Mitchell? Defeated, the guests made their way out of the room with Thud to reassure that they were really able to exit the building.

"You did what you have to do," Cynthia-Rose felt the need to cheer up her old friend even in a poor attempt and even with the absence of such request. "You're keeping them safe, Mitchell."

Wordless, the Head Phoenix put a cigarette stick in between her lips which Lilly automatically lit up. Yeah, she was doing the right thing. Hopefully.

Aubrey let herself in after unlocking the front door with her own duplicate copy of the house keys. Nothing had changed since the last time she came over to check on her best friend creating this cloud of uncertainty whether or not the redhead was in fact already at home. Nevertheless, the Posen heiress made her way upstairs, and as she approached the Yellow Room, muffled sound of music could be heard coming from the bedroom. She pushed the door open, and there she was, thank god – Chloe Beale was seated by the foot of the bed staring at the iPhone docked on the pink speaker.

[All I want is nothing more
To hear you knocking at my door]

The blonde intentionally cleared her throat to make her presence noticeable, but the other didn't move an inch. Fine, it wasn't a certain brunette at the door.

['Cause if I could see your face once more
I could die a happy man I'm sure]

At least, no more Bon Iver to play his break-up songs over and over.

[When you said your last goodbye
I died a little bit inside]

Yet, this new music sounded a little more heartbreaking. If Beca Mitchell was the reason behind this, Aubrey would be more than determined to slaughter the so-called mighty Phoenix once and for all. Indeed, in Chloe's mind, those last few moments with the love of her life just kept flashing in an endless loop - her monotonous voice bidding goodbye, stomping on her already broken heart.

[I lay in tears in bed all night
Alone without you by my side]

The Posen heiress sat next to the lonely redhead and intentionally pressed on the pause button on the controls. "Let's take a break from that song. It's a little too sad, don't you think?"

As an answer, Chloe merely turned towards her best friend.

"She fucked up again?" asked the other.

The redhead gave a nod as she lost the courage to speak, her bright blue eyes glinting with tears that were set to fall any moment.

"Do you want to cry?"

Chloe eagerly nodded her head in an honest response.

"Come here," Aubrey pulled her best friend to envelope her in a comforting hug. Damn it, she was failing at her job again. First, it was douchebag Tom, and then here came monster Beca… if only she could build indestructible fences around the fragile redhead in order to save her from future heartbreaks, she would definitely do that without any doubt. "Let's make better decisions next time, shall we, Beale?"

Typical Aubrey Posen –trying to console someone in a form of an oblique judgment. But at least, it made Chloe beam for a second.

"Dogs should win an Oscar too, you know." It was an attempt at diversion as a form of solace - a random topic and completely irrelevant to the current situation. "I just need to put it out there. Somebody has to say this sentiment out loud. I mean, come on, they're the perfect creation. They make you go 'aw' to their incredible cuteness, laugh at their crazy antics, then the next thing you know they're making you bawl because… they simply have this kind of ability to tear your heart apart. You've seen Eight Below, right? If I could just reach into the screen and save them from all their struggles… Marley! Gosh, Marley… And Hooch! I can never forget Hooch, the only reason I watched that freaking movie… And Sam! I hated Will Smith for killing her off. God! And don't even make me start on Hachi! Nine years, Chloe! He waited for almost a decade! Everyday! At the same train station! Forget about The Notebook and Noah writing 365 letters. Hachiko is the real deal!"

What the hell was going on? Even the broken one furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The blonde heiress was already crying her eyes out too. She was sobbing and shaking her head in mourning. Dogs.

"They're heroes and they deserve an Oscar too, Chloe."

Quite frankly, Chloe wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the whole thing. She knew Aubrey was trying to cheer her up. Talking about dogs usually worked on them, but suddenly, it took a wrong turn somewhere down the road.

"Stan's right," she decided to share, suppressing a small smile. "You're so easy to talk to… all I have to do is listen."

"You're not helping," complained the other, pressing on the play button on the controls in order to resume with the sad song. It's more heartfelt to cry with music playing on the background, she theorized.

[But if you loved me
Why'd you leave me?
Take my body
Take my body]

"Chloe?" Aubrey pouted her lips as she wept. "Hug?"

Giggling and sobbing at the same time, Chloe cuddled up with her best friend as they both shed some tears. Yeah, they appeared like a pair of crazy people. In their own terms though, if they were being honest, it was humbly called friendship. And it was a friendship that could endure any form of heartbreak.

[All I want is,
And all I need is
To find somebody.
I'll find somebody like you]

Sometimes, to give comfort, one didn't have to do anything. One didn't have to say anything. One just had to be there, physically and sympathetically, with the other person. Just the thought that still somebody gave a damn about your shit was more than enough. But for some reason, it was the same instance that pain would creep into one's deepest emotions. Was this how Stacie felt all those times? Was this the feeling of being part of The List - the pain of rejection and the foolish desire to come back for more?

[So you brought out the best of me,
A part of me I'd never seen.
You took my soul and wiped it clean.
Our love was made for movie screens]

"You're going to be okay, Chloe." Aubrey finally found the courage to reassure it. "Beca didn't break you beyond repair, right? 'Cause I'm seriously going to murder her. I promise."

Chloe put on an unwavering smile. "Give me today. Just one more day to be a pathetic ass. Then starting tomorrow, Beca Mitchell can never hurt me again. I'm done being her Hachiko, Aubrey… So yeah, I guess I'm going to be okay."

[But if you loved me
Why'd you leave me?
Take my body,
Take my body
All I want is,
And all I need is
To find somebody
I'll find somebody.]

She once thought that Beca's death was the biggest blow of all. It turned out, dealing with an alive Beca was a thousand times harder, a more painful punch because at least when she supposedly died, Chloe was sure that she was loved by the horrible monster. This time, it only seemed like a breath of lie.

A pair of Syndics previously assigned to monitor the activities of The Secret Society stood before Bumper Allen equipped with an important report they were about to deliver to him.

"What is it?" the Head Syndic asked.

"That big guy we've been suspicious about, the one who had been keeping an eye on Beale's daughter, we followed him, boss. We cannot confirm his allegiance yet, but we saw him enter a club."

"Then of course, he's a fucking Phoenix!" Bumper ridiculed. "They disguise their quarters in a club! How can you not remember that, idiots?"

"Boss, it's a different club… it's called Pandemonium 2.0."

Pandemonium. The name itself made the young leader shut his mouth in disbelief. More accurately, for a moment there, he had completely forgotten to breathe. His mental being had made an abrupt temporary shut down to address this new-found information. But Pandemonium was already gone!

"Pandemonium," he repeated just to make sure.

The pair nodded their heads in affirmation. "Also, this morning, we saw Stan Mitchell enter the same establishment together with those two other crooks."

"What is Stan Mitchell doing there?"

"We don't know, boss. We couldn't risk getting caught. But he left after a short while. Should we start following him now too?"

"No," Bumper raised a hand and shook his head. He had a different plan. "Keep an eye on that Pandemonium 2.0. Monitor every single person who comes and goes. If you recognize any Phoenix, shoot them dead. Right on the spot."

"Yes, boss."

"Off you go," the Head Syndic waved them away then turned towards his Right Hand, still dumbfounded by the discovery. "Could it be?"

Donald let out a sigh, afraid to give a wrong answer. "Rumors could be just as dangerous as the truth, boss."

"I've seen Pandemonium burn to the ground with my own two eyes."

"But you didn't see the mighty Phoenix die in it, did you?"

The inferior Syndic had a point. Bumper felt this sudden rush of fear in his system. Beca Mitchell couldn't be alive. She was surely going to ruin everything one more time.

"Tell everybody to work faster while I try to convince Clarence Beale to join our team. For the meantime, we need to retrieve the stolen information as soon as possible. We cannot be stuck here. If the mighty Phoenix is indeed alive, then she will surely go after the treasure too. We can't afford to lose it this time, dude. Failure is not one of our options."

The Hand slightly made a bow then immediately headed out to fulfill his task, leaving the Head Syndic to contemplate on his own until a smirk emerged on his mouth. Just no. Impossible. Beca Mitchell could not be alive.

"God, you are such a mess!" Ronie exclaimed at her daughter as if Beca was a seven-year-old son who loved to dive into the pool of mud that never seemed to dry up in the school playground during recess getting all his clothes so dirty in the process. "Young lady, what kind of a cabin are you trying to explore in Savannah, huh?"

The actual picture was that the notorious brunette arrived at her mother's office with her clothes ripped at random places while bloodstains embellished them courtesy of the cuts and scrapes she obtained on her body; a little cosmetics could be added and she would be good to go for a Halloween party as an authentic-looking zombie. Fucking Back to Basics, it made this happen! The Chief Directress applied Betadine solution using a Q-tip on the remaining wounds on the young Mitchell's back, lacking the necessary tenderness, not realizing that she was almost flinching in pain.

"If you must know, mom, a mechanical bear almost tore your human daughter into pieces."

Ronie immediately took a break from her nursing duties to check on the look on Beca's face. Of course, it was vacant as usual. But she must be serious just because she never kid around.

"Are you sure you don't want your brother back on your team?" she asked.

Her daughter rolled her eyes because they were going back to that discussion again when it had been long decided already.

"Fine," Ronie held up her hands in surrender before covering the wounds with adhesive bandages and gauze pads. "I'll shut up now."

Thank you!

"But seriously," she just couldn't stop her mouth, and Beca groaned in annoyance. Ronie and Aubrey could play mother and daughter in a movie, and they would totally kill it. "It's been a week and every day you come in here covered with blood and injuries. I worry too, you know."

"You're always worried."

"That's because I'm your mother!"

"Well, there's nothing to worry about."

Knock knock. Chloe, unaware of the circumstance behind the door, entered the office. The redhead came to a stop as soon as she recognized the phoenix tattoo printed on the exposed skin that never failed to astound her. Rapidly, she ceased breathing and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to explode right then and there.

Goddamn it! Stop it, Chloe! You're not supposed to feel anything anymore!

"Hello, Chloe." Ronie had a big grin on her face, clearly entertained by this whole scenario.

"I-I'm sorry," the newly-arrived visitor stammered her words as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Y-Your secretary told me to go right in, Ronie. But yeah, it's my fault. I-I should have... you know."

"Oh it's just Beca," the other wickedly made it sound like it didn't matter at all. Yes, Ronie, it's just Beca. "You've seen all of her anyway, I can testify."

Okay, awkward.

In her customary quiet self, the third person in the room picked up the sky blue-colored shirt that her mother had prepared for her and put it on. Little by little, the landscape of her bare back faded away from Chloe's view. Was it the time to start breathing normally again? No, because then Beca turned around to face her ex - that insensitive poker face on display especially for the redheaded monster.

"Uh…" the young heiress diverted her attention to the Chief Directress. "We're almost done with playtime."

"I should go check on the food then," Ronie hurriedly cleaned up all the mess lying on the table. "I'll see everyone at the hall for dinner, alright, Chloe?"

Chloe produced a nod while concentrating her mind to fight off the urge to eye her former girlfriend as the notorious brunette silently limped passed her. What happened, she found herself curious. She was still allowed to care, right? But no, she wasn't going to ask.

"Beca, stay," Ronie ordered as if her daughter was a well-trained dog.

The mighty Phoenix turned around to shoot her mother a questioning look. Why the fuck would she stick around?

"It's how you pay me your debts."

What debts?

"You have a staggering amount of unpaid medical bills with me. Stay or I'll ground you for life."

Beca deliberately scoffed at her mother's proclamation. That's absurd, and this was not high school! Ronie, however, was already ignoring her as she walked towards the door.

"Chloe?" she paused to address the redhead. "Benjamin is here today, isn't he?"

"Uh… yes. I left him with the kids."

And the Chief Directress turned to the horrible monster with a mischievous smirk, "You should definitely, absolutely, totally stay. After all… there's nothing to worry about, remember? Have fun, young lady."

Bad, bad mother! Ronie left the duo a playful wink then exited through the door. Perfect, a pair of former lovers deliberately stranded in the office. Since when did the atmosphere in here became this suffocating? Even more when two shades of blue intimately met for the first time since one week ago. So both had the chance to win this staring contest; Beca had the advantage – she could live for the rest of her life without saying a word – but Chloe was strong-minded about never letting the beast who broke her heart win again.

Fine, it was a tie for this round. The mighty Phoenix headed out without waiting for her company. Gone were the days when they would walk side-by-side, their fingers intertwined, and laughed to the corny joke for the day. The young heiress took a deep breath for support – where's Aubrey when you need her – then followed the brunette into the hallway. She earned an explicit death glare from the secretary on her way out, by the way.

The trip to the open field felt like a very complex maze. Chloe could swear it had never taken her this long and agonizing to reach the destination. Beca must be the one to blame. It wasn't because she was limping. She could sprint, but the feeling would still be the same. It was her presence, her existence. God, why the hell did she have to ruin everything?

"I don't look like a fucking idiot in this shirt, do I?"

Remarkably, it was Beca who passed on silence. And Chloe couldn't help but giggle at the inquiry. The mighty Phoenix sporting a sky blue shirt with Finn printed on it would always be hilarious.

"I never thought you're a fan of Adventure Time."

The brunette huffed. She was beginning to think that her mother chose the shirt on purpose. Stupid mother, stupid mechanical bear!

"Remember the first time you put on the yellow-"

Chloe shut her mouth immediately at the realization. Wrong! Just the wrong thing to bring up in this chit chat! She was mentally screaming at her own idiot brain while even the other felt awkward about it, knowingly clearing out her throat to ease the tension. And the eerie sound of tranquility spread in the air once more. Yeah, it was better to simply leave things unsaid. Less mistakes, less regrets.

"Becky!"

They had finally reached the open field, thank goodness – more people and more space to keep them both sane. Chloe was instantly greeted by Ben while cute little Maverick eagerly snatched his friend like a long lost valued possession. Of course Beca tried to get away from him, but his clingy hands were gripping on her arm too tight.

"Hi! I'm Ben," the young businessman offered a handshake with a friendly smile plastered on his lips. "It's nice to finally meet you, Becky."

The mighty Phoenix glanced at the hand hanging up for her then shot back an ever cold stare. So this was him. This was the threat her mother had been so worried about. He looked even more wonderful up close than from a long distanced view. She hated him already. No, it was worse than that. She couldn't trust him.

Alarmed when Maverick found the act of rudeness amusing as the kid began to snicker, Chloe took the responsibility to fix the crack. "She's actually my-"

"An old friend," Beca cut her off immediately and the redhead gave her an odd look. Really, an old friend? That was it?

"Oh so I suppose you're more familiar with this stuff than I am," the newbie became more enthusiastic to talk to the brunette after finding out that she was actually capable of speaking. Take the hint, man! She didn't want to converse with you! She's not even a people person. "Well, you came right on time for our last activity."

There was not even the infinitesimal amount of excitement on Beca's part.

"We're about to play Air Golf. The kids are already divided into two groups. You can join either if you want."

"Join my team, Becky!" Maverick tugged his friend's arm, pleading.

As a product of habit, she turned to the redhead.

"I'm not playing," Chloe strongly shook her head. "I suck at it."

Frankly, Beca had an empty facial expression. It was a meaningless message to the naked eye; funny how the other managed to decipher it. One look, and without realizing, they could still comprehend one another.

"Ben's really great though," the redhead added, just being honest.

"I'll be on the other team," proclaimed Ben. Nobody's asking, man!

But as strange as it seemed, those last two sentences triggered a source of motivation for the very quiet cricket. "So what do I do?"

"It has the same rules as regular golf," he summarized. Yes, Ben, because everybody was familiar with golf. "Here, each player is given a ping pong ball, and then, on several tree branches, we have wired hangers bent into circular targets as holes. One simply has to shoot the ball into the open space. Every time it fails to go through, a point will be added to your score. But hit the tiny bell suspended from a string right in the middle, a point will be subtracted. The group with the lowest score wins."

Ben was already holding up a ping pong ball for Beca. After much mental deliberation plus that I-am-so-good-at-this-game impression (it was just her own imagination, to be honest) just made her hate him even more, she decided to accept the challenge and Maverick and the rest of the team roared in high spirits.

"Are you ready?" asked Mr. Perfect in a friendly manner.

The mighty Phoenix unexpectedly wore a smirk. Sure, she was ready to win this shit. She was ready to beat the hell out of him. She was ready to prove that she was much better… for Chloe.

In the middle of the early dinner, Maverick held up a regular golf cup trophy over his head while the rest of the kids around him cheered and looked up to the item, wonderstruck. Thanks to Beca's perfect streak on hitting all the tiny bells with her ping pong ball, the group won the Air Golf tournament. Although, the greatest prize for her would have been the pleasure to witness an image of defeat on the face of Benjamin McDouglas. Unfortunately, the guy was a freaking good loser – he was sport.

"You cheated," Ronie accused her own daughter, handing over a cup of orange juice into Beca's hand as they stood in the corner of the hall.

The notorious brunette stared at the healthy substance and wondered if they ever had alcohol for dinner at Barden. "I played by the rules."

"You've been throwing knives since you were three!" the Chief Directress quietly hissed. "You can hit a bustling dragonfly in your sleep! You competing in an amateur Air Golf tournament is like Usain Bolt challenging an ignorant athlete to a sprint match at the Olympics. That's cheating in every angle."

"He coerced me to play."

"Convinced," the other corrected. "Nobody can coerce you to do something. People die trying to do that. You're the oh-so-great mighty Phoenix."

Beca rolled her eyes and let out a huff. Her mother was unreasonably complicated. She was asked to stay, and she did. She was told to have fun, and it happened. But at the end of the day, she still did everything wrong. She still ended up as the bad guy. Because she's the mighty Phoenix. Fucking logic.

"You're jealous," Ronie suddenly concluded with an irritating titter.

The other didn't respond. That new allegation was simply absurd.

"Benjamin managed to convince you because you're so jealous of him."

The younger brunette finished her cup of orange juice, sloppily crushed the container in her hand, and tossed the trash into the giant flower pot to her left with the intention of changing the subject. Her mother though was already too amused that even such foul act didn't bother her anymore, especially when the sight of Chloe giggling at whatever Ben had told her was crystal clear from their view. Ronie was cracking up loudly, playfully mocking the callous beast.

"They look so cute together, what do you think?" she taunted. "She's such a darling and he's the perfect gentleman. Match made in heaven, I say. Give him a few more weeks, two months top. Chloe will soon be over you and she'll be falling head over heels in love with Benjamin. She will offer him whatever is left of her broken heart, and he will treat her well and will never take his princess for granted. Their wedding will be in Paris, so romantic. Then they're going to have adorable ginger babies and they will live happily ever after."

That's... possible.

"How does that feel, heartless monster? Are you going to cry now? Does it hurt you? Is it killing you already? Should I be worried about you? Nah, you brought this to yourself, honey. So suck it up!"

"Why are you doing this?" the mighty Phoenix had to ask. This was the worst bullying experience ever.

"Because I love you. Because I'm on Team Phoenix. Do you want to know what I honestly think? I think you deserve this particular kind of pain. You have to know what it feels like to lose Chloe. And not just lose-her-break-up-with-her kind of pain. You have to lose her to someone else and feel the pain of knowing that there's actually someone else who could make the love of your life feel genuinely happy. Maybe then you'd realize just how much you love her. Maybe then you'd go 'screw the code, I only want to be with her'."

The young Mitchell slowly turned to her mother, her face was still a blank canvass but idea was obviously messing her mind.

"Let me show you a glimpse of what you're missing."

Ronie left a wink before dashing to the microphone to gain everybody's attention. She made this little speech then publicly asked the beloved redhead to grace the audience with a song. Chloe gladly took the stage, picked up a ukulele, and started singing; the kids singing along as much as they could.

[I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok
I just want to be ok today]

"Hey you," Ben joined the very quiet cricket in the corner. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"

He had guessed that she wouldn't respond, but it's worth a try.

"You're so quiet," he told her the obvious.

And you talk too much, she slammed in her thoughts with a sigh.

[I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today
I just want to feel something today]

"I'm not surprised that you're friends with Chloe," he made another attempt at striking up a conversation. "I mean, she has that kind of effect… brightening up people's lives."

She knew that, of all people.

"I'm not in the right position to say this but… that girl, that girl who left her… she must be goddamn crazy, am I right? Chloe Beale is… the one! She's everything anybody could ever ask for. So that girl who left her, she must be such an idiot."

Beca required herself to meet his innocent gaze. Man, he had no freaking idea who he was talking to.

[Open me up and you will see
I'm a gallery of broken hearts]

"If I had Chloe, I'll never let her go for whatever reason," confessed Ben with a daydreaming smile. "You've probably met that girl. So… tell me, what kind of a person would ever consider to leave the one just like that?"

"She's a monster," the brunette heard her own voice. It was calm yet filled with vexation and remorse. "She's a stupid fucking monster."

Ben chuckled because he was able to make her talk and the fact that she was angry about that girl. Man, he really had no idea. He had no idea how she felt at this very moment – it was the exact same sensation her mother wanted her to feel. It's about to happen. She could truly lose Chloe. To him. And listening to her sing this instance, it felt like Chloe herself was already asking her to stay out her life too. That's only fair, right?

[I'm beyond repair, let me be
And give me back my broken parts]

Beca was getting ready to leave for Pandemonium when there was a knock on the door. She took a deep breath to push back the emergence of a bad temper because there was a good chance that it was her nosy neighbor again. How many times did she have to tell Cynthia-Rose that she didn't need a babysitter? She secured her pocket knife into place then lazily marched towards the door. She pulled it open and a fist adorned with an expensive ring instantly punched her on the face. Hard. She hastily pressed on her nose to stop the bleeding, one eye squinted to witness the last person on earth she wanted to see frantically jumping up and down and shaking her hand in anguish. How the hell did Aubrey Posen found her? Had she been following the mighty Phoenix like a snoopy dog? Perhaps, the apartment was not a sanctuary anymore.

Songs: (1) All I Want - Kodaline [Thanks to BeChloeFan01, you saved my ass!] (2) Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson

Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect.