Chapter 4

A/N: To the person who wanted longer chapters, my response is: ask and you shall receive ;-).

Beca pushed the school door open and stepped out into the afternoon sun, throwing her hand up quickly to shield her eyes as they adjusted. A grin spread across her face as she easily spotted her car in the near empty parking lot, Stacie sprawled across the hood and windshield with her shirt rolled up exposing her tanned stomach. Beca pulled her sunglasses out of her backpack and slipped them on as she made her way over, her grin widening as she saw Stacie's eyes were closed.

"Damn girl, do you have a name or can I call you mine?" She slid her sunglasses down her nose to leer at Stacie over the top of them.

Stacie cracked one eye open, sitting up with a yawn. "That was terrible. You'll never get in my pants with lines like that Mitchell."

Beca lowered her gaze to Stacie's bare legs, retorting, "Then it's a good thing you're wearing shorts."

Stacie rolled her eyes, slapped Beca's hand off her knee, and slid off the car. "Can we go now? By the way, you suck for getting detention and stranding me at school."

"Oh right, because I obviously did it on purpose." Beca moved around the front of the car and slid behind the wheel as Stacie got in beside her. "Want to grab dinner tonight? Dad's teaching and Sheila's still in New York."

Stacie sighed. "Can't. My parents are having 'date night' and I'm stuck babysitting the twin terrors."

"Ouch dude." Beca grimaced at the thought of Stacie's twin 9-year old brothers, starting the car and pulling out of the space. The nickname was more than appropriate.

"Tell me about it. Speaking of punishment, how was detention?" Stacie asked, digging around in her purse before triumphantly holding up a pack of gum. She popped a stick in her mouth before offering one up to Beca.

Beca grinned and snagged the piece with her teeth. "It was interesting. Ms. Beale showed up and took my phone away, which is why I never texted you back."

"I figured as much." Stacie turned a little in her seat to face Beca, slyly asking, "Wait did you say Ms. Beale? Did she punish you?"

"Yeah Stace, she spanked me with a ruler and made me do lines on the chalkboard," Beca replied sarcastically.

Stacie winked at her. "Kinky, never knew that about you Becs. Now tell me what really happened."

"Honestly not much. She showed up, stole my phone, we talked a bit, and then she let me leave early." Beca shrugged, seeing Stacie start typing out a text on her phone. "Oh there was this part where I started flirting with her and she was into it," she added casually, as if commenting on the weather.

Stacie's fingers froze on the screen, as she whipped her head up to look at Beca. "Wait, what?!"

Beca smirked. "Winning this dare is going to be even easier than I thought." She pulled into Stacie's driveway and put the car in park.

Stacie's phone started ringing before she could respond. Beca waited while Stacie spoke to her mom, thinking back to the look her teacher had given her in detention. She hadn't missed the sharp breath Chloe took when she got up from the chair, or the white knuckles gripping the desk as she slid past her much closer than was necessary. Flirting with Chloe was fun and easy, but Beca could think of much better ways to put that desk to use.

Her face must have given away her thoughts, as Stacie's voice cut through the now silent car. "I gotta go, but we're going to talk about this later," she said as she exited the passenger seat.

Beca saw the knowing look on her friends face, and grinned. "What can I say Conrad, she's hot. I can get her number and take her on a date, but what I'd rather do is fuck her on that desk until she's screaming my name."

"Yeah yeah yeah, you're all talk Mitchell!" Stacie called as she made her way towards her house.

"We'll see about that," Beca said softly to herself as she watched Stacie disappear inside, before backing out of the driveway and heading for home.

Her thoughts instantly returned to the redhead, replaying the earlier scene in her mind. She had been certain Chloe felt the attraction between them, and it had taken all of Beca's restraint not to reach out and touch her. As far as Beca was concerned, it was only a matter of time until she won the dare, and she was fast becoming more interested in seeing how far she could push her teacher. Chloe was like a real-life fantasy; one that had curves in all the right places and a southern accent that sent sparks of desire coursing through her with just a few words. She had never been particularly fond of country music, but after one class with Chloe, she already had several new ideas for mixes bouncing around her head.

Beca parked her car on one side of the driveway and wandered inside, tossing her backpack on the kitchen floor near the table. She grabbed an apple, a glass of water, and headed up to her room to work on a new mix.

A few hours later, Beca pushed her chair back from her mixing board. She ran her fingers through her hair and picked up her phone, swiping at her missed texts on the way downstairs to cook dinner.

Stacie [6:31PM]: Fuck date night

Stacie [7:01PM]: They built a WWE wrestling ring with the couch cushions and are about to face off. Is it bad that I'm encouraging this?

Stacie [7:06PM]: That escalated quickly.

Beca burst out laughing at the picture below the message. Charlie had pulled Cody's shirt up around his face blindfolding him, and was pinning his brother on the ground in some sort of headlock. She typed out a quick reply.

Beca [7:34PM]: Next time we'll each pick one to coach. Are they alive?

She reached the kitchen and connected her phone to the Bluetooth speaker, her phone chiming before she could select a song.

Stacie [7:35PM]: Yeah. I ordered pizza and parked them in front of the TV

Beca [7:35PM]: Good parenting. Need a ride again tomorrow?

Stacie [7:36PM]: Yep. Pick me up at 7:30?

Beca [7:37PM]: You got it

She threw her phone on the counter and opened the fridge, pulling out various ingredients before kicking the door closed. Cooking was one of Beca's favorite things to do. She figured it appealed to her creative side, and she loved mixing random things together to make something amazing, be it food or music.

Her father had been devastated when her mom passed away, struggling to complete the simplest of tasks around the house. Beca, too, felt like she had been hit by a ton of bricks, unable to fully comprehend that her mom wasn't ever going to walk through the door again or kiss her goodnight. Some of Beca's favorite memories of her parents were watching them cooking meals together in the kitchen, always laughing and shoving food in each other's faces. Ben had avoided the kitchen for months after the funeral, and there were only so many different takeout places Beca could stomach before finally putting her foot down. She took over the cooking for both of them, finding it was something she genuinely enjoyed. She slowly convinced him to help her, starting small with having him make coffee in the mornings or set the table for dinner. Eventually they built a routine of eating breakfast together in the mornings and cooking dinner together every night.

She was never more appreciative of this than the first night her dad introduced her to Sheila. They had been invited to her house for dinner, and Beca wasn't thrilled about her dad dating. She had almost been upset at how much she liked the woman, especially since she could easily see the chemistry between the two adults. The food, however, was another matter entirely. Sheila openly admitted before the meal that she wasn't much of a cook. Ben and Beca attempted valiantly to keep her from noticing, but the food was borderline inedible. Sheila wasn't fooled and instantly trashed the entire meal in favor of ordering a few pizzas. Beca smiled at the memory of the three of them lounging on Sheila's living room floor, eating pizza and watching the latest episode of The Bachelor. It had become a weekly tradition for the three of them, whenever the show was airing.

Beca circled back around the island to her phone, selecting a playlist. The opening sounds of Titanium started blaring through the speaker, and she began singing along as she chopped onions, peppers, carrots, and zucchini to make a stir-fry. She tossed the vegetables into a pan with some olive oil, and went to work on a couple of chicken breasts. Ten minutes and one bag of Uncle Ben's 90-second white rice later, Beca sunk deep into the couch and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels for a few minutes, finally deciding on Shark Tank, and settled in to see what products were being pitched tonight.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Beca rolled over and pressed her face down into the mattress, pulling her pillow tight over her ears trying to drown out the awful sound. The second day wasn't starting off any easier. She let out a muffled yell of frustration before turning over and shutting off her alarm. For a second she thought about throwing the clock against the wall just for the satisfaction of watching it shatter, instead deciding to collapse back into the twisted pile of blankets. The clock was necessary. For a while, she had used the alarm on her phone, discovering that waking up to music left her in a better mood. However it was short lived, as her body began incorporating the song into whatever dream she was having. Her father eventually threatened to take away everything she owned if she slept through it and ended up late to school one more time, starting with her car and mixing board. The clock stays.

As Beca trudged down the stairs on the way to the kitchen, she perked up instantly at the aroma of pancakes filling the hallway. "Morning Dad," she greeted, sliding a couple onto her plate and reaching for the maple syrup, completely oblivious to her father's frown. "You just made my day."

"Well I'm about to ruin it. A week of detention Beca?" Her father's exasperated tone caused her to freeze mid-bite, her guilty expression not giving her a chance to deny it. She raised her eyes up to see his disappointed face, choosing to stay silent and let him finish. "One day Becs. Can you just get through one day? And cursing at a teacher?"

Beca interjected, "I didn't curse at her. I may have used a curse word..."

Ben sat up straight and slammed his hand down on the table, cutting her off. "Damnit, Beca, that's not the point and you know it." His voice softened as he leaned back and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "You have one more year of high school, and then you never have to see any of those teachers again if that's what you want. But you will show them the respect they deserve while you're still a student. Are we clear?"

Beca nodded silently. She hated it when her dad chastised her. Ben had perfected the art of being serious enough to get his point across, while still conveying his love for his daughter. His voice was laced with more disappointment than real anger, and she always left the talks thinking about a way to make things right. She didn't have to think very long this time, as Ben informed her of the solution.

"I'd appreciate it if you would apologize to Ms. Posen today before the start of school."

Beca groaned covered her face with her hands, knowing it wasn't just a suggestion. He may have phrased it like the choice was hers, but she knew him well enough to know that that there was definitely a wrong choice. "Okay, I'll find her before class this morning," Beca agreed, taking another bite of the pancakes that were now cold on the plate in front of her. Just as she was swirling the last bite in syrup, her phone chimed, eyes widening as she read the text and saw the time.

Stacie [7:35AM]: You coming?

"Shit! I gotta go Dad, I'm late to pick up Stacie." Beca typed out a quick reply, grabbed her backpack, and sprinted out the door.

"Stay out of trouble! And Sheila comes back today so we'll go out for dinner!" He called after her.

She waved her hand in acknowledgement and jumped in her car, quickly taking off down the street.

Beca hung back as she watched her classmates begin filing out of first period English. Stacie had taken a few steps before realizing Beca wasn't following behind her. Beca motioned her on. "I'll catch up with you at your locker."

Stacie looked at her doubtfully, realizing Beca wanted to talk to their teacher alone. "Maybe I should hang around just in case this turns ugly."

Beca sighed as she rose to her feet. "I'll be fine Stace, I just have to figure out how to apologize without making myself physically ill." Stacie nodded and left her alone in the room. Deciding to just get it over with as quickly as possible, she approached the teacher's desk.

"Can I help you, Ms. Mitchell?" Aubrey's tone was sharp and full of mistrust.

Beca bit back a retort and took a deep breath. "Um yes...I mean no...I just..."

"Oh my God, Beca, spit it out already. How did you get into my AP class if you can't even get out a full sentence?" Aubrey knew she shouldn't taunt her students, but couldn't help it. Maybe if the alt girl wasn't such a pain in her ass all the time.

Beca's eyes narrowed and she took a step closer to the desk, her voice rising a little. "Jesus, Posen, I was trying to apologize for yesterday! I'm sorry I made those stupid comments about you and your class okay?"

Aubrey stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "If that's your idea of an apology, then you could use some practice."

Beca rolled her eyes and forced herself to take another deep breath. God, Aubrey Posen was infuriating. She took a step back from the desk and looked her teacher in the eye. "Ms. Posen, I want to apologize for my behavior in class yesterday," she said as evenly as possible. To add to her sincerity, she thought back to breakfast with her father, trying to recreate that feeling of desire to make things right. 'Be the bigger person Bec,' she thought, willing herself to stay calm and maintain eye contact with her teacher.

Aubrey studied her for a long moment, before giving her a small smile. "Apology accepted. Thank you Beca, that means a lot to me."

Beca attempted to return the smile, hoping it came across more genuine than it felt. "Maybe enough to let me out of detention for the rest of the week?" she asked hopefully.

Aubrey's eyes narrowed down at her. "Get out of my classroom," she said, pointing at the door.

Beca shrugged and replied sheepishly as she headed for the door, "It was worth a shot."

The rest of the day passed by surprisingly quickly, and before she knew it, the last bell had rung and Beca found herself at her locker as students passed her on their way out. She sighed as she threw her books into her backpack. The teachers might have gone easy on them at first, but by the end of the second day she had homework in every class.

She shut the door and locked it, watching Stacie push through the crowd of seniors like a fish swimming upstream. Fat Amy followed behind her, texting someone and not paying any attention to the people tripping over themselves to avoid getting in her path.

"Hey Becs, I'm gonna catch a ride home with Amy!" Stacie called down the hallway, giving up on making it all the way to Beca's locker.

Fat Amy shouted from behind her, "Have fun in detention, Shawshank!"

Beca rolled her eyes, watching her friends walk down the hallway before turning and making her way to detention. She entered the empty classroom, sitting down at one of the tables and pulled out her calculus textbook. Might as well get started on the mountain of homework her teachers had assigned, especially since her father and Sheila were taking her out to dinner. Beca opened her notebook to a blank page, flipping through the textbook until she reached the assigned problem set. She'd been working through the problems for about ten minutes when Ms. Beale entered the room, dropping her things on the floor next to the teacher's desk and sitting down in the chair with a deep breath.

Beca looked up from her notebook and leaned her chair back on two legs. "Late again, Beale," she said, her mouth curling into a smirk. "Maybe you should be the one in detention instead of me."

Chloe gave her a wide smile. "Hard to argue with that logic. Except, I would join you in detention, not replace you."

Beca shrugged and gestured to the empty classroom. "Fine with me. I could use some company. I was getting lonely in here all by myself."

"You seemed busy enough when I arrived. What are you working on?" Chloe asked.

Beca held up her calculus textbook, allowing her teacher to read the title across the cover. "How are you with calc?" she asked. "I was doing okay for the first few problems, but got stuck on this one."

Chloe rose and joined Beca at her table, taking the seat beside her. "It wasn't my worst subject in school," she replied, taking a look at the problem. It took about thirty seconds for Beca to realize Chloe was just being modest about her proficiency in math. She was beyond impressed as her teacher easily solved the problem, explaining the steps along the way in a way that made sense.

Beca's senses were overloaded as she desperately attempted to focus on her homework. Having her teacher sit this close to her was distracting to say the least, and she took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart. She already knew that Chloe was gorgeous, having had two class periods now to study the redhead. Discovering that underneath the wavy red hair and piercing blue eyes was an extremely intelligent person pushed her feelings past attraction into pure lust. Chloe was leaning close to her, fingers trailing over the pages of the textbook as she helped Beca work through the next problem. Her perfume was intoxicating, and just when Beca thought she was going to burst, Chloe leaned back saying, "Okay, you try the next one."

Beca took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind of the lingering scent. She nodded, focusing on the next problem and followed the steps Chloe had just shown her. After a few minutes, she circled an answer and looked at Chloe to see if she'd gotten it right. The beaming smile she got caused her to break out into one of her own.

"Oh my God! Is Beca Mitchell actually smiling?" Chloe teased her, nudging her shoulder.

Beca rolled her eyes, embarrassed. "I smile…sometimes."

Chloe laughed replying, "You should do it more often. It looks good on you."

Beca didn't reply, instead choosing to shake her head and move on to the next problem in the set. "Whatever Beale."

She noticed that Chloe stayed seated beside her as she continued to finish her calculus homework. Beca absentmindedly began singing the first verse to Titanium as she worked through the last problem. The song had been stuck in her head since the night before from singing and dancing to it as she had cooked dinner. She was so focused on finishing the problem that she didn't notice her teacher sit up suddenly beside her. She did notice, however, when Chloe began softly harmonizing with her when she hit the chorus. Beca dropped her pencil as she turned to look at her teacher, surprised to find her clear blue eyes blazing.

'Fuck.' Beca knew she was done. Chloe's clear soprano lit a fire inside her, and Beca knew instantly that she would do anything to hear that voice. From the look Chloe was giving her, she was fairly certain the feeling was mutual. Beca twisted sideways in the chair, her hand coming down on top of Chloe's on the table. She couldn't help herself as she inched closer to the redhead, moving farther onto the edge of her seat. Chloe's voice was like a siren, drawing her in without a second thought to her own safety.

Beca felt her heart race when she realized Chloe was inching closer to her, wanting nothing more than to close the distance between them permanently. She was sure her heart was beating loud enough for Chloe to hear it, making her mind up as they sung the last line of the chorus. Just as the last word formed on Chloe's lips, Beca leaned in and covered them with her own, her other hand finding the redhead's knee to keep from losing her balance. She felt the spark instantly, like electricity was flowing through her body.

Chloe pulled back after a few seconds, taking a deep breath, her face expressionless as she studied the brunette. Beca's breath caught in her throat as her teacher stared at her, feeling like time had stopped. Chloe's expression was unreadable, and just as Beca was beginning to think she'd made a huge mistake, her teacher sprung into motion with a single word. "Fuck."

Before Beca could comprehend what was happening, Chloe turned fully towards her and crushed their lips together, feeling the redhead slide a hand to the back of her neck. She reacted instantly, parting her lips and allowing Chloe's tongue entrance. If Beca thought she was attracted to Chloe before now, there were no words to accurately describe the feelings coursing through her body. Kissing Chloe Beale was like standing on the sun, and Beca felt her entire body burning with intensity and desire.

The shock wearing off, she pushed back against Chloe's mouth without breaking the kiss, determined to gain control as she rose out of her chair for more leverage. Tangling her fingers in red hair, Beca angled her head, deepening the kiss. She felt a hand on her hip as the one behind her neck pulled her closer before the kiss ended, and she realized Chloe had stood up. She immediately felt Chloe reconnect their lips, stepping into the kiss and pressing her hips against Chloe's, eliciting a whimper from the redhead. Beca slid her hands down Chloe's body, under her thighs, and lifted her onto the table, stepping in between her legs, missing the contact instantly. She felt hands on her hips, pulling her closer. Beca ran her tongue along Chloe's bottom lip, nibbling gently on it until she felt them part. She stroked her tongue over Chloe's, matching the rhythm of her hips grinding between her teacher's legs, drawing out another moan.

Suddenly, Beca found herself three feet back from the table and on the floor, having tripped over a chair. Breathing heavily as if she had just run a marathon, she looked up into Chloe's wide eyes. "Oh my God, Beca are you okay?"

Beca stood up, eyeing her teacher warily. "Jesus, Beale, what the hell was that for?"

"I'm so sorry, Beca. I don't know what came over me." Chloe looked distressed. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Breathe, Beale." Beca took a step forward towards the redhead, who instantly put a shaky hand up to stop her. She ignored the hand, and kept slowly inching forward until Chloe stood up and took a few steps away from her. Beca held her hands up and sat back down in her chair, eyes on her teacher. "Can we at least talk about what just happened?"

Chloe studied her for a moment. "Not here."

Beca nodded. "Fine, there's a Starbucks a couple miles down the road we can go to."

Chloe shook her head. "Too public."

"Jesus, Beale, is there anywhere that's really private? You don't want to talk at school, so do you have a better idea?" Beca asked irritably, as her teacher shook her head. "Fine, give me your phone number."

"Why?" Chloe asked suspiciously.

Beca rolled her eyes. "Because I'm going to stalk you for the rest of the year. Why do you think, Beale?" She pulled her phone out of her backpack and stared at her teacher expectantly. Chloe gave her a hard stare before her eyes softened, telling Beca her cell number. Beca immediately called the number, and Hit Me With Your Best Shot started playing from the front of the room.

Beca slowly looked up from her screen to meet Chloe's eyes, trying and failing to keep the smirk off her face. "Really, Beale?"

"This song is a classic!" Chloe defended as she retrieved her phone and added Beca into her contacts.

Beca rolled her eyes and turned away, her eye catching the time on the screen of her iPhone. "Shit!" she exclaimed loudly. "I gotta go. This isn't over, Beale," she said as she quickly threw her books into her backpack.

Chloe responded, "It's already over, Beca. It won't happen again."

Beca gave her a long stare before heading for the door, not having time to argue the point. She was already late for dinner, and she didn't want to give her dad any extra incentive to punish her. She gave Chloe one last look, her teacher focused on her cell phone and not paying her any attention. Already over, huh…They were just getting started, if Beca had anything to say about it.

A/N: As always, thanks to my beta Ravenclawsome33! Shameless plug for her story The One and Only Regret, it's as awesome as she is. Thanks to everyone who has read/followed/commented! It's definitely motivation to keep chugging along :-).