Hello! Thanks for all of the kind reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect, only my OC.
There's a slight trigger warning for mentions of past physical and emotional abuse in this chapter. If you need to skip this chapter, you won't be confused when you read the next chapter.
Later that week, Chloe had finally heard back from Mrs. Michaels, and they set up a meeting for Thursday. The aged social worker was going to be making a house visit to make sure I was in a safe environment. This meaning, she would be meeting all the girls.
All of them.
The Bellas may be an amazing group of girls, but you had to get to know them before you realized that. I just hope that Mrs. Michaels can see that too.
Today was the day.
I wasn't able to sleep last night, and Beca had sat up with me, while she worked on music for a performance the group had scheduled sometime in the near future.
"Grace, calm down, girl," Cynthia Rose eyes me from her spot on the couch. "You're gonna wear a hole in the ground with your pacing."
Looking up, I glance at all the girls before continuing to walk from one side of the room to the next, occasionally stopping to peek out the window.
"Okay, everyone," Beca stands up and walks to the center of the room. "Let's figure out how we're gonna do this. Obviously, she's gonna want to talk to each of us, but I was thinking that Chloe and I should do most of the talking," she gives Fat Amy, who looks around innocently, a very pointed look.
"Please, for the love of god just act like normal people," the brunette pleads with them. "For the hour or so that this woman's here."
This morning, everyone had been assigned a job to tidy up the house. There had been many companies, but they eventually managed to have everything up to par.
I just can't believe they're going through all this just so that they can have me stay with them. If I wasn't on the verge of a panic attack, I'd be very touched.
My thoughts are interrupted by the slamming of a car door.
My heart drops into my stomach.
Oh god.
I'm going to be sick.
A pressure on my shoulder drags me out of my head, and Chloe gives me a reassuring smile as she moves past me to open the door.
"Mrs. Michaels! It's so nice to meet you in person! I'm Chloe Beale," boy, is the redhead laying it on thick.
I'd later find out that she's actually always that perky.
While I try to regain some semblance of control over my emotions, the rest of the Bellas go through their own introductions, before my social worker comes to stand before me.
"Hello, Miss Connors,"
"Hi, Mrs. Michaels," I cringe at how my voice cracks nervously on the last syllable.
"Why don't we take this into the kitchen, where everyone can be more comfortable," Beca saves me from anymore awkward eye contact.
Everyone settles themselves into a spot at the table. Chloe and Beca on either side of me and my social worker across from us, while the other girls are seated around us.
Mrs. Michaels pulls out a folder, my file, from the black shoulder bag she had placed on the floor next to her and flips it open.
"Grace Connors," she starts reading, and I put my head in my hands, preparing for the information that I don't want anyone to know, read aloud. "Foster child since birth, in and out of eleven homes in sixteen years. Flight risk-"
"I'm sorry, what's a flight risk?" Chloe interrupts, confused.
Of course that would come up.
"A flight risk is, a child that's run away more than once from a foster home," Mrs. Michaels explains before continuing. "Miss Connors has run away from her last home three times,"
You would too, I think.
But, before I can come up with some kind of response, the older woman continues. "Before we go any further with your foster request, I have to ask Grace a question or two."
I swallow.
"Most importantly, I need to know why you ran away, and why the Roberts' didn't report you missing right away?"
All eyes are on me and I realize that now is the moment of truth, I'm going to have to tell the truth if I don't want her to send me back.
"They don't care," I mumble.
"What?"
"They didn't care," I bite out, bitterly. "Why would they report a kid they didn't want around when they were still getting paid?"
Mrs. Michaels, seems taken aback by my harsh words, but writes down something in her notebook, while the group of a cappella singers exchange nervous glances.
"My next question might be a little difficult," she pauses, tapping her pen twice, nervously. "Did they ever hurt you?"
If I thought the first thing she asked was hard, this one seemed near impossible.
Various different memories flash through my mind, and my hands grip the table edge tightly, knuckles turning white. The room around me starts to spin as I remember the sharp pain and the loud slap of a belt coming into contact with bare skin, multiple scars littering my side and lower back as a never-ending reminder. Glaring, purple bruises and a high pitched voice shrieking at me for doing something wrong.
"Dude, Grace," a voice interrupts my seemingly never-ending flashbacks. "Hey, are you okay?"
I register that it's Beca who's speaking, but it's not until she places a hand on top of my clenched one, that I snap out of it.
I flinch, and shoot backwards, standing up and knocking my chair to the ground.
All eyes are on me, varying degrees of shock and concern on their faces.
Beca stands up and fixes my chair, "It's okay, Grace, no one's gonna do anything to you here,"
She steers me back into my seat and returns to hers, scooting it an inch or two closer to mine in an attempt at comfort.
The rest of the Bella's give me supportive looks and Chloe squeezes my shoulder, encouragingly.
"All I need is a yes or no, Grace," Mrs. Michaels says with a small, sad smile.
I'm only able to answer with a shaky nod, my voice seemingly failing me.
To my right, I can see Beca's jaw clenching. The redhead on my other side looks close to tears. The other girls seem to be somewhere in-between both these reactions. Usual sunshine, Emily, looks like somebody kicked her puppy, while Stacie and Fat Amy are exchanging equally scary expressions. Lilly, is unsurprisingly quiet, but a small frown is on her lips. CR is glaring at the table and Jessica, Ashley, and Flo share equally upset looks.
Mrs. Michaels, is silent as she scribbles something down. "Now, I would like to speak to each of you individually, before any decision is made. I'll start with you Ms. Beale."
Chloe stands up and leads the other woman to the living room so the 'interrogations,' can start. The rest of the girls start to talk quietly,—as quietly as possible for them—while Beca is still sitting stiffly in her chair.
"Hey," I whisper, pushing back the memories that plague my nightmares. "Beca."
She turns her head to look at me, but she's still really tense and now that I'm looking at her head on, I can see the anger in her stormy blue eyes.
I flinch back at her expression, and she immediately softens a little bit.
"Sorry, I'm just kinda pissed," she manages to give me a reassuring smile.
"It's okay."
Her hand slams down on the table, and I jump, but she ignores it. "It's not okay! You're just a kid, you don't deserve that," she lowers her voice. "No one does."
"I'm not a kid," I glare teasingly at her, which causes her to crack a smile. I grin and rap my fingers on the wooden surface in front of me.
Everyone falls into an uncomfortable silence as we wait for the next one of us to be called. I'm really grateful that they're going through all this trouble just for me, I just don't understand why this feels like that episode of Grey's Anatomy, where they interrogate all the residents to find out who was assigned to a patient that died.
Soon, Chloe bounces back in and sends Beca out. Then, she switches with Emily, then Stacie and so on.
The only one's I'm really worried about, are Fat Amy, Flo, and Lilly. I'm pretty sure Beca had threatened them with very explicit words, so I hope the short girl scared them straight. Lord knows we don't need Mrs. Michaels finding out about all the crocs Amy had wrestled back in Tasmania.
Speaking of the devil, the heavy blonde appears in the doorway and points at me. "You're up, squirt."
All the other girls had gone, so I'm the last. They all shoot me a collective "good luck," and I walk shakily into the living room and sit on the couch opposite of the social worker.
"I'll get right to the chase, Miss Connors," she states flipping through her notebook. "Do you want to stay here?"
"You're asking me?"
"Of course, the state takes in account your opinion, as well," Mrs. Michaels informs me. "I'll admit that this situation isn't the ideal stable environment for a sixteen year old."
My heart drops at her words.
She's gonna take me away.
"But, I'm willing to make an exception because of how much you seem to like it here. From what you've told me, and what I've heard from the others, this is ten times better than your previous home, which I will be pursuing legal action against," she says curtly. "The girls are… unique, but do not appear to be unfit."
"You mean I get to stay?" my heart skips a beat.
She smiles. "I don't see why not. Ms. Beale and Ms. Mitchell have agreed to sign as your foster parents."
Oh, the girls are going to have a field day with this one.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I throw my arms around her excitedly and she pats my back awkwardly.
"You can go give the girls the good news," she tells me, pushing me towards the kitchen.
I push open the door to reveal most of the girls pressed up against the wall, besides Lilly and Beca.
"Um, hi."
"What did she say?" Chloe attaches herself to my arm with a vice-like grip.
I look to the ground, putting a sad look on my face. The smiles all start to fall off of their faces.
"She said I could stay."
"Oh no this can't…" Stacie pauses. "The hell?"
I don't need to repeat myself, because Emily's face lights up and she throws her arms around me, lifting me into the air and swinging me around excitedly.
Usually, I would tell her to put me down, but I get to stay with these saps, so I guess I can deal with it just this once. The rest of the group gathers around, encompassing me in another group hug.
Beca and Lilly get up and join in as the group cheers.
I don't think I've ever been happier.
Later that night, Mrs. Michaels had left after having Beca and Chloe sign a bunch of paperwork. She promised to be in touch and keep us updated on how the case against the Roberts' was going to play out.
Chloe had announced that we were going to celebrate with a movie night party, which I'm pretty sure is just a regular movie night where I got to pick the movie. I picked an action comedy, but no one was actually watching. Instead, we were chatting and joking around.
"Amy, seriously! We don't give alcohol to minors!" Beca narrows her eyes at the Australian.
For the past half an hour, Fat Amy has been trying to slip me some of whatever she has in her black reusable bottle. Even if I did want to drink, I definitely wouldn't take any kind of beverage from the blonde girl on the floor in front of me.
The first time she tried, Lilly had smacked the bottle out of my hands with ninja-like reflexes before I even knew what it was. Thankfully, it was closed and hit Amy in the back of the head. She wasn't deterred, though, and still kept trying to give me some.
"So, Beca. Chloe," Stacie smirks when they turn to look at her. "Congrats on your first child."
To my left, Beca chokes on the handful of popcorn in her mouth, while Chloe, who's in frothe brunette on the floor, doesn't seem to get Stacie's not so hidden meaning.
"It's kinda weird," the redhead admits with a shrug. "but I think it's gonna be so much fun!"
"I mean, I didn't think I'd be responsible for a kid in my early twenties," Beca finally clears her throat. "but I guess you're alright, Grace."
Knowing that she's just teasing, I beam at her.
"Okay, everyone, pay up," Fat Amy holds out her hand whilst everyone, but the two co-captains and me, fish out ten dollar bills and pass them to her.
"What's happening?" Beca frowns.
"Fat Amy bet us all that you two would have a kid before you graduated," Flo explains. "I thought you would have dumped Jesse before you did, but I guessed you skipped a step."
"I'm really not sure what any of you are talking about," the short girl replies slowly.
"Whatever, I'll always be the captain of the Bloe ship," Fat Amy turns her head back towards the television.
Beca chokes again, and I awkwardly pat her back so she doesn't die and leave me with these idiots.