"Do you think she's coming?" Beca murmured, watching as their next to last candidate for this year's Bella's exited the stage. When they had received the signup sheet, Jaiden's name had not been among the ones listed. In fact, neither Beca nor Chloe had been able to track down the freshmen in the last few days. When they "stopped by" her dorm, the 18 year old was always conveniently missing.
"She seemed like it." Chloe replied, infusing her voice with optimism. Though truthfully, the redhead was beginning to doubt whether or not Jaiden was sincere when she had given in. She glanced up from her clipboard briefly as a young man stepped onto the stage for the Treblemakers.
"What if she just said all that stuff to us so that she could get away? What if she didn't mean any of it?" Beca's voice was a hushed whisper, but Chloe could still hear the insecurity ringing through it. The older girl sighed before intertwining her fingers with Beca's.
"Don't freak yourself out, Becs. She and I had a talk too, and I really don't think she's just going to go back on everything." Beca rolled her eyes and looked away from the stage, where she had politely been pretending to pay attention.
"Have you met the Mitchell's? Bailing is like, our number one talent." She scoffed. Chloe frowned, watching Beca get more and more self-deprecating by the second.
"No, I think that's music. Do you have her number?" Chloe chastised gently. Beca shook her head sadly; a bit embarrassed that she didn't even have her own sister's number.
"We should just leave. All of the girls have gone and she's obviously not coming." The tiny brunette began to stand up, fighting back the disappointment she had been desperately trying to prepare herself for. Chloe reached up and snagged her arm, holding her in place. She tugged Beca back into her seat and the younger girl huffed in irritation.
"Don't storm out. And even if she doesn't show up, don't shut me out tonight. I know you're upset and I am too. But if you want, we can go camp out at her dorm all night. She's bound to come back sometime." Chloe kept her grip on Beca's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping that something she said was at least a bit of a comfort to her. The brunette remained silent and slid down in her seat, wanting nothing more than to go curl up in her bed and sleep for a few hours.
"Thank you! Thanks for your time! We'll be in touch shortly." Jesse's voice rang out from the back of the auditorium as he dismissed the last singer. The scrawny boy on the stage nodded gratefully and hurried off, leaving the black performance space empty. Beca chewed her bottom lip as the boys in the back stood up and headed towards the exit. She knew that as much as she wanted to go back to her dorm and pass out, she had a long night ahead of her with the Bellas, choosing their new recruitments.
"I'm so sorry." Chloe murmured, leaning to the side and pressing a chaste kiss on her temple.
"You bitches ready to go?" Cynthia popped up from the seat behind them and interrupted the sad silence. Beca straightened up in her seat and hesitated, wanting to stay for a little longer.
"Yeah, I think so." Chloe answered for her and pulled Beca to her feet. The redhead shifted her grasp from Beca's forearm to her own hand and squeezed it. They had just started towards the back exit, following the other girls, when the sound of the stage door opening echoed in the empty auditorium. Beca's heart rate spiked and she whirled around to see Jaiden stepping out onto the stage slowly.
"Hey." The freshmen nodded a bit awkwardly and stepped up to the apron of the stage. She met her older sister's gaze for a few seconds before looking at the other singers.
"Sup girl, you here to sing?" Cynthia spoke up, walking back down the aisle and towards the stage. Jaiden nodded and glanced around.
"Yeah. Sorry, I'm a little late." She replied with a shrug.
"What's your name?" Stacie asked. The group of singers migrated back towards the front of the seats and sat down. Beca shot a nervous glance at Chloe as they followed. She hadn't exactly thought about having to explain herself having a sister to all of the other girls, and now the thought of it had her stomach twisting with anxiety.
"Jaiden. Jaiden Mitchell." Beca could practically feel every eye in the room land on her as her sister introduced herself.
"Whoa. Beca, is she your sister?" Fat Amy gawked in between the siblings, voicing what everyone else in the room was thinking.
"Yeah, I am." Jaiden piped up, drawing the attention back to herself. She could tell that Beca was getting more and more overwhelmed by the second, and as much as she was trying to keep some distance between the two of them, she couldn't stand to watch her squirm like that.
"Well we all know who got the height genes." Stacie smirked, glancing down at Beca. The tiny brunette forced a laugh, realizing that no one other than Chloe could pick up on the strained relationship between the two of them. She gradually began to feel the knot in her stomach untwist itself and Chloe's grip on her hand relaxed.
"Alright Baby Mitchell, show us your stuff." Cynthia waved her hand in a gesture to proceed and the Bellas took their seats. Jaiden took a deep breath, trying not to think about how long it had been since she had sung in front of Beca. The 18 year old shifted her gaze to the back wall of the auditorium and focused on the glowing exit sign.
"Ooh, I left a good job in the city, workin' for the man every night and day,
But I never lost one minute of sleepin, worrying bout the way things might have been.
Big wheels keep on turnin, ooh Proud Mary keep on burnin,
And we're rolling, ooh we're rolling, rollin on the river."
Jaiden finished her small arrangement and finally tore her gaze away from the exit sign. She was careful to avoid Beca's eyes, knowing her face would burn red if she looked at the older girl.
"Can we all agree just to let her in now, or?" Stacie broke the silence that followed the end of the audition and looked around at the rest of the Bellas. Each of them nodded immediately, knowing that the decision would be unanimous if a vote was taken.
"Jaiden Mitchell, congratulations. You are the first of this year's new Bellas." Chloe stood up and grinned at her girlfriend's younger sister, clutching her clipboard to her chest in excitement. Jaiden offered a half smile and nodded before hopping down off of the stage. The resemblance between her and Beca was as evident as ever as she uncomfortably accepted an invasive group hug from some of the girls.
"So how come we've never heard about you?" Fat Amy asked, shooting a questioning look towards Beca. Once again taking the heat, Jaiden smirked and shrugged.
"I think she wanted me to be a surprise. And it's always hard for her to admit her younger sister is taller and wears more eyeliner." The 18 year old answered charismatically. She shot an obviously staged wink at Beca before looking towards the door.
"Well, I've got some plans for tonight, but it was really nice to meet you guys. I'll see you around." She waved her goodbye smoothly and excused herself from the crowd. She had nearly made it away before Chloe caught her arm and pulled her back.
"Oh no, you're getting an early initiation tonight. Party in our dorm!" The redhead announced loudly. The Bella's cheered loudly in approval and despite her protests, Jaiden was swept out of the auditorium by the crowd of singers.
"Sorry." Beca murmured as they stepped out into the evening air. Now that the burden of auditions were over, the Bellas were full of excitement for the year and even more excited to get drunk together. Jaiden looked towards her and shook her head.
"I kind of figured I'd get sucked into something like this. Let's just act normal and keep our distance for tonight, okay?" Jaiden replied quietly. Beca nodded, a little disappointed at her subtle hostility, and hurried to catch up with Chloe.
"Don't force anything tonight." She whispered into the redhead's ear pleadingly. Chloe, who was leading the rowdy group of singers to their dorm, turned from her conversation with Fat Amy and her smile faltered a bit.
"I won't. Everything okay?" The redhead muttered. Beca nodded and slid her arm around Chloe's waist in an attempt to relax.
"1, 2, 3, go!" Beca and Chloe each through their shots back before slamming their glasses onto their kitchen table. The older Bellas had been drinking from practically the second they had reached the dorm and music pounded throughout the small living space. Beca had lost track of Jaiden a while ago, a little relieved that Chloe wasn't trying to push them together, and now with enough alcohol in her system, she decided it would be best to try to find her. The small brunette stood up and stumbled before catching herself on the nearest chair.
"Whoa, slow down killer. Where are you going?" Cynthia laughed, watching as she nearly biffed it.
"Gotta find my little sister. She's a lightweight." She explained, her words slurring together despite her attempt to act more sober than she felt. The table erupted with laughter and Chloe pulled Beca down onto her lap.
"Beca, you are the lightest of all lightweights. Besides, she and Stacie disappeared like 20 minutes ago, if you catch my drift. She takes after you in more ways than one." Chloe arched an eyebrow suggestively and smirked. Beca's eyes widened and she looked around the kitchen for the first time, noticing finally that Stacie was gone too.
"Oh my God. No…she's like, getting it." The brunette placed her hand to her forehead in bewilderment as her fellow singers laughed.
"Should we sneak up on them?" Fat Amy suggested drunkenly. The young women all exchanged glances before shouting their agreements and clamoring to get up from the table.
"Someone get their camera." Cynthia winked. They began down towards the bedroom, only to find the door open and the beds empty. It was then that Beca noticed the closed bathroom door and grinned. The tiny girl staggered over, leading the rest of her friends, and jiggled the door handle. She heard giggles behind her and the sound of voices from inside the bathroom.
"Get some!" Fat Amy shouted, slamming her open hand on the door. The sound of the lock clicking from inside caused the drunken Bellas to all jump back, waiting for one of them to step out. Eventually it opened, and Stacie stepped out, leading an obviously wasted Jaiden behind her.
"Fuck you guys." The freshmen flipped the group of singers off as Stacie pulled her past them and into the kitchen. A chorus of hoots and whistling followed them as they made their way past them and Beca couldn't help but feel a surge of protectiveness as she watched Jaiden hop up onto the counter in front of the taller girl. Chloe, apparently sensing her girlfriend's loss of amusement, wrapped her arms around her waist.
"They're fine." The redhead assured her. Beca locked her jaw, but nodded, knowing that Jaiden was smart enough to make her own decisions.
"Just keep an eye on them." She replied worriedly. Chloe nodded and with that, the two of them joined the group in the kitchen again.
Let me know what you guys think!