Jaiden bit her bottom lip in concentration as she slowly and silently pulled the dorm room door shut. She had managed to wake up before Stacie; successfully avoiding the walk of shame and awkward morning after conversation that followed drunken nights. After closing the door with only a quiet click, Jaiden breathed a sigh of relief and hurried down the hall. Her head pounded and she wanted nothing more than to get something for breakfast and sleep through her 10 AM class. The freshman trotted down the single flight of stairs that led to the building's lobby and squinted at the bright sunlight shining in through the glass doors. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she spotted a bead of bright red hair heading towards her and sighed.
"Jaiden! You're up so early." Chloe's voice was loud and terribly, terribly awake. Her blue eyes shone brightly as she offered her girlfriend's younger sister a smile while subtly trying to assess how hungover she was.
"Yeah, well, I'm trying to make it to at least some of my classes." The younger girl replied. The smell of food hit her suddenly and she noticed the two Styrofoam boxes in Chloe's hands. Practically reading her mind, Chloe held up one of them and pushed it towards Jaiden.
"I went out to grab Beca and I something for breakfast, but you obviously need this more than I do. Trust me, after your freshman year, it'll take a lot more to get you this hungover." Chloe chuckled, forcing the box into Jaiden's hands despite her initial protests. The 18 year old eventually gave in as she felt her stomach growl at the smell of the food inside of the carry out box.
"Well, thanks. How's she feeling this morning?" Jaiden ventured carefully. Though she wasn't particularly worried about the older girl, she felt that it was at least polite to ask, considering Chloe had just given her a free breakfast. The redhead smiled, seemingly pleased that she had asked, and shrugged.
"Miserable, like she usually is after she drinks," Chloe's voice took on a more serious note. "She was kind of upset after you disappeared last night." Jaiden sighed, having figured that she'd eventually get scolded by the older girl for leaving.
"You know how it is though. Stacie's hot." The defense was weak, but it was the only one she had. Chloe, knowing she couldn't argue with that reasoning, nodded her agreement.
"When's your last class today?" The redhead changed the subject suddenly, catching Jaiden a bit off guard. The freshman struggled to remember exactly what her schedule was, since she still wasn't used to the new routine, and eventually recalled her Tuesday schedule.
"I've got a Psych lecture that ends at 4. Why?" Jaiden asked suspiciously.
"Come and grab a coffee with me. I want to talk to you for a bit." Chloe pleaded. She glanced down at the box in Jaiden's hand and then back up at her in a sly attempt to remind her that she was getting a free breakfast. Jaiden rolled her eyes at the older girl's guilt trip and sighed as she realized that she had to give in.
"Fine. I'll meet you at Starbucks at like, 4:30," Jaiden relented. "You aren't bringing her though, right?"
"Not if you really don't want me to."
"I don't. If you want to talk about something, it's just going to be you and me." Jaiden replied firmly. She knew that she couldn't keep allowing the redhead to push her into uncomfortable situations, despite the guilt she felt when she refused to give in.
"Perfect. I'll see you then." Chloe beamed, rushing past her and towards the stairwell. Jaiden watched her go, with no doubt that she would be telling Beca every detail of the encounter the moment she got into their room. Shaking her head, Jaiden opened the box in her hands and started outside. Fortunately for her, there was already a plastic fork inside and she began on the mess of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs hungrily as she walked to class. She had just reached the end of the sidewalk outside of the dorms when she heard a voice calling her name loudly from behind her. Turning around, she watched in dismay as Chloe booked it towards her.
"Hey! I grabbed you a coffee off of the stand in our lobby. I hope black is okay." The redhead panted, holding up a plastic insulated cup. Jaiden's eyes widened in surprise at the thoughtful gesture and she took the hot beverage gratefully.
"You're making it incredibly hard to dislike you. Like I told myself I would, since you're her girlfriend and all and you totally hit my car." The dark haired girl admitted. Unsure of whether or not to take the statement as a compliment, Chloe's smile faltered for only a second.
"Thank you, I think. Have a great day. I'll see you later." Chloe turned around and bounced back into her building. Jaiden glanced down at her watch and swore under her breath quietly, knowing that she would have to haul ass in order to grab her bag and make it to her class on time.
Hauling ass apparently wasn't enough, because by the time Jaiden entered the lecture hall, she was a good 10 minutes late. Her cheeks burned red as she took the first available seat she could find and sat down. Jaiden jugged her half eaten breakfast, coffee, and backpack in an attempt to organize everything and ignore the several students who were still staring at her.
"Rough night?" Jaiden glanced up from her belongings at the quiet whisper next to her. A girl she hadn't even noticed when she sat down was staring at her in mild amusement, taking in her manner of disarray. The freshman blushed even further and nodded in admittance.
"Yeah. Acapella group initiation nights can get a little wild." Ugh, why the hell did you say that? Jaiden internally grimaced at her terrible reply, though the girl next to her chuckled.
"So you're a singer, huh? I'm Amber, by the way." The blonde inquired with a curious smile. The droning on of their professor quickly faded to the background as Jaiden found herself immediately intrigued by the new face.
"Jaiden. And yeah, you could say that. Acapella's not really my style, but I kind of got suckered into it." She explained.
"Can you two shut the hell up or move seats?" A hushed, immensely irritated whisper came from behind the two girls and Jaiden turned around to see a boy in a bright pink polo glaring at them. She exchanged a glance with Amber before falling silent and attempting to pay attention to the introduction that her professor was giving.
Hours of information and one quick lunch break later, Jaiden finally stepped out of her last classroom, psych text book in hand. She glanced around the sunny campus tiredly, wishing that she hadn't agreed to get coffee with Chloe. For one, she didn't exactly trust that her sister wasn't going to somehow show up. Secondly, she was simply exhausted from her classes and wanted to go back to her dorm and crash.
"Jaiden! Jaiden!" The freshman clenched her eyes shut at the sound of her father's voice and she froze in her tracks on the sidewalk. Turning around, Jaiden scowled at the man hurrying towards her, an expression painted on his face. She had managed to avoid him since their brief encounter in her dorm, and she had been beginning to hope he'd stay out of her way until the end of the year. Jaiden had virtually no desire to have any sort of contact with Dr. Mitchell-which she insisted on referring to him as, even in her thoughts-since he had completely ignored her situation.
"What do you want?" She asked irritably. The professor stopped in front of her, a bit winded, and smiled at her hopefully.
"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight. I was about to call Beca and invite her too-"
"No thanks, I've got plans. See you later." Jaiden cut him off and turned to go, suddenly thankful that Chloe had suckered her into something after class. Although she didn't mind hurting the older man's feelings, having a real excuse certainly helped her case. A hand on her arm stopped her train of thought and Jaiden locked her jaw immediately.
"Jaiden, please just-"
"Get your fucking hand off of me, for starters. I'm meeting someone for coffee, and even if I wasn't, I wouldn't be going anywhere with you. Just leave me the hell alone." Jaiden's eyes refused to waiver from her father's. Dr. Mitchell's eyes widened at the hostility in his daughter's voice and he released his grip on her arm quickly. Jaiden began to walk away, only breaking her gaze away once she was completely turned around, and started towards Barden's Starbucks.
By the time Jaiden had reached the café, she was still angry from her encounter with her father. The 18 year old shoved her way through the door and scanned the packed coffee shop for her sister's girlfriend. She caught sight of the redhead across the room and saw that she already had two cups sitting at their table. Temper dying down a little, Jaiden attempted to wipe the glare from her face and weaved her way through the long line to reach her.
"Hey, what took you so long? I got you the same thing you ordered last time so you wouldn't have to wait in that line." Chloe perked up once she caught sight of Jaiden, though she could tell by the girl's demeanor that she was upset about something. The younger girl sat down at the table and nodded her thanks before taking a drink. "Rough day?" Chloe prodded.
"You could say that. I ran into Beca's dad on my way here." Jaiden sighed, wincing as the hot coffee burned her tongue. Chloe frowned in confusion.
"Wait, isn't he your dad?"
"He stopped being my father the day he decided not to do anything about what Beca told him." Jaiden replied defensively. "Speaking of her, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, I want to know what you want out of all of this. I know admitting everything you're feeling to Beca might seem overwhelming, so you can tell me." Chloe took a sip after her explanation and looked at Jaiden expectantly. The younger girl crossed her arms in front of her and pursed her lips.
"What do you mean, 'everything I'm feeling'?" Skeptism was evident in her words.
"Like…how are you feeling about Beca? What do you want from her?" Chloe elaborated. Jaiden scoffed and shook her head in response.
"Seriously?" Jaiden asked. Her tone resembled one of bitter amusement and she stared at Chloe in disbelief. "What do I want from her? I don't want anything from her. You are the one who's been forcing all of this. I'd be fine if I never heard from her, or her dad, or anyone one else in this shitty family, but you won't leave it alone!" Jaiden stood up from her chair and slung her backpack over her shoulder. The anger that had slightly faded during her walk to the coffee shop was back, except now it was directed at Chloe. The shocked redhead stood up as well, not wanting Jaiden to storm out before she could at least try to calm her down.
"Woah, woah, I thought you and Beca had a talk? She seems to think you'd at least like to try to work on things." Chloe followed the now fleeing 18 year old out of the Starbucks and attempted to catch up to her. She caught onto Jaiden's arm and suddenly found herself face to face with the slightly taller girl. Jaiden had whirled around practically the second she had caught her and from the look in her eyes, grabbing her had not been a good move.
"Fuck Beca! Stop trying to fix this shit that she got herself into! It's her own damn fault I can't stand her-"
"Woah, woah, Chloe, what's going-Jaiden?" Jaiden paused at an unfamiliar voice and turned to see a man approaching them. He was looking between her and Chloe in concern and hurried to close the distance between them.
"Who the hell are you and how do you know my name?" She demanded suspiciously. The man held his hands up in a fake "don't shoot" position and he stepped back. Jaiden took the distraction as an opportunity and yanked her arm out of Chloe's hand.
"I'm Jesse. I, um, I used to date your sister." He explained with an awkward smile. Rubbing the back of his neck, his smile vanished when he saw the hurt look on Chloe's face.
"She told you?" The redhead questioned quietly.
"What did she tell you?" Jaiden reiterated. The last thing she needed was for Beca to spread her entire past to the whole student body.
"Just, you know, the family situation and stuff. I swear I'm not a creep or anything, Beca just showed me a picture of the two of you when you were younger once." Jesse replied. Reading the two girls' emotions, Jesse took a few steps back and waved. "Well, I've obviously helped enough here." With that, the man hurried away from them. Jaiden followed his actions quickly, managing to escape without Chloe protesting. Once the redhead realized that she was alone, she pulled out her phone and began to walk aimlessly down one of the sidewalks. Pressing Beca's name in her contacts, she then held the phone to her ear and waited for the younger girl to pick up.
"Hey babe." Beca answered on the second ring.
"You told Jesse about Jaiden?" Chloe could hear her girlfriend's guilt through the silence that lasted the next few seconds. She managed to pick up a quiet huff from the brunette's end of the line, which only made her feel worse.
"Yeah. I was…I was having a rough night and there was alcohol involved."
"So is booze just going to be your excuse for everything from now on, or what? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you should stop drinking?" Chloe snapped, surprising herself even with her quick outburst.
"Chloe, what's the big deal? I never said you were the only other person in the world who knew."
"But you could just tell him while I had to force it out of you? Do you trust him more? Is that it?" Chloe grimaced at the paranoia evident in her voice. Usually, she was able to keep her anxiety at bay, fighting off the automatic thoughts the way her high school therapist had taught her back in her teen years. But when Beca pulled things like this, it was hard not to let her insecurities take over.
"I'm not going to fight with you about this. You know I love you-"
"Yeah, because you make it so obvious. Well congrats Beca, you can have the alone time you obviously crave because our room is yours tonight." Chloe felt her face get even warmer as her blood rushed to it.
"What do you mean? Where are you going?"
"To get wasted. It seems to work for you." With that, Chloe hung up on the younger girl and shoved her phone in her purse. The redhead held back a few anger-drawn tears and took a moment to compose herself before turning and heading in the direction of the nearest bar to campus.
Lots of possibilities open for the next chapter! Let me know what you'd like to see and what you think so far! I love hearing feedback from you guys and it totally helps me write. Plus I'm seeing PP 2 tomorrow again, so expect a late night update