Beca Mitchell Must Die

by chloebeale (tallycravens)

Summary:

Aubrey, Cynthia Rose and Stacie are the ex-girlfriends of Beca Mitchell, a well-known serial dater at Barden University. The three set up their former lover to fall for Chloe Beale, a transfer student, so they can watch her get her heart broken. (An AU Pitch Perfect story with the John Tucker Must Die plot.)

Chapter 1: Introduction

I was in the seventh grade when I realized I was invisible. No, not in the literal see through sort of way, but it was close enough. I was average in pretty much every way and no one really noticed me. I tried my best to stand out but any attempt seemed fruitless, I thought, and eventually I gave up entirely. 

With my anonymity it was pretty near impossible to find love, and I didn’t figure I had the best understanding of what love really was, anyway. My father left us many years ago and ever since, my mother had taken a downward spiral into the land of serial relationships. 

She was hot as moms go, skinny yet curvy, well-dressed, skilled with a makeup brush. She was a kind person, too, if not a little naïve. 

Make that a lot naïve. Because with each new guy came the inevitable end of the relationship, which, for me, meant yet another night of chick flicks and ice cream in an effort to try to comfort her. 

When this whole thing began, I made a point to get to know the guys my mother would bring home. But after a while they all started blending together, exhibiting the same traits and eventually, leaving us just as my father had done. Instead of bothering with their names, I started referring to them as “Skip,” because collectively, that’s what they all did when it came down to it. They all skipped out. 

When her relationships came crumbling down, as they always seemed to do, my mother would rent a U-Haul, pack up our things, and take me to a brand new city to “get a clean slate.” 

Since the whole clean slate thing happened a few times a year now, I’ve been to a whole smattering of schools. I managed to graduate high school despite being part of a class of students whose names I didn’t even know, and now I was attending college. 

But it wasn’t like I had the money to just stay at one college—no. I had to go wherever my mom took me, which meant transfers and referrals and lots of skeptical college staff and administration. 

That’s why when I started out in Atlanta, Georgia, I’d taken up a job at a local restaurant to get some cash flow going. I reasoned that if I could just save up enough money, I could stay here and not have to relocate with my mother during her next inevitable breakup. 

Right now I was living off campus and commuting each day in my nondescript white vehicle. I’d rather live on campus, but it wasn’t really an option with things the way they were right now. 

Barden University was a great school, definitely high on my list of my favorite colleges attended if not my favorite of all. All I wanted was to stay here and complete my four years of college, but I was afraid that would never happen. 

A benefit of all the moving around meant that I didn’t have to worry about tearful goodbyes exchanged with best friends, or attempts at ill-fated long distance relationships. I was, ultimately, alone. I hadn’t really had any friends or dated anyone since the days when my parents were together. It was easier that way. 

But this story wasn’t about me. 

It was about her. Beca Mitchell. 

Let’s face it, she was the man. (Well, despite not actually being a man.) An excruciatingly talented DJ, her family was loaded…and she looked somewhere between a Suicide Girl and a Greek goddess. 

Beca Mitchell was an out lesbian and a lady killer. 

Her blonde bitchy counterpart was Aubrey Posen. It was no question who was taking the Barden Bellas to finals this year. 

Beca and Aubrey were the dream team, and I thought they had a serious thing going on, but I’d underestimated the reputation of Beca. Sure, Aubrey was her girlfriend, but it turns out she wasn’t the only one. 

I remember the first time I spoke to Beca Mitchell. It’s not like she blew me away or anything. I mean, I was totally in control. She came into the restaurant where I work to meet Aubrey for a date. She was alone when I came up to the table to get her drink order. 

“Hi,” she smiled at me as I approached her. 

“Yes. I mean…no,” I stammered, getting flustered by the way her blue eyes bore onto me, “I-I mean y…” 

Thankfully she cut me off before I floundered any more. 

“I’m not quite ready to order,” Beca admitted. 

And then when I walked away I did the stupidest thing. I curtsied. I have never in my life done that. I don’t know what possessed me. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the power Beca has over women, and I’m not even into girls…right? 

As I walked away with barely a shred of dignity, I saw Aubrey join her at the table. Aubrey Posen ran the Bellas, not to mention LGBT club, Barden Democrats, Student Council, Future Lawyers of America, Big Sisters, Adopt-A-Shut-In, and…I think that’s it. 

“I’ve decided to write a children’s book,” I heard her say as I brought my order book back over to the table. 

Oh. And she’s writing a children’s book. 

The next time I saw Beca there, I was expecting it to be Aubrey meeting her. But it wasn’t. Apparently this was her other girlfriend, Cynthia Rose, member of the Barden dance team. 

“And she told me she thought it would be better if we did the routine to Katy Perry!” 

“Katy Perry?!” 

“I KNOW. I mean, if we want to be taken seriously we need to do a routine to something a little more meaningful than I Kissed a Girl or that song about the plastic bag,” Cynthia Rose groaned. 

When I came to get their order, Beca took charge. 

“Two green salads, dressing on the side. Salmon for her, Lobster for me,” she grinned.

“I love when you do that,” Cynthia told her with an admiration filled smile. 

“I love doing that.” 

“I love that you love that I love you doing that,” god, seriously? I was losing brain cells just listening to their ridiculous banter. 

“And…No need to rush between courses,” Beca said to me dismissively before turning back to her secondary girlfriend, “That top looks so hot on you. I bet it’s even hotter off of you.” 

She winked. She actually winked. It didn’t even come across cheesy, either, she somehow managed to do it so that she seemed smooth and sexy and…Chloe, you’re getting off track here. 

The point is I saw Beca Mitchell again a few days later toting a different girl this time. This one was brunette and leggy with her breasts practically bursting out of her shirt. It seemed like Beca didn’t have a type. Girl was her type. 

“Never been here before, babe. So I hope they have vegetarian.” 

But seriously, a third girlfriend? How much free time did this girl have? And how much of it did she spend with a girl’s head between her legs? It was beginning to get downright ludicrous. 

With a new girl came a new play, and since this girl was a staunch vegan, she had to play that angle. Even though I’ve personally seen her eat a hamburger like her life depended on it. 

Beca looked at the menu and acted massively offended by the dishes that included meat in them. She went on a whole spiel about how if she wanted to torture animals, she’d go to a medical lab, and this girl she was with, she fell for it hook, line and sinker. 

I wasn’t trying to pass judgment or anything, but for whatever reason, being a vegan activist was usually code for “easy.” And let’s not forget the whole reputation that sorority girls had—and I knew for a fact that this busty babe was one of the recent pledges for Barden’s top sorority. 

“You know, for you…I don’t have to give up all meat,” the girl flirted mercilessly, “not pussy, anyway.” 

Vulgar. And proving my point exactly. 

I didn’t get it. All of these girls seemed so confident and cool. How did they not know that Beca was cheating on all of them? 

I posed this question to my coworker, Fat Amy. She took one look at Beca and then told me how the legendary Barden lady killer managed to pull this many girlfriends without getting caught. 

“She’s a total operator. She goes out with girls from different cliques, so that they never actually talk to each other,” Amy explained with remarkable clarity, “And then she tells them that her father doesn’t know she’s gay, so they’ll have to keep it a secret.” 

I gasped. It was definitely a smart plan. What a cad. 

“How’d you learn all this stuff?” I asked her absently, not expecting her response. 

“I don’t know. Just a guess!” she ran off tearfully. 

Well. I had my answer. Fat Amy was another casualty of love. I didn’t even peg her for the type to date girls. Then again, Beca seemed to be able to turn anyone… 

Beca was confident in her system for juggling girls, but even she couldn’t anticipate the events of audition day. 

Aubrey was there, of course, as she was the de facto Bellas leader. Apparently Cynthia Rose had it out with her co-captain of the dance team and opted to try out for the Bellas instead. And Stacie, in an effort to show Beca there was more to her than “this amazing rack and my flawless ass” decided to try out as well. 

And then there was me. I thought maybe it was a good idea to branch out a little. No one was ever going to know who I was if I didn’t participate in anything. The day of auditions I decided to dye my blonde hair red, in an attempt to stand out a little more. 

Now I’m starting to think this whole standing out thing is vastly overrated.

Chapter 2: Aca-Fight

The day of acapella auditions seemed like any other, when in fact three college girls who were dating the same girl were going to be put in the same room. Of course, just because they were all dating Beca didn’t mean the truth would somehow come out at auditions, right? 

Because things don’t always have to go wrong. 

But boy, when they do go wrong…they really, really do. 

Everyone had done their renditions of Since U Been Gone as asked. There was a good crop of talent this year and a healthy dose of tone deaf losers, but that was to be expected. Aubrey was pretty pleased with the turn out, but she had something else in mind. 

She had come up with the brilliant plan to have some of the hopefuls sing together as a group. She got this idea from American Idol, although it wasn’t something they had the singers do at their first audition. But the idea intrigued her and it would give her the ability to see what girls worked together well and whether they could handle stress and singing in a group. 

“Alright, now that we’ve got individual try outs done; I’m going to be sorting you all into completely random groups. You’ll have fifteen minutes to prepare a song and sing it together as a group,” Aubrey prompted from her place on stage facing the hopefuls, “this is just to see how you perform with others.” 

The auditioners began talking amongst themselves, having not known about this portion of the audition. It was a terrible idea, fifteen minutes was nowhere near long enough to prepare a group presentation. They all knew they would crash and burn on that stage. 

They would inevitably have no previous singing experiences with the people they were chosen to join forces with. Without knowing someone’s abilities it would be near impossible to improvise an arrangement together. 

Aubrey knew that, but that was the whole point of it all. Plus it was fun to watch newbies crack under pressure. She hoped that by the end of the day she would have seen someone cry. 

Aubrey silenced the chattering group with the clearing of her throat and a pointed glare. 

“The first group will be a trio. Cynthia Rose, Stacie and,” she squinted at her sheet and realized she couldn’t read her own writing, “and I seem to have smudged the third person’s name. You, ginger girl, you’ll be part of the first group.” 

Chloe opened her mouth to protest but promptly shut it again when she realized there was no backing out of this without looking bad. 

“Your fifteen minutes begin now!” Aubrey announced, tapping on her watch. 

The three selected girls jumped up and introduced themselves as they walked up to the stage and disappeared behind the curtain. 

“We could just sing the same song we did for our individual auditions,” Stacie suggested. 

Cynthia Rose shook her head, “no, we’re not gonna stand out if we do that. What about you?” she looked at Chloe, “you got any ideas?” 

“I, um, I don’t really know anything about standing out…” she murmured back, getting nervous as their time ticked away. 

“Let’s just do something fun, what about Nicki Minaj or something?” Stacie tried again. 

“Nah, if we’re gonna show our singin’ chops, Nicki’s not the way to go. But I gotta give you props for liking her. How about Rihanna? S&M?” Cynthia Rose offered with a grin. 

Chloe shrugged, she wasn’t sure she could do such a sexual song. Not that she didn’t love the song. It was actually one of her favorites. Rihanna was definitely a cool chick and a talented artist. 

“Alright, I figure the two of you could start with the ‘na na’ part, and then I’ll jump in and start, then Stacie will sing the next, then you, and we’ll all join up for the chorus,” the dancer planned, rubbing her hands together. 

“Oh, can we do some dirty dancing, too?” Stacie sounded excited about this prospect. 

“Wow, no, please,” Chloe begged, her cheeks turning crimson. 

“What are you, a prude?” Cynthia Rose laughed, “Just unleash your inner stripper, babe. How much time we got left? I think we pretty much got this on lock, let’s go on out.” 

Despite Chloe’s protestations, the three girls stepped onto the stage and Aubrey gazed at them with a surprised expression. 

“You didn’t take the allotted fifteen minutes. You still have…seven minutes remaining.” 

“Nah, it’s cool. We’re ready,” Cynthia Rose promised, “and we’re awesome.” 

Aubrey shook her head, not impressed with their blatant dismissal of the time they were given. If they used all their time, their performance would be a lot more polished, but she didn’t say a word. 

“We don’t have to go right now. We can just talk amongst ourselves for the next seven minutes,” Stacie spoke quickly, her hands resting on her exposed hips. 

“You have five, now,” Aubrey corrected. 

“You’re a lesbian, right?” Stacie asked Cynthia Rose suddenly, getting a strange look in response, “You look like a lesbian, okay? I’m just asking, because I’m bi, and anyway, I’m dating the hottest girl, right? We hooked up at the sorority mixer. Her name’s Beca and she’s—” 

“Beca?” Cynthia Rose repeated, her eyes widening a little at the strange coincidence. 

“Aca-scuse me, did you say Beca? You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Beca Mitchell, would you?” Aubrey interrupted sternly. 

Stacie and Cynthia Rose’s eyes snapped over to Aubrey. Chloe took a breath, concerned about what would happen next. The silence was deafening. 

The blonde shot up from her chair and took the cup sitting on the table and thrust it at Stacie, hitting her unapologetically in the face with the hard hunk of plastic. 

“What the hell?” Stacie murmured, rubbing her face and picking the cup up to throw it back. 

Before Stacie could hit her, Aubrey was on the stage, pushing her hard. 

“You’re dating Beca Mitchell? Beca’s my girlfriend, in case you didn’t know. We run the Bellas together, as a team, and she’s not here today because she has a…thing.” 

“A date?” Chloe offered hesitantly, “or maybe she was avoiding you guys.” 

“Who the hell are you, exactly? And for the record, Beca’s mine,” Cynthia Rose glared at Chloe. 

“Oh no she’s not!” Stacie argued, “Both of you bitches are crazy, because the only girl Beca wants is me. She told me so herself.” 

Aubrey laughed, rolling her eyes. 

“You’re both delusional with lust. Beca’s my girlfriend; we’ve been together all semester. Look, I get it, she’s hot, amazing, and talented…I don’t blame you for wanting her. But she’s mine.” 

“Or maybe she’s been playing all of you,” Chloe broke through. 

Cynthia Rose launched herself at Aubrey with a scream and Stacie joined in, pulling Aubrey’s hair and shrieking like a banshee. 

“YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!” one of them yelled, although it was difficult to ascertain which one in the jumbled mess of violence. 

Cynthia Rose punched Stacie in the boob, while Aubrey bit her arm, and Stacie screamed at the top of her lungs. 

“Don’t damage the goodies!” she shrieked at Cynthia Rose, tackling her and sending her careening onto the wooden stage floor. 

The audience watched raptly at the events unfolding before them. 

“Just STOP!” Chloe’s voice erupted through the rehearsal space, causing everyone to look up at her, “This girl is cheating on all of you, and instead of taking it on her you’re beating the shit out of each other?” 

Well, at least it got them to stop for a minute. They resumed their fight but not for much longer, the three girls chests heaving as they sat on the stage, tired from their very physical altercation. Aubrey wiped her brow. 

“The group audition is cancelled, everybody go back to your dorms!” she announced, looking at Stacie, “who is that girl, anyway?” 

“I think her name’s Callie or something,” she was breathing hard, clutching her breasts and glaring at Cynthia Rose, who had punched her there several more times, and in one instance had actually groped her. 

“Chloe. It’s Chloe,” the redhead said with desperation, would anyone ever remember her freaking name? 

As luck would have it, someone did remember her name. 

A few hours later, Chloe and the other three girls were called to the dean’s office to discuss their possible expulsion from Barden University. Chloe hadn’t even participated in the fight and she planned to tell the dean that, but she was ridiculously angry about the whole ordeal. 

Chloe was the first to arrive and she sat on the couch in the office, replaying the scene over and over in her head so she could get the details right when she pled her case. 

She glanced up when she heard someone singing, the corners of her lips turning upward into a smile at the boy behind the desk jamming out to whatever was playing on his iPod. 

“Yooooooour, your sex is on fire,” he sang loudly. 

Oh, so he was listening to Kings of Leon. 

Not wanting to interrupt, she listened to and watched his entire routine, which involved some instrument playing as well. 

When the song was over, Chloe respectfully made her way over to the desk where he was seated. A grin was still present on her face. The boy looked at her and his face immediately turned red. 

“Shit, how long have you been there?” he scrambled to remove his ear buds and shut off his iPod. 

“Long enough to hear your amazing rendition of Sex on Fire. Nice air guitar, by the way,” Chloe teased. 

“Uh, thanks. I just really like Kings of Leon. That song’s awesome. Anyway, is there something I could help you with, Miss…?”

“Beale. Chloe Beale. I really like Kings of Leon, too,” she smiled at him, “I’m here to see the dean.” 

“Ooh, aren’t we important. Let me guess, you’re here about the internship?” he asked her. 

“No, I’m not. I’m here about the whole possibly being expelled ordeal.” 

“That was you?!” the brunette laughed, clapping his hand over his mouth. 

“Not exactly. I didn’t fight anyone, I swear. I was at auditions and this fight broke out and I tried to get them to listen to me and stop beating the shit out of each other and…so I ended up getting in trouble and I didn’t even do anything!” Chloe spoke quickly and emphatically. 

He laughed, nodding as if he believed her. 

“Yeah, okay. Well the dean’s on the phone with his wife right now, but after that’s sorted, I’m sure you can head right in.” 

“Okay, great, thanks.” 

Chloe stood at the desk for a moment longer, her eyes moving to look out the glass door. Beca was standing in the hallway with her arm slung around some girl’s waist, leaning in and kissing her on the neck. Chloe rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. 

“Oh, wow. That’s not, uh, usually the reaction she gets from girls,” he mentioned, raising his eyebrows. 

“What, you thought I was into girls? And even if I am—was—jerk isn’t really my type.” 

He shrugged, grinning at her, “Hey, it’s college, a lot of girls are into that. But you have a point. She can have her jerk moments.” 

“Really? I figured she’d be like, your guys’ queen or something. Aren’t guys really into lesbians?” Chloe asked him with surprise. 

“You know, I’m really not. I prefer girls that are actually into me. But that’s just me. Anyway, she’s not my queen, but you’re close. She is my sister,” he admitted, his eyes darting up to Chloe’s to see how she’d react to the news. 

“Oh! You’re the other Mitchell?” 

“What is that? Is that like, ‘the loser Mitchell’?” 

“Oh, no, no,” Chloe looked pained, “that’s not what I meant at all. I just…you don’t look…” 

“Hot, cool, or capable of inciting an all-girl smackdown? No, you’re right,” her face fell, “Naw, it’s cool. I’ll let you in on a secret, though. My mom. She says I’m special on the inside.” 

He winked. Okay, maybe he did look a little like Beca now that she thought about it, and they both did that wink thing. They had the same nose and the same hair color, even their face shape was similar. 

Chloe grinned at him and asked what his name was, curious to learn more about the mysterious other Mitchell that she knew nothing about. He told her that his name was Ryan, finally giving Chloe a name to fit the face.

Chapter 3: Meeting with the dean

Not long after Chloe learned the name of the other Mitchell, who apparently worked in the dean’s office, she was joined by the three girls who’d gotten her into this mess. 

Each of them apologized to her and assured her that they would tell the dean she wasn’t involved. She was relieved but not for long because Aubrey brought up the talk she’d had with Beca, apparently the same talk she’d had with all three of them. 

“So I talked to Beca. It was sweet. She felt bad for you. She said you were jealous because we share something special…” she began flippantly, “something we don’t have to label, because it’s just our unspoken bond…”

Chloe watched the expressions on Stacie and Cynthia Rose’s faces change. 

“And I just love how secure you are?!” Stacie screeched this at the same time but Aubrey went on. 

“And it hurts me to hear you question it, because you’re the only girl for me?” All three of them said this in unison and Chloe observed them, rolling her eyes at how naïve they had all been to believe Beca’s words. 

“Damn! She said the same thing to all of us!” Cynthia Rose gasped, seeming genuinely surprised by this. 

Chloe wasn’t surprised at all. She’d been expecting something like to happen. 

“Figures,” Stacie muttered, “She makes up with us, and then she hooks up with us.” 

Aubrey looked offended by the statement. Apparently she hadn’t hooked up with Beca after their intimate discussion. 

“You guys hooked up?!” Aubrey’s voice reached a higher decibel. 

“Beca and I share something special,” Stacie said matter-of-factly. 

“Oh, what, you’ve both been in your pants?” The blonde sneered, obviously irritated by Stacie and jealous that she’d hooked up with Beca. 

“We share a vegan/nonviolent outlook on life, except for in the bedroom, cause we’re both super kinky, it’s hot as hell,” the big breasted sorority girl told them with a grin. 

“Hippie slut,” Cynthia Rose added with no apology. 

“Oh! Nice,” Stacie glared at her, “it’s not like everyone doesn’t know that Little Miss Dance Team Captain brings it on.” 

“Look…” it was evident from Cynthia’s tone of voice that she’d slept with Beca too. 

“YOU, TOO?!” Aubrey shrieked. 

Chloe was getting a little nervous about the fight that might be breaking out soon and she glanced back at Ryan to see how he was taking this whole thing. He was watching the girls with a bemused stare and his eyes flickered to Chloe’s. She saw him mouth the word ‘wow’ and lean in, engrossed in the argument. She knew he was praying for a catfight to break out. 

“Beca and I belong together. She’s a DJ, and I’m a dancer,” Cynthia Rose was saying when Chloe tuned back into the conversation. 

“What kind of dancer? A stripper?” Stacie jabbed dramatically. 

“Oooh,” Ryan commented from behind the desk. 

Aubrey scoffed, “Oh, like she’d EVER take you two seriously!” 

“Do not lump me with her!” Stacie huffed, crossing her arms to her chest. 

“Oh, so what? Now you’re better than me?” Cynthia Rose gave Stacie the stink eye. 

Chloe was getting really fed up with this entire thing. 

“SHUT UP,” as soon as she said it, she regretted it, clamping her hand over her mouth. 

“What?” Stacie swung her head to look at Chloe. 

“Aca-scuse me?” 

“What?” 

“Sorry…” Chloe apologized meekly, looking down at the floor to escape the three girls’ stares. 

“You have something to say?” Cynthia Rose prompted, pursing her lips. 

“Uh. No. It’s none of my business,” but Chloe sounded like she wanted to say more. 

“What? Out with it already!” Aubrey barked at her. 

Chloe’s eyes widened at the intensity of the command. This girl scared her a little bit. But a moment later she regained her composure, inspired by the years she’d spent watching her mom’s boyfriends. 

“Okay, let me guess. Does she always use pet names like ‘baby’ and ‘sweetheart’?” Chloe watched their expressions change, their mouths all opening to ask her how she knew, “Yeah. It’s not out of affection. It’s because she’s dating so many girls she can’t remember your names. She doesn’t want to risk mixing them up. And she’s all about an unspoken bond or something special, but never about a relationship. She says she can’t be open with someone because her dad doesn’t know she’s gay and if he did, he’d send her away.” 

“How do you know all this?” Cynthia Rose wondered, in awe of Chloe’s extensive knowledge. 

“Oh my god, You’re dating Beca too,” Stacie gasped in shock, causing the other two girls to look at her like she was an idiot. 

“No, uh, I just knew a guy like her. Skip…girls can play these tricks, too, if they want. And the thing about her dad, well, this girl I know used to ‘date’ her too and she told me about that…” Chloe explained to them. 

“She’s RIGHT. I mean, she’s always making me feel guilty,” Aubrey admitted slowly, thinking back to some of the experiences she’d had with Beca recently. 

“Yeah!” Stacie and Cynthia Rose echoed. 

“It seems to me that if someone treated you like that…” the redhead began, the wheels in her head turning as she thought of revenge ideas. 

“You’d break up with her or whatever. But she’d have another girlfriend in like a second!” Aubrey sighed defeatedly. 

“No. I didn’t say break up. If I were in that situation, I’d get even,” Chloe clarified with a smirk. 

She looked devious all the sudden, not the shy, meek girl they’d met the day of auditions. The three girls stared at her for a minute. 

“Who are you?” 

“I know! You’re that girl who pulled a knife on Bumper Allen last year!” 

“No, I…” 

“Then you got taken away for trying to jump off the roof.” 

“No, that wasn’t me,” 

“Streaking?” 

“No, my name’s…” 

Before Chloe could tell them her name AGAIN, the dean stepped out of his office. She immediately shut her mouth and the four of them gazed at him nervously. 

“Why don’t you ladies step into my office?” he suggested sternly. 

The conversation they had was brief. Aubrey ran most of the meeting, explaining that she, Stacie and Cynthia Rose had been fighting because they’d found out their girlfriend was cheating on them with each other. She explained that Chloe had been trying to diffuse the situation. 

The dean asked if any of them wanted to press charges against each other and the school. They said no because they were all at fault, and the dean seemed happy with that answer. 

They all got away with a warning. The dean told the three girls if he ever saw them in his office again for a disciplinary matter that they would face immediate expulsion. That seemed to knock some sense into all of them, especially Aubrey, who made this horrible choking sound. 

The girls all went their separate ways, but in the back of their mind they were all considering ways to get back at Beca Mitchell. Little did Chloe know, they would show up at her house later that evening to plan their revenge. To this day she still didn’t know how they found her address.

Chapter 4: The Team Up

It was Friday night and Chloe’s mother had a date, just like always. This guy didn’t seem any better than the previous ones, despite her mother’s assurance otherwise. 

The redhead lay on her mother’s bed to approve her date outfit as per usual, engrossed in her book. Her mother cleared her throat and she looked up, watching the woman spin around. 

“So what do you think?” 

“I think you’re too good for him,” Chloe stated honestly, turning the page in her novel. 

“He’s a great guy, Chlobug. He’s in a band, and he drives a motorcycle!” Her mom said this like it made him a good catch. 

Chloe rolled her eyes, “What’s his band’s name? What does he play? Motorcycles are really dangerous. Does he even have a job? Kids? Did you check for a wedding ring? What about a background check? I could run one for you.” 

“His band is Ironic Colonic. He plays bass. I’ll be wearing a helmet. He’s unemployed FOR NOW. He has a son around your age. He is divorced, and I don’t think a background check is necessary, thanks,” she sprayed on some perfume and slipped into her shoes, ready to meet the guy at the bar for their date. 

There was so much wrong with everything she’d just said. 

“With your dating history, a background check is always necessary. What’s his last name?” 

“We’ll talk later, I’m running late,” her mother answered hurriedly and walked down the hall to grab her keys on the way out. 

On the way to the door, she heard a knock. She opened it to reveal someone she didn’t recognize and called back to Chloe. 

“You’ve got a friend at the door!” smiling at the unfamiliar blonde girl, she introduced herself, “I’m Tasha, Chloe’s mom, I’d love to stay and chat but I’m late for my date with an incredibly good looking guy.” 

Chloe came to the door and rolled her eyes when she heard her mother’s words. 

“Bye, mom,” she murmured. 

“Bye. Have fun, girls!” the older woman left and the blonde, Aubrey, came in. 

Chloe looked surprised, wondering why it was this girl had turned up on her doorstep like this. She had a determined stare, a glint in her green eyes. 

“Chloe, right?” 

Aubrey remembered her name! 

“Yes,” she grinned. 

“I wanna bring down you-know-who.” 

So this was about Beca. Of course it was. Chloe had gotten through to her with her speech earlier that day. She wasn’t opposed to helping Aubrey seek revenge, but she’d been hoping that maybe all of them could do it together. 

As she showed her new friend to the living room, there was another knock at the door. 

Chloe smiled, knowing it had to be one of the other girls. 

When she opened the door she saw it was actually both of them. 

“Normally I’m opposed to the slaughter of animals, but I think in Beca Mitchell’s case, I’ll make an exception,” Stacie announced, her arms crossed to her chest. 

“Beca’s lady killing days are over,” Cynthia Rose stated. 

She let them in and they all headed up to her bedroom. Chloe mentally applauded herself for cleaning up her room yesterday, even though she’d had no idea that she’d have company tonight. She’d hate to see the looks of disapproval she would’ve gotten for the mountain of laundry she’d had in the corner. 

“I don't even know her.” 

"So? You don't know anyone," Stacie shrugged, picking up Chloe's stuffed monkey and putting his hands on his crotch, "You're like the Swiss. You're neutered." 

Aubrey scoffed at her idiocy. 

"Uh, it's neutral." 

“Listen, here's the deal. If we tried pullin' this off without you, we'd all end up bald with scratch and bite marks all over our bodies,” the three girls stared blankly at Cynthia Rose, “from all the fighting! So, Chloe, you should help us. After all you're the one who brought us here and showed us that we all have something in common.” 

“Exactly. We all want to kill Beca Mitchell,” Aubrey looked downright vicious. 

“Wow, okay,” Chloe was overwhelmed by their insistence, “I'll help you.” 

“Great!” Aubrey clapped her hands together, “Give me the rest of the weekend to come up with some stuff, and we'll all meet Monday to discuss. You should all think hard and come up with some plans if you can. Oh and I need all your class schedules so I can coordinate them to find a time that works for us all. And your phone numbers so I can text you the time and place.” 

“If you wanted my number, all you had to do was ask, you know,” Stacie smirked. 

Aubrey glowered at her, “you're not my type, Tits McGee,” and turned to Chloe, “can you get some paper and pens so you guys can write down your schedules and numbers?” 

The redhead nodded and got up to get some paper, tearing the page into three pieces and offering pens to the other two girls. She wrote down her class schedule and number and they did the same, handing them to Aubrey when they were finished. 

“Great. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an essay to nail. See you Monday,” Aubrey pocketed the papers and headed down the hall and toward the front door. 

“Yeah, I gotta jet, see ya,” Cynthia Rose threw up her hand in a lazy wave and left as well. 

“What about you?” Chloe asked Stacie, who was still sitting comfortably on her bed. 

“Oh, I have nowhere to be, no one to do. Shame. Hey, maybe we could have sex...?” 

“I'll pass. Thanks,” she laughed. 

“It was worth a try. What about over the clothes groping?” Stacie tried again, raising her eyebrows and trying her best to be alluring. 

“I'm good,” Chloe replied, disappointing her yet again. 

“French kissing?” 

“Really, I'm good.” 

“Fine, I can kiss you without tongue I guess, but that’s not as fun,” Stacie sighed. 

“I'd really rather not if that's okay,” Chloe didn’t want to hurt her feelings but she just wasn’t interested especially right this moment. 

“What? Why?” 

“Oh, you're very attractive, it's just...I'm not sure I like girls.” 

“You're not sure? I can help you be sure if you want.” 

“Look, I said no, I meant it, can you stop?” The younger girl’s voice rose a bit when she got frustrated, and Stacie groaned loudly. 

“Ugh! Fine. Whatever. I'll see you Monday,” the brunette rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse, stomping out of the room. 

Chloe was thankful when Stacie left, not in the mood to be hit on when she was still thinking about her mom's latest date. She didn't know his last name, only that his first name was Ken, so she couldn't do a background check yet. Instead she opted to search for his unfortunate band name on Google, and she found their Myspace account. 

Who even used Myspace these days? She listened to their music and god it was the most awful thing she'd ever heard. They were a cross between cats yowling, Nickelback and the sound that forks made when scraping an empty plate. Not good. At ALL. For the sake of her mother's ears she had to make sure this relationship didn't last. 

Chloe spent the rest of the night in bed watching Top Model reruns and fell asleep easily. 

The weekend passed by without much event, and she received the text from Aubrey telling her to meet at the Learning Center at 3:15. She sent her a confirmation text and prepared herself for duty. 

The four of them met up outside the center, and Stacie commented on how she had no idea this place was even here. 

"Look at her, struttin' her stuff like she owns the place," Cynthia Rose groaned as she saw Beca down the hall. 

"Well, she does. For now," Stacie responded. 

"Alright, let's go," Aubrey led them inside to an empty room she'd booked just for this purpose. 

They all took a seat around a circular table and Aubrey glanced at Stacie. 

"Can you get the lights?" when the sorority girl looked confused, she elaborated, "the light switch by the door?" 

Stacie got up and fulfilled the request. Aubrey turned on the projector and brought up a PowerPoint presentation she'd created. 

"Okay, ladies. Please turn off your cell phones and pay close attention to Chloe--"

"Turn off...why would I turn my phone off? That's totally ridiculous," Stacie moaned, "I can just put it on silent or something." 

"Because you'll be tempted to text and I need your full attention," Chloe said from her seat. 

Aubrey nodded, and then waited for the girls to do as asked. 

"Chloe, do your thing," she sat down and looked up at Chloe, waiting for her to do her spiel and popping a photo of Beca’s face onto the screen. 

"My thing?" Chloe looked a little startled, but she stood up anyway, unnerved by the three pairs of eyes on her, “what...is it that attracted you to Beca?” 

Aubrey's eyes widened and she nodded along with Chloe as if she agreed with what she'd just said, even though she'd only just asked a question. 

"Chloe, I love where you're going with this," she took over as she was accustomed to doing, "Okay, ladies, we need to define Beca. Sure, she's hot, and she has muscular arms, perky boobs and a tight ass..." she paused, showing a photo of Beca’s butt on screen before realizing she was getting off track, "but what makes her tick? Is it that wink? Is it that smile? Is it that perfect eyeliner? What is it, girls? Dig deep!" 

Stacie sighed lovelornly, "It's everything. It's her eyes, her lips, her tits, the way her voice gets all husky when she's turned on..." 

"I'm getting turned on just thinking about it," Cynthia Rose murmured, leaning her elbows onto the table. 

"Yeah, okay, we all agree that she's hot, but that's something we already knew," Aubrey steered the conversation back from the scary place it had gone, "So what do we do?" 

She put on the next slide, which was just Beca’s face with a big red X over it. 

"Well, in dance we usually tear down the other team. We undermine their confidence; make 'em feel lame, y'know?" Cynthia Rose offered, the wheels in her head turning. 

"I don't think telling Beca she's ugly would work anyway, she'd know it wasn’t true," Stacie twirled a piece of hair around her index finger, boredly popping her gum. 

"As much as I hate to admit this, because let's be real I don't like you that much, you have a point," Aubrey stated, looking determined. 

"It's okay I don't like you either." 

"I hate both of you skanks!" Stacie put in with a chirp. Ignoring the comment, Aubrey went on, having an idea that she thought could really work. 

"Since Beca's game is that she always has a date, to get even with her, we have to make her undatable," she was beaming with pride for her big idea, "If we do something that will make girls think twice about dating her, we can destroy her chances at getting laid and ultimately, of her happiness. Girls, I think I have an idea."

Chapter 5

Stacie put on her best face and chatted with Beca, carefully setting Aubrey’s plan into motion. 

“I’m telling you, baby, you’ve got the look to be a model,” she explained as she fluffed up her hair and looked back at the photographer behind her, “don’t you think, Frank?” 

The man nodded emphatically and continued taking the cap off the camera and setting up the equipment around them while Aubrey continued speaking with the brunette. 

“You know, Frank knows my mom…and he shoots for all the best magazines—Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Nylon, even Cosmo!” she lied, smiling all the while, “And of course he’s done all of my yearbook photos and glamour shots, since like, elementary…on recycled paper.” 

Stacie winked, trailing her hand down Beca’s body before stopping herself once she realized what she was doing. She stepped away and moved to the side, so that Frank could take some photos of Beca. These photos weren’t for a fashion magazine at all, they were for something embarrassing. 

“Okay, Beca, I’m going to start shooting, you just relax and be natural, give me a nice smile,” Frank snapped a few photographs, “Now pout for me! Pout! Yes, that’s it. More pouting! Yeah!” Beca looked ridiculous, Stacie rubbed her hands together happily, “Now put your hands on your crotch and look uncomfortable, yes, that’s good.” 

This continued for quite some time, and Stacie watched all along, trying to keep from laughing as she texted mass updates to the girls waiting back home. She knew just what was going to happen here and she could not wait to see the result. 

A week or two later, Beca was hanging out at her dorm with another floozy. The girl didn’t matter, really, Beca didn’t even know her name, but she planned on getting laid that night. The television was on and they were watching Judge Judy between make out sessions when it cut to a commercial. 

Beca’s face came up on screen, and the girl turned to her and gasped. 

“Oh my god, that’s you!” 

An official announcer’s voice came over the speakers as another picture flashed on screen. 

“Living with genital herpes is difficult,” the picture of Beca grabbing her crotch popped up, “but it doesn’t have to be impossible.” 

Beca’s eyes bulged and she immediately turned the television off. 

“I was doing modeling, I didn’t know it was for this—I swear I don’t have herpes!” she yelled after the girl, who had jumped up and hurried out of her room in haste. 

She grabbed the girl’s arm, determined to make her see reason. 

“No, don’t touch me,” the blonde sounded disgusted, “I don’t want to contract your gross STD.” 

“I don’t have an STD! I just—it was just a modeling job, I just model as a girl with herpes! I swear I don’t actually have anything, please, we’ll go to the clinic together, just don’t leave!” 

It was an embarrassing incident of course, and the people in the dorm hallway laughed and made fun of her for it, but the incident blew over remarkably quickly. 

Beca somehow turned the negative, embarrassing ad into a positive thing. She won an award for doing it, and was invited to speak in front of most of the campus in a health forum held later that week. She proudly admitted that while she didn’t have herpes, that there were others who suffered, and the entire thing only made her more of a hero. 

Once girls discovered that she didn’t have herpes, they were swarming all over her, even more so now that she proved to be such a “selfless hero for such an important cause in teens and young adults.” 

The unfortunate reversal of their devious idea sent the planning back to stage one; the four of them had nothing. They were determined, especially after their previous failure, to make sure that Beca never hurt another girl again the way she had them.

And Chloe? Well, Chloe hadn’t been hurt by Beca, but those girls were her friends now, and she cared about them. And her mother—her mother had been hurt so many times by people like Beca. 

It was time to take this up a notch. 

“Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting really frustrated,” Cynthia Rose complained, tapping her fingers on the kitchen table as she looked over at the other girls. 

“I don’t get it, that should have worked,” Stacie balked, “Only Beca could take something like that and turn it around, god, why does she have to be so perfect?” 

Aubrey’s eyes darted to Stacie and she clucked her tongue disapprovingly. 

Of all the girls, Stacie had the hardest time thinking badly of Beca, even after what she’d done to her. Stacie still talked about her all the time, referencing their sex-capades, reminiscing about some startling roleplay they’d apparently done, and going into excruciating detail about the dexterity of Beca’s tongue. 

“Snap out of it! She’s not perfect,” the blonde hissed, slamming her hand down on the counter and startling them all, “she’s a snake. SHE. MUST. BE. STOPPED.” 

Suddenly Chloe’s mother appeared in the kitchen, stepping past the girls congregated there to make her way to the coffee maker. She put on a pot of coffee and leaned against the sink, her gaze drifting across the room to observe each young lady, all of which had become remarkably silent when she’d stepped into the room. 

“Hey,” she greeted, quirking her eyebrow at the blonde, who had her hands on her hips. 

“Hello, Ms. Beale,” Aubrey cocked her head to the side and gave her a winning, yet unconvincing, smile. 

The woman laughed, “call me Tasha, please,” her tone was serious, before turning sickly sweet, “sooo, what are you girls up to?” she asked as she pulled a mug from the cabinet and sat it down on the counter. 

The girls exchanged looks, their gaze eventually falling onto Chloe. Chloe shrugged, twirling her hair nervously around her finger. 

“Oh, you know, getting revenge on a lady killer,” she answered vaguely, not wanting to out the girls to her mother, or to have to explain why she spent all of her time with a trio of lesbians. 

Tasha nodded, pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

“I see. I’ve dealt with my share of those, Chloe knows what I’m talking about,” she patted her daughter on the shoulder before glancing back at the other girls, “so, who do I make my check out to?” the woman jested, doctoring her drink with sugar and cream. 

Stacie broke first, of course, stammering on about Beca and what they’d done to her. 

“She’s totally indestructible,” she explained, and Tasha mouthed ‘she?’ before Stacie went on, “we gave her herpes, they gave her an award. Now she’s got like, more dates lined up than ever.” 

Chloe’s mother looked shocked by everything she’d just heard from her daughter’s friend’s mouth. Chloe shot Stacie a glare, in disbelief that she’d just revealed everything. She knew her mother wouldn’t approve. 

“Fake herpes, mom, not…” Chloe tried to explain, her eyebrows knitting together as she got flustered. 

“It was a whole reputation thing,” Cynthia chimed in from across the room. 

“It’s…a long story,” Aubrey murmured, dropping her arms. 

Tasha took a cautious sip of her coffee, her eyes lingering over her daughter’s worried expression. She didn’t want to make a scene right now in front of her friends, but she’d be talking to her later about whatever this was. 

“Sure. Yeah, the old fake herpes reputation thing,” she said lamely, not wanting to make her daughter look stupid in front of her new friends. 

After all, these were the first friends of Chloe’s that she’d ever met since elementary school. She didn’t want to screw whatever she had going up, although it was odd. 

“You know, uh, if you end up wanting more coffee later, I’d gladly take you up a cup,” Chloe offered, hinting that she wanted her mother to leave them to it. 

“Okay, alright, I get it,” Tasha chuckled, looking over at Stacie again, in her mind wondering why such a pretty girl would waste her time with lesbianism, “Play nice, girls.” 

With that, she left the room and the girls to their planning, the wheels in her mind still turning. If Stacie wanted revenge on this lesbian lover of hers, that didn’t really explain why all of them were helping. Maybe they were all just very good friends, or maybe they’d all been wronged by her. 

God, had her daughter been heart broken by this girl? Was her daughter a lesbian, too? 

They’d never really talked about Chloe’s love life, so Tasha assumed she didn’t have one, but perhaps it was time to take more interest in her daughter’s personal matters. 

Meanwhile, as Tasha retreated to her bedroom, an explosion of sound erupted in the kitchen. Three of the girls gasped loudly and chattered on. 

“Your mom is so HOT!” Stacie yelled, and Chloe’s face reddened, hoping her mother didn’t hear the outburst. 

“She does Yogalates,” she explained dully. 

Everyone was always so attracted to her mother, it was humiliating, frustrating, and maybe she was a little jealous. She never received attention like that. 

“Well, they’re workin’ for her. Did you see her ass? Chloe, girl, your mom is the DEFINITION of a milf,” Cynthia Rose laughed, moving over to join the others at the bar. 

“Milf?” Chloe echoed, not understanding. 

“Mom I’d like to—” Aubrey explained from her seat, typing furiously on her laptop. 

“Okay, wow, thanks, I can figure out the rest,” the redhead stammered, her face reddening even more from the explanation, “Aubrey, what are you always typing on there? Your fingers are always going like a mile a minute, it’s crazy. What are you, working on the next great American novel?” 

“Well, no, but I did write a children’s book,” Aubrey said with a grin, “But usually I’m doing lists. You know, normal stuff, same as everyone,” they all thought she was done explaining, but she went on a long tangent, “I have my to do list, my personal goals list, another goals list but that one’s specifically for the Bellas, my bucket list, my celebrity crush list, my contingency list, my observations, my notions, which are of course, very different, because observations require a topic sentence, and notions do not, my grocery list…normal stuff.” 

Aubrey shrugged; going back to typing rapidly at whatever list it was she was working on. 

“Right. Normal,” Chloe responded quietly. 

“Totally,” Cynthia Rose rolled her eyes. 

“Well. At least I’m not medicated,” Aubrey shot back venomously, causing a gasp from the darker skinned girl across from her. 

“Excuse me?” she held up the bottle that was on the counter in front of her, “This isn’t medication; it’s an all-natural beauty supplement.” 

“You don’t need that crap, you’re already beautiful!” Chloe broke in. 

“What are you taking?” Stacie asked curiously, plucking the bottle from her hands and reading the label, making a sound of disapproval. 

She slammed the bottle back down on the counter and glared at Cynthia Rose. 

“Cynthia Rose, don’t you know they torture innocent horses for this?!” she whisper-screamed, which was somehow more frightening than a real scream, “it’s made from their PEE.” 

Cynthia Rose laughed at Stacie’s outburst, crossing her arms to her chest as she looked at the brunette. 

“They were gonna pee, anyway, weren’t they? But yeah, I steal these from my mom,” she clarified, leaning back in her chair and emitting a noise at the indignant looks she received from the other three, “What? Guys take steroids to get pecs or whatever; I just want to go up a cup size.” 

“Yeah, no, I don’t think it works like that,” Aubrey commented between feverishly typing one of her notions. 

Stacie nodded at Aubrey’s statement, explaining how the hormones worked, and sounding uncharacteristically intelligent whilst doing so. 

“You see, they’re meant for people who have a hormone imbalance, so like, if you have normal hormone levels, which you probably do, unlike your menopausal mother…well, it stops your natural production of hormones. So when you run out and stop taking them, you’re gonna grow, like, a mustache and a penis.” 

Cynthia Rose’s mouth dropped open. 

“Are you serious?” 

Aubrey slammed her laptop shut and caused this ridiculous conversation to stop immediately. She gave a little smile. 

“Okay, enough of that. We’ve gotta get back to planning.” 

“Yeah, we really need to figure something out so we can squash Beca once and for all! The herpes thing didn’t work, what else would make her less attractive or appealing?” Stacie wondered aloud. 

“It’s really too bad we couldn’t get her taking these pills and then she’d grow a penis,” Cynthia Rose was still harping on what she’d just learned. 

“Ugh, are you kidding? A penis would just give her MORE power over women. Can you imagine sex with Beca if she had a dick? It’d be like the best of…” Stacie trailed off when she felt the other girls staring at her, “I’m just saying!” she threw her hands into the air. 

Chloe had been listening to the entire exchange, not speaking up but thinking. She was trying to come up with a way to help, as she hadn’t really been much help thus far. 

“I think I have just the thing. My mom used to take these sleeping pills, and she’d do like the craziest, most whacked out things on them, I think we still have some,” she rustled through the medicine drawer and pulled out a pill bottle, “yep! Half a bottle. Get Beca to have a few of these at our next Bellas rehearsal, or maybe one of you guys can go out to the game with her, slip it to her somehow, she’ll do some crazy stuff, everyone will think she’s nuts.” 

“Can’t we just roofie her?” Stacie whined. 

“And what would the point of that be, exactly?” Aubrey questioned seriously. 

“I don’t know….”

“Chloe, this might work, but first, you have to tell us what kinds of insane shit your mom did when she took these things.” 

Chloe spent the next half hour detailing how her mother had tackled the mailman, chased after an invisible purple unicorn, streaked publicly (because “the President commanded her to”) and got arrested after taking a pill for an afternoon nap. 

If her mom’s experiences with the medication were any indicator, Beca would end up doing something so utterly ridiculous that it would seriously wound her reputation…or so they were hoping.

Chapter 6

It was the night of the Riff Off when they decided to move their plan into action. Unfortunately, the Trebles were declared the winners, but that didn’t mean the party stopped there. The Bellas, including Beca, Aubrey, Cynthia Rose, Stacie, AND Chloe, as well as others, met some other acapella singers at a huge party. Beca still had no idea these girls knew that she’d dated all of them. 

They played it cool and let Aubrey handle this one, as she was still playing it off as Beca’s main girlfriend. It was tricky, but the senior girl managed to convince Beca to drop some of the pills, claiming they would cause an unbelievable high. 

“You’ll be so wrecked, these things make you happy and horny, I hear you have the best sex on them,” Aubrey lied, winking. 

“I don’t need any help in that department,” Beca argued, shrugging it off. 

“Come on, baby, just try it. You’re so amazing in bed now; it’ll be like you’re on speed or something.” 

She pretended to take a few, holding them under her tongue and spitting them out on her way to get them more drinks. 

Beca took a handful and continued drinking. 

Having taken so many pills and mixing them with alcohol, it didn’t take very long for them to affect her. It began pretty tamely, Beca trying to seduce a wooden post, thinking it was apparently a sexy girl. 

Just when they were beginning to think this plan was a bust; Beca stole the karaoke microphone and began singing an off key version of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, taking everyone by surprise. 

“Near, far, wherever you are,” she serenaded Justin without shame, running her hands down his body and causing his eyes to widen in confusion. 

Everyone knew Beca was gay…this was out of character, especially with her song choice. Halfway through the song she jumped up onto a table and reenacted scenes from Titanic, and fell to the floor in tears when Jack let go. 

As someone who had a reputation for liking cool music and being pretty against movies in general, this was considerably embarrassing. Girls were whispering about her and the four thought maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. Still, though, it wasn’t enough. 

Despite her show, Beca still managed to find a girl, a redheaded High Note named Cindy, who was too high to care about everything she’d just witnessed. The two of them disappeared into the next room, poised to get it on. 

“Well, so much for that idea,” Stacie groaned, downing another shot and starting to feel the alcohol flow through her body, “hey, Cyn, if I get too drunk later, will you hold my hair back?” she cooed. 

Cynthia Rose’s eyes darted to her breasts and she nodded, a smile coming to her lips. 

A few minutes later, the girl Beca had gone with emerged from the bedroom, looking miffed. 

“That was a quickie,” Aubrey murmured, glancing at Cindy, who was chatting loudly with her best friend. 

“She freaking fell ASLEEP on me. Like, while she was going down on me! Can YOU BELIEVE that shit? What the hell? Is she narcoleptic or something? Who does that? I had to get myself off, ugh,” Cindy complained, getting a cup of beer, “It was a total disappointment. I mean, I heard Beca Mitchell was like, amazing in bed. That’s the only reason I came here tonight. Well, that and the killer kush,” she laughed. 

The four girls had a nice laugh about that situation, but then each of them drifted apart. 

Cynthia Rose and Stacie created a makeshift dance floor and began dirty dancing (dirtier dancing than Chloe had ever seen, her cheeks burning red). Aubrey declared that she had to go home to study and left the party. 

Chloe was sipping at the same drink she’d had all night when a dark haired girl came up to her. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” the unfamiliar girl asked with a bright smile. 

“Oh—um—good, thanks,” Chloe hadn’t anticipated meeting anyone new tonight, that whole process took a lot out of her, “you?” 

“I’m pretty good. A little tipsy, and warm,” the brunette admitted, peeling off her jacket to reveal a considerable amount of cleavage, “I’m Frankie. You’re a Bella, right?” 

“Yeah, I am…I’m Chloe.” She extended her hand and awkwardly shook the older girl’s hand, “which group are you in?” 

Frankie leaned in close, “I need to tell you a secret.” 

“Oh?” Chloe wondered innocently. 

“I’m not an acapella singer…I’m an acapella groupie,” she winked, her hand moving to Chloe’s shoulder, “you know what I mean?” 

“Um.” 

“Nothing turns me on quite like someone who knows how to use their mouth,” Frankie raised her eyebrows suggestively. 

“O-oh. I see…” Chloe had never been flirted with like this; she didn’t even know what to say. 

Her cheeks reddened immediately and her gaze dropped to the floor. Her heart was beating a little faster. It felt nice to be noticed, and this girl was hot—wait, what? Did she really think that? 

“And I really like redheads, too. How about you come back to my dorm, and we’ll…get to know each other better?” Frankie’s finger trailed down Chloe’s arm, causing goose bumps to pop up on her skin. 

“Well, I’m not a natural redhead, I’m a blonde, and I dyed my hair red a few weeks ago. And I think I can get to know you just as well here, if that’s okay.” 

“I see. So you’re into public displays of affection, are you?” 

“What? No, that’s not what I…”

Swooping in like a superhero bound to save her, Ryan stepped toward them; taking in Chloe’s panicked expression and Frankie’s hands all over her and deducing the situation. 

“Hey, Franks. Back off, alright? She’s not interested,” he demanded, looking at Chloe’s frightened blue eyes, “right?” 

“Right. He’s—he’s right. I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this,” Chloe apologized, and Frankie nodded, adding that her offer still stood if she ever changed her mind, leaving the two of them alone. 

Ryan laughed, patting her shoulder and quickly withdrawing his own hand. 

“That was painful to watch. You’re not used to being hit on, are you?” he wondered, smiling. 

Chloe shook her head, finishing off her drink and sitting it down on the edge of the nearest table. 

“I’m really not. Especially by a girl. I—I don’t even know why she was interested in me, anyway, it’s not like I’m very—attractive.” 

“Well, I disagree…but anyway. Would you like another drink?” Ryan asked her brightly. 

“Oh, no thank you, I should really be getting back. What are you doing here, anyway? Are you a Treble or something?” 

“Dear god, no, someone called me about my sister. Have you seen her?” 

“Last I heard she was asleep in the bedroom,” she gestured toward the back bedroom and Ryan nodded, thanking her. 

“I could walk you back if you want,” he offered, and she thanked him but told him she’d be fine. 

She explained that she lived off campus, and then offered him a grin before grabbing her jacket and heading out of the party. 

Ryan had to carry his sister out of the room, enlisting the help of another guy to do so. Chloe made her way back to the parking lot, her mind reeling from tonight’s encounter. 

She was beginning to wonder about herself. She had never really thought much about her sexuality, considering she’d never really dated anyone or flirted with anyone. 

Chloe had never even bothered with having a serious crush on someone, aside from the embarrassing crush she used to have on Alex Trebek when she was younger. 

But now that she spent so much time with these girls, none of which were straight, the more she began to think about it and question herself. 

And tonight, even though she was awkward because she wasn’t used to being flirted with, Chloe found herself somewhat enjoying the attention and her eyes had definitely lingered on Frankie’s breasts. 

Maybe she was into girls. She wasn’t sure what that meant, and she wasn’t really sure how she felt about guys. Ryan was nice, and sort of cute, but that was mostly because he looked remarkably like Beca. 

Shit, Chloe told herself as she climbed into bed, you think Beca’s cute?

Trying to shake it off, she turned off the lights and closed her eyes, desperate for sleep. 

All she could think about while she lay there was the way Frankie had looked at her, how her fingers had felt gliding across her skin, and what it would have been like to kiss her. 

She decided that wouldn’t have been too bad, but she preferred to kiss someone she had genuine feelings for. If that person would ever exist…

Sighing, Chloe’s hand drifted beneath the waistband of her pajama pants. She didn’t like to do this, and didn’t do so often (mostly because of the guilt she felt afterward) but she was worked up and needed release. 

It didn’t take much, and when she was finished she hopped up and went to the bathroom to wash her hands and then fell asleep without much trouble.

Chapter 7

None of the girls, who had been “pretending” to date Beca through their entire charade, had anticipated this. Beca met up with each of them individually the day after the party and gave them this little speech. 

“Hey, babe, can we talk?” she asked them, “Listen, after what happened last night, well…I decided to see a school counselor. We had this long chat about my emotional responsibility and everything,” she explained, “I’ve been doing some ‘me’ work, and it’s really been clearing some things up for me. And, well, I really think there’s only one girl for me…” they all braced themselves, thinking she was about to tell them they were ‘the one,’ and they would have been lying if they said they weren’t excited, “but I don’t think that girl is you.” 

“Oh?” all three of them had been stunned. 

“Yeah. I mean, we had a lot of fun together, good memories and everything. I’m just ready to find something deeper, more complex. So, are we good?” Beca smiled. 

That excruciating display left Aubrey, Cynthia Rose and Stacie in various states of disarray and disappointment. 

Aubrey, taking matters into her own hands as usual, sent the other three girls a mass text. » EMERGENCY meeting at my dorm in 5!!!!! 

Dropping whatever they were doing, Chloe, Cynthia Rose and Stacie hurried to Aubrey’s dorm, wondering what the emergency was all about. Of course, Cynthia Rose and Stacie already knew that Beca had broken it off with them, but they didn’t know anything otherwise. 

“She dumped me,” Aubrey said when they all gathered there, wiping her eyes with a tissue, “and she had the gall to say she was looking for something more complex? I’m so complex, like, I’m the most complicated person I know.” 

“She broke up with me, too!” Cynthia Rose gasped. 

“Me too,” Stacie echoed, “I’m so depressed…I couldn’t even enjoy the break up sex.” 

Their gaze snapped to Stacie, aghast that she’d done such a thing. 

The tall brunette put her hand to her mouth—“Oh my god, I’m such a slut!” 

Cynthia Rose patted her on the shoulder, whispering in her ear that it wasn’t such a bad thing, and admitting she’d slept with Beca one last time, too. And it had beengood.

Aubrey flipped on the television and brought out a surprising stockpile of junk food, snacking on chocolate covered pretzels. If they were going to wallow, they could at least do it right. 

She found a chick flick on Oxygen and the girls shared the snacks and chatted about Beca. Stacie seemed pretty upset about the whole thing. 

“I can’t believe I ate meat for her! Like, it was fish, but still, I don’t eat anything with a face…but I did that for her,” she said, disappointed in herself. 

“People do crazy things for love sometimes,” Chloe added, thinking back to some of the more inane things her mother had done in the past for her various boyfriends, snagging a pretzel from the bag near Aubrey. 

“Too true,” the blonde spoke with her mouth full, “Chocolate is the best break up food ever.” 

“Oh my god,” Stacie took a pretzel, “Chocolate is like the Beca Mitchell of snack foods.” 

All roads led to Beca with these girls. Chloe was beginning to get a little sick of the whole endeavor. It wasn’t proving to be very successful thus far. Maybe they should just give up. Maybe it wasn’t worth it. 

“What, it’s gotta get with every candy on the shelf?” Cynthia Rose groaned, leaning forward and taking one of the pretzels, “damn, that IS good.” 

“No, no, chocolate makes EVERYTHING better. My mom says that it can even mend your broken heart,” Chloe shrugged, having never experienced such a thing except for when her father left them, and she remembered consuming mass amounts of chocolate with her mother when that had happened. 

A short silence settled over the group as they munched on junk food and watched Legally Blonde. Though they’d all seen it too many times, they’d never get over the amazing triumph of Elle Woods. 

“You know, I was thinking, instead of doing all this crazy stuff to bring her down, we should’ve just broken her heart,” Cynthia Rose muttered, dangling her feet over the edge of the bed as she took her eyes off of the television

“What?” Stacie hadn’t been paying attention—a pretzel had fallen down her shirt and disappeared, and she was busying herself with trying to find it, lest it fall out later. 

“Cynthia Rose, that’s pretty genius,” Aubrey sounded impressed, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that sooner. 

“Yeah, except she broke up with everybody,” Chloe pointed out, recognizing the flaw in their plan. 

“Not…everybody,” Aubrey smirked, the wheels in her head obviously turning. 

“What? I…” Chloe didn’t understand what she meant until she saw the looks of recognition on the other girl’s faces, “No.” 

“Yes,” Stacie leaned forward, popping the rescued pretzel into her mouth. 

“I can’t do that! I—I don’t even like her. I don’t even…like girls,” Chloe murmured quietly, dropping her eyes down to the bedspread. 

That might have been a lie; she wasn’t sure about the state of either of those things. She was definitely attracted to Beca, which she had discovered last night when she’d…well. And the whole liking girls thing seemed to be something she really needed to consider. 

Aubrey squeezed Chloe’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. 

“You’re not really going to be dating her, though, Chloe. You’ll just be pretending,” she was still grinning, believing this plan could really work unlike their others. 

The other plans had been little things, silly things, not unlike what Cady had done to Regina in the beginning of Mean Girls—the foot cream on her face, for instance—simple things that didn’t really make too much of a difference. But they needed to amp it up, to completely destroy her. 

“Exactly,” Stacie responded, nodding and pointing to Aubrey, “you can do this!” 

“Look,” Cynthia Rose sensed Chloe’s insecurities, “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not as pretty as Cynthia Rose.” 

“I’m not as smart as Aubrey, or as talented,” Aubrey added. 

“I’m not that…experienced,” Stacie offered her own positive trait. 

“That’s true,” Aubrey wiped her mouth and took a sip of her bottled water on the table, “But—you have us. And we can make you into anything. If we combine the aspects of all of us—a makeover, give you some pointers, train you a little—and we can make her fall in love with you. I mean, really fall in love…and then we’ll YANK IT ALL OUT FROM UNDER HER!” 

When Aubrey got excited about these anti-Beca plans, she typically sounded crazy, but even this was a new low. It was obvious this would be their last tactic. They needed this, they needed closure, and Chloe got that, but she didn’t think she had the ability to do what they wanted from her. 

“This is gonna be so good,” Cynthia Rose rubbed her hands together excitedly. 

“No, it’s just not gonna work, okay? I’m not good at this kinda stuff,” Chloe bit her lip, not liking the focus that had been shifted to her. 

“Listen, I know you think I’m just the school slut, or whatever,” Stacie said slowly, “but I do have feelings, and I really fell for Beca…and she really hurt me. If it hadn’t been for your stupid idea, she probably never would’ve broken up with me; she would’ve never gone to that counselor, so you kind of owe me, and them, too.” 

“Sorry, you guys, I just don’t think I could do it,” Chloe apologized, feeling guilty. 

She wanted to help, but this just wasn’t the way. She was better at doing the background stuff. She couldn’t throw herself into the fray and try to seduce Beca Mitchell—she’d never seduced anyone. She’d never even kissed anyone, and she was in college—that wasn’t normal, she wasn’t normal, she wasn’t prepared for anything of this magnitude. 

“You know what? Forget it,” Aubrey threw up her hands, giving up since Chloe didn’t seem anywhere near budging on the issue, “just go, I have an essay to write, anyway.” 

“Oh well,” Stacie sighed, gathering up her things. 

“Alright,” Cynthia Rose shrugged, slipping on her sneakers. 

“Wait—” Chloe spoke up, surprised when all three girl’s heads swiveled around to her, “Just…tell me what to do.” 

“YES!” Aubrey cheered. 

“It’s SO ON!” Stacie smiled, happy that they’d managed to convince her. 

“Ha,” Cynthia Rose chuckled, leaning against the wall, “Now the first step is gonna be so easy. There’s one thing that Beca Mitchell cannot resist.”

Chapter 8

Chloe stood nervously in front of the group of girls Cynthia Rose was introducing her to. Despite the problems she’d had with her co-leader, Cynthia had gone back to the dance team and had been juggling it and the Bellas, figuring that it would help her stay “on top of her game.” 

Being in the Bellas was one thing, but Chloe was intimidated by this group of young women (okay, and one guy) who were all seemingly skinnier, prettier and cooler that she was and ever would be. She crossed her arms to her chest and managed a tight lipped smile, feeling uncomfortable in the makeup that the Cynthia Rose had put on her, as well as the short shorts and low cut top she was wearing. At least the ponytail was nothing new. 

“Okay girls, this is Chloe,” Cynthia Rose announced, pep in her voice, “and she’ll be taking Alice’s spot.” 

A dark haired girl glowered at Cynthia, making a sound of disapproval. 

“What?!” she shrieked with more attitude than Chloe had ever heard one person emit. 

“Well, you know, you’re injured. Damaged goods. Nothing personal, sweetie. Sorry!” Cynthia Rose turned to the rest of the group, opening her mouth to address them when Alice interrupted. 

“Excuse me, but it’s just a sprain. I went to the doctor, and he said it would be better in a week!” 

The co-leader of the squad chuckled. 

“It’s not up to you. Dani’s out today and as co-captain, I call the shots. It might just be a sprain, but you’ve proven that you’re obviously pretty clumsy. Maybe you’re not cut out to be a dancer,” she said flippantly. 

“But—”

“Maybe next year.” 

“But I—”

“We’re done here,” Cynthia Rose replied, dismissing Alice, who hobbled off, huffing the entire way, “Anyway, we’ve got to improve and practice on our routine. Get in formation.” 

The girls scrambled into formation, leaving Chloe standing there with a blank expression. 

“You didn’t tell me what to do!” She squeaked, her cheeks flushing. 

“Just stand facing us, and watch us do the routine a few times. It’s not too difficult, after we do it twice, you join in.” 

Chloe watched, but she didn’t really know if she could pull off the things they were doing. She had no rhythm, even with the music playing, and she would probably look stupid, mess up, bump into someone, fall down…there were so many things that could go wrong. 

But after two times she jumped into the fray, proving to be better at it than she’d thought she would be. 

Unfortunately, during the ending move of her second run through of the routine, Chloe lost her balance and went careening into the girl beside of her, knocking her to the floor. 

“I am so sorry!!” Chloe repeated a dozen times, helping the miffed-looking girl up from the floor. 

Cynthia Rose encouraged the group and told them they’d done well, and Chloe hung back to chat with her after practice, the two of them lingering in the hall as they spoke. 

“Hey, not bad for a first-timer. And if you can crush Beca like you crushed Ashley, I think you’ll do well,” she laughed good-naturedly. 

“I’m so sorry about that; I don’t know what happened—”

“Don’t be sorry. Be strong. The most important thing a dancer wears is her attitude. Check this out,” Cynthia Rose told her commandingly. 

She strutted down the hallway, flipping her hair and working her hips. She moved perfectly, oozing attitude. Her hand rested on the wall and she flipped her head around, giving Chloe a little wink. 

“That is HOT!” someone from the other side of the hall commented on Cynthia’s show. 

“I can do that,” Chloe stated matter-of-factly when Cynthia Rose returned to her side. 

“Let me see, then.” 

She attempted her best hallway strut, but it seemed half-hearted, with about as much attitude as Cynthia Rose had in her pinkie. Still, she caught someone’s eye. 

Beca had approached Cynthia Rose, a grin on her lips. 

“Cyn, we’re cool, right?” she asked, still smirking, her eyes drifting to Chloe. 

“Uh, what?” the usually cool girl stammered, caught off guard by Beca’s sudden arrival. 

At least the plan was working. Beca couldn’t take her eyes off of Chloe. 

“Who’s the ginger?” she gestured to Chloe. 

When Chloe went to put her hand on the wall and flip her hair as Cynthia Rose had done, she accidentally punched the wall. 

“Ow,” she said to herself, looking back to give her friend the wink and realizing Beca was standing there. 

Beca smirked at her and she turned her head back, mentally freaking out because she’d managed to make an idiot out of herself, just as she had predicted. 

“Oh, that’s Chloe, she’s the newest member of Barden’s dance squad,” Cynthia Rose responded, pretending not to be jealous, even though she was. 

Just because she was seeking revenge on Beca, didn’t mean she liked seeing her check out other girls. 

“She’s cute,” Beca murmured despite Chloe’s little show of clumsiness. 

“Damn right she is, but that’s not gonna happen. She’s as straight as they come.” 

Beca liked a challenge. Hearing a girl was straight didn’t turn her off at all; actually, it only made her more interested. She’d lost count of how many supposedly straight girls she’d bagged over the years. 

“She’ll come alright. You know what they say. Straight? So’s spaghetti, until you heat it up,” Beca winked, patting Cynthia’s shoulder, “Nice talk. See ya.” 

Cynthia Rose seethed, rolling her eyes as Beca walked past Chloe and gave her the eye. Chloe pretended to ignore it, and then waited to hear how she’d done. 

“Was that it?” she asked innocently. 

“For now. We just needed to plant the seed in her mind. Plus, I told her you were straight, which only made her want you more,” Cynthia Rose explained, crossing her arms to her chest. 

“Wait, what? She wants me? What did she say?” 

“She said you were cute.” 

“Cute? Really? She said I was cute? Oh my gosh!” Chloe sounded excited, but then she bit her lip, curbing her enthusiasm, “I-I-mean…you didn’t even introduce us. Should I go after her? Talk to her? Ask her out? I’ll go—”

Chloe noticed the change in her friend’s expression. She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, as if mentally she was saying ‘are you serious right now?’

Realizing she sounded overeager, she dialed it down, “No, yeah, okay, I didn’t want to, anyway…” she wasn’t convincing. 

Just one taste of Beca—not even a real taste, just a tiny compliment, and Chloe had turned into a puddle. Maybe she wasn’t ready for this at all. She needed more training. 

After that display of embarrassment and pure gushing from Chloe, Cynthia Rose sent out a text to the other girls, alerting them to an emergency meeting. They met up in the Learning Center as usual. 

“So, what’s the emergency?” Stacie asked curiously when they’d all arrived, her eyes drifting to the sender of the message. 

“I think we’re sending Chloe here in before she’s ready,” Cynthia Rose announced. 

“What? No! I’m totally ready!” Chloe defended herself. 

“Really?” The redhead nodded, and Cynthia smiled, “Okay, then, tell ‘em what Beca said about you.” 

Chloe’s face immediately flushed and a goofy grin came across her lips. 

“Oh, what, about me being cute?” she played it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but her expression and tone of voice made it all too obvious, “That was nothing, just a comment. It doesn’t even matter, because I know she’s just getting ready to use me like she did with you guys.” 

Aubrey, noticing the way her new friend was acting, knew that Cynthia Rose was correct in her assumption. But it didn’t add up. Chloe had said she had experience with this very situation. 

“Chloe, I’m confused. I thought you said you’d dated someone like this before,” Aubrey said gently. 

“I do! I’ve watched my mom date a million and one of these guys! Just because they were guys, doesn’t mean that—”

“Have you ever dated one? Have you ever dated a Beca Mitchell?” the blonde questioned, hearing a long silence in response, “Have you ever dated…anyone?” 

A beat passed, no one saying a word. 

“Define anyone,” Chloe murmured, and upon hearing the three girls gasp, she put her hands to her face, “oh, my god! You’re right! I’m totally not ready! I’m gonna screw this all up and you guys are gonna hate me, and…” 

“No, you’re not going to screw this up. You’ll be fine, okay? You just gotta remember to be calm, cool…collected,” Aubrey assured her, moving her hand in circles across her back in an attempt to soothe her nerves. 

Chloe shrank away from her touch, and Stacie jumped in for support. 

“Yeah! Be caring and passionate,” she added. 

“Be proud, and aggressive. You have to make her chase you, okay? If it’s easy, she’ll move on. You have to want you, more than anything she’s ever wanted. Because if you’re unattainable, well, that just makes you so much hotter,” Cynthia Rose tried her best to explain, making sure that Chloe understood what she needed to do. 

“Do you understand?” Aubrey queried seriously. 

“Yes. Totally. I totally understand. I have it under control. I’m good.” 

Was she trying to reassure them, or herself? 

“Okay,” Aubrey dropped her voice, “so, she really said you were cute?” 

“Yeah!” Chloe’s face lit up, “I mean, that’s what Cynthia Rose said and…damn it!” she cursed when she realized she’d failed the test. 

Stacie stepped forward, sighing loudly. She apparently needed to help with this, and she was a master at seducing people—girls and guys alike. This was her territory, for sure. 

“Okay, look, it’s not that hard. A few tips,” She thought for a moment before speaking, “when she talks to you, count to three in your head before you answer her. Do not show any interest in her. Treat her like you would a stranger harassing you for change. Don’t even look at her too much…got it?” Stacie waited for Chloe to tell her that she understood, but she heard nothing, “Do you understand?” she repeated. 

“Yeah, yeah, I understand, I was just counting to three, like you said,” Chloe sounded proud of herself. 

“Not THAT slowly! We don’t want her to think you’re, you know, challenged, or whatever,” Stacie laughed, imagining what Beca’s response would be to a girl like that—whether she’d keep on trying to sleep with her or dismiss her. It was better safe than sorry. 

“Okay, I’ll count faster. Sorry.” 

This was going to take a lot of effort. Between remembering how to apply the makeup Cynthia Rose had shown her, recalling the dance routine, and now keeping these rules in mind, Chloe had a lot to deal with. She didn’t have the best memory anyway, but she didn’t want to mess this up. 

She was determined to help her friends, and maybe become a little more popular in the process. That wouldn’t be so bad, right?

Chapter 9

After the night of much needed preparation with the girls, Chloe felt more ready to deal with Beca. It was a good thing, too, because that afternoon, she ran into none other than Beca Mitchell in the hallway and something told her that wasn’t accidental. 

“Hey, you’re Chloe, right? I’m Beca,” the DJ greeted ever so smoothly, “so, you must be new,” when Chloe said nothing, she continued, “well, not new, ‘new’, but new to the squad. And new to me,” she explained, grinning. 

Chloe just stood there, not a word leaving her lips. She could see Beca squirming and it made her almost crack a smile. 

“Alright, don’t tell me, then. Tell me on Friday night, at dinner…” Beca was really working her charm, “You’re into dancing, I make bomb ass mixes, it’s like destiny or whatever, right?” 

The redhead didn’t smile, remaining stony faced. A moment later, she finally spoke. 

“Thanks, but I’m gonna have to pass.” 

Beca seemed shocked. She wasn’t used to being turned down, especially so casually. 

“Why? Are you busy, or…?” she wondered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. 

Chloe shrugged, “Sure. I’m busy. Nice to meet you. Bye.” 

Without another word, the girl walked off, leaving Beca alone to wonder what she’d done to piss her off. She’d brushed her off so easily, like she was nothing. No one treated her that way, ever. 

“What?” Beca said to herself in disbelief. 

She had to get Chloe to go out with her. She had just the way to get her attention, too. Beca worked for the campus radio station, so she worked on a special mix for Chloe. It was later that evening she played the mix and dedicated it to her, hoping she was listening. 

“This song goes out to a gorgeous redhead I met today, Chloe. Chloe, if you’re listening, give me a call. My number is 555-6855. And if anyone out there knows the fiery new member of the dance squad, be sure to pass along the message. Without further ado, here’s my newest mix.” 

Chloe hadn’t been listening to the radio, and neither had any of her friends. They were having a meeting, discussing how the first interaction between Chloe and Beca had gone. 

Aubrey showed a video, which was a badly shot version of their hallway conversation earlier that day. Chloe gasped, having had no idea she’d been filmed. 

“Where’d that come from?” she asked curiously, a bit startled. 

“I’ve been documenting our efforts, you know, to look back on later,” Aubrey responded, “besides, we might get a nice documentary out of this.” 

“Sure, great, make a video. Maybe Beca will get a role on Gossip Girl,” Stacie rolled her eyes, figuring this plan would only go awry like their others, somehow making Beca even more popular than she had been. 

“Gossip Girl ended a few weeks ago. Besides, this isn’t gonna be pretty. It’s our expose. We’re going to show everybody the real Beca Mitchell, and how we broke her heart,” Aubrey sounded determined and when she wanted something, she got it. Usually. 

“It’ll be like Cheaters or something,” Stacie referred to a well-known reality show about people who cheated on their significant others. 

“Only better,” Aubrey added with a devious grin, still holding the camera in her hands. 

Cynthia Rose took the camera and pointed it at her own face, pursing her lips and seducing the camera with her eyes, just like Tyra had taught her. 

“Do it like this—” she said pointedly to Chloe, who hung on her every word, “Beca…hey, babe. There’s only one girl out there for me…and you are NOT her! We good?” 

Cynthia’s imitation of Beca’s breakup speech was spot on, surprising the three girls. 

“We are so gonna neuter her!” Stacie cheered, actually using the word correctly for once. 

“Chloe, you do one,” Cynthia Rose prodded, pointing the camera at the redhead, who stammered at first. 

“Beca, there’s only one person out there for me, and you’re not them.” 

It wasn’t convincing at all. 

“No, no, that wasn’t good at all. Don’t hold back. You have to have attitude. Try it again, with some venom this time!” 

Chloe sighed, gritting her teeth and trying again, “Beca, there’s only one person out there for me, but you are not them.” 

Aubrey decided to take things into her own hands. If Chloe wasn’t going to say it right, she’d have to give her good reason to do so. 

“Chloe, just think about this way, okay? This is for every single girl or guy, that’s ever lied to someone, okay? Like the guys your mom dated,” she said sharply, noticing Chloe’s changed expression, she continued, “Action.” 

“Beca Mitchell, there’s only one girl out there for me, but you are NOT her.” 

This time she’d done perfect. Her words were laced with poison, her expression dangerous, she sounded downright homicidal. The changing of the pronouns made her statement more forceful, too, whether she meant it or not. 

“Damn! That was more like it!” Cynthia Rose commended her on a job well done. 

“You are gonna be a legend,” Stacie winked, patting her on the back, “The new Chloe is hot!” 

Aubrey gave her a quick thumbs up and turned the camera off, leaving them to spend the rest of the evening together watching movies and doing whatever. 

Chloe had grown accustomed to staying on campus with her friends, instead of returning home, she’d sleep at one of their dorms. Usually Aubrey’s—at least she could trust the blonde to keep her hands to herself. 

Cynthia Rose and Stacie had a tendency to be a little handsy—usually with each other, but sometimes with her, too. Chloe still hadn’t forgotten the day Stacie had tried to proposition her. 

Aubrey and Chloe lay on her bed, with Cynthia Rose and Stacie sitting just below the foot of the bed. Chloe swore that partway through the movie, she heard Stacie panting loudly. 

“What are they doing?” she whispered into Aubrey’s ear as she heard more noises that obviously weren’t from the television. 

“Oh, honey, I think you know what they’re doing,” Aubrey responded, amused by her friend’s innocence, “a little heavy petting. A girl’s gotta get off. When’s the last time you…you know.” 

Chloe bit her lip, not meeting Aubrey’s eyes. 

“You dirty bird! You’ve got guilt written all over your face. Where have these hands been?” she teased, grabbing Chloe’s hands and pretending to inspect them. 

“Nowhere,” the younger girl protested before giving in, “Okay, fine, maybe you’re right, but I’ve only ever put my hands on myself, never anyone else.” 

“If you’re ever curious, you know, about girls,” Aubrey offered, her finger trailing over Chloe’s hand, “I’m here for you. Whatever you need. No pressure, just—if you’re interested.” 

Something about the way Aubrey offered it made her feel more comfortable than when Stacie had practically done the same thing. Chloe had to stop herself, because she was dangerously close to agreeing. 

“I-I should go,” she grabbed her things, even though she’d originally planned on staying over at Aubrey’s, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” 

Chloe left and returned home, brushing off her mother and going straight to bed. She didn’t want to think about all the confusion she’d been feeling lately. She didn’t want to have to face all that right now. It was too much to deal with. 

The next day, she went to class as usual, startled when a dorky looking boy interrupted her teacher to deliver a bouquet of flowers. She was even more startled when the bouquet was given to her. 

Reading the card, she saw that the flowers were from Beca, complete with her phone number and a message to please call her. No one had ever given her flowers before, and she loved daisies, so of course she was flattered. 

The flowers were beautiful. She wanted to keep them, but carrying them around all day would probably reduce them to waste anyway, and she needed not get invested in this Beca situation. 

At the end of class, she threw the daisies in the wastebasket. 

Beca found her not long after. 

“Did you hear my dedication on the campus radio station last night? I work there,” she hurried after Chloe, who was on her way to her next class. 

“…Nope. I don’t listen to campus radio,” Chloe responded after waiting for a bit, speaking to her as if she was too good for something like that. 

“Well, did you at least like the flowers?” 

“Uh, yeah,” she caught herself, “I mean, if you’re into that sort of thing.” 

“Really? Cause I didn’t get a phone call,” Beca answered, stopping Chloe right before she went into her classroom. 

“I dropped the card.” 

She said this simply and flounced off into the class, leaving Beca, once again, aghast at her response. This wasn’t going to be easy, Beca had realized that, but she wasn’t going to give up, either. 

Beca remembered her brother saying something about Chloe; apparently she’d been at that party she’d passed out at. It seemed that her brother knew the girl, at least better than she did. They had apparently talked a few times after that party; too, Ryan had mentioned it offhandedly the other day. 

Since Ryan had a break right now, he’d be in the library, probably taking a nap on one of the sofas, so Beca headed that direction and sure enough, found her younger brother napping in an interesting position given the small size of the sofa. 

She punched him in the arm, causing him to jump up, glare at her, and then rub the top of his arm. 

“What do you want? I was trying to get some shut eye,” Ryan murmured sleepily. 

“You know Chloe, right? The ginger?” Beca prompted. 

“What? Yeah, why?” 

“I’m trying to get her to go out with me, but she keeps blowing me off. What’s her deal? Is she dating anyone?” 

“Not as far as I know, this chick was hitting on her at the party and I told her to back off, uh, I really don’t think she’s your type though, sis,” Ryan attempted to let her off easy, hearing the familiar tone of determination in Beca’s voice. 

“Are you kidding? Girl is my type,” she deadpanned, smirking. 

“Okay, but maybe you’re not her type. Her sexuality? Undetermined. But we’ve talked, dude, and she’s into stuff you don’t really get. She’s into indie music, and foreign films; she reads Chuck Palahniuk novels, and Bukowski’s poetry,” Ryan’s face turned a little flushed, but Beca was too wrapped up in his words to notice, “what I’m saying is, she’s deep, man.” 

“Dude. I’m deep. I’m rolling in the deep! I’m dating the Poetry Club. I got this,” Beca assured him, patting him hard on the shoulder, “go back to sleep, bro. Thanks for the info.” 

“Yeah, yeah, just be cool, alright? This girl is awesome. Don’t screw her over.” 

“Would I ever do that?” 

Ryan chuckled, rolling over on the couch rather than honestly answer Beca’s question. Within a few minutes he was sound asleep again, and Beca was already thinking of ways to get Chloe interested in her. 

Now that she knew what she liked, she could just pretend to like those things, just as she’d pretended to be a vegetarian for Stacie, or into rare insects for that weird scientist chick she’d banged once. It wouldn’t take much, as playing the common interest card was damn near foolproof.

Chapter 10

Chloe had been trying her best to adjust to her new life. It wasn’t easy, going from a girl who lived by a daily routine of going to class and to work only, spending almost all of her free time at home watching movies on Netflix and reading. 

But now she had a social life, friends, the dance team (although she was going to quit as soon as this whole Beca plot was done and over, she hated it) and soon, she would have a love life. That combined with her new increased effort with her appearance and she didn’t really have much time to herself anymore. 

Her mother had taken notice, commenting on her change in attitude more than once, and even trying desperately to get her to talk about her “sapphically inclined girlfriends.” 

Chloe was nowhere near ready to admit to her mom that she thought she might be into girls in a more than platonic way—it was hard enough just admitting it to herself. She hadn’t even told anyone else yet, but Aubrey seemed like a good first candidate. 

Her mind was swimming with way too many thoughts that afternoon. She was on her way to lunch when she quite literally ran into Ryan, Beca’s brother. Both of them went careening onto the floor and she apologized profusely, grabbing his papers that were now scattered across the hallway. 

“I was hoping I’d run into you,” Ryan grinned, helping her up and looking at her carefully. 

“What, like literally?” 

“Well, no, but…I’ll take what I can get. You see, I’m supposed to talk to you, gather some intel,” he explained. 

“Oh? What, Beca asked you to spy on me or something?” Chloe asked, acting nonchalant. 

She was surprised, though, apparently Beca had really taken an interest in her. That meant the plan was working, but that also meant someone was actually interested in her for once. That was new. Very new. 

“Yeah, more or less. I’ve been kind of following you around…not in a creepy way or anything, but she wanted me to find out what I could,” Ryan shrugged, shuffling his papers, “although I’m supposed to be playing it cool and not giving anything away, so there’s that.” 

Chloe couldn’t help but smile at him. He was charming, just like Beca, and they really did resemble one another. But he had stubble on his chin and he was taller, and she wasn’t sure she was necessarily attracted to him for the right reason. It was more that he looked like Beca than he was cute on his own. Maybe Chloe was gayer than she thought. 

“You’ve got to be the worst spy in the world,” she laughed. 

“Or am I the best spy in the world?” Ryan challenged, “Who’s waiting to hear from you, and who’s chatting you up?” 

She rolled her eyes, but he had a point. Was he flirting with her, though? Was he interested, too? 

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” Chloe sighed, rubbing the top of her thigh, which was sore. 

“Are you okay? Did it hurt when you fell…?” 

“From heaven? I’ve heard that line before, buddy.” 

“No—I mean, when you fell down, earlier. You’re rubbing your leg like it hurts.” 

“Oh! I’m sorry. Wow, I thought—well, nevermind. Yeah, my thigh muscles or whatever are killing me.” 

“Ah, yes, from all the dancing you’ve been doing.” 

Ryan made a face, showing his distaste for dancing. Chloe nodded, ignoring his reaction, because she felt the same way. But she couldn’t admit that she was doing it as a way to get Beca to like her. She couldn’t blow her cover with the girl’s brother. 

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I should probably go. I was headed to lunch. Gotta eat before practice,” she waved awkwardly at him. 

“You sure it’s a good idea to eat right before practice? You might end up hurling on one of the other girls. Although if I’m being completely honest, I’d pay to see that.” Ryan smirked. 

“Oh shut up. I’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern,” Chloe stuck her tongue out at him and hit him playfully in the arm before saying goodbye and heading off in the opposite direction. 

If she didn’t know better, she would’ve said she felt Ryan’s eyes on her the entire way. 

That evening, she and the girls had another hang out planned. This time they were going to Cynthia Rose’s dorm, where she’d only been once. Chloe let her mom know where she was and headed to the dorm building, finding the room without much difficulty. 

“I think Beca’s lost interest in me,” she complained as she went inside, “I haven’t heard anything from her since I blew her off last time. I mean, her brother was trying to find out some stuff about me for her, supposedly, but I can’t believe I haven’t heard from her by now.” 

“Oh, no, I don’t think she’s lost interest at all,” said Aubrey, pulling her headphones out of the audio jack on her laptop. 

The sound of the campus radio station suddenly blasted through the computer. Beca was on the station, repeatedly playing the same song over and over again, a song called “Do You Wanna Go Out with me?” She had been playing it for almost an hour now and holed herself up in the station, despite being threatened by the manager that she could get fired for this. 

“So that’s Do You Wanna Go out with me by the Donnas, and I say, again, Chloe Beale, if you’re out there in Radioland…please go out with me. I’m not going to stop until you do, or until I lose my job, whichever happens first. If you’re listening—or anyone who knows Chloe is listening, please give the station a call at 1-800-227-3368. That’s 1-800-BARDEN-U.” 

“You HAVE to call her, okay? She’s going to lose her job if you don’t, and the point of this is to make her fall for you. You have to go out with her in order for that to happen. The chase has gone on long enough. Now let her reel you in,” Stacie urged, pushing her to take out her phone and dial the number. 

Chloe agreed, suddenly nervous from the conversation about to take place. She dialed the number and waited, listening to the dial tone as the phone rang. 

“We’ve got a caller!” Beca announced over the radio before answering the phone, “This is Barden campus radio, Beca speaking,” her voice could be heard twice as loud now. 

“Uh, hi, um, this is Chloe. You really didn’t have to resort to all this to get me to go out with you.” 

“I didn’t, huh? You didn’t seem very interested in going out with me before,” Beca responded seriously. 

“Well, a friend told me about your little radio show, and she basically forced me to call in,” she replied, telling the truth for the most part. 

“Ouch. She forced you? Listen, if you’re not into me, okay, but just give me one chance to change your mind. Just one date. My friends and I usually head to the beach on Fridays, watch the sunset, drink a few beers. You should come.” 

“I don’t know…”

“Say YES,” Aubrey hissed from beside of her. 

“Your friend has the right idea,” Beca chuckled, having heard Aubrey’s response. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll go out with you.” 

“YESSSSS! You folks have witnessed history in the making here tonight! Now back to your regularly scheduled music, while I work out the details here with Chloe.” 

Beca and Chloe chatted, and the brunette insisted that she’d pick Chloe up at her place. She reluctantly gave out her address, wondering how she was going to explain this to her mother. It was Wednesday, which only gave her a couple days to prep for her first real date. She never imagined her first date would be with a girl, but inside she thought maybe that was right somehow. 

But damn was she nervous.

Chapter 11

Before Chloe knew it, Friday had rolled around. She had spent most of the evening being prepped by her friends, physically, emotionally and mentally. 

Stacie had chosen Chloe’s outfit, bringing something of her own for her to wear. The top was red and tight, clinging to her curves and so low cut that it made even her moderately sized breasts look wonderful, thanks to the push up bra that Stacie had made her buy last night. She paired the top with jeans, simple but nice. 

Cynthia Rose worked on her hair and makeup, leaving her hair down and opting to curl it, while applying some brilliant smoky eye makeup that made her eyes pop. 

Aubrey handled the other stuff, telling her the kinds of things she needed to do, how she should act. And here was the interesting part—Aubrey had secured the use of a camera, a tiny one, which she was placing inside of Chloe’s bra. It was relatively well hidden considering, so long as Chloe didn’t get any serious action from Beca tonight. 

“Wait, you put it in her bra?” Stacie commented when she realized, her eyes zoning in on Chloe’s chest and checking it out for a moment, “she’s gonna find that in, like, the first five minutes!” 

Aubrey gave her a look that said it all. Stacie rolled her eyes. 

“Or not…” 

“Cynthia Rose, can you speak into the cleavage?” the blonde demanded, and the other girl gave her a wink. 

“Don’t have to ask me twice!” she responded, leaning her head in very close to Chloe’s breasts, “Testing, testing, testing Chloe’s breast cam! They look great, by the way, can I…?” she made a gesture like she wanted to squeeze them and the redhead pushed her away. 

“Hands off the merchandise!” The younger girl said shrilly. 

“Alright, Chloe. Put on this lip gloss,” Stacie tossed a tube of shimmery pink gloss toward the other girl, who caught it and did as she was told, “You know, I was thinking. If we played our cards right, we could keep this up until Beca’s birthday in November.” 

She’d realized that it was toward the end of October, which meant two things—the Halloween mixer, and that it was almost Beca’s birthday. Beca Mitchell’s birthday was a big deal on campus, not just to the girls dating her, but to everyone. She knew how to throw a shindig, alright. 

“That’s probable,” Aubrey cut in, popping up an Excel spreadsheet she’d finished a few hours earlier, “I’ve already made a projected Heartbreak timeline, taking into account Beca’s average conquests, compared to Chloe’s rising Cool Factor.” 

Chloe smiled at the reference, even though she knew she was only cool because they made it so. 

“So, it leads to two events, Halloween and Beca’s birthday party. I think our best chance at making sure Beca gets her heart broken is to figure out how much she cares about Beca. So we’ll test her at the Halloween mixer, and then crush her at her birthday party,” Aubrey explained, having already thought this entire thing out. She didn’t want to leave anything to chance. 

“Wait, how do you know she’s going to have a party?” Chloe wondered, having not been in attendance at Barden long enough to know Beca’s birthday tradition. 

Cynthia Rose smirked. 

“Oh, you’re so new, it’s cute. Here’s the sitch, okay? Beca’s birthday is like, homecoming combined with prom, combined with the MTV Music Awards. We’re talking serious party potential,” she asserted. 

Stacie agreed, “It’s the social event of the season!” 

“So. Are you ready for her?” Aubrey prompted, narrowing her gaze and giving Chloe the once over. 

“Yes. Okay, so, I play hard to get, I count to three. I think I’ve got it,” Chloe sounded confident, but she wasn’t, and she had it all wrong. 

Those things were only relevant when getting someone to chase you, not when you’ve already scored a date. Cynthia Rose explained as best as she could. 

“No, ginger, you had to do those things to catch her interest. You’re going out now,” she said, placing a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, “She’s already got you.” 

“So…I count…to four?” Chloe muttered uncertainly, putting her hands on her face when she realized she had literally no idea what to do, “Oh, geez! I’ve never…I’ve never been on a date like this, I don’t even know what I’m doing! This is like, a really bad idea! I should just call and cancel.” 

“Dude, chill out,” Stacie laughed, twirling a piece of hair around her finger, “Look, you’re with three girls who know how she operates, okay? So you’ll be fine, sweetie.” 

Aubrey had to take control of the situation, as Chloe was apparently going to have a freak out. She stood up and looked at Cynthia Rose. 

“Alright. A little roleplay. Stacie’s going to be Beca. Cynthia Rose, you be Chloe.” 

“I don’t want to be Chloe,” the dark skinned girl complained, “You be Chloe.” 

“…can I be Chloe?” Stacie asked with a grin. 

“I’d rather just be me, thanks,” Chloe interrupted, her eyes trained on Aubrey. 

Aubrey nodded, telling Stacie to begin. The brunette stepped closer to Chloe, putting her hands on her hips, obviously enjoying herself. Chloe bit her lip, feeling her heart beat a little faster at the contact. 

“Baby, it’s your lucky day, cause I’m gonna take you out tonight,” Stacie said, dropping her voice a little lower, “Where do you wanna go?” she stopped, “just pretend I’ve got a lot of eyeliner on and I’m like, a foot shorter, okay?” 

“Um,” Chloe stammered. 

“Repeat what you said before, Stacie,” Aubrey cleared her throat. 

“Where do you want to go?” Stacie repeated. 

“I don’t know. Where do you want to go?” Chloe ventured, hoping she’d made the right choice. 

“No! She’s not in control, remember?” Cynthia Rose shook her head, frustrated that Chloe hadn’t seemed to learn anything from their lessons, “You’re the one in control. Not her. Right?” 

“Mhmm.” 

“Okay, let’s try this again. I’ll be Beca,” Aubrey figured she could do a better job than Stacie had, “Baby girl, you know I’m all about what makes you happy. So, what movie? Anything you want.” 

Chloe waited for a moment, considering the question. She had the perfect answer. 

“What do you think I want?” she asked, venom in her voice when she continued, “And DON’T be wrong.” 

“There’s our girl!” Cynthia Rose cheered, “That was perfect. Remember, attitude.” 

“Yeah, be kind of a bitch. But…be nice about it,” Stacie added with a light smile. 

“Just pretend you’re us, okay?” 

“I think I can do that.” 

Chloe’s mother called for her, saying there was someone at the door. It was Beca, obviously, so the other girls waited upstairs for her to leave. Her mom stopped her in the hallway. 

“Those girls were getting you ready to hang out with another girl? Is this like a lesbian date or something?” her mother hissed, more than a little upset about being left out. 

“It’s not a real date, it’s part of the plan to take Beca down. Just—don’t worry about it, okay?” 

“I don’t think this is a good idea, honey,” her mother said seriously. 

“Well, that’s too bad, because I’m going anyway,” Chloe pushed past her and smiled at Beca, who was standing in the doorway. 

“Hey, beautiful,” Beca beamed, “you look amazing.” 

“Oh, uhm, thanks,” she responded, trying to play it cool as she followed the shorter girl to the idling vehicle in her driveway. 

Chloe climbed into the car, ignoring her heart, which was beating quickly in her chest. She put on her seatbelt and looked over at Beca. 

“Thanks again for agreeing to go out with me,” the driver said, sounding sincere. 

“You made it impossible not to,” Chloe responded with a smile. 

Beca turned up the music, after explaining that this was a playlist of her own mixes, and drove them to the beach where the party was taking place. 

Chloe had never even been to the beach here, as she wasn’t much of a fan of the whole sand in between her toes, salt water in her mouth thing. Not to mention sharks, which was kind of a fear she’d always had thanks to watching Jaws at a young age. 

“So,” Beca pulled into the lot, “we’re here,” she turned off the care and glanced at Chloe, “let’s go, it looks like the sun’s about to set. Don’t wanna miss that,” she slid out of the car and they crossed the beach, joining with a large group of people near the bonfire. 

“Hey, Chloe, how’s it going?” someone she didn’t know asked her. 

“Hi, Mitch, hey,Chloe,” another person said. 

“Chloe! Hi, it’s Frankie, remember, from the party…?” at least she knew this girl. 

“Oh, hey!” Chloe smiled, walking on with Beca. 

“Looking good, Chloe,” someone else told her. 

“Hey, what’s up, Chloe?” a guy she recognized from the Trebles threw up his hand in a wave. 

Beca stopped walking, looking at Chloe before sliding her fingers into hers. 

“Looks like I’m out with the most popular girl at Barden,” she commented, smirking. 

Fighting the urge to point out that Beca was way more popular, Chloe went with the more attitude-filled response that Cynthia Rose would have given. 

“Lucky you.” 

Beca didn’t seem to mind that response, her thumb moving across the top of Chloe’s hand. She started walking again, their feet sinking into the sand as they moved. Chloe realized that this must be what it felt like to go on a real date, to have someone who really liked her. 

It was too bad she was doing this for other reasons, because she would have enjoyed something like this. She’d had no idea what she’d been missing. Beca’s hand felt nice in hers, she was being really sweet, even if it was all an act…

“”So…tell me about yourself. Everything, your whole story,” Beca prompted as they neared the water, just as the sun began to set. 

The sky looked beautiful, filled with shades of red and orange, and Chloe had to bring herself back to reality for a moment. 

“My story? Well, I can’t really tell you my story.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s still being written,” Chloe responded, her lips turning upward. 

“So it’s a mystery, then?” Beca asked, sounding interested as she looked over at her. 

“Mhm.” 

“I like mysteries,” the DJ admitted, seeming almost childlike as she spoke. 

“Really?” Chloe stopped herself, “I mean, what do you like about them?” 

Beca was silent for a moment, trying to search for the right words to explain how she felt. 

“I’m not sure. I guess I just like secrets,” she finally replied. 

“I bet,” Chloe answered, knowing all too well how good Beca was at secret keeping. 

Sensing the sarcasm and biting wit in Chloe’s response, Beca nodded. 

“You’re right. Too much talking ruins the moment,” she announced, her eyes trained on Chloe, “let me just stand here and enjoy this….” 

“Beca?” 

“Shh.” 

“The sunset is that way,” Chloe pointed in the opposite direction as to where Beca was looking. 

“I know. I was enjoying looking at you, and, well,” she glanced back at the people behind them, “everyone staring at me in insane jealousy, because they’re all wishing they were out with a girl like you.” 

Damn, Beca was trying really hard here. 

“So,” she continued, as Chloe hadn’t said anything, “how did I get the honor of going out with the most amazing girl at Barden? I mean, was it my irresistible charm, my amazing mixes, or my really nice ass?” 

Chloe bit her tongue to keep from laughing. 

“I think it was your incredible modesty,” she chuckled softly, “that and you pretty much forced my hand.” 

“Ouch. Is that a complaint?” 

“I don’t know yet.” 

The girls were watching the camera back at the dorms, amazed by how well Chloe was doing so far. Despite her good performance, though, they were a little worried by how on point Beca was. Most of them hadn’t seen her this in the game before. 

“I hope she can handle this. She’s saying all these sweet things, they’re on the beach, the sun’s setting, there’s a fire…” Aubrey said offhandedly, leaning against her pillows. 

“My pants would already be off by this point,” Cynthia Rose announced. 

“Mine already are,” Stacie added from beside her.

Chapter 12

As the night wore on, Chloe continued her date with Beca—a date which, despite being "fake" on her end, was going surprisingly well. The girls back at the dorm continued to snack and watch the video camera like it was an episode of their favorite guilty pleasure reality show, hanging on every word. Once the night neared its close, however, the girls realized something. They hadn't prepared Chloe for the inevitable end of the evening.

From what they knew of Chloe's dating past, she had never dated anyone. She had probably never kissed anyone, and after all the charm Beca was putting on tonight, she would undoubtedly go in for the kiss. They needed to make sure Chloe's kiss sealed the deal, that it was good enough to make Beca want more.

That's where Stacie came in. Well, she volunteered, anyway. She hurried to the beach where the party was still going on, searching for Beca and Chloe. She found them near the edge of the sand, talking, and she listened in to their conversation.

"I've had a really great time with you tonight," Beca was saying, her lips curling into an alluring smile, "But it's getting really late, so I should probably take you home."

"Yeah, okay. You're probably right. It's just. I have to pee," Chloe said suddenly when the nerves caught up with her--even she knew what the end of the evening would call for, "Wow, I'm sorry, TMI."

Beca chuckled, seemingly not bothered by Chloe's overly honest statement. She shrugged.

"Need help? Just kidding. Go on ahead, I've gotta go have a chat with my brother real quick, anyway, so I'll meet you at the car?"

"Sure."

Chloe watched Beca walk across the sand toward her brother, who was roasting a marshmallow on the fire. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone grabbed her from behind.

"It's just me, Stacie," the long legged brunette stated, pulling her toward the parking lot.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Chloe asked as she was brought to the paved area.

"Beca's really into you. I figured you'd need my help. I'm pretty sure she's going to go in for a kiss—Beca keeps it PG-13 on the first night, so you're good," Stacie explained as she got into the driver's seat of Beca's unlocked car.

"What are you doing?! She's gonna come back and see you in the car!" Chloe hissed, getting into the passenger seat.

"Oh, shut up, it'll be fine. Just tell me, are you a good kisser? You need to make sure you do a good job or you could screw this whole thing up!"

"I don't know! How does someone know they're a good kisser, I mean..."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a good kisser?"

"Oh, my god!" Chloe put her face in her hands, "I'm a bad kisser!"

She had kissed a few guys, but she'd never really dated anyone, so it wasn't a serious kiss. She'd kissed someone on a dare, and during spin the bottle, and once she'd made out with this guy in middle school during a game of seven minutes in heaven. But no one had ever told her she was a good kisser. She was going to fail. Beca was going to think she was gross and never talk to her again.

"Stop. All we need is one kiss, and then you leave her wanting more. It's NOT that hard, okay?" Stacie sounded sure, but she noticed Chloe's blank expression, "Oh, my god, I'll just SHOW you."

"What?!" The redhead practically yelled, having never kissed a girl despite her recent desire to do so, and not really wanting to give her female lip virginity to Stacie of all people.

"Just go with it. Okay? Come here," Stacie leaned forward.

Chloe closed the distance, feeling the other girl's hot breath on her face as she explained what to do.

"You lock in on her," her hands tangled in Chloe's hair, "grab onto that gorgeous head of hair, and take control," Stacie whispered, her eyes gazing deeply into Chloe's "hold her gaze, your lips might just touch," she leaned in, inches from closing the deal, "but not yet. It's just gotta be the temptation. And then—then you give her one light kiss."

Stacie moved forward, her lips lightly meeting Chloe's. Chloe felt suddenly warm and tingly, and her first reaction was to put her arms around Stacie's neck. She leaned into the kiss and deepened it, blushing deeply and pulling away when she realized what she'd just done.

"Down, girl. I said a light kiss, although if you find yourself too hot and bothered after tonight, give me a call and I'll definitely come on over and finish the job," Stacie assured her, her hand on the top of Chloe's thigh.

“Crap!” Chloe pushed her hand away and squealed when she saw Beca approaching the vehicle.

She turned the key that Beca had left in the ignition and turned the headlights on, blinding the brunette while Stacie unceremoniously climbed into the back seat, trying to hide despite her height making it difficult.

“What are you doing?” Beca laughed as she got inside, wondering why Chloe had turned the car on.

“I’m c-cold, I wanted to turn the heat on,” she lied, although she was cold, and right that moment she shivered.

“Aw,” the brunette turned on the heat and unzipped her jacket, handing it over to the shivering girl beside of her, “here.”

“Thanks,” Chloe put the jacket on, zipping it up and feeling warmer already.

Beca’s gaze was on her and she drew in a few breaths, trying to ignore the feeling like she was about to pass out. Beca was so good-looking and smooth and she was probably going to kiss her tonight, and Chloe was feeling woozy at the thought.

“Are you okay?” The older girl noticed the sudden gasps of breath escaping from her date’s mouth.

“Oh, yeah, I was just—breathing. I breathe a lot,” wow, Chloe, that wasn’t weird at all.

“Right,” Beca smirked, pulling the car out of the parking lot.

Meanwhile, Cynthia Rose and Aubrey were watching the video feed when they realized that Stacie was still in the cramped back seat of Beca’s automobile.

"Stacie's still in the car!" Aubrey said shrilly.

"What?!" Cynthia Rose responded, having been enraptured by Chloe and Beca's conversation.

"SLUT IN THE BACK SEAT!!" The blonde screamed, practically throwing the laptop onto the bed, "We've gotta move! They're leaving the lot now; we can cut them off near Chloe's place and pick Stacie up there, that's her last chance to get out unnoticed."

Aubrey led Cynthia Rose out of the dorm to her car, driving toward Chloe's and hoping desperately that they'd beat them there.

"So, what kind of music are you into?" Beca asked the million dollar question, something important to her, and something she knew she could get Chloe with, thanks to Ryan's expert intel.

"Good music," was Chloe's response--vague and slightly threatening.

"Nice. Well, I think I might have something you may like," she continued driving and fished out a CD, putting it in the player, "Here we go."

The moody, introspective sounds of Nick Cave warbled through the speakers. This was one of Chloe's favorite singers, and not something she expected Beca Mitchell, badass DJ, to listen to.

"You like Nick Cave?" she asked in disbelief.

"If you tell me that you don't, I'm kicking you out of the car right now," Beca responded seriously, making a right turn onto Chloe's street.

"No, I love him!" Chloe asserted, blushing deeply when she realized that wouldn't make her sound alluring at all, "I mean, he's okay, I guess."

"Ha, okay, fair enough. Well, mystery girl, what are some of your other secrets?"

"Uh," she didn't really have any, aside from going out with Beca because her ex-girlfriends had made her, "If I told you I'd have to kill you," Chloe finally said, quoting a line she'd heard too many times in movies and television shows.

Beca laughed, stopping the car once they reached Chloe's house. She looked over at the redhead, smiling.

"I had a great time with you tonight. I'm glad we got to spend some time together, get to know each other a little better," god, the sincerity in her words, was it real?

"Me, too," Chloe brushed it off, "Um," she glanced back at Stacie in the backseat, "Walk me to my door?"

"Sure," Beca and Chloe got out of the car and started up the sidewalk.

Just as they made it to the edge of the sidewalk, Beca grabbed Chloe's hand.

"Listen, Chloe. I could walk you to your door, but if I did that, then I'd be too tempted to kiss you. I really like you, and you know, I just don't want to risk anything by moving too fast," Beca admitted, dropping her hand, "So, rather than torture myself, I'm just gonna say goodnight. So, goodnight."

"Goodnight," Chloe echoed, looking wistfully at Beca.

Her eyes drifted to the vehicle, where Stacie was trying to get out. Her skirt was caught in the door and she was struggling to pull it out. Chloe had to buy her time or she'd get caught.

"Wait!" Chloe said, taking a hold of Beca's shirt and pulling her close, "I always like a little risk," she said in her best seductive voice.

Chloe leaned in, bringing her lips crashing against Beca's. Although part of her wanted to make this a long kiss, as she was was aching for it, she knew it was better to leave her wanting. Just as she was about to pull away, the sprinklers came on, soaking them. She jumped away from Beca, feeling sparks.

These sparks were actual electric sparks, from the video camera in her bra, and she was getting zapped by the second.

"Chloe?"

"I don't want to risk anything...by...g-going too fast," she repeated Beca's line and hurried up driveway to her front door.

Beca stood there, her fingers to her lips as she remembered the odd tingling sensation she felt when Chloe had kissed her. Something in her stomach told her this girl was different. Special. She smiled, turning on her heel and going back to her idling vehicle.

Stacie made it out of the car, but not without much trouble. She couldn't get the skirt out of the door so she had to leave it, and hoped that Beca wouldn't recognize it.

"It's not even my date and she still gets me out of my skirt," she complained as she slid into Aubrey's car.

Chloe walked inside of her house, immediately greeted by the sight of her mother, who took in her appearance and immediately grew concerned.

"Honey, what happened? Was there a--" she was about to ask if there had been a storm but then remembered the sprinkler timers she'd set earlier that day, "The sprinklers! I'm so sorry. That could ruin a date, huh?"

"It's fine, mom. It wasn't a real date," Chloe explained, taking off Beca's soaked jacket and hanging it over her arm.

"Right. Listen, sweetie, I don't think this is such a good idea," her mother admitted, "You know, pretending to like someone like this. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt. She is."

"My advice is not to do this."

"Mom, there's a lot of things I come to for advice about, but this wouldn't be one of them. I'm sorry, but how many guys have done this to you? Broken your heart and ran off, just like Beca did to my friends?" Chloe challenged her, looking her in the eye.

 

"That's not fair. I have met some pretty nice guys lately!" she tried to defend herself.

"Right," Chloe rolled her eyes, "The bass player, the sex offender, and throw in that one who just got back from rehab, and you've hit the trifecta!"

There was a moment of silence, her mother studying her in disbelief of her words. Even though Chloe had always disapproved of her mother's choice in men, she'd never defiantly commented on them. This was different because she was stronger now, and she needed to tell her mother what she thought. But Ms. Beale did not take it well.

"When did you get like this? A month ago, you wouldn't like you right now," she shook her head, disappointed in her judgmental nature.

"A month ago, no one liked me," the redhead challenged, expelling a loud breath from her mouth.

"I did."

"I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to get snippy, I just..it's been a really long night, and I'm a little worn out and..."

"It's alright, sweetie. I've got a little of that too. Why don't you head on up to bed," Her mother smiled and watched her ascend the stairs, "And Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful who you pretend to be. I'd hate it if you forgot who you were," her mother would have sounded wise had she been right.

"I was nobody, so there's really no risk in losing anything," Chloe responded, finishing her ascent of the stairs and going to her bedroom.

She stripped off her wet clothes and changed into dry ones, her thoughts leaving her discussion with her mother and drifting to her date with Beca. She was still reeling from the kiss, wanting more despite the situation. She sighed, stepping over to her bed and taking a seat on it. Another night of desperate Chloe and her ever energetic right hand.

Or so she thought. Her phone went off and she picked it up, scanning the message. It was from Aubrey.

» Hey, how are you feeling after the big kiss?

Chloe smiled, typing out a quick response.

« Good. A little…horny. If I’m being honest.

» I could help. If you want.

« Yeah? How?

Her phone rang in her hands, and she shakily answered it. Aubrey was on the other end, and she whispered some very dirty things that Chloe would never repeat to anyone. Thanks to her aid, the redhead was able to get herself off in record time, and she was considering Aubrey’s previous offer, wondering if maybe she should sleep with the girl, too, since she enjoyed their little conversation so much. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter 13

It was Saturday night—the night after Chloe’s first date with Beca and her interesting phone call with Aubrey. The three girls had shown up at her house toting DVDs, junk food, and alcohol. Chloe let them in with open arms, the four of them setting up shop in her bedroom, where they mixed their own drinks and watched horror movies.

It was Aubrey who first looked out the window and noticed someone’s truck outside. It looked vaguely familiar, but she wasn’t certain where she’d seen it before. Maybe it was the horror movie that made her paranoid, but the vehicle kept driving by and stopping outside for several minutes, like clockwork. It was beginning to seriously freak her out when she realized where she recognized the truck from.

“No way,” she gasped when she recognized the truck as Ryan’s—presumably Beca had borrowed her brother’s truck and was the one driving by Chloe’s house every five minutes like a stalker.

Chloe’s phone rang and the blonde looked over at her, getting confirmation that the call was from Beca.

“I’m pretty sure she’s parked outside,” Aubrey told her.

“Don’t answer it!” Stacie grabbed the phone away from Chloe, and it went to voicemail.

Beca called two more times before leaving a voicemail on the fourth call, and kept driving past and looping back around again. When Chloe’s phone rang for the fifth time, Cynthia Rose gawked loudly.

"That's call number five. Two calls past desperate. You should probably answer it," she suggested, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

Chloe nodded, waiting for her phone to ring a few more times before she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chloe, it's me," Beca didn't say who, and so Chloe sat blankly, pretending not to recognize her voice and that she hadn't saved her number--which she had, "Beca?" Still more silence, because hey, Chloe could know multiple Beca's, right? "Beca Mitchell?"

Suddenly, a bell went off in Chloe's brain. Well, it would have, had she been telling the truth about not realizing who she was talking to.

"Oh, yeah! Hey," she replied coolly, "I just got in, what's up? You called me like, four times..."

It was Beca's turn to be silent now. She was obviously fumbling for an excuse, because calling that many times just wasn't kosher.

"Sorry, my phone sometimes dials—y’know, butt dialing and...Anyway I was wondering if you figured out if you were busy next weekend." Beca had already asked Chloe whether she had plans, and Chloe had mentioned that she wasn't sure, so the desperate DJ was now trying to solidify their next date.

It would have been cute; actually, if Chloe hadn't known all that she was capable of.

"Oh, yeah, I did, and it turns out--" she paused dramatically, "Oh crap."

She joined Aubrey at the window, peeking at what she now knew was Beca outside.

"What's wrong?" Beca's voice came from the other end.

"Nothing really, it's just some weirdo's been like, checking out the house for the past hour. He keeps driving past and parking and I think I see him right now, he's in a red truck or something..."

"Really?" Beca played it cool, "You want me to drive by and check it out, maybe scare him away?"

"No, that's alright," Chloe assured her, with a smirk, "We're just gonna call the cops."

"Oh. Right. Well. I'll talk to you later then."

Outside Beca pushed the end call button and pulled the truck into drive, her foot on the gas pedal as she hurried to get away before Chloe called the cops.

The girls collapsed into giggles, scared back into reality when the girl in the movie they were watching crawled out of the well and out of the television.

“Turn it off, oh my god!” Stacie screamed, fumbling for the remote.

She successfully turned off the television, from which she was convinced that “creepy girl who looks like Lilly from the Bellas” was going to crawl out of and kill them all. She put a blanket over the electronic device for good measure.

“Like a blanket’s gonna stop her if she’s comin’ outta that thing,” Cynthia Rose laughed, putting her arm around Stacie and seizing the moment of fear.

She loved the way girls got when they watched scary movies. It was downright cute.

“Oh my god please can we talk about anything else, like, at all?” Stacie put her head in her hands, still freaked out by the image that was seemingly burned into her brain.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about something,” Chloe said seriously.

“What’s up?” Cynthia Rose wondered.

“You can tell us anything,” Aubrey responded with a light smile.

Chloe hugged her stuffed unicorn to her chest, her heart beating a little faster. It was one thing having admitted this to herself, but she hadn’t told anyone else yet. She knew that her friends would be cool about it, but she was still nervous.

“Well, I’ve come to the realization that…” she took a breath, “that I like girls.”

Aubrey’s smile only widened, because she felt more than a little responsible for this realization, thanks to her help with Chloe’s predicament last night. But she didn’t dare speak a word of what had happened. The knowing smile she shared with the redhead was enough.

“I knew it!” Stacie grinned, effectively distracted from the thought of frightening long haired girls crawling out of the television, “Didn’t I tell you I knew it?”

“You did,” Cynthia Rose chuckled, squeezing the brunette’s shoulder before looking over at Aubrey and Chloe, “and by the way, I’ve—we’ve got a little news, too.”

Aubrey and Chloe knew what was coming and it was long overdue. They tried to suppress their grins when Stacie and Cynthia Rose explained that they were officially seeing one another. It had been obvious they were attracted to each other, and they had been fooling around for a while now, so their relationship was long overdue. Chloe’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

The lovebirds spent a little more time at Chloe’s before insisting they needed to go back to Cynthia’s dorm, bidding the other two adieus and heading out.

“So, you like girls, then?” Aubrey finally mentioned when they were alone, “what was the straw that broke the camel’s back?”

“I don’t know what that means,” Chloe replied.

“What was the thing that made you realize it?” the blonde simplified her question, genuinely interested in hearing the answer.

The younger girl shrugged nonchalantly.

“It wasn’t one thing, it was everything,” she admitted, pulling her legs up to sit in a cross legged style, feeling Aubrey’s eyes on her, “why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if maybe our…conversation last night had anything to do with it.”

Chloe’s cheeks reddened.

“It didn’t hurt.”

“You liked it when you kissed Beca, right? And when Stacie kissed you?”

“Uh huh,” Chloe swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

“Do you think you’d like it if I kissed you?” Aubrey asked boldly, her hand tugging at the hem of the other girl’s shirt.

“I think I might,” she bit her lip, looking at the confident senior sitting before her, “why don’t you try it and we’ll find out?”

Aubrey nodded, pulling Chloe by the shirt closer to her. When their lips were inches apart, she stopped, her eyes flicking to hers, and she took a breath. Chloe felt the warmth from her mouth and in that instant she closed the distance between them, her fingers finding the curls in Aubrey’s blonde hair as she kissed her deeply.

It reached her to her core, tingles and fireworks and the whole shebang, and Chloe moaned into Aubrey’s mouth when she felt the older girl’s tongue slide into hers.

“That was…” Chloe stammered once their lips had been pried apart, “Wow.”

Uncertain as to what this meant, Chloe tried not to think about it. She liked Aubrey, sure, but this was all so new to her and overwhelming.

She and Aubrey spent most of the night tangled up in one another, kissing feverishly. It never went beyond that point—Aubrey was being respectful of her friend’s wishes—and their contact ended once something quite unfortunate, not to mention embarrassing, happened.

Chloe’s mother thought everyone had left and she barged in to tell her daughter goodnight. She hadn’t expected to see her teenage daughter kissing her female friend, even if her child’s sexuality was something she’d been wondering about lately.

The two of them broke apart, their faces red, and Aubrey immediately jumped up and apologized, racing out of the room.

“I think we need to talk,” Chloe’s mother sat gently down on the bed.

Shit.

 

Chapter 14

The recent hookups between the girls didn’t stop their plan—Chloe was still trying to get Beca to fall in love with her as planned. They figured that if they had hit stalking potential, then it was due time to let Beca take her out on a real date. They were going to dinner. It was typical, or so they thought. Beca picked Chloe up and took her to the restaurant. Expecting to go in and eat, the redhead was confused when their food was already waiting for them and bagged up.

 

“Wait, if we’re not eating here, where are we going?” she wondered aloud, thinking maybe the older girl was taking her back to her dorm in hopes she’d get lucky.

 

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” she smirked.

 

Beca surprised her, leading her out the back, toward a dock where a boat was waiting. Chloe gasped as they boarded the sea vehicle.

 

“Here’s our table,” the brunette sang, placing the bag on the set table. She gestured for her date to sit across from her and she did.

 

Chloe was overwhelmed as she realized how perfect this was—the dulcet tones of a soothing track in the background, the sound of the waves crashing nearby, the cool night air, the moon lighting up the sky. It was absolutely perfect and so romantic that it made her weak in the knees. This wasn’t at all what she had anticipated.

 

Neither had Beca’s ex girlfriends. They had never received this kind of treatment from the girl, and didn’t expect the young DJ to take Chloe onto a boat for dinner. They didn’t even know she had a boat.

 

From the darkness of the camera, they had difficulty making anything out. Aubrey couldn’t figure out where they were. She knew the restaurant, but this didn’t look like it—it was dimly lit and she couldn’t see anything.

 

From outside the restaurant they decided they couldn’t do anything, so the three of them went inside, searching for the other two. They reached the back outside area and didn’t see them. That was when they noticed the dock and the boat, which had just left.

“No effin’ way!” Stacie gasped when she realized what this meant.

“Is that a boat? Have you guys been on the boat?” Cynthia Rose stammered, taken by surprise.

 

“I’ve never been on the boat! No one told me she had a boat!” Stacie’s mouth was open as she watched the boat floating off the shore, lit up with strings of lights—she thought she heard some music, too.

 

“She’s not equipped to handle this! This is serious business. Beca’s pullin’ out the big guns here,” Aubrey looked at her laptop, which she’d carried in with her, “Damn it! We’re losing them!”

 

All they could hear was Chloe saying Oh Beca, before crackling sounds took over. As for the picture, the darkness made it impossible to see anything.

 

“What? How?”

 

“The transmission is getting all wonky…”

 

“We need to get out there!”

 

After some snooping, Cynthia Rose was able to locate a vacant boat. It wasn’t a large one like Beca’s, rather a small motorboat that barely fit the three of them together. Stacie wanted to stay on dry land—but they’d dragged her along.

Attempting to get closer to the boat that was getting away from them, Cynthia Rose pulled the motor. It barely made a difference at all.

 

“We’ve gotta get there, we’re gonna miss something good!” Aubrey said shrilly.

 

“I’m doing the best I can, this motor is total crap,” the dancer explained, irritated that they weren’t going much faster.

 

“Ugh, give me one of those oars,” Stacie asked, grabbing it and starting to paddle, “I can paddle way faster than this stupid motor.”

 

“Yeah! Paddle! Pretend it’s a whaling ship, and go Greenpeace on their asses!” Aubrey shrieked, paddling on the other end of the boat.

 

“What?”

 

“Hey, I think if I pull it again, it’ll—or it’ll do that,” Cynthia Rose murmured, listening the sputtering of the engine.

 

“I think you just flooded the engine, give it a—“

 

Before Aubrey could finish, Cynthia assumed what the rest of her statement would be. She thought she was going to say to give it another pull, and she did. But the engine, having been flooded, was wet. Upon being pulled again, it completely fell off the boat.

 

“What just happened?” Cynthia Rose said blankly.

 

“Uh, was that the engine that just…” Stacie stopped paddling to look back.

 

“Guys—it’s okay, I have Triple A!” Aubrey grinned, taking out her cell phone to dial the service, “Oh, damn.”

 

“What?!” the girls screamed.

 

“No signal.”

 

They all moaned miserably.

 

Without being in contact with the girls or receiving any coaching, Chloe was truly alone with Beca for the first time ever. She was enjoying it, too. The date was absolutely perfect in every way. She’d dreamed about dates like this. Of course, she never imagined the date would be with a girl…but even that was perfect now that she knew about her previously unrealized sexuality. It was beyond perfect, actually. How Beca had managed to set all this up she didn’t know, but she was impressed.

 

She’s a ladykiller, a jerk, a mean doodie head….Chloe told herself, her resolve weakening as she felt those steel blue eyes lock onto her. She swooned inside. Swooned.

 

Clearing her throat, she tried to make light of the situation to hide the fact that she was floored by all this.

 

“So, when do you cue the dolphins?” she quipped, teasing her.

 

“What? You don’t like this? I thought it was nice,” Beca seemed genuinely disappointed.

 

“No, it is nice, don’t get me wrong—I can appreciate the merits of a well-planned date, but you’re trying really hard. Like romantic comedy, Disney Prince stuff here,” Chloe had finished her meal, and was sipping her second glass of wine, “But are you scared to just hang out and be yourself? I’d much rather chill on the couch eating pizza from the box and watch Netflix, you know. That’s how you get to know a person.”

 

“I guess, but…you’re special. I wanted to impress you,” Beca admitted, “In case you were unaware, it is kind of terrifying trying to impress you.”

 

Chloe laughed, “Me? I’m not that special.”

 

“Yes, you are..”

 

“Oh, stop.”

 

“I’m serious! You just come out of nowhere, gorgeous and popular, take the campus by storm, everyone wants to be your friend, everyone wants to date you.”

 

“Not even. You’re gorgeous, and the most popular girl on campus, always have been. Everyone loves you, you’ve dated like half the female population,” Chloe argued, pointing out Beca’s advantage, “Sure, I might be the new thing, but you’re it. You’ll always be it. You’re the type of girl who will always stand out, and I’m just…this is my fifteen minutes.”

 

Beca opened her mouth to argue, but she knew that she wouldn’t win. Instead she shrugged, moving her chair closer to Chloe’s.

 

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to say is that I’m really lucky. I’ve never met someone like you before. You’re different from most girls. I’m just—I’m glad we met. I never knew I needed something like this.”

 

“Something like what?”

 

“I sound so queerballs right now,” Beca rolled her eyes, “nevermind. Forget it.”

 

“No, tell me,” Chloe leaned in, her hand touching her date’s, “Please?”

 

The lilt to her voice caused Beca to smile.

 

“Alright, look. I get that I might come on too strong sometimes. But I don’t know who else to be, you know? I just have to put my whole heart into things,” she did this with every aspect of her life—her music, her relationships, at least that was how Beca saw it.

 

“That sounds like an easy way to get it broken…” Chloe murmured, her fingers still resting on Beca’s. She didn’t want to pull them away.

 

“Yeah, maybe, but it’s worth it. Besides, I think I figured out a way to protect myself against that.”

 

The redhead prepared herself, thinking that Beca was about to admit to distancing herself from the girls she dated, to being the scoundrel she knew she was, but that moment never came. Instead, the short girl stood from her chair and started swaying; breaking out into the rap from Dr. Dre’s No Diggity.

 

Chloe sat there with her mouth agape, listening to the brunette spit with more attitude than she knew she had. It was strangely hot the way Beca carried herself then, forgetting herself completely, the words leaving her mouth with impressive clarity and well, badassness. When she finished, Chloe found herself laughing for lack of any other way to express herself.

 

“Oh, my gosh,” she giggled, placing her hands over her face, “I really wasn’t expecting that, like at all.”

“Yeah, but it was awesome, right? I was thinking of going pro.”

 

“Oh?” Chloe laughed at the mental image of Beca the rapper.

 

“Dude, laugh all you want, rumor has it there was a music exec at the last Riff Off!”

 

Hearing Beca slip in the word “dude” during date made Chloe laugh even more. She was secretly pleased that the older girl had let go a little, though, making a dork out of herself instead of trying to be romantic and sweet.

 

“We should probably get back to shore,” she said, pulling Chloe up from her chair and putting her arms around her waist, “but I just…can I kiss you? Last time we kissed, it was like electricity, and I want to feel that again.”

 

Chloe nodded, biting her lip to keep from laughing about the fact that the electricity Beca had felt was actual electricity, due to Chloe accidentally electrocuting herself with a portable camera and an ill-timed sprinkler.

 

Their lips met, slowly and more intimately this time, the moon high above them, the water all around them. Though the boat was being commandeered by someone, Chloe had never seen them this entire time, and she felt like she and Beca were truly alone.

 

She felt sparks this time, not literal ones, but close, and she melted against her touch, deepening the kiss with her tongue. This kiss was different—different from the first kiss she’d shared with Beca, different from the instruction Stacie had given her, and different from the multitudes of kisses she’d received from Aubrey last week. She knew why, too, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself. Real feelings for Beca, despite the plan she had to break her heart? It was stupid, it was careless, it was exactly what her mother had warned herself against.

 

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt”—her mother’s words echoed in her mind, but she pushed them away in favor of the tingling sensation that pervaded her entire body upon kissing this glorious girl before her.

 

The kiss led to a few more, but Beca restrained herself, pulling away and whispering something about not wanting to ruin things, hugging Chloe as they approached the shore.

 

“I like you, a lot,” the brunette stated, sounded like a lovelorn schoolgirl.

 

“I like you, too,” Chloe wasn’t lying. Except she’d have to—to her friends.

 

When she was back on dry land and reunited with the other three scheming girls, Chloe tried to play it cool. She didn’t want it to wear plainly on her face that she had feelings for the girl she was supposed to be getting revenge on. They’d be so frustrated with her, and she couldn’t bear their disappointment.

 

“Spill it!” Stacie demanded once she saw Chloe.

 

“We need to know everything,” Aubrey agreed, sounding absolutely serious, “Every single detail.”

 

“It’s…it was just,” Chloe shrugged, “You guys dated her. You know what it’s like.”

 

“Not on the high seas we didn’t. What happened out there?” Cynthia Rose hissed.

 

“Nothing, really. We just talked. It was…nice.”

 

Nice was a good, noncommittal word. If she said it without smiling too much, without a blush coming to her cheeks, maybe she could deliver it without incident. No, they didn’t seem to suspect a thing.

 

“Wait, what? You talked? You just talked? She was able to get intimate with you without being, like, intimate?” Stacie was appalled at the prospect.

 

“Clearly Beca is telling Chloe anything she wants to hear. The only way to find out whether she’s really fallen for her is to see how far Chloe can push her,” Aubrey smirked.

 

Stacie nodded in agreement, “I have the perfect idea, there’s this party at the sorority house. Beca will obviously be going, and you can push her then, oh man, this is gonna be awesome!”

 

Not meeting their eyes, Chloe awkwardly told them that it was a good idea, saying that she could do it, for sure, even though she sounded less than sure. Way less than sure.

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

Aubrey stepped forward, grabbing Chloe by the arm and looking her in the eyes. Chloe stood still, hoping Aubrey couldn’t see it. She didn’t want her to be disappointed, or upset, either, because, well, she wasn’t sure how serious the senior had been about their makeout session…

 

“She’s got you under her spell,” Aubrey announced, shaking her head and sighing.

 

“What? No! She doesn’t. I—I...come on.”

 

“No, YOU come on,” Aubrey’s disappointment could be seen from her wrinkled forehead and furrowed eyebrows, “You can’t lose focus going into the finals.”

 

This sounded dangerously close to a Bellas pep talk, and they’d all had enough of those.

 

“Listen, Chloe, we all believed her, okay? But there’s no way to know what she’s really thinking,” Cynthia Rose was trying to be supportive, because she’d been there and she understood.

 

Stacie agreed once again.

 

“No, but there is a way,” Aubrey argued, that devious grin coming to her face, the one that always did when she was scheming.

 

Chapter 15

Aubrey’s method of getting Chloe to see the true Beca was simple—who would Beca brag to about banging the hottest chick at Barden? Her best friend Jesse was the most likely candidate, along with her other tight guy friend, Luke. Both of them worked at the station with Beca.

Before the deejay’s shift at the station began, Aubrey hid beneath the desk, a camera in her hands ready to capture the discussion that was bound to take place the day after Chloe’s big date.

Beca came strutting in, greeting Jesse with a lazy wave. Luke put on the last song of his shift before heading out of the booth, grinning at the short brunette.

“Hey, Becs, how’d the big date go?” the attractive station manager asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Jesse leaned back onto the desk, inches away from bumping into Aubrey, “I forgot about that, you went out with that sweet little ginger, right?”

Nodding, Beca crossed her arms to her chest.

“Yep. It was great,” she said with a shrug.

“Come on, you’ve gotta give us more than that!” Jesse rang out, disappointed in the lack of details.

“Uh, well, I took her out on my boat and we had dinner. She’s really cool,” Beca answered finally.

This wasn’t helpful—Beca wasn’t saying anything incriminating.

“She’s pretty hot,” Luke admitted, “are you going out with her again?”

Beca said she hoped so, and Jesse asked if she’d gotten physical with her yet. The girl laughed, telling them earnestly that she hadn’t…yet.

“Why haven’t you sealed the deal yet?” the Treble queried.

He knew it was unlike her not to get with a girl early on, and was surprised by how interested she seemed in the redhead. It was unusual.

“Dude, you don’t just pop the chicken into your mouth, you gotta let it marinate, you know?”

“Weak,” Luke commented, “you never let things marinate before.”

“Hey! Great things take time. She’s not just any girl, alright?”

“Sounds to me like you’re whipped…” Jesse laughed, teasing her.

Her cheeks seared, as Beca clearly was bothered by the teasing. She knew they were right, it wasn’t like her to do this, but she didn’t want to look stupid or weak in front of them.

“You are whipped—and you’re not even getting any!” Luke added, giving Jesse a high five.

“Whoa, man, nobody is whipped, okay? I am not whipped. Let’s just say, at tonight’s campus mixer, I’m going to be finding out just how good this acapella girl is with her mouth,” Beca assured them, “if you know what I mean.”

Jesse and Luke nodded—“we know what you mean,” they said in unison.

Her male friends seemed pleased with her response. She had proven herself, even if it had taken almost three dates to get this Chloe girl in bed, Beca was her usual self.

“Awesome, can I watch?” Jesse winked, hitting her in the arm.

“Dude, no!”

“Is she gay?” Luke wondered curiously.

“She will be when I’m done with her.”

Aubrey stopped recording. She got what she came for. She waited for Beca to go to the booth, and for the two guys to occupy themselves in idle chatter, and she snuck out. As the door closed, Jesse looked up from the stack of CDs he’d been organizing.

“Is this place haunted? That door just moved by itself,” he commented.

“Yeah, the station manager in ’79 shot his employee for being really irritating.”

“Shut up.”

“Don’t test me, Swanson.”

On the way back to her dorm room, Aubrey noticed Ryan sitting on the bench outside of the library. She paused, glancing at him for a moment before approaching him. They had a class together and were acquaintances. She thought he was much preferable to his sister, especially since the breakup.

“Hey, Ryan,” she smiled at him and he looked up from his book.

“Oh, hey, Aubrey, what’s up?” he bookmarked where he’d stopped and closed the novel, giving the blonde his undivided attention.

“Not much, just headed back to my dorm. What are you reading?” Aubrey felt stupid as soon as she asked.

It was annoying to ask someone what they were reading…at least, she thought so, so she wasn’t sure why she’d even asked him. She was genuinely interested, though, not knowing what his taste in books would be like.

“Er…well, it’s kind of a self-help book, actually.” Ryan chuckled, “that makes me sound like a total loser.”

“I don’t think so. It takes a special kind of person to admit they need help. It doesn’t make you a loser at all. It makes you really smart, actually,” although she was curious as to what kind of help he thought he needed, she didn’t want to push things, so she stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Yeah? Thanks I guess, you just called me smart, not a loser, and special. I’m assuming you  meant that in the different sort of way not the—well, you know. Wait, why are you being so nice to me…? You want to copy my chem worksheet, don’t you?”

“No! I don’t, I promise…I was just being nice because I like you. I mean you seem cool.”

“Well thank you, you do too.”

“Thanks. I should go…”

“Later.”

“Bye.”

----

The girls met up before the campus mixer, which was taking place at the sorority house—the same sorority Stacie belonged to. The four of them congregated in Stacie’s room, Aubrey sliding the SD card from her video camera into her laptop as she regarded Chloe with a serious expression.

“I have something you need to see,” she told her.

“Okay…?”

Aubrey pushed play, letting the entire conversation play out. She sat there and watched Chloe’s expression change from blank, to a smile, to a puzzled look, finally settling on an angry expression.

“She…said that?”

“The camera never lies,” Stacie sighed, “except when it adds ten pounds. That’s true, you know.”

“I can’t believe she’d be so crass,” Chloe was upset by her words, “I thought what we had was—“

She stopped herself, realizing how it sounded. She cleared her throat, her eyes snapping to Aubrey.

“What’s the plan?”

Cynthia Rose smirked, pushing past the blonde and shoving a Victoria’s Secret bag toward Chloe. She glanced at the pink bag and balked, making a sound of discomfort as she took it from her.

“I took the liberty of picking you out some sexy lingerie,” she winked.

“Wait, what’s this for?” Chloe asked with confusion.

Stacie pointed at the computer, her smile widening.

“You’re going to put it on and then tease Beca on webcam,” she explained, pulling the bag from Chloe’s fingers and taking out the lingerie inside, “Damn! Do they have this in black?”

“I knew you’d say that. I got you, boo,” Cynthia Rose assured her girlfriend, slipping her arm around her waist.

Her cheeks red, Chloe snapped the bra and panties out of Stacie’s grasp.

“A-are you sure I can pull this off?”

Aubrey nodded—“yes. Go put it on,” she ushered her toward the door with a robe in her hands.

Hesitantly Chloe left for the bathroom, changing into the skimpy red undergarments. She put the robe over top of them and returned to the room, closing the door and leaning against it. She was getting nervous about this whole ordeal. She never agreed to this.

“Well?” Stacie waited impatiently.

“Open the robe,” Aubrey demanded.

“I—um…okay.”

Chloe untied the belt and opened the robe, revealing her surprisingly toned body. The three girls gasped.

“What? Is it okay?” The redhead wondered self-consciously.

“You should totally wear underwear to school,” Stacie told her.

“She’s HOT!” Cynthia Rose commented before assuring the brunette that she was hotter, “yeah, you, girl!” she said to Chloe, who didn’t seem to believe her.

“Huh? No…” Chloe blushed.

“Yes. It suits you,” the leader’s word was final, “Now hop in front of the laptop and call Beca on Skype.”

She listened to the instructions and did as she was told, plopping down in the chair and tightening her robe before she called the brunette, who was currently online. Beca accepted the call quickly, and her face popped up on screen. She looked surprised when she saw that Chloe was clad in a robe.

“Hey,” Beca smiled at her.

“Hey…um, are you alone?” Chloe asked, reading Aubrey’s lips.

“Yes—totally alone. Are you?”

“I am, and I’m so lonely…”

“Oh, no! Well we don’t want that,” Beca leaned in closer to the camera, “I could come over, if you want. Where are you? That doesn’t look like your bedroom.”

Chloe willed herself not to blush, not wanting her friends to realize that Beca had been in her bedroom. Oh well.

“I’m at the sorority house.”

“Oh, awesome! I was just headed there, actually. What room are you in?”

“Second floor, second bedroom,” Chloe answered, twirling a piece of hair around her finger, “but you’re not supposed to be up here if you’re not a sorority sister…the house mother’s room is right across from mine.”

“Wait, you’re pledging?”

“Yes!” she lied.

“That’s cool.” Beca loved sorority girls.

“Yeah. But see, I kind of already got in trouble and the house mother’s all up in my business. If she sees you come to my room, I’ll probably be kicked out…

“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Beca sighed, “you could just come downstairs for the mixer. That’s tonight, right?”

“Yeah, it’s tonight, but…I’m not going down until later, and, um, well, I got all dressed up…”

Chloe opened up her robe a little, revealing some of the red lingerie. Beca’s eyes became saucers.

“Or…down, I guess,” the redhead smirked, knowing this would work if she looked as good as the girls told her she did.

“Wow. Yeah, second floor? There’s a fire escape, right?”

“I think so.”

“I’ll just climb up it, then. Be there in five.”

Beca was about to end the call when Aubrey gestured for Chloe to get her to wait.

“Wait!” Chloe called out.

“What?” The brunette asked.

“I…got you a present. It’s under your bed.”

“How’d you—what…” Beca pulled the gift from under the bed and opened it, looking at what was inside and letting out a noise, “You want me to wear it?”

“Yeah. Haven’t you ever done this before?” Chloe scoffed.

“Of course I have, but it’s…” she held up a large strap on and a leather harness, “a little disproportionate.”

“I like it big.”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of…”

Chloe shrugged, pulling her robe back on.

“Okay, if you’re too self-conscious, I guess I’ll just see you at the mixer. I need to get dressed.”

Acting as if she were about to leave, Chloe tightened her robe and told Beca goodbye. The older girl paused before her resolve weakened.

“Alright! Okay! I’ll be there in a few.”

The thought of Beca scaling the building wearing a gigantic purple strap on left the girls in stitches, especially since she’d be climbing directly into the house mother’s window.

 

Chapter 16

 

Beca followed what Chloe had told her, climbing the fire escape and entering the window that she thought was the correct one. It was, however, a trap. Moments after the petite brunette positioned herself on what she thought was Chloe’s bed, strap on between her legs, a middle aged woman walked into the bedroom, gasping at the sight and screeching louder than Beca had ever heard anyone do. She was shoved out of the room and berated, the occupants of the other rooms bearing witness to the sight.

The sound of cell phone cameras filled the air and Beca felt sick to her stomach, embarrassed beyond all comprehension for being found in this precarious position.

“Please don’t,” she begged with her hands over her crotch as she tried to cover up the new accessory found there.

“What kind of pervert,” the house mother was saying, “hides in a woman’s room like that? I should report you to campus police!”

“No, no, no I’m going; I’m sorry, just let me get my pants…”

Her pants were thrown in her face and she stammered about the mixer, asking if she could still come to it. The house mother laughed, making a comment as to Beca’s obviously disturbed mental health and forbidding her from attending.

Sliding her pants back on, Beca looked up to see Chloe standing in the hall.

“Sorry I guess I told you the wrong room.”

She felt genuinely guilty for what she had done, not even that amused by the situation once she saw how mortified the other girl was. She was beginning to think maybe this whole plan was a bad idea. It didn’t even matter that Beca had said those things about her, not anymore. Chloe was too soft hearted for this whole ordeal.

“Guys, that was awful,” Chloe said once the hallway had died down.

She and the girls returned to the room to finish getting prepped for the party. The redhead sighed, putting on her jacket and sitting at the foot of the bed.

“I think I’m just gonna go by Beca’s room and see if she’s okay.”

Before any of her friends could say anything, Chloe got up and left, having no desire to go to the stupid sorority mixer when she’d just made a fool of someone. She knew how upset she would have been given the situation happening to her, so she had to make things right with Beca. Somewhere between setting up the initial plans and now, she’d started to fall for the girl. Sure, she wasn’t perfect, but she wasn’t the bad guy everyone made her out to be. Besides…she could change.

That part didn’t even matter—all that mattered was making sure Beca was okay.

Chloe walked across campus, listening to her iPod on the way to distract herself from the chill that hung in the air. Once she reached Beca’s dorm room, she switched off the music player and drew in a breath, knocking firmly on the wooden door. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited for Beca to come to the door.

“White girl, some girl’s here for you. I’m going to the library,” a surly looking Asian girl stated from the doorway.

Beca was sitting at her desk, fervently mixing songs on her laptop. She glanced up at the visitor and slammed the lid of her computer shut.

“Dude, that shit was not cool,” she murmured as Chloe stepped inside.

“I really am sorry,” the redhead sighed, approaching her, “if that counts for anything.”

Beca shrugged, crossing her arms to her chest and not meeting the other girl’s eyes. She had the inkling that this was a joke of some sort, but she wasn’t aware of the entire plan that Chloe and her friends had cooked up. She would be way more upset than this if she knew. The guilt seared into Chloe like a hot iron.

“Yeah, I was just tagged in about twenty photos that I’m pretty sure violate the Facebook terms of service,” the brunette bit her lip, her eyes locking onto the younger girl suddenly, “I don’t think you get it, Chloe. I was humiliated trying to get your attention, and I’m not working this hard just so I can get some action.”

“Oh? So I’m not some chicken you just pop into your mouth, then?”

“What are you…where did you hear that? Listen, that was just me being stupid with the guys, okay? They expect certain things of me, so I was just putting on a show for them is all. It’s not like I really planned on getting lucky or whatever, I was just saying crap to get ‘em off my back,” Beca explained, pulling her headphones from her neck.

Chloe knew Beca didn’t mean what she said, even if she wasn’t sure why. She should have expected that given the girl’s previous track record. But her steel blue eyes just looked so honest, and she looked like a lost puppy dog right now. Still it frustrated her that Beca felt like she needed to pretend for someone else’s sake. Is that what all this was about?

“So you act like a jerk to impress your buddies, so you don’t sound whipped, or whatever?”

“Yeah! Exactly,” Beca realized that sounded bad, and she continued, wishing to indicate what she was feeling, even if she didn’t normally do so, “Look, I'm...saying things I don't believe, I'm doing things I don't understand. I mean, I put on a gigantic dick and climbed up a fire escape. I'm trying so hard, but I'm out of plays..."

Chloe gazed at her with an earnest expression, at a loss for words. Beca held out her hand for her and she stepped forward, taking it hesitantly.

"Chloe, I think you're the one. I never really believed in fate before, and soulmates and all that crap, but all that's changed since I met you. Look, I've never really done this before, so I'm not really sure how it goes."

Beca held out the headphones to Chloe, motioning for her to put them on. She did.

"Just listen, okay?"

Chloe nodded, watching as Beca opened her laptop back up and selected a file, pushing play. The familiar sound of Bruno Mars came to her ears.

"I don't understand...?" Chloe murmured.

"Wait for it."

When the second song kicked in, the girl grinned, recognizing it as Nelly. It was a mix that Beca had made, apparently, of Just the Way You Are and Just a Dream. The words spoke for themselves and she found herself getting tears in her eyes. By the time the song was over, she pulled off the headphones and placed them around her neck.

"That was beautiful. Is that really how you feel about me?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca admitted quietly, unplugging the headphones from the audio jack, "And one more thing. I want you to have those headphones."

"What? Why?" Chloe wondered, her fingers sliding across the cushioned part of the ear piece.

"It's just something personal, okay? Something to show you and whoever wants to know, that I'm whipped."

Beca smirked and Chloe rolled her eyes despite her own smile, pulling the headphones off and inspecting them. There was no mistaking these for Beca's headphones, that was for sure, and anyone who saw Chloe with them would know what they signified. That in itself made her heart skip a beat.

"Are you sure? I don't want to take them from you," Chloe said gently.

"Yes. I'm sure. Chloe..."

"What?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

For some reason, despite all the signs, Chloe hadn’t seen this coming. She hadn’t connected the dots, hadn’t counted on the authenticity of Beca’s supposed emotions. She stared blankly at the brunette, having never heard those words before and not knowing how to respond. Of course she wanted to say yes, for all the right reasons this time, not for some stupid plan or to get back at her for something she did to someone else. She wanted to be Beca’s girlfriend because she made her feel special, she was sweet, and they had something between them that she didn’t even understand quite yet.

Beca breathed loudly, apparently nervous from Chloe’s silence.

“Um...” she murmured awkwardly.

Chloe dropped down onto her lap, a smile settling onto her lips as she looked at the gorgeous girl before her. The girl that really wanted to be with her.

“I’m sorry, I’m just surprised. I didn’t think you were the steady girlfriend type,” she tried to explain her lack of response.

“I’m not usually, but like I said, you’re special. I think I’m falling…for you,” Beca admitted, laughing at herself after she’d said it, “god that’s so lame, probably, but…”

“It’s not lame.”

“It’s not?”

“Nope. I’m falling for you, too,” Chloe said quietly, finally admitting it to herself as her hand brushed against Beca’s, “I’d be honored to be your girlfriend.”

A grin returning to her face once she realized Chloe wasn’t turning her down, Beca sealed the deal with a slow kiss, her hand resting on the younger girl’s cheek. She sighed once they parted, her hands moving to Chloe’s hips.

“So what now?” Beca wondered aloud, sounding strangely innocent.

Chloe silenced her with a second kiss, deeper and more passionate than the first. She kissed her with desperation, her hands tugging at the hem of Beca’s shirt. The shorter girl gasped as the redhead pulled her shirt up, but she helped her do so, meeting her eyes once the article was dropped to the floor.

“Wait, you want to…?”

“I do want to,” Chloe responded, not bothering to tell her that this would be her first time engaging in any sexual contact.

Once Chloe had given her consent, Beca showed an amazing display of strength, rising from the chair and clutching Chloe’s hips, moving her over to the bed and dropping her there. Both of them began peeling off their clothes in a frenzy, ready for all physical barriers between them to be dropped since the others had, as well.

“You’re so beautiful,” Beca said when she got an eyeful of the redhead’s perfect body.

She climbed onto her, reuniting their lips in a spark filled kiss as her hand traveled between Chloe’s thighs. The younger girl gasped upon feeling fingers brush against her center, fingers that were not her own. Beca teased her at first, her mouth moving to new places—ready to taste and explore every inch of her girlfriend’s body.

She started with her neck and moved on to her shoulders, collarbone, and eventually her breasts, her free hand resting on the valley between them. Her mouth closed over a nipple and she listened to the corresponding moan from Chloe’s open mouth.

Her fingers entered her, the warmth swallowing her digits as she pleasured her lover. Beca smiled against her breast, teeth dragging along her more sensitive areas as her hand continued to do what it did best. Chloe’s breath became erratic as they went on, and that was when the deejay decided to use her mouth, her tongue sliding along with her fingers. They worked in tandem to bring Chloe to her breaking point, the redhead exclaiming loudly in a string of curses.

Beca chuckled as Chloe’s eyelids drooped, moving to lay beside of her. She kissed the girl’s temple.

“I’ve never heard you speak like that before,” she teased.

“I’ve never been touched like that before,” was Chloe’s honest reply.

“What? Seriously? Or is that just a thing that girls say to like, compliment your skills?”

“Your skills are unparalleled, but also the only ones I’ve ever experienced besides my own, so I’m kind of biased, I guess…”

Chloe’s face reddened as she admitted that she had been a virgin, and Beca stammered, apologizing.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I would’ve, like, made it more special or something had I known you were a virgin.”

“It was special.”

Chloe smiled, determined to return the favor once she regained feeling in her limbs. Orgasms were funny that way.

She had already decided she was going to stop this whole thing with her friends. She would have to admit that she had really fallen for Beca and all this scheming was over. She knew they wouldn’t take it well, but it was what she wanted. Chloe couldn’t bear it if the wonderful girl beside of her got hurt by learning her original intentions. She had to make sure Beca would never find out.

 

Chapter 17

 

Chloe had already had the discussion with her mother about her new found sexuality. Her mom was surprisingly okay with the whole thing, but that might have been because she’d seen it coming. She was trying to be supportive, and she bought her daughter the entire box set of the L Word as a show of that support. Chloe was amused by that, but she had to admit the show was intriguing, so she really didn’t mind having something new to watch. Still, though, she had to tell her mom that she was dating Beca for real now. Her mother knew the story of what they had intended to do to Beca, and so she was a little worried about how she would react when she found out that Chloe was really dating her now.

“Morning, sweetie,” she smiled over her coffee cup on the morning of Beca’s birthday.

“Morning, mom,” Chloe replied, dropping down onto the stool and popping a piece of toast into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully, “I wanted to tell you that I’m probably going to be home late tonight. I, um, started dating this girl…and tonight’s her birthday party.”

Her mother sat down the cup, immediately going into curious mode.

“Oh yeah? Tell me about this girl.”

“Her name’s Beca, she’s a junior at Barden. She’s a brunette, about five feet tall, and she wants to be a deejay. She’s really talented, mom, and I really like her…”

“Wait. Did you say Beca? Where have I heard that name before?” the woman paused, tapping her finger against her chin when she remembered, “Oh, she’s that girl you’ve been going out with, right? The one you were only going out with to take revenge on?”

Chloe could sense her mother’s judgment. She wiped the crumbs from the table and sighed.

“Yeah, she is, but that whole thing is over. I really like her, mom, for real,” she admitted.

“Well, honey, I’m glad you found someone you like, but that whole situation’s a little screwy if you ask me. And I’m kind of the queen of screwy. Sweetie, I’m taking it she doesn’t know about you and your friends trying to mess with her?” Tasha was looking her in the eye.

She’d been planning to keep all this from Beca. It was easier that way, and she didn’t think it mattered what her original intentions were. Now her intentions were the purest, and she had no plan to hurt Beca. She was just a girl dating another girl. Chloe thought rehashing the past would only cause problems and break Beca’s heart. She didn’t want either of those things.

“No, she doesn’t know, but I don’t see why it would matter. That’s all over and done with.”

“Do you think Beca would see it that way? Because I’m pretty sure she’d say it mattered. You started this under false pretenses, and she deserves to know the truth. If you really care for her like you say you do, you should be honest,” her mother was way too wise, “and if she sticks with you through that, then your relationship will be all the stronger.”

“How’d you get so smart?” the redhead asked before she could stop herself.

“Lots of practice being dumb. Besides, I’m a mom, being a good advice giver is just part of my job,” Tasha grinned, patting her daughter’s hand, “you, by the way, were right about everything you said to me. I’m going to concentrate on me right now and just not date anyone for a while. Who needs guys, anyway?”

Realizing how her statement sounded to her less than heterosexual daughter, she laughed, and the both of them laughed together, before Chloe headed off to school.

She attended her classes as usual, fielding a few sappy texts from Beca all the while. Then she met up with the girls, where she was going to tell them once and for all that the deal was off and they were done messing with Beca.

“We heard the news,” Stacie said when she entered the Learning Center.

“Congrats,” Cynthia Rose smirked, “now we’ll really crush her.”

“What news?” Chloe didn’t understand how they’d heard anything when it was a personal matter.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, stepping forward and pointing the headphones that hung from around her neck. Beca’s headphones. Chloe smiled and shrugged.

“Oh, that,” she murmured.

“We’ve got this plan that tonight we’re going to—“ Aubrey began, but Chloe cut her off.

“If you say anything other than dance our butts off, I don’t want anything to do with your plans. Guys, I really like Beca, and I know it’s going to sound to you like I’m letting her fuck me over, but I promise it’s not like that,” she drew in a breath, feeling their stares, “Beca’s been really genuine with me. And we really like each other. So this dating thing is for real, okay? Just forget about this stupid plan. Cynthia Rose, Stacie—you guys have moved on, you have each other, and Aubrey? You’re way too busy for a girlfriend, anyway.”

The blonde scoffed at the claim, wishing to correct Chloe on her statement. She wasn’t too busy for a relationship, she’d actually just started a new one, and she was making time for them. She wasn’t sure why her friend had assumed she only liked girls, but it was an oversight.

“Actually, Ryan and I are going out now,” she said nonchalantly.

“The Other Mitchell?!” Stacie gasped from Cynthia Rose’s lap, looking up from her girlfriend’s lips.

“He hates being called that,” Chloe commented before gazing at Aubrey’s expression, trying to read it, and when she realized she seemed happy, she relaxed, “Well, that’s great. Ryan’s really nice.”

“Yes. He is. But his sister, on the other hand…”

“I’m a grown up. I think I can handle myself, okay? This little charade? It’s done. It’s over.”

“You’re going to the party though, right?” Cynthia Rose queried, because everyone who was anyone would be there tonight.

“I’m Beca’s girlfriend now, of course I’m going,” Chloe replied, leaning against the desk.

“I guess we’ll see you there, then,” Aubrey answered curtly, the wheels in her head turning despite her friend’s claim that they were done with the planning.

Just because Chloe couldn’t see the truth didn’t mean the truth didn’t exist out there somewhere. Now this was serious, and she didn’t want her friend getting hurt. Through her misguided rationality, Aubrey reasoned that it was best to reveal Beca for what she really was tonight just as planned. They would reveal the entire plan and the video of Chloe from that day.

Chloe might not be happy with her at first, but it was what needed to be done. It wasn’t like Beca could actually have a functional relationship, right? She was doing what was best for Chloe. That’s what she told herself, anyway.

---

The party was in full swing when Aubrey arrived, toting a disk in her hands for the plan. She lied to the deejay, claiming that it was a nice video that Beca’s girlfriend had put together, and she stood in the crowd sipping on drinks as she waited for everything to come crashing down.

“Alright, so! Welcome to Beca’s birthday bash 2012! I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves,” Jesse spoke into the mike, addressing the attendees, “We’re about to bring out the cake and sing happy birthday, so go ahead and prep your vocal chords, I know there’s more than a few of you acapeople out there tonight.”

That earned a titter from the crowd.

“Beca, come on up here.”

Beca ascended the stage, pulling Chloe up with her. She gave Jesse a hug and beamed at the crowd, taking the mic as the birthday cake was wheeled toward her. It was massive.

“I just want to say thanks to everyone for coming out tonight. It means a lot to me,” and she squeezed Chloe’s hand, “also I wanted to introduce you all to Chloe Beale. I’m sure you all know who she is. Well, yes, the rumors are true, she is my girlfriend. We’re, uh, really happy together…and stuff. Um. So I guess this is the part where you all sing to me and I blow out the candles?”

“Wait!” Aubrey called out from the middle of the crowd, her eyes locking to the deejay she’d given the video to.

He turned on his microphone, “I’ve been instructed to show this video, it’s from your girl.”

“Aww,” the crowd said.

Chloe stood frozen to the stage, glancing up at the gigantic screen as she saw her face. There were videos of many of their encounters, including a badly shot video of Beca asking her out—how’d she get that? Beca seemed surprised but not upset.

Until the last part. The video out of context with Chloe saying that Beca was not the girl for her. The silence in the room was deafening once the video ended, and Beca looked at her with a confused expression.

“What was that about?” she asked, thinking that her girlfriend was breaking up with her.

“I was hoping not to have to do this,” Chloe admitted. No one heard her, though, and someone shouted that she speak into the microphone.

She sighed, not wanting to share this moment with everyone, but she complied, repeating what she’d said and going on, “But you know Aubrey, Cynthia Rose, and Stacie, right?”

“Yeah, they’re my…exes…”

“They’re also my friends. They were really upset when you broke up with them, and as revenge, they were trying to get you to look bad. They set up some stupid stuff, like that photo shoot, and the herpes thing. But none of it worked and I thought it was all over from there. But then they told me that I should date you, and so I did, but…”

“Wait, they told you to date me? You went out with me as revenge for their stupid broken hearts?”

“Hey, our broken hearts weren’t stupid, for the record, you were being a real ass,” Aubrey called out loudly from her spot.

“Shut up,” Jesse glared from the stage, standing next to the birthday cake.

Beca wore a pained expression. She was looking at Chloe, searching for the truth in her face and coming up short. She let out a loud sigh.

“So you don’t really like me, then? You did all this shit just to break my heart? Well congratulations, Chloe, you got your wish.”

She pushed past the redhead and past her friend, stalking off stage.

“But I…fell for you,” Chloe spoke into the microphone, hoping Beca would at least listen, “Sure, it started off as some stupid plan, but my feelings for you are real. Ever since that date on the boat, I’ve had genuine feelings for you, and…it probably doesn’t mean much to you now. I’m sorry.”

Beca ascended the stairs again and stood by the speaker, shaking her head.

“How am I supposed to believe you now? After you’ve been lying to  me this whole time?”

“I know my apology isn’t much consolation. I’d go back and change it if I could, Beca. I never intended for this to go so far. I told them it was done and over and I guess Aubrey didn’t listen,” she glared at the blonde, “but it’s done once and for all. You probably don’t want to be with me now and I don’t blame you. But I love you, and if there’s any way you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I’ve done…”

“You love me?” she wondered, stepping toward Chloe hesitantly, “why would you say that?”

“Because I do. Or, I mean, I think I do. I don’t know, I’ve never—but my heart swells whenever I’m with you. And seeing you hurt just now, it was the most awful thing I’ve ever experienced. I gave my virginity to you, Beca, and I wasn’t doing that as a part of some stupid plan. I was doing that because I really wanted you. I just hope that after all this, you still want me too.”

Aubrey came up, dragging Cynthia Rose and Stacie with her. After hearing Chloe be so frank and honest, they all felt guilty for making her do this. They’d forced her hand and they knew that now. Aubrey took the microphone from Chloe’s grip.

“For the record she’s telling the truth. We made her do this, and I know now that was a mistake. But what she’s saying to you is real. She genuinely has feelings for you, and I think you’d be pretty damn stupid to turn down a girl like Chloe,”  the Bellas captain spoke, handing off the mic to Stacie.

“Uhm, ditto.”

“We only did all this to show you the error of your ways, Beca. You were a womanizing jerk. If you’ve changed, then, well, good riddance to the old Beca,” Cynthia Rose grinned, “I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I like this one a lot better.”

Beca laughed, thanking them and taking the microphone from Cynthia Rose.

“Thanks, guys. Listen, you’re right. I’m sorry about what I did to you, you three, and all of you out there who might have been wronged by me. But that just isn’t me. It never was, and it never will be. I guess I was trying to put on this badass image, you know,” Beca shrugged, “I was being a dick, just to make sure no one caught a glimpse of the real me. But then Chloe came along and she saw past that. She has a funny way of doing that. And my walls just…disappeared. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t even like that person. I’m really sorry about all the pain and hurt I’ve caused, but I promise you, those days are over. And Chloe?”

The redhead nodded, as if asking her to continue.

“Do you think I’d really let you go that easily?”

Beca dropped the microphone and crossed the stage, pulling Chloe into a tight hug, kissing her in front of the entire audience. Everyone clapped and cheered.

Jesse picked up the mic and spoke into it.

“Well, that was interesting. In any case, I’m going to light the candles. Beca, do you think you could detangle yourself from your girlfriend’s lips long enough to blow them out?”

“I don’t know,” Beca smirked, “sing to me, guys!”

The entire room broke out into the birthday song, sounding fairly on key considering. Beca was beaming, her hand in Chloe’s, and she addressed the crowd once more.

“I’m giving this wish to these girls, because they deserve it, and now…I’m going to spend the rest of the night with my girlfriend. I hope you all have a great time and thank you.”

Aubrey and the others walked to the cake, smiling at one another.

“We’ll blow the candles out on three,” the blonde stated.

“Wait, on three, or after three?” Stacie asked.

Rolling her eyes, Aubrey blew the candles out without warning, and Stacie groaned, irritated by the loss of her wish. Cynthia Rose laughed.

“What were you gonna wish for, anyway? I’m already here,” the brunette told her girlfriend.

The cake was cut and the party went on, but Beca was nowhere to be found. She’d taken Chloe outside and they were sitting together quietly, just enjoying one another’s company. It was intimate, and it was nice. They felt comfortable with each other to the point that the silence wasn’t awkward. Beca smiled as she put her arm around the girl next to her, placing a kiss on the side of her head.

“By the way, I love you, too. I’m new at this whole thing and the idea of saying that in front of everyone made me feel like I was going to barf, but I didn’t want you to think I didn’t feel the same way, cause I do.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Chloe responded, rubbing the top of her girlfriend’s leg.