Chapter 3
“I wonder why she didn’t want to join the Bellas,” Chloe commented to Aubrey as they were tidying up the auditorium after their rehearsal. She lost count of how many times she brought up Beca’s voice in the past three days but the redhead hadn’t been able to shake it off. The hockey player truly had one of the most beautiful singing voices she had ever heard.
Aubrey sighed, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“But she’s so good, Bree. She should definitely be a Bella.”
“I probably wouldn’t have even accepted her anyways with her ear monstrosities,” Aubrey said, erasing the white board and Chloe rolled her eyes.
“Piercings are a very common thing, Aubrey. Besides you didn’t hear her voice, it was like--”
“Whatever and besides if she hangs out with a Treble, she probably has a toner for him.”
The redhead frowned at the thought while folding the chairs. She didn’t want the conversation to go in that direction so she changed the subject.
“You know, the Dames are good because of the way they work together. Beca is really good at reminding them that they’re a team and I thought that we could learn a few things from her for--”
“Oh my God, Chlo” Aubrey snapped, turning to her. “I am not about to take advice on how to run my team by a rude hockey player that’s too pathetic to remember your own fucking name. Enough about Becky.”
Chloe’s shoulders slumped and she looked at the ground. “Beca,” she couldn’t help but correct.
“Whatever, Chloe. Can you hand me my bag?” The redhead looked at the bag on the ground next to her and hesitated for a second. Aubrey had always been snappy but that had truly hurt Chloe’s feelings. She decided on walking away, passing by the blonde without saying a word. “Wha-- Chloe!” Aubrey called out but she ignored her, walking out the auditorium with tears building up in her eyes.
She hated when people spoke to her that way. She tried everyday to be kind to everyone and it had been a struggle, especially when she worked in customer service as a teenager but she still remained sweet to everyone. But to have someone speak that harshly to her like that always brought up bad feelings in her and to have her best friend talk to her like that hurt. Aubrey had had one interaction with Beca and decided she was the worst human possible and Chloe had enough of that attitude. How can you not always believe the best in people?
She entered the empty Bellas’ house and went straight upstairs. Usually, she would hang out with Aubrey a little, maybe watch a movie, but not tonight. And she had a game to wake up for tomorrow anyway so she didn’t waste time before showering and going straight to bed. She was scrolling on her phone when she heard a soft knock on her door.
“Chloe? Are you asleep?”
She didn’t feel like talking to Aubrey so she shut off her phone and turned her back to the door, pretending to be asleep in case her friend opened the door. She heard a sigh and then footsteps walking away.
…
She woke up at 9 AM that day because the game was at 10 AM which she appreciated. She considered herself an early bird and she didn’t mind waking up early but sleeping in on weekends has always been a thing she appreciated even more. Still, she got up and tiptoed around the house while she got ready. She took her time because the game was at home and the arena was only 10 minutes away.
Right as she slipped on her jean jacket, Aubrey walked down the stairs. They both noticed each other at the same time and the blonde stopped in the middle of the stairs.
“Good morning.”
Chloe smiled a little, “Good morning.”
“You’re going to the game?”
“Yeah.”
There was a beat of silence and Aubrey said. “Can we talk when you come back?”
Chloe nodded, weight lifting from her shoulders a little. “Of course, Bree.”
“Tell them break a leg-- or good luck, I don’t know the lingo,” Aubrey tried, which Chloe appreciated.
“I will.”
She grabbed her keys and walked out the door. She put on the radio as soon as she started her car and snickered to herself when Titanium started playing. She sang along to the song, happy about the little moment she shared the other day with Beca the other day(which she might need to apologize for today, looking back on it). She also hoped that the small hockey player wouldn’t get hurt this time since it was game day.
She pulled into the parking lot and was surprised at how many cars that were there. She didn’t think about the fact that parents and families would also be attending the game so next time, she would probably get there earlier to have parking space. She didn’t sleep too well because of the fight-- though this morning did calm her down-- so she wasn’t feeling 100% today but she was still going to try to be as supportive to the girls as she could for the first game she attended.
The lobby was packed and she said “excuse me”, “pardon me” about a dozen times before finally making it to the hallway that led to the locker rooms. She passed by a full locker room with girls that wore orange jerseys and she gave them a quick look before heading down to the Dames locker room.
She bumped into Lilly on her way in who mumbled something she couldn’t hear and walked in the direction of the lobby.
“Hey Chloe,” Luke said, grabbing her attention and she looked at him and Gail.
She smiled politely. “Hi.” There was a particular energy in the locker room right now, the girls were all ready and they looked like they were buzzing with excitement and nervousness. She guessed that was the way it seemed for an outsider when they walked backstage before a competition too. She noticed Beca in the corner, far away from everybody. She was wearing headphones and listening to music with her eyes closed, head leaned back against the wall. She looked beautiful, Chloe thought, with her hockey uniform on and her hair down, the dark hair color against the green jersey. Beautiful and hot, if she was honest.
“She does this every time,” Jessica said.
“What?” Chloe asked, she was so deep in thoughts that she wasn’t even sure if she was actually entertaining a conversation with the hockey player before.
“Beca. She shuts us all down for 30 minutes before the game, then she somehow motivates all of us in 2 sentences and then we go on the ice and win.”
Chloe nodded thoughtfully and wondered what was happening in the captain’s mind right now. Gail clapped her hands twice to grab everyone’s attention.
“Alright girls, huddle up!” All the girls clambered to her, a few “Ow!” being heard as they form a circle. “Hobart, you have sharp blades attached to your feet, stop kicking people. Anyways, I already told you guys everything that you needed to know earlier, you know the plays you know what to do. Mitchell, I’m counting on you to start us off strong. Adams, I want you in Hobart’s field of view at all times, she needs to know she can count on her defense.” Every girl nodded and Gail looked at Beca.
She cleared her throat and Chloe smiled before she even started speaking. “Alright guys, this is just like always. Kick some ass out there, you know you can do it. I love you awesome nerds.”
“Yeah!” Amy said loudly so the team down the hallway could hear them. “You bunch of dicks!”
Everyone laughed and tapped on each other’s shoulder pads messily as they tried to fit through the door frame at the same time. Beca passed by Chloe and the redhead managed to tell her what she wanted to tell her since she got here.
“Make good choices.”
The captain actually laughed which boosted Chloe’s ego to the max and she smirked at her. “I’ll see you at the end of the match, Red.” Chloe hoped she was right and she wouldn’t see her before.
The stands were crawled with people sporting green or orange accessories depending on who they cheered for and Chloe felt the vibrant energy from the place all the way to her bones. She loved events like these, she loved feeling the nervousness in the air before a competition and it felt good to be on another side of it for once. She stood at the back with Luke and Gail behind the bench as the players from both teams warmed up on the ice.
A few minutes later, a woman sang the national anthem and then the players that were starting on the bench joined the adults and Chloe. The players on the ice all got into their positions but Chloe kept her eyes on number 47 who skated to the middle smoothly. Beca used her right hand to motion a “cut throat” gesture to the girl on the opposite team in front of her which made Chloe chuckle to herself. A referee whistled and suddenly the game had started.
The sound of hockey sticks clinking against one another echoed through the arena and Chloe lost sight of the puck before she saw Cynthia-Rose skate to it and move around Amy’s goal before passing it to Stacie who passed it to Beca quickly because she had a player of the Pioneers coming straight towards her. Everything was happening really fast and she was glad she was becoming familiar with everyone’s jersey number so she could know who had the puck.
Beca was in game mode and it was obvious; whether she was playing or not, her eyes were focused on the ice. Chloe saw a few girls talk to her on the bench and the number 47 would answer with a one word answer without looking away from the action. The only person that talked to her was Gail and Chloe was going to respect that. So she stayed on the side, trying to focus on the game but turns out hockey is a lot more complicated than she thought it was just watching the girls practice.
Right before the first period ended, Beca scored a goal. Chloe barely had time to see what was happening, she could only see the back of people’s jerseys whether they were green or orange, surrounding the opposite team’s goalie but suddenly an air horn was heard and the Dames all jumped on Beca. Chloe clapped and cheered loudly next to Luke, because even though she hadn’t seen it, she felt proud for the Dames.
Second period ended 2-1 for the Dames. Stacie scored with Beca as an assist less than 2 minutes after the Pioneers scored their first goal. Chloe didn’t mind that Beca hadn’t so much taken a look at her since the beginning of the game because she actually found Concentrated Beca really attractive. Besides she was just thankful she hadn’t had a reason to talk to her meaning the player hadn’t hurt herself.
Obviously, she jinxed herself because right in the middle of the third period, Beca body checked a player right on the boards next to where the home bench was. Both the players’ heads collided hard on the glass with the action but Beca didn’t back away, trying to kick the puck with her blades to pass it to one of the Dames. The Pioneer pushed her off violently and Beca regained her balance on her skates before pushing the girl against the glass again, this time completely intentional. The referee whistled but Beca was mad now and before the girl could even attack her again, she threw her hockey stick down, ready for something. Cynthia-Rose flew towards Beca when the small hockey player raised her fist in the air to throw a punch and she stopped her from attacking the girl for no reason. The referee whistled loudly again and Beca pushed herself off her teammate’s arms, skating towards her stick.
Beca listened to what the man told her before skating to the penalty box lazily. Chloe chewed on her lip uncomfortably while Gail shouted something at the referee and Beca in anger.
“Told you she had a bad temper,” Luke told her and Chloe turned to him. He rolled his eyes at Beca’s attitude and she took a look at the coach.
“This girl will be the death of me I swear,” she mumbled to herself. All the players on the bench looked at their coach and Gail sighed, looking at them. “Anyone wanna tell me why the fuck your captain can’t keep her shit together long enough for us to win a game without her ass ending up in the box?”
No one answered and Chloe grew uncomfortable at the tension. She looked at Beca in the penalty box and noticed some blood running down her face from her eyebrow; she must have hurt herself when her head collided with the glass even with the helmet protecting her.
One of the Pioneers scored while Beca was in a penalty and Gail shouted a string of curses and looked at Beca who was kicking her skates on the door absently. Once her time was up, Beca jumped out the box and immediately skated towards the puck at an impressive speed.
Chloe perked up like everyone else in the stands did and she watched in awe as the number 47 skillfully got a hold of the puck and zigzagged between players towards the opposite goal. She raised her stick for a slapshot and the sound of her hockey blade hitting the puck echoed through the arena as the biscuit went straight to the back of the goal. The air horn blew as Chloe jumped in place, happily clapping along with the rest of the crowd and the Dames hugged.
Chloe looked at Gail’s happy face and when Beca came back to the bench, all the coach did was give her a thumbs up with a wink. Just another reason why Beca was the captain, after all. Her attitude sucked but even the redhead could see just how talented she was.
The buzzer signaled the end of the match shortly after and the fans of the Barden Dames cheered loudly, making the walls of the arena shake. Chloe felt genuine joy over this win as she watched the girls all huddle up together in victory.
After congratulating the other team, the Dames went back to their locker room and celebrated loudly their win. The redhead watched them with a smile and was happily surprised when Jessica and Ashley hugged her too. Beca was also smiling widely, the dry blood on her face not bothering her a little bit as she celebrated with her team.
Stacie put her arm around the number 47 who didn’t even push her away and shouted, “Party in the courtyard at 9 tonight, girls!” Everyone cheered and the tall girl pointed at the redhead. “You’re invited, Beale!”
She laughed and nodded, her heart bursting with the realization that the girls here really liked her. “I will be there,” she answered and caught steel blue eyes. Beca licked her lips and before she looked away, Chloe pointed to the spot Beca hurt herself on her face and then gestured at her to follow her.
Without even checking if the brunette was following her, she made her way to the director’s office to grab some antiseptic wipes to clean her wound. She used the key that Luke had given her and when she pulled out the medical kit, Beca appeared in the doorway. She knew she’d probably get in trouble if she was caught here because she got this key only for emergencies but Chloe had always been somewhat of a rule breaker when it came to pretty girls.
“Sit,” Chloe instructed and to her surprise, Beca did. Chloe leaned on the desk in front of the chair and raised a hand. She was going to grab her face but she figured she should ask before touching her. “May I?”
Beca audibly swallowed, keeping her face neutral. “Yeah.”
With her thumb and her index, she gently grabbed Beca’s chin and moved her head to the left so she could see her right eyebrow better. It was a small cut, nothing that would be a problem but Chloe took it as an opportunity to spend some time with the mysterious brunette.
“Congratulations,” she said after inspecting the injury. “I was impressed by how good you were.”
“Thank you,” Beca replied politely, a small blush on her face that made Chloe smile.
“This might sting a little,” she warned before starting to clean Beca’s face. The girl flinched a little at the contact but she relaxed quickly under her touch. “How many times are we going to meet like this, Beca?” she teased a little.
“I didn’t ask you to do this,” the hockey player replied but there was no venom in her voice.
“Mhm,” Chloe said with a smile, continuing her task. She got closer to Beca and she swore she heard the girl’s breath itch. “I think we should make a deal.”
“What deal?”
“I think that every time we end up like this, with me helping you out with an injury, you need to tell me something about yourself.”
Beca snorted and Chloe looked at her like she didn’t know what was funny about that. Beca’s smile disappeared. “Oh you’re serious.”
“Totes!”
“Uh… why?”
Chloe rolled her eyes and wiped the side of Beca’s face to make sure there was no blood left. “Because I want to get to know you,” she replied simply.
“Why?”
“Just tell me anything, Beca. Whatever you want, you can choose. As long as it’s something about you,” Chloe said, grabbing the desk with her hands to lean on it when she was done with cleaning the cut.
Beca hesitated, “Okay… something about me. I… wish this conversation wasn’t happening right now?”
Chloe laughed, “nice try. Come on.” Beca rolled her eyes but then started to really think about it.
“Okay um well I am currently studying here with an undeclared major.”
Chloe perked up about the fact that she genuinely just learned something about Beca.
“How come?”
“Because I’m only here because my dad forced me to,” she said in a bored tone, leaning back on her chair. Second information. It was probably a matter of time before Beca got up to take a shower and leave the arena so Chloe wanted to make the most of it.
“If he didn’t force you to be here, what would you be doing?”
Beca opened her mouth and then closed it, smirking up at the redhead. Crap. She had been made.
“I guess you’ll have to wait for the next time I get hurt,” she said, getting up from her chair. Chloe stood up too and relished in the half second that they spent really close to each other between the chair and the desk before Beca moved out of the way.
“Or you could just tell me now and not injure yourself for no reason” Chloe called out before Beca left. She perked up at a thought, “Wait Beca!” The hockey player turned to her at the doorway, balancing on one skate. “I’m majoring in Animal studies. Just thought this should be a give and take.”
Beca smirked.
“See you at the party, Red.”