With One Note (A Pitch Perfect fanfiction)

Chapter 1-7: Once a Bitch

A/N. [I do not own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind Pitch Perfect.] Sorry, this took so long! Thank you guys for the wonderful feedback! Keep 'em coming!

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Chapter 1-7: Once a Bitch

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell

And although there’s pain in my chest,
I still wish you the best with a ‘FUCK YOU!’

Beca didn’t know how she ended up in this situation. The frazzle in her system and all the singing in the room hotwired the rest of her consciousness. It wasn’t just the cracks on her lips or the rumbling sounds in her stomach that stressed her; it wasn’t just the overworking of her brain that made her yearn for rest.

Dr. Thornton led a lecture on the arguments between the Traditional Rationalistic View on human nature and Darwin’s theory for five straight hours, - leaving Beca’s brain and spirit drained of all its functional capacities. Dr. Thornton was flexible in talking and in explaining (as he always was every Thursday morning) but Beca’s comprehension was slower than it should be. Beca knew this perfectly, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Add the fact that she unconsciously dropped her wallet somewhere on the way to the cafeteria from Thorton’s lecture and never retrieved it. She had to endure the twenty-minute walk from the building to Casa Bella… and the empty stomach.

When Beca opened the door, three faces greeted her with furrowed brows and devious smirks. As Beca made her way through the foyer, the singing started. She realized she was to receive yet, another Harana and that she must pause and well – judge.

Ashley started the mix. She sang the first few lyrics with considerable energy. Beca found her highly entertaining. The words were expressions of hate but she couldn’t help but notice how her cousin enjoyed singing every note. Beca knew that she didn’t mean any of it, – that Ashley was simply singing. Beca gave a light smile: a gesture which Ashley returned with a friendly grin.

You come on with it, come on, you don’t fight fair,
But that’s okay – see if I care.
Knock me down. It’s all in vain.
I get right back to my feet again.

When it was Aubrey’s turn to sing, Beca’s sight dimmed. The blonde dominated the living room with her usual dominating personality – campaigning her undying hate to Beca Mitchell. At one point, Beca had let out a jeering chuckle; Aubrey sang her parts with too much emotion that her performance level turned out so chaotic. To Beca, it seemed more of a revolution cry rather than, well – actual singing.

Clever layering of lyrics, though, she complimented. Even the background humming and simple beat boxing was something Beca found to be wonderful. Independently, each factor of the mix was a five-star rating on its own. Add it all up and it proved to be one genius arrangement.

Beca had thought of all this in the span of Aubrey’s verse. That was how easy it was for her to ignore the blonde’s singing and focus on actually judging the Harana mash-up.

The extent of facileness Beca had in ignoring Aubrey’s singing matched the extent of arduousness she next experienced in trying to ignore Chloe’s. The redhead, still gorgeous even in her times of pure fury, sang her parts exactly the same way as Aubrey delivered hers. It was full of meant words, full of meant hate. Beca could not fathom why she couldn’t resist the temptation to accept Chloe’s message.