The Beat of a Drum (Bechloe)

Chapter 1

Beca shuffled into her step-mother's kitchen, still wearing her pyjamas (an oversized men's t-shirt and loose gym shorts) and slippers.
"Morning, Bec," her dad greeted her from the small table.
Beca yawned. "Morning."
"There's stuff in the fridge if you want to make yourself a sandwich," her dad gestured to the fridge.
"M'kay." Why had she gone to sleep so late last night, when she knew she would have to be up early for her first day back at college?

As she sat down opposite her dad with her breakfast, he slid a flyer across the table to her.
"What do you think?" her dad asked.
Beca picked up the flyer and glanced at the cover. 'Cheap Drum Lessons'.
"Drum lessons? Seriously?" she asked her dad, as if he was kidding with her.
"You've always wanted to play the drums!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, Dad, when I was about ten!" she shook her head.
What was he thinking? Did he not understand her when she said she was busy enough? With her job at the radio station and the on going stress of college, the last thing she needed right now was drum lessons.
"Bec, I really think that this would be a great opportunity for you! You would make so much more friends, and who knows? You might even enjoy it!"
Beca snorted at her dad's lame excuse, but promised him that she'd think about it.
She glanced at the clock on the wall above the kitchen counter.
"Shit! I'm not even dressed yet!"
"Beca! Watch your language!" her dad said firmly, but even so he began to make her a coffee.

Beca raced to her dad's old car and began to take the short and familiar route to Barden University. Ever since she had started college here last year, she had been incredibly busy. Her dad had been adamant that she got a job and started to pay off her tuition fees. She easily got a job at the radio station and the job was surprisingly well paid for such short hours. On top of that, she enjoyed it. A couple of times her boss, Luke, had let her take over the station herself and play whatever songs she liked. That had been pretty awesome.
She couldn't possibly have time to take drum lessons, could she?

Beca was drawn back to her senses as she drew near to her school. She checked the time on her phone and realised she had less than ten minutes to get to class. She also realised she had a text from one of her closest friends, Stacie.

FROM Stacie Conrad TO Beca Mitchell
9:22
hey weirdo, where you at? thought you were gonna come hang out at quarter past? s x

"Shit!" Beca said to herself. She'd promised to hang out with Stacie and a couple of her other friends, but as usual she had forgotten. Oh well, she thought, it's only the first day. They'll get over it.
She quickly texted Stacie a reply while running to her locker.

FROM Beca Mitchell TO Stacie Conrad
9:51
sorry stace, i overslept again. c u at the football field at lunch? beca

Beca reached her locker, grabbed her books and ran. If she was quick, she might just make it.
If only I hadn't agreed to stay with Dad this week, she thought. She had promised her dad and Sheila that she would stay with them for the first week of college so she could get settled in again.
As she reached her classroom, she slowed to a stroll. She would be just in time. She tucked her long brown hair behind her ear, and opened the door to her first class.
About thirty heads turned her way as she walked in.
"Ms Mitchell! Late on your first day!" exclaimed her form tutor fondly.
"Excuse me, Mr Andrews, but I believe I am exactly on time," she grinned.
She liked Mr Andrews a lot. He was very young and fit and quite good looking if you were into that kind of thing, which Beca was not. Even so, Beca liked to consider herself a personal favorite of his.
Mr Andrews checked his watch and found that it was 10:00 exactly.
"So you are, Ms Mitchell. Well then, lets get straight to it! Did anyone go anywhere nice over summer?"
There was a sudden shout of about twenty students, each of them describing their exciting holiday as if their lives depended on it. Beca zoned out until the bell rang fifteen minutes later for her first real lesson of the year.

Beca found that the next few classes passed quickly and she soon heard the final bell before lunch. She walked to her locker to dump her books, and headed for the football field to meet Stacie.

She had just got there when she heard someone scream "BECA!!". She turned and saw Stacie running at full speed towards her, arms outstretched.
For God's sake, thought Beca. It's not like I haven't seen her all summer, we met up about three weeks ago.
Even so, she laughed and opened her arms to Stacie. The two hugged for a moment before letting go.
"Hey, Stace," Beca said coolly.
"Oh my God Beca! I haven't seen you in forever!" Stacie gushed.
Beca laughed. "We obviously have different definitions of forever."

They settled themselves down underneath a big tree. It offered shade in the the summer, and shelter in the winter, and it was where the two usually met up at lunch.
The two brunettes talked about their summers when suddenly Stacie stopped talking and sighed.
"God, Mr Andrews is so hot. Why am I never in any of his classes?!" Stacie complained.
Beca followed her gaze and saw her form tutor pass by. She decided to tease her friend by yelling "Hey Mr Andrews!" to her teacher.
Mr Andrews turned their way and called "Hi Beca!" and grinned back at Beca. The shorter brunette turned back to Stacie and smiled smugly.
Stacie pouted. "No fair! You're so lucky. Don't you just think he's so fit?!" she gushed.
Beca laughed. "Dude, I'm gay."
"I know, but that doesn't mean you can't admire a good thing when you see it."
This made the two laugh so hard that they barely heard the bell ring for the end of lunch.

As they walked to class together, Beca remembered something.
"By the way, my dad showed me this stupid thing earlier. He wants me to take drum lessons."
"OMG! We could start a band! I could sing, and you could play the drums!"
Beca laughed again at her friend's over-excitement. "Why don't I get to sing? You're not a soloist!" she teased.
"Shut up! At least I'm not an Alto!" Stacie teased.
"Excuse me, Soprano?" Beca replied.
The two brunettes often mocked eachother like this, it was a sort of inside joke between them. The short walk to the main building went on like this until the friends had to go their separate ways. Beca did not think any more about the drum lessons until her dad asked her about them that night.

Author's Note:
Hey guys! So this is my first chapter... I hope it doesn't suck. If this is a flop I'll just post this as a one-shot, but if y'all like it I have a second chapter already written :). Please tell me what you think and drop your Instagram usernames in the reviews. Xx