Bechloe - Bye Bye Love...

Chapter VII

Days later, Beca still couldn't stop thinking about Chloe. The redhead was on her mind constantly and Beca wished she could just go back in time and stop it. As soon as Beca couldn't find Chloe, she returned to Stacie and told her they couldn't hang out anymore. She confessed her feelings for Chloe but Stacie confessed her own feelings for Beca. It didn't take Beca completely by surprise since Stacie flirted with her on a regular basis but Beca never reciprocated once she met Chloe. Beca wished more than anything that she could have caught Chloe before she left and she had no idea where Chloe lived. She didn't have any contact details of the redhead either. Chloe consumed Beca so much the brunette couldn't do anything else but think about her. She wasn't even interested in making music or anything of the sort. Beca truly hated herself for what happened that day.

It was late evening and Beca was trudging around the music building, walking down the halls and to her father's office. She didn't know who else to turn to. Beca wasn't exactly close with her dad but he was there when she needed him and she was grateful for that.

"Hey, dad, are you busy?" Beca asked when she entered her dad's office.

"I'm just finishing marking some papers but come in."

"Thanks." Beca shut the door and sat across from her father.

"What's up?"

"Well... I screwed up."

"What do you mean?" He frowned, looking at his daughter.

Beca sighed. "I met this... girl not too long ago. She found me making some music and she needed help making an original song for a music assignment she was given. I agreed to help her and we got on really well and.... we kinda fell for each other. We went on a few dates and stuff but the other day, one of my other friends kissed me and she saw... She ran off and I haven't seen her since. It was a total accident though. I didn't want it. I pushed her away but it was too late."

"Oh..."

"Yeah... And the worst part is that I don't know where she lives or anything."

"Do you have her phone number?"

"No," Beca shook her head. "We just met up every day to work on music. But I haven't seen her in days and I don't know if I'll ever see her again... What do I do?"

"I... I don't know. I really don't know."

"Great..." She sighed, slouching back in her seat.

"I'm sorry, Bec. Maybe just wait around for her again or something."

"I've tried but she never turns up and I can't find her in any of my classes or my friend's classes. It's like she's disappeared off the face of the earth!"

Beca rested her head against the back of the seat then turned her head so it was more comfortable but that's when she saw something that made her do a double take. The girl got up from her seat and made her way over to the wall where multiple photos were hanging but one photo, in particular, stood out to her. It was a photo of a redheaded girl with bright blue eyes and a perfect white smile.

In memory of Chloe Beale

1986 - 2005

Beca's eyes widened in horror.

"D, dad..."

"Yes?"

"Who is this?" Beca pointed to the plaque.

"Oh, that was one of my music students."

"Was?"

"Yeah," Beca's dad got up and looked at the plaque. "She was one of my best music students back in the day."

"What happened to her?"

"She died."

"She... she died?" Beca's voice cracked. "H, how?"

"Depression. It was strange how it happened. She was a very bright young woman but then one day, something changed. She came up to me and gave me her music assignment, saying that I needed to keep it somewhere safe - somewhere nobody could find it, not even her. It was a beautiful piece. She got an A for it but she didn't seem to care too much."

"What was the piece? Do you have it?"

"Yeah, I've kept it." Beca's dad went into his filing cabinet and pulled out the music piece and handed it to his daughter.

However, it wasn't the piece Beca thought it was. She and Chloe made something totally different but what she was looking in front of her was a music piece that Chloe had on her the first day they met.

Bye Bye Love...

"She gave this to you?" Beca asked.

"Yes," he nodded.

"But... this was twenty years ago..."

"It was but it feels like only yesterday she gave it to me. She said that the best way to hear it is to play it on the Bösendorfer but she said to never follow the instructions. It didn't make sense to me but it seemed to be important to her."

Beca looked at the piece of music and read the instructions.

Play slow to go forward...

Beca frowned at the so-called instructions then inspected the rest of the paper. She looked at the music and saw that it was specifically for a piano. The brunette flipped the piece of paper over and at the very bottom of the page was tiny writing. Beca had to squint and hold the paper close to her face to read it.

...Play fast so go back

"What the...?" Beca uttered but then something inside her clicked and everything made sense. "I have to go."

Beca darted out of her father's office.

"What? Beca!"

Beca ran out of his office and made her way down the halls of the music building. Beca knew she had seen Chloe somewhere before but she couldn't remember until now. She used to visit her father frequently and she had noticed the photo on the wall but never properly looked at it until now. Beca ran down the hall all the way to the end to a room and inside the room sat an antique piano - a Bösendorfer. Beca saw the instrument when her father gave her a tour of the college grounds before she started. She didn't go into the room though. She just looked in it then left.

Beca opened the door and saw the piano. She made her way over to it and sat on the leather stool that had clearly been sat on before since it was rather comfortable. Beca put the pieces of paper on the piano and played the song several times to get a feel for it. It took her a little while since the piece was quite tricky but the brunette eventually got confident enough to play it at the speed she needed to play it at. Beca took a steady breath and began playing the song fast, focusing on the time she wanted to go back to. She played it perfectly and she was so immersed in it that she didn't even realise just how perfect she was playing it.

Beca finished the song and chased her breath, not even aware she was puffing through it. The brunette looked around her surroundings and saw no change. The room looked exactly the same and she didn't feel any different but there was only one way to find out. The brunette got up and left the room and when she did, she saw Chloe running down the hall in tears.

"Chloe!"