Like You Mean It

Chapter 3

The first month flew by in a blur for Beca, growing more and more comfortable behind the bar until she and Stacie were a flawless team, surprising herself with how quickly she picked up Lily's strange signals since the three of them were often scheduled the same shifts. They worked in perfect sync together even on the busiest of nights at the club, to the point where Taylor hadn't hired another person when Jeff announced he was moving to New York with his girlfriend. Beca followed Stacie's lead and immediately agreed to work all five nights during the week, not missing the chance to earn another night's income.

Things with Stacie had turned into an instant friendship, and Beca was thankful the taller brunette never pushed for anything more. They connected immediately with their love of living life in the moment, not needing to have every detail of the future planned out, as well as both having a fairly dirty mind and sense of humor.

After the first few nights at the club Beca had gotten in touch with Jesse, knowing her true best friend had already been living in the city for the past few months. She introduced him to Stacie over lunch, laughing at his expression when the brunette walked in to meet them knowing he was way out of his league. Thankfully they all got along, though Stacie confirmed to her at work that night he was much too innocent and she couldn't be responsible for corrupting him, and Beca let him down gently a few days later.

The three formed a fast friendship, Jesse volunteering to let them crash at his place after their shift on Saturdays because Sunday Funday consisted of brunch, football, and video games. Beca jumped at the chance to return to her apartment as little as possible, and the prospect of Jesse's eggs, bacon, and pancakes were more than enough to seal the deal. Stacie didn't always crash, but inevitably joined them when she left the prior nights conquest.

Beca was thrilled at how well things were going in LA, knowing the only real downside was her living situation. The apartment was fantastic... the company however, was another story. If Chloe wasn't in class or at the library on campus, she was studying in their apartment. Things got a bit better when she informed Beca she picked up a part-time job as an undergraduate tutor in the academic center, but they still didn't really get along. At all.

Chloe was never shy about announcing her disapproval of Beca's current situation, and Beca never bothered to correct her assumption that her job wasn't capable of providing her financial stability. She knew she shouldn't care so much about what Chloe thought, but it bothered her that the redhead wouldn't even entertain the idea that she was happy with her life as it was. The snide comments and jabs were starting to take their toll, and she'd been seriously looking at other apartments for a few days.

Stacie offered up her couch whenever Beca needed it, but she never knew when Stacie would have company and frankly she wasn't THAT desperate to avoid her own apartment. Though the benefits portion of their friendship ended after that first night, Beca found Stacie was an excellent listener and gave great advice about her situation whenever she needed to talk. Jesse was less understanding, but Stacie only had the image of Chloe that Beca presented, which admittedly may have been unfair of her. Stacie had requested more than once to hang at Beca's apartment to meet Chloe and experience her snobby, stuck-up ways first hand, but Beca had shrugged her off. Until today.

Beca yawned, exiting her bedroom to find the apartment empty, sending up a prayer of thanks that Chloe was at school. It was Monday, which meant no work and all Beca wanted to do was enjoy some time at home without fighting or being heckled.

"Thank fucking God," she mumbled as she ventured into the kitchen, glancing at the clock that showed it to be a little past two. "Peace and quiet."

Stacie was coming over later to hang out and play video games, and Beca was curious how she'd interact with Chloe. Stacie was pretty much everything Chloe frowned upon, just like her except maybe a step worse with the whole stripping thing, or as Stacie preferred to say, exotic dancing.