| When Words Fail | Jesse Swanson x Reader

We Are The Kings [4]

"And, our altos." Claire heard Aubrey announce. "Fat Amy, Ashley, Beca, and Claire." She said as she pulled the bags off of each girl's head. Claire blew the hair out of her face as she bumped into the girl next to her.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled. The girl nodded back.

"Now, Altos in the front, Sopranos in the back!" Aubrey clapped. Claire, along with the other girls, shuffled into place quickly as Aubrey carefully picked up a tall glass cup. "We shall begin by drinking the blood of the sisters that came before you." Aubrey announced quietly. Claire's nose scrunched up in disgust as Chloe approached the girl on the end with the cup.

"Dude, no!" She scoffed slightly. Chloe whispered something to her with a wink, and the girl reluctantly took a sip from the cup. As the glass was passed around, Claire was the last one to have it, taking as small a sip as she could. It wasn't bad, she had to admit. Chloe returned to the front and stood beside Aubrey.

"Now, if you'll place your scarves in your right hand." She smiled and set her left hand in her right one. The girls all did as she asked, glancing between each other.

"I, sing your name," Aubrey started. The girls all did as she asked, and Claire's nose scrunched as the sound filled her ears. They were all off key and louder than one another. "Promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman." Aubrey finished. Claire repeated her awkwardy alongside the other girls. Aubrey looked among the group with narrowed eyes. "And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker, or may my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves." She smiled. The girls glanced between each other before echoing her. "You are all Bellas now." Aubrey smiled. Most of the girls screamed and hugged each other happily, but Claire joined one girl in stepping away from the group as to not be trampled. She looked at Aubrey as Chloe whispered something to her.

"We did it!" She smiled. Aubrey crossed her arms and looked out among the girls with a sour expression.

"Did we?"

"Ladies, welcome to A Ca-Initiation night. Prepare to soften the beach." Aubrey announced as the Bellas followed her down a set of concrete stairs. Kids with red solo cups laughed and talked as a tune played on speakers.

"I don't know what I'm doing here." A girl mumbled. Claire glanced at her and put on a smile.

"Me either, to be honest. You here because someone pressured you, too?" She asked as the two broke away from the group. The girl chuckled.

"Yeah, Chloe. What about you?" She asked, nudging Claire slightly.

"Uhm, a guy I met. Super stoked to be an A Capella boy." She sighed as she glanced out among the sea of students.

"Claire!" A voice shouted, and she looked ahead of her to see Jesse climbing the concrete seats.

"Speak of the devil." She mumbled, making the girl chuckle.

"Do my eyes deceive me? You are a Barden Bella." Jesse smiled as he approached the two.

"Oh shut up, you're the one hanging out with the barely lucid losers over there." She sneered back playfully, nodding towards the group of boys in maroon who were dancing sloppily with different girls.

"Oh, that's just hurtful." He scowled. She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, the dream came true. You're one of those A Capella girls, I'm one of those A Capella boys, and now we're gonna have A Ca-Children." He nodded, his eyes barely staying on Claire. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Uh, no-" She was cut off by Jesse yawning.

"It's inevitable!" He chuckled, and she sighed in defeat.

"You're really drunk right now, I don't think you're gonna remember any of this." She smirked, ignoring his objections as she talked.

"I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry." He joked. She smiled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded. She tilted her head at him.

"You almost fall over?" She asked. He objected again, smiling at her.

"Can you pass the sobriety test right now?" She asked as she pushed her hand against his chest. He leaned back but returned to his original stance.

"Yup, see how I come right back?" He asked confidently.

"Can you stand up straight?" She asked, pushing her hand against his chest again. He wobbled for a moment.

"And, I come right back." He nodded, drawing out the 'and'. He smiled warmly at her. "Can I get you a drink?" He asked, nodding slightly at her. Claire smiled.

"Sounds great." She nodded. He paused.

"I'm gonna get you a drink, you need to get on this level." He nodded as he shuffled past the girl. She smiled awkwardly at him, but her attention was drawn to Chloe as she approached her quickly. She grabbed the girl's hands and yanked her slightly.

"I'm so glad that I met you." Chloe smiled. "I think that we're gonna be really fast friends." She mumbled, pulling the girl's face closer to hers. The girl smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah, well you saw me naked, so..." The girl winked.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get a drink." Chloe announced, pulling away from the girl. "This ginger needs her jiggle juice!" She smiled, wiggling her butt before slapping her thigh and waving as she turned.

"See you later!" She called. The girl smiled awkwardly.

"Make good choices." She mumbled back. The girl turned back to Claire and they both broke into a small giggle.

"I'm Claire, nice to finally meet someone as weird as I am." Claire smiled as she held her hand out.

"Beca, nice to meet you too." The girl smiled, shaking her hand lightly. The girls paused as a familiar song began playing. Claire looked ahead as Jesse approached them with two red solo cups in his hands, mumbling the words to the song sloppily. He took a sip from his cup as he handed Claire her cup.

"Thank you." She chimed, but looked down at it awkwardly. Jesse turned and looked out among the group of partying students.

"This is awesome." He chuckled.

"It's definitely something." Beca mumbled, making Claire chuckle.

"We are the kings of campus!" Jesse shouted, making a few heads turn. Beca and Claire glanced at each other with their noses scrunched.

"He's very drunk."