POV Beca

Beca Mitchell watched as the specks of dust floated in the morning light. The white-yellow glow from the window streamed onto her bed and filled the room with light. She glanced over at the small alarm clock on her dresser which read 7:38 am. Groaning as she went, Beca turned over in her bed, mentally preparing for the loud beeps that would wake her in two minutes. She hadn't slept well, but that was nothing new. She was an incredibly light sleeper and woke with almost every sound. Being in her new dorm room hadn't helped her situation much. At least when she was at home she knew where the creaks and groans originated but she had a whole new series of small sounds to learn here.

Today was her first day at Barden University, the school she had been around her whole life, but had not attended until now. Her dad was a professor here which had its pros and cons. Pro: free tuition. Con: she couldn't be invisible. Dr. Mitchell was the most loved English professor on the campus and loved to tell stories about his only daughter. So many stories in fact, that Beca was sure that she would have to come up with some very obscure "three interesting facts about you" for her first day of classes because everyone seemed to know everything about her.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A series of three short beeps broke her train of thought as she threw her hand over to hit the offending item as hard as her not-quite-awake-yet muscles would allow her. She briefly contemplated hitting snooze and lying in bed for a few more minutes but she decided that was worthless because she wouldn't sleep anyway. Beca swung her feet from underneath her covers and on to the floor. She looked across the room at her roommate, Kimmy Jin, who appeared to be sleeping. She and Kimmy Jin hadn't gotten off to the best start but Beca wasn't too concerned with that; she was operating under the thought that the fewer people she had in her life the happier she would be.

Her phone buzzed loudly on the wooden table and Beca sprang to answer it before the sound woke up Kimmy Jin. Upon seeing that it was a call from her father, Beca made her way across the room and slipped out the door, being careful to unlock it before stepping out into the hall.

"Hey, Dad," Beca answered.

"I'm surprised you are actually awake! I kind of planned on this being a wake up call." Mr. Mitchell laughed quietly.

"Yeah well, I'm full of surprises."

"Well your first class is in twenty minutes so you'd better get going! You will love Dr. Rodgers. I know philosophy isn't your favorite but she will make it fun. Do you know where the building is? How about the room? Do you want me to walk you there? I think I have a planning period this morning so I can meet you over by the quad if you want! Or we-"

"Dad, no it's okay. I can find my way. It's not like I've never been here before," Beca interrupted. She loved hanging out with her dad but she didn't want to be the girl who has her dad walk her to class everyday.

"Oh. Well okay then. If you need anything just call me, okay? And you know my door is always open,"

"Yes, dad. Okay I have to get ready. I'll come see you later."

"Okay, sweetie! Oh! Remember, today is the activity fair. I want you to go and join a club. It's good to do something in school other than go to class and mope around your room."

"Hey! I also mope around the campus." Beca retorted.

"Beca. I'm serious. You need to find something else to do."

"Fine, okay I'll go. Speaking of which, I've gotta get ready for class."

"Okay. See you later. Have fun in class! Love you!"

"Love you too, Dad."

Beca hung up the phone and entered her room again. Kimmy Jin had woken up and was staring at Beca from her bed.

"You are inconveniencing me" she said, glaring at Beca.

"Okay well I'm about to leave so…"

"Good. Don't wake me up again"

Beca put on some tight black pants, her favorite shirt (a black RUSH shirt with the sleeves cut off that had been her mom's) and a pair of black boots. After fixing the mascara that she still had on her face from the day before, she stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. She realized she looked quite threatening and decided that her look for today was appropriate. She didn't really want to be labelled as anything, preferring to be a nobody, but since that dream was already shot down, she figured that this was the next best thing.

"Maybe if I wear all black no one will bother me,"' she thought.

Backpack in hand, Beca rushed out the door and down the stairs to get to her class. She double checked her schedule to find the room number. She easily found her way across the quad, dodging all the other freshmen who clearly had no idea what was going on. She rushed into class and made it in with two minutes to spare. She took a seat in the middle of the room, ignoring advice from her Father to sit near the front of the room. A boy with dark brown hair came in after her and took the seat next to her. He looked over at her and smiled. Beca threw him a quick smile before bending down to get her notebook and pen from her bag. The boy stuck his hand out to her and announced "Hi! I'm Jesse Swanson." Beca took his hand and offered "Beca." back to him. He opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off by Dr. Rodgers beginning class. As she spoke, she went over to close the door, but before she could get it fully shut, a hand reached around and caught the door.

"I'll talk to you later, Aubrey! I have to TA this philosophy class. Kisses!" A voice said from behind the door, "Sorry I'm late, Dr. Rodgers. I had to wait on this one to get me here"

"It's okay Chloe, but try not to be late again." Dr. Rodgers seemed to know this mysterious girl. Chloe (apparently) flashed a perfect smile at the professor and Beca understood why Dr. Rodgers didn't seem mad. This girl's smile could turn the coldest heart to mush. She turned quickly, her gorgeous red hair swishing behind her, and sat down at the front of the class right next to the door. "Okay, class. This is Chloe Beale, and she will be our TA this semester. Give her a round of applause"

Chloe stood up quickly and faced the class, giving them the same smile she had just given the professor and seemingly glowing in the albeit wimpy applause she was receiving. Before she sat back down, she turned towards Beca and caught her eye. Beca sat perfectly still, unable to move at all. Their eyes locked and Chloe gave Beca a tiny wink, which sent shivers down Beca's spine.

The rest of the class for Beca was spent stealing glances at Chloe. She didn't know what it was about the redhead but something kept making her look over there. Everytime she looked, Chloe was engrossed in the lecture, listening to every word she was saying and diligently writing it down. She watched the way she held her pen watched when she brought it to her mouth when she wasn't using it. She lightly chewed on the cap and released it once again to write down more critical information.

"Beca?" Jesse asked, tapping Beca's shoulder. "Beca? Hello?"

"Huh, what?" Beca snapped out of her daydream to find the rest of the class (apart from her, Jesse, and Chloe) had left.

"Hey wait I know you! You're Professor Mitchell's daughter! My sister goes here so I've heard a lot about you. The mysterious Beca Mitchell"

"Um, yeah sure"

"So. Would you ever want to hang out sometime? Like get to know each other a little better?" Jesse asked shyly.

"Yeah, great." Beca was still distracted, watching Chloe pack up her bag, and what Jesse was saying to her wasn't exactly registering.

"Wow, really? Great! I live in Spotswood Hall so if you ever want to come over just let me know!"

"Damn." Beca said under her breath. She had been hoping to get Jesse out of the way follow Chloe. But when she thought about it, that might be creepy. She looked back at Jesse. "Sorry. What did you just say?"

"I live in Spotswood! I'll text you my room number! Here, give me your phone." Beca figured she was into too deep now so she couldn't back out of giving him her number. She handed over the phone. "Great! I'll see you soon, Beca!"

"Yeah okay. Great!" she said, as enthusiastically as she could. Noticing that the next class was beginning to filter in, Beca packed up her notebook and papers quickly and left the class. Her next class was not until 1 this afternoon so she figured she would go to visit her father and then back to her dorm to work on her mixes. Making mixes was Beca's favorite hobby. She had the reputation of "The DJ" in high school, which had earned her a job deejaying parties for the popular crowd. Her mixes were good, everybody thought so, but she preferred making them for her own enjoyment than for the purpose of allowing tipsy high school boys the chance to "get it on" with tipsy high school girls. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out to see she had an iMessage from Jesse.

Jesse: Hey BeCAW! My room number is 230! Stop by whenever you want for some fun! ;) XD

"Perfect," she thought to herself. Beca made her way back across the quad and into the building where her father's office was located. As she climbed the stairs, memories of her and her mother visiting him began coming back to her. Before the divorce, they used to come visit him every wednesday and bring him lunch. Then they would go to the quad and play frisbee or look at the clouds as a family. She continued down the hall and reached her father's office door. She knocked three times and then two more, their knocking signal, and she heard a muffled "come in!" from behind the closed door.

"Hi, sweetie!" Dr. Mitchell got up from his chair and rushed to hug his daughter.

"Hey, Dad" Beca said. She took a seat on one of the bean bag chairs that lined the walls of the office. It was no wonder that everyone in the english department liked to hang out here. It was a very welcoming space. "Want to have an early lunch?"

"Beca. You can't get out of going to the activities fair by tempting me into spending time with you. Beside, I have a class in 15 minutes. We can walk there together though! It's right by the fair!"

"Fine. Okay." Beca reluctantly got up out of the bean bag and followed her dad down stairs and into another building.

"Okay, Beca. I know I'm babying you but hey, you are my baby. Go to the activities fair. You'll find something great I'm sure of it!" Dr. Mitchell turned and gave Beca a kiss on the forehead, to which beca responded by turning bright red and nervously checking to make sure no one had seen. She had an image to obtain after all.

"Bye, Dad. Have a good class! I'm gonna go find my passion!"

"Sarcasm noted!"

Beca hurried down the stairs and out the door. She would never admit it out loud, but she was a little excited for the fair. She was excited to see what kinds of things there were to do. Also, there was apparently going to be food there and the possibility of that alone was enough to peak her curiosity.