Chapter One

*bleep* ... *bleep* ... *bleep* ... *bleep*

Beca could hear the most annoying, rhythmic sound in the world from where she had her head buried under her blankets but couldn't work out where it was coming from. It seemed to have been going on for hours and Beca just wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. She had gone to bed the night before, desperate for sleep, freezing cold but with no energy to wrap herself up in a blanket. She just flopped on her bed.

*bleep* ... *bleep* ... *bleep* ... *bleep*

"Kimmy-Jin, is that you? ... Kimmy-Jin? ... Please keep it down. I'm trying to sleep."

Beca opened one eye and peeked out from under the blanket but there was no one else in the room. Where had the blanket come from? She shook her head at her lack of memory and tried to go back to sleep. She was in the midst of a wonderful reverie and desperately wanted to see how it ended.

She drifted back off to sleep and as luck would have it back to the same vision. She had had the identical dream a lot in the past couple of weeks and although she didn't know why, it made her feel at peace, loved and safe and quite frankly, she enjoyed the feeling. This was a new feeling for Beca, the girl with the built up wall around her heart.

She smiled in her sleep.

It was just Chloe and her. They were driving in Chloe's jeep. The roof was down, there was one of Beca's favourite mixes on her iPod and the warm afternoon sun was beating down on them both. Chloe was driving with one arm reaching out as far as she could to catch the wind while Beca was slouched in the seat with her feet on the dashboard. They were carefree and they were happy as they drove towards the hills, laughing and joking and Beca feeling at ease with her beautiful friend. They had managed to escape successfully without being noticed from the iron fisted Aubrey's watchful beady eye and obsessively strict routine timetables, and were having an afternoon just to themselves. There may even be further naughty rule breaking as they had already planned to stop for ice cream on the way home and that certainly wasn't on the list of allowed foods that Aubrey had oh-so-kindly issued them all with in the second week of term.

Mother Nature's cordless hair dryer had captured Chloe's hair and was whipping her striking red tresses into a fiery mane. Chloe had long since given up trying to keep it under control and just let her hair fan out behind her as they drove. She would worry about trying to get a brush through it when she got home! Chloe gave Beca one of her trademark winks and as usual, Beca beamed inside. She did love that cheeky wink! There was always something so sincere and friendly about Chloe; be it a smile, a wink, one of her elbow nudges just to let you know she was there or one of her big, warm, bear hugs that she bestowed on you without any warning or permission. Another thing that Beca had had to get used to was Chloe lack of awareness of personal space and boundaries but Beca secretly loved the way Chloe had no issues being a space invader. Beca was a fist bump, high five, back slapping kind of girl rather than finding enjoyment being wrapped up in an envelope of warm-cookie-dough-hugginess but she loved the closeness she had with Chloe and accepted it.

For the time being Beca forget about Aubrey screaming at her earlier on in the day saying that she was just like a square peg in a round hole as far as the Bella's were concerned. Beca didn't need Aubrey's approval. In fact, she didn't really care what Aubrey thought of her at all. Aubrey would blow hot and cold with her, like all the time.

Beca sighed in her sleep. She knew what was coming next.

She tried to warn Chloe to close the roof before the storm hit them but she couldn't get the words out. This had also happened in the dream before. It felt like she wasn't allowed to change or influence the outcome of the sequence of events. Beca wasn't surprised. There was a lot about her life she couldn't change. Why would the weather in a dream be any different?! Usually it was at this point she woke up from the dream as if the stress of trying to shout to Chloe that made her awaken.

Within the blink of an eye, the thunderstorm was above them and both girls were pelted with big, fat, heavy and rather cold raindrops.

"Chloe, pull over!" Beca laughed as she undid her seat belt. "We need to get the roof up before we drown!"

Chloe chuckled back at her friend as she slowed her jeep and pulled in to the side of the road, laughing out loud now, as she turned to unplug her seatbelt, at the sight of a very damp Beca.

Beca jumped out of the car and her bare feet squelched in the already sodden grass. She waited for Chloe to reach the other side of the car to help pull the roof up. The Heavens had truly opened and puddles were already forming on the grass and on the road. Beca didn't actually mind getting wet. She just didn't want the rain to destroy her music and some of her precious equipment was on the back seat.

"Chloe! Hurry up! Help me with the roof." Beca yelled and waited a few seconds. "Chloe ... ?!"

Beca poked her head around the back of the car but Chloe wasn't there and she couldn't see over the top of Chloe's car due to her short stature. She left the side of the car and caught sight of her happy-go-lucky friend in the middle of the road, arms outstretched, spinning like a child in the pouring rain, a look of complete of joy on her face despite being absolutely soaked to the skin.

In spite of the rain, Chloe had no mascara running down her face and even though very soggy, she looked stunning. Beca knew the mess she would already look as she took a couple of seconds to watch her friend twirl. Those who say sunshine brings happiness has never seen Chloe dance in the rain. This was so typical of Chloe. She could see the delight, wonder and awe in everything and right now, as she looked at her friend dancing and spiralling in the rain, Beca thought she had never looked so beautiful and this gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Beca opened her mouth to shout at her to help with the roof but from a distance, she heard a strange, loud, metallic popping sound that echoed all around her and sent a pulse whizzing through her brain.

Suddenly Chloe stopped spinning and stared at Beca. Her beautiful cerulean blue eyes widened with fear and surprise and her legs began to crumble beneath her as she continued to stare intently at her best friend. Beca was shocked to see such an extreme look of sheer terror on her best friends face. Chloe's mouth fell further as Beca rushed forward to catch her friend before she fell to the ground.

"Chloe!" Beca yelled as she reached her and caught Chloe just as her knees hit the gravel. "Chloe, what's happened?"

Beca helped lower her to the ground as Chloe fixed her eyes on Beca and as a tiny bubble of blood popped from her nose, she opened her mouth to speak.

"... bleep ..." was all that Chloe said.

"What?!" Beca cried out. "What are you trying to say? Chloe ..."

"... bleep ..."

Then everything went black.