Chapter 1: The First Day of Senior Year

The alarm clock in a teenage girl's room went off around 6:30 in the morning, making a rather obnoxious beeping sound in order to wake the girl in the bed next to it. The teenager, whose name was Chloe Anne Beale, sat up and turned it off. She slowly got out of bed while rubbing her eyes and stretching to wake up her muscles.

It was the first day of her senior year of high school, and Chloe was anything but excited. You see, Chloe was finishing out her high school career at a new high school. Her father's job as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep moved them nearly from Portland to Seattle, Washington. It wasn't that far of a move, but Chloe wasn't happy to be separated from her friends and family down there, especially her boyfriend of two years named Tom Sanders. It was easy to say Chloe was not excited to be there, not in the slightest.

Nevertheless, the redhead picked out a cute outfit for the first day of school. She wore a cute blue dress with small white polka dots on it and some two inch wedges. Her hair lay in its natural waves and she did her makeup lightly.

After breakfast, her father stopped her and said, "Have fun on your first day, and try to make new friends."

The redhead nodded reluctantly and then grabbed the keys to her car, which was a 2004 blue Volkswagen Jetta Wagon. She drove the ten minutes it took to get to Kentridge High School and parked in the spot she had been assigned when she came earlier that week to register. As she walked by, she instantly got whistles from a group of boys.

"Damn, check out the new girl." One of them said.

"Hey Chicago, check her out." Chloe noticed a tall boy her age with brown hair and blue eyes look her way. He was definitely attractive but Chloe had a serious boyfriend, so she wasn't interested.

So she continued to walk on by as a girl in a green Subaru Outback pulled in front of Chloe while she was walking towards the school.

The girl in the Subaru saw Chloe at the last second and slammed on the breaks, hitting the horn as well. The window of the car rolled down, revealing a brunette sitting in the driver's seat "Hey! Watch where you're going! You could get yourself killed!" She called out.

Chicago watched Chloe scurry out of the way of the car, smiling at her cute little walk. He then walked up to the Subaru once it was parked, smirking when he saw his best friend get out of the car. "Nice driving there, Nascar." He chuckled before glancing Chloe's way.

"I hope that wasn't a sarcastic remark directed towards me. If I hadn't slammed on the breaks, that girl would've gotten hit. She clearly wasn't looking where she was going," the brunette replied, watching the redheaded girl walk away and rolling her eyes.

"I think that's the new girl we're supposed to be getting," Chicago mentioned, helping Beca by holding her stuff while the girl locked up her car. "My dad said she's a transferred senior from Portland, Oregon." He said, smiling as Chloe opened the door and walked into the school. Chicago was senior class president, captain of the football team and major heartthrob of their high school, so it seemed only natural that he gave the tour to new students so the school seemed cooler to incoming students.

"As if this school needs more clueless people," Beca muttered under her breath. Once she locked her car, the brunette put her keys into her back pocket and took her stuff from Chicago. "Man, I can't believe it. Our last first day of high school," she said, chuckling and shaking her head. "Time really does fly by, doesn't it?"

"It really does, doesn't it?" Chicago said, putting his arm around his best friend. "This year, you and I are going to rule the school." He said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as they walked inside. "How's getting your dad on board with the whole LA situation?" He asked as they made their way to their lockers.

Beca scoffed a laugh. "He's not on-board. Nowhere near being on-board. As a matter of fact, he's in the ocean and trying to pull me off the boat so I fall down into the water with him," she said in an annoyed voice. "I just don't understand what his problem is. He'd rather have me go to college and be unhappy than pursue my dreams."

"He's just looking out for you," Chicago said, holding the door open for Beca. "But, with that said I don't think he understands that once you set your mind on something, there's no stopping you." He mentioned, opening his locker and grabbing books that he got for his schedule.

"Sometimes I wonder what it's like to be you," Beca said, opening her locker and arranging her books. "I mean that in the sense of I want to know what it's like to not have to worry about this kind of stuff. You've been getting recruited by Division I football programs since last year. You're basically guaranteed to get a scholarship somewhere at this point," she added.

"Well in the sense of following my dreams, no one has really told me to do anything besides chase them." Chicago said, putting his books in his backpack before zipping it up. He then turned to Beca, patting her shoulder. "You're going to convince him, Beca." He mentioned. "If there is anything I've been taught over the last three years, it's that Beca Mitchell could convince a cat to go into the water."

Beca couldn't help but laugh at those words. "I'm not sure I could do that, but I appreciate the confidence. I just don't know how I'm going to do it. Moving to LA is going to be super expensive, and there's no way I'll be able to cover the cost on my own. I'm going to have to rely on my dad to help pay for some of that, but he's so set on me going to college that if I even bring it up, he'll immediately shoot it down," the brunette said with a sigh.

"You'll figure something out," Chicago said. He then looked at the time on his phone. "I gotta go to the office to give the new girl a tour, see you in AP English." He said, patting her shoulder before walking past Beca towards the office.

Once he got there, he said hello to all the ladies who worked in the front office before waiting for the new girl to show up. He had gotten a good look at the girl, and she was absolutely gorgeous. Medium length red hair, piercing blue eyes. And Chicago just imagined that she had an incredible smile.

A few minutes later, the redhead appeared in the doorway, peeking into the room. "Um, excuse me, is this the front office?" She asked. "I've read this map three times and I still can't tell where anything is."

Chicago blinked twice, damn this girl was beautiful. "Ah yes this is the office." He said walking up to the girl and reaching his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Chicago Walp, I'll be giving you your tour." He said smiling softly. "What's your name?" He asked once their hands let go of each other.

"Chloe. Chloe Beale," the redhead replied, smiling back at Chicago. He was much more welcoming than the girl she had encountered earlier in the parking lot. "I'm sorry if I'm a little disoriented, it's just my first day here and I'll admit that I'm a little nervous."

"No worries, it's it a new place and you're just finding your way." Chicago said smiling at the girl. "You can leave your stuff here in the office while I give you a tour." He said, offering to take her jacket and hang it up. "It's a big high school and there are a lot of things to see, so the tour may take a little while."

"That's alright. Take as much time as you need. I'm sure that I'll still end up getting lost at least five times today," Chloe said with a giggle, putting her stuff down in one of the chairs and then turning back to Chicago.

"Alright then, let's get started." Chicago held the door for Chloe and they began the tour. He started with the English and Humanities wing before heading over to Math and Science, which was so big it was its own building. He explained all the different events and clubs they had at the school.

"And here is the performing arts and music wing." He said, noticing the girl seemed to take a lot of interest in this part of the school.

"Is the performing arts program at this school very big?" Chloe asked Chicago as they stopped outside the doors of the school's theater.

"Our performing arts program here is one of the best in the country." Chicago said smiling at Chloe. "We have one of the top musicians in the country teaching at this school, and she'll help you get into whatever music school you want." He stated, looking into one of the music classes. "I take it you're into music, do you play any instruments?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I can play the piano. I also took some violin lessons when I was younger, but piano is the instrument that's really stuck with me," she answered. "And what about you? What do you do here?" The redhead asked curiously.

"I think you'll figure it out once we get to the fitness education wing." Chicago said, cringing at the thought of what Chloe was about to see. "Anyways, do you want to go to school for music?"

"Yeah, that's the goal. I mean, everything could change over the course of this year, but music is my passion and it's definitely something I want to pursue in the future," Chloe said with a smile.

"Well, you definitely should. I'll come and listen to you play sometime." Chicago said before they walked down the fitness education wing. There, plastered on the wall, was a huge poster of the captains on the football team with Chicago standing the middle with a football in his hand. Underneath the poster, large white text read: "2017 Washington 4A Division State Champions."

"Ah, I see. You're the 'Mr. Football' of this school, huh?" Chloe teased. "But in all seriousness, that's actually pretty cool. It must feel awesome to be the captain of the football team."

"It is," Chicago stated with a chuckle. "Until they stick a huge poster to wall, that is. Now everyone can look at this and think 'damn, what a jackass.'" He said, making Chloe laugh. "I do love playing football though, I play tight end and wide receiver."

"Really? That's so cool! My boyfriend plays quarterback for the football team back at my old school in Portland," Chloe said to Chicago as they continued walking down the hallway of the fitness education wing.

Of course the beautiful girl has a boyfriend, Chicago though to himself. "That's cool, he must be really handsome if he can land a girl like you." He said smiling at her before leading her into the gymnasium. "I also play basketball, but my friend Beca is the captain of the women's team. She's a total badass. Both of our basketball teams are former state champions as well."

"Wow, it seems like this school is really big on winning. That must put a lot of pressure on you guys. Back at my old school in Portland, our best team was the golf team. Really shows you how amazing we were at all the other sports," Chloe said sarcastically, laughing afterwards.

"Hey, golf can be entertaining." Chicago said with a chuckle. "They also are probably the best dressed sports team in any school." He pointed out before laughing along with Chloe some more. "Do you do anything besides play piano? Cheerleading? Soccer?" He asked. "Golf?" He added, getting another laugh.

Chloe shook her head. "I did cross country and cheerleading during my freshman year of high school, but I didn't try out after that year. I've been really focusing on piano and performing arts, since that's what I want to do with my life."

"It's nice that you know what you want to do with your life, not many people do." Chicago said before they started to walk back towards the office.

"Yeah, well it's been my dream for as long as I can remember. I'm going to keep chasing it, no matter how many bumps are in the road," Chloe said as they walked side-by-side. "Do you know what you want to do with your life? I mean, I assume that football is going to be part of the big picture, but is there anything else?" She asked.

"Well, I'm being recruited by a few Division I schools, like UCLA and Nebraska to name a few." Chicago mentioned, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know, I've never really stopped to think about it. It's always been about football and getting good grades for me." He stated as he put his hand in his pockets. "I don't even have a girlfriend, that's how focused I am on school and football." He said looking down to hide his blush.

Chloe burst out into laughter at that. "You're lying," she said, looking over at Chicago. She gasped and hit his arm playfully when she realized he was being serious. "You don't have a girlfriend? How? You're the captain of the football team, and probably the valedictorian!"

"Oh, I'm not valedictorian. But thank you for the compliment," Chicago stated. "No, that would be Cynthia Rose, she's probably got the potential to become our future president." He said truthfully. "Plus, I just haven't found the right girl I guess. I mean, I've had a girlfriend before, but she moved to Ohio and we broke up before she left." He shrugged. "But, contrary to your belief, I don't have a girlfriend."

Chloe just shook her head. "I don't understand how that's possible. You're literally the perfect guy. I'd expect girls to be falling for you left and right," the redhead said with a laugh.

"I'm not perfect, but once again, thank you." Chicago said once they reached the front office. He held the door for Chloe again.

Chloe smiled and thanked Chicago as she walked inside the office, going over and grabbing her stuff off of the chair she had left it in. "Thanks for giving me a tour of the school. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime," Chicago said smiling at her. "If you need anything, just give me a hollar alright? It looks like we have Calculus and AP English together, so I'll save you a seat." He said before grabbing his stuff. Welcome to Hartford High School, Chloe Beale." He said with a warm smile before walking out of the door.

The first three classes of the day flew by quickly, as there wasn't much being done since it was the first day of school. When the bell signaling that third period was ending, Beca stood up from her seat in Physics and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder and heading out of the classroom. She had AP English with Chicago next period, so she made a beeline for her locker since they didn't have much time to switch classes and she was on the other side of the school.

Chloe made her way through the crowded halls, and made it to her AP English class. Some of the guys whistled at her when she walked in, but Chicago shooed them off. "Hey, this seats open if you want it." He said sweetly to the redhead as she sat down next to him.

"Thanks," Chloe said smiling as she sat on his left in the third row.

Beca walked into the classroom a few moments later, seeing Chicago and walking towards him. The brunette noticed that the redheaded girl from earlier was sitting to his left, but she figured that was only because she didn't know anyone else in the class. "Hey," Beca said, sitting down in the seat on Chicago's right.

"What's up buddy?" Chicago said, giving his best friend a high five. He then looked at Chloe and then back at Beca. "Beca, this is Chloe Beale. She's our new student here."

Beca looked over at the redhead and gave her a little nod, then looked back to Chicago. "So, how were your first three classes of the day?" She asked, opening her backpack and taking out her textbook.

"They were alright," Chloe answered shyly. "Uh, I'm still getting used to being in a new place. This school is a lot bigger than my old one."

"Yeah, this place is pretty big. In my freshman year, it took a couple of months for me to fully figure out where everything was," Beca said. Chloe was about to say something else, but then the bell rang and the students began talking quieter than they had before while they waited for class to begin.

"Welcome to senior year everyone, these last few years have really flown by." Mr. Walp said. "Son, it's nice to finally have you in my class." He said, smiling at his son. "For those of you who don't know me yet, my name is Leonard Walp, but I prefer that you call me Leo or Walp." He said, smiling at his students. "We're going to have a really fun year this year. But first, we have a new student. Chloe Beale? Would you like to stand up and introduce yourself?"

Chloe looked around the room before standing up and clearing her throat. "Uh, hi. I'm Chloe Beale. I moved from Portland, Oregon which is where I've lived my whole life until now. And I'm looking forward to this year," she finished, smiling at Mr. Walp and Chicago before sitting back down in her seat.

Beca rolled her eyes as the girl spoke. Everyone was just going to learn her name anyways so there was no need to do it now. She watched the redhead throughout class, scrunching her eyebrows at her. Sure, she was pretty. But she was probably like every other pretty girl at the school, self-centered with a huge ego.

When Beca wasn't watching the redhead, she was scribbling music notes down in her notebook as well as random lyrics. "Hey Chicago?" She whispered as the boys dad went through the syllabi. "What's a good word that rhymes with ghost?" She asked, only to have Chloe cut in.

Chloe looked over and saw that Beca was writing lyrics for some music notes. "Hey, are you writing music?" She whispered over to the brunette.

Beca quickly closed her notebook, shaking her head. "Nope," she lied, looking away from Chloe and back to the syllabus.

Chloe was persistent, however. "You were definitely writing music. I saw the notes and the music. I could help you if you wanted."

"I don't need your-" Beca started before Mr. Walp cut in.

"Beca, do you have something to share with the class?" Leo said.

"No Walp," Beca said. When Mr. Walp moved back to talking to the rest of the class, Beca looked back at Chloe. "I don't need your help, I'm fine on my own."

"And that's why she asked for my help." Chicago said to Chloe with a chuckle.

"Shut up," Beca muttered, kicking Chicago's leg before focusing on her song lyrics.

"Is she always like that?" Chloe whispered, looking from Chicago to Beca and then back to Chicago.

Chicago leaned over to whisper in Chloe's ear. "She's pretty independent, it's nothing personal."

"It is when you walk in front of my car and not pay attention to what's around you. I don't need space cadets helping me with my music when if they can't see an oncoming car." Beca said rolling her eyes as she continued to scribble in her notebook.

"Beca, watch it. It's her first day, give her a break." Chicago said.

"I did, when I hit my breaks this morning to avoid hitting her." Beca stated firmly. "She's hard to miss with that bright red hair."

"I don't understand why you have this vendetta against me because I walked in front of your car this morning. Yeah, I should have been paying attention, but I was just trying to figure out where to go. Maybe you should pay attention where you're driving next time," Chloe replied in a calm voice.

"I don't know what they taught you in Portland, but life isn't like High School Musical, okay? You don't always get what you want. Not everything happens perfectly according to plan. And if you keep believing that everything will work itself out eventually, which I'm sure you do believe, then you're in for a rude awakening when you get into the real world," Beca snapped as the bell rang, grabbing her books and heading to lunch, not even waiting for Chicago.

Chloe sat there and looked down at her desk, not knowing what to say. Chicago stayed back a moment. "I'm sorry about that, Beca doesn't really have a filter." He said, putting his pencils in his bag. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Chloe said, standing up and grabbing her books. She followed Chicago out of the classroom and to the lunch room. "I think I'm going to sit by myself. It's obvious that Beca doesn't want to be near me, and I don't want to make you move from your best friend."

"No one should sit by themselves on the first day." Chicago said, still walking with Chloe. "Besides, Beca goes to the music wing and works on her songs during lunch anyways. I'll sit with you, I know all the great spots to sit at for lunch." He said, stopping and standing in front of her with a friendly smile. "Plus, I know how hard it can be moving to a new place. I moved here freshman year, so I was in your shoes."

Chloe bit down on her lip, still hesitant to accept Chicago's offer. She looked around, seeing if she recognized anyone from her previous classes. "Are you sure? I can go sit with Jessica from AP English if it's too much of a hassle."

"Believe me, sitting with a beautiful girl with red hair and a great smile at lunch is no hassle whatsoever." Chicago said, holding out his arm for her to take. "Come on, I'll even split the chocolate chip cookie my mom packed me for desert with you."

"Okay, I guess I'll let you sit with me. But I'm only doing it for the chocolate chip cookie," Chloe said with a laugh, making Chicago laugh as well. They sat down at one of the tables and began to eat their food together, laughing as they each told funny childhood stories to get to know each other better.

Later that day, Chloe drove to her new home and saw a familiar car sitting in the driveway next her new house. "Oh my god," She muttered to herself, groaning when she saw Beca walk into the house next door. Great, they were neighbors.

The redhead went up to her room and shut the door once she got inside the house. She then got out her phone and decided to Skype with Tom. A smile instantly appeared on her face when he answered. "Hey, how's my beautiful girl?" He said smiling on her phone screen.

"I'm alright," Chloe said, smiling back at Tom. "My first day of school was today. It wasn't too bad. There's this one girl in my English class who already hates me with a burning passion, but everyone else was nice to me today."

"Well, that's good to hear. Anyone would be insane not to like you." He mentioned, plopping down on his bed. "I miss you," Tom stated, smiling at her. "I wish we could have one of our cuddle sessions right now."

"You and me both. I could really use some of your cuddles right now," Chloe replied, smiling back at her boyfriend. "And I miss you too, in case you didn't know that already," the redhead added with a cute giggle.

"Well, I'm coming up for your homecoming dance and then you'll come down for mine. If you think about it that's only a month or so before we get to see each other again." Tom mentioned with a smile.

"And that month can't go by fast enough. I miss you so much, Tom," Chloe said with a sad tone of voice. "I wish that I could've stayed in Portland with you instead of coming here."

"I know, I wish you could've stayed here too. It feels weird, not being able to see you or kiss you every day." Tom mentioned, running his fingers through his hair sadly.

"Why don't we focus on something happy instead of something sad? Like, I can't wait to see you again and hug you again and kiss you again. I'll be so happy when I finally get to do that," Chloe said with a smile.

"Me too, your kisses are the best things in the world." Tom mentioned with a smile on his face. "That as well as, other things you do." He said blushing a little bit as he said that.

"Tom!" Chloe said, blushing and laughing at the same time. "Get your mind out of the gutter," she scolded, although she was still giggling from his comment.

"Oh come on, I was kidding." He said chuckling at his girlfriends contagious laugh. "I love it when I can make you smile, blush, and laugh all at once."

"That's just one of the many things you're good at," Chloe said, smiling at Tom. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and then back to Tom. "It's almost 4:30. Shouldn't you be at school getting ready for football tryouts?"

"Those aren't till tomorrow, babe." Tom chuckled. "But Coach Greenberg did talk to me today about becoming senior captain."

Chloe smiled widely at what Tom had just told her. "Really? That's so amazing! I'm so proud of you, Tom. You really deserve this."

"I hope I can live up to his expectations. After Mark Finley left last year, he's been looking for someone to take his place." Tom mentioned.

After about an hour of talking, Tom's mother called him down for dinner. "Hey baby, I gotta go. But I will call you right after tryouts tomorrow, how does that sound?" He asked.

"That sounds good. I love you babe, and I know you're going to do great at your tryout tomorrow," Chloe said, blowing him a kiss and smiling.

"Thanks beautiful, I love you too." He said, catching her kiss and then blowing her one before hanging up the phone.

Next door, Beca was sitting at her desk by the window, playing on her keyboard and singing a song she was working on as the backtracks played.

"When You Love Someone" - James TW

"Sometimes moms and dads fall out of love

Sometimes the best intentions just ain't enough

Some things you can't tell your sister cause she's still too young

Yeah you'll understand

When you love someone

When you love someone

When you love someone

When you love someone."

The brunette stopped playing the melody and wrote down the lyrics before setting the pencil down and looking up and out of her window. There, just across from her was her new neighbor. Beca looked closer to see who it was, and her face fell. "You've got to be kidding me."

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this new fanfic called "That's Life." Let us know what you thought in the comments.

Until Next Time!