You Remember Me, Right?

Chapter 2

Beca was tired. No, not even tired. Exhausted would be a better word. There was just so much talking, and hugging, and explaining to what felt like the whole junior class why she had returned. No, she hadn’t been a teen mom. No, she wasn’t sent off to juvie. Yes, New York was spectacular, with the lights and the energy. It felt almost like another world, illuminating the best parts of the human race. You could find passion everywhere you looked, from the celebrities belting out the highest notes on a Broadway stage to the young singer looking for spare change in the corners of the subway stations.

 

She swore she didn’t remember half the people that recognized her. Their faces were a blur, and she didn’t even attempt to remember their names. They all  just kinda blended together in her mind. From cheerleaders calling out her name in the middle of the hallway, or prancing down to tell her they were excited to have her back to quiet guys in the library giving her soft smiles before returning to their books, it seemed like almost everyone knew who Beca was.

 

Barreling into her room and turning the volume of her computer to its maximum setting, Beca plopped down in her seat, her eyes glued to the sound program as the bar ticked across the screen to the beat. Suddenly, a shadow passed behind her, casting an absence of the glare on her computer screen. Whirling her chair around, her eyes met those of the intruder. Crossing her arms over her chest, Beca smiled.

 

“So what? You think you could just barge into my house now that we live so close? Go back to New York and find someone else to bother.”

 

Luke tried to match the smirk on Beca’s face, “Oh you know you want me here. Who else is going to protect you from the horrors of high school?” Beca’s smirk turned upwards, letting out a little smile, “Well I don’t know what you’re talking about. Back in New York I did just fine.”

 

Luke pulled up a stool next to her desk, pulling the headphones off her ears and onto his own. “I’m guessing this is your new mix?” Luke questioned, staring intensely at the screen. His fingers tapped along to the rhythm on the desk, mimicking each one of the down beats. Nodding, Beca looked up to see his reaction.

 

“You can do better.” Luke commented, with a glint in his eyes. Beca responded by reaching out to gently push his shoulder.

 

“Oh, shut up. I know you love it. You never hate my mixes.” Beca laughed. Luke kept up his act, his eyes dramatically opening wide in horror, “Why, Mitchell, do you think you know everything about me?”

 

“It’s because I do.” She said assuredly, leaning back in her chair and kicking her feet up onto her desk.

 

“Well that might be true,” Luke confirmed, “but I don’t know everything about you.”

 

Beca’s eyebrows rose, quizzically. “As a matter of fact,” Luke continued, “I think it is part of your job description as my very best friend to explain to me something. Actually, not something...someone. My, Miss Mitchell, it seemed like you had quite a few gentlemen callers at school.” Luke sat up straight, putting up his best posh, scholarly British imitation.

 

She let out a chuckle, ignoring his antics, “You are the weirdest person I have ever met.” Nothing would stop Luke until he got some more information out of her.