Acapella

Chapter 6- High and Low

"I should've taken that cardio tip more seriously," Fat Amy said after we finished a run-through.

"How much have you done?" Aubrey asked.

"You just saw it," Fat Amy said, making me giggle.

"Chloe, you've gotta be able to hit that last note," Aubrey said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't, it's impossible. It's because of my, my-"

"Nodes," all of us sighed.

"Well, if you can't do it, then someone else needs to solo," Audrey decided.

"I think Beca should take my solo," Chloe suggested.

"Yeah, Beca would be excellent. But also, someone else might be excellent, and they might be shy and not forward to say they want the solo," Fat Amy hinted.

"Well, Beca doesn't want the solo, so-"

"I would be happy to do it if I got to pick a new song and do a new arrangement," Beca explained.

"Well, that's not how we run things here." Aubrey shrugged.

"Aubrey, maybe Beca's right. Maybe we could try something new-"

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey questioned. "You can sing Turn the Beat Around, and that's the last I wanna hear of this."

"That song is tired. We're not gonna win with it. If we pull samples from different genres and layer them together, we can make-"

"Okay, let me explain something to you because you still don't seem to get it. Our goal is to get us back to the finals, and these songs will get us there. So excuse me if I don't take advice from some alt girl with some Mad Lib beats who's never been in a competition. Have I made myself clear?" Aubrey ranted.

"Crystal." Beca backed off.

I ignored the rest as I grabbed my bag and left with Stacie.

"Heading over to your brother's?" Stacie asked.

"Definitely." I nodded as we parted ways.

I walked into the building and knocked on Andy's door. When no one answered, I left, wondering if they were at the Treble house. I flopped onto my bed when I got to our dorm. Stacie laid on her bed, flipping through a magazine.

"You alright?" Stacie asked.

"He wasn't there." I shrugged.

"Weird," Stacie said, turning to me. "Are you blood-related?"

"Of course. We're twins." I smiled.

"Oh. It's just that you and him look nothing alike," Stacie explained.

"I know. I look more like Dad, and Andy looks more like Mom." I nodded, smiling slightly.

"Tell me about them," Stacie said.

"Oh, they're the best. But really competitive. Either that, or they were working together as if it was them against the world. Trying to be better or harmonizing. They got Andy and I into singing, and we loved it. We loved working together," I explained. "Andy was there for me, always. Even through restoring my voice, he was there. He would help me with notes and pitch."

"Did you lose your voice?" Stacie furrowed her eyebrows.

I hesitated. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

She nodded, sitting up to face me. "I had nodes when I was fifteen. I had surgery because they were destroying my voice. I could barely talk without wincing. They mess up your vocal chords greatly. I can sing bass and soprano."

"Show me," she urged.

"What? No." I shook my head.

"Please? Come on, I won't judge. I've slept with guys two years older than us and they still sound like they're thirteen," Stacie begged.

"Fine," I sighed. "I hate talking like this."

"Holy crap." Stacie jumped in surprise. "That's so cool."

"I'm going to sound like a guy for a while now," I joked.

Stacie laughed as I went back to my normal voice. "It's embarrassing."

"No, it's not. This could help the Bellas," Stacie pointed out.

I nodded in understanding. "I'll bring it up to Aubrey. Soon."