Your Voice - Donald Walsh

ELEVEN

Blake watched from the wings of the stage, her mouth open in shock as one of the other groups performed before them. Someone came to tell Aubrey they had five minutes but she was not paying attention.

"Where'd he come from?" Stacie asked. The group was called the Footnotes, and their headliner was this kid with insane talent. Their specialty was insane dance numbers, but now that they had a good singer too, it might be all over for them.

"It's over. There's no way we can beat the Footnotes and the Trebles." Amy said, exasperated. "Come on, girl, show a little more tit." She said, unbuttoning one of Blake's shirt buttons. Blake swatted her hand away but left it. It was where she wore the blouse most performances anyways.

"A-ca-huddle, now." Aubrey said as the Footnotes finished. The Bellas gathered around. "The top two teams go to the finals, so we just have to beat one of them. And if we do it exactly like we rehearsed it, we will get there. Okay? Exactly. Hands in."

"On three or after three?" Stacie asked.

"Fuck it." Aubrey said, shaking her head and just gesturing for them to go onto the now empty stage. They got into position like they always did, and they began to sing. Like they always did.

Whoa-whoa whoa-whoa, yeah
I got a new life
You would hardly recognize me
I'm so glad
How could a person like me care for you
Why do I bother when you're not the one for me
Is enough enough

Blake's eyebrows shot up as she heard Beca break into Bulletproof by La Roux. She instantly switched to support her, but she could feel Aubrey's hatred from in front of her.

This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof

They finished the rest of the set as planned, the audience cheering as they left the stage. Blake nudged Beca, knowing the storm was coming and just smiled. Beca smiled back.

"What the hell, Beca? Are you trying to screw us up?" Aubrey asked.

"Are you serious?" Beca asked, frowning.

"Newsflash, this isn't the Beca show."

"Okay, I'm sorry that I messed you up, but in case you hadn't noticed, everyone pretty much dozed off during our set." Beca defended.

"It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it." Aubrey snapped. "Why don't you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?" The other girls looked away, refusing to meet her gaze.

"I thought it was smart, and it sounded good. Beca's right." Blake stated, Aubrey scoffed, holding up her hand.

"Amy?" Beca asked.

"It was cool... but it did take us a little bit by surprise." She answered honestly.

"Yeah, a lot by surprise." Aubrey snapped. "I told you she wasn't a Bella."

"Aubrey, don't-" Chloe began.

"No. That's okay. You don't have to pretend you're allowed to have a say in the group." Beca replied, shrugging.

"Your attitude sucks, you're a grade-A pain in my ass, and I know you're hooking up with Jesse." Aubrey accused.

"Woah, woah. Aubrey, calm down. We're not hooking up, I swear." Jesse said as the Trebles came on stage.

"Jesus Christ! That's perfect. Of course you're here right now." Beca cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "I don't need your help, okay, can you back off?"