How it All Began

Chapter 6

The next day at the first rehearsal, the recruits looked at pictures of older Bella generations when Aubrey called the group to order.

"Okay, sopranos in the front, altos in the back. As you can see - Kori is no longer with us. Last night she was Treble-boned. She's been disinvited from the Bellas," Aubrey announced.

"That oath was serious?" Beca asked.

"Dixie Chicks serious. You can fool around with whoever you want as long as it's not a Treble," Aubrey said.

"That won't be easy; he's a hunter," Stacie said, gesturing to the area between her legs with swinging hands.

"You call it a dude?" Beca asked.

"Stacie, the Trebles don't respect us, and if we let them penetrate us, we are giving them our power," Aubrey explained.

"Not a good enough reason to use the word 'penetrate'," Amy chimed in.

"Does anyone here have anything to confess?" Aubrey asked.

Everyone was silent, until...

"It was an accident," Mary Elise confessed.

"Turn in your scarf and go," Aubrey insisted on the spot. Mary Elise complied, then dragged her chair to the exit of the room as everyone watched.

"Was that necessary?" Beca asked.

"This is war, Beca. And it's my job to make sure my soldiers are prepared for battle with three songs choreographed to perfection. There are only four months left before regionals, so if you have a problem with the way that I run the Bellas, then you should just..." Aubrey stopped when she started to feel stressed.

"Don't stress, Aubrey. We don't want a repeat of last year," Chloe said, trying to calm her down.

"What happened last year?" Lily asked quietly.

"What was that?" Chloe asked.

"She wants to know what happened last year," Beca said.

"Well, there's a chance someone uploaded the incident to YouTube. Go look there," Aubrey grumbled as Beca took out her tablet to look it up.

A video played of the incident from last spring where Aubrey projectile vomited during her solo at the ICCAs. Only half of the Bellas were amused.

"Click on 'Guy Pukes on Cat'," Stacie said before being stopped.

"ENOUGH! It happened; it's over. We will practice every day for two hours a day, and I trust you'll add your own cardio," Aubrey said.

"Why cardio?" Beca asked.

"Yeah, no; don't put me down for cardio," Amy added.

"Okay, moving on. This is a list of all the songs we've ever performed. And you'll notice we only do songs made famous by women," Aubrey said.

"There's nothing from this century here," Beca said.

"That's because we don't stray from tradition," Aubrey said.

"Well, don't you know some traditions are meant to be broken?" Beca asked.

"I agree," Chloe added.

"Anyway, this is how we become...champions," Aubrey said, flipping over the dry erase board.

Aubrey and Chloe trained the recruits with all the choreography they were expected to learn for the upcoming competitions.

Afterward, just as Aubrey was about to dismiss everyone..."Okay, don't forget to pick up your rehearsal and performance schedules on your way out. We have a gig next week," Aubrey informed the group.

"It's Sigma Beta Theta's annual Fall Mixer," Chloe added as everyone grabbed their schedules and headed out.

"Beca - a word..." Aubrey said.

"What's up?" Beca asked.

"You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the Fall Mixer," Aubrey said.

"You don't really like me very much, do you," Beca guessed.

"I don't like your attitude," Aubrey said.

"You don't even know me," Beca pointed out.

"I know you have a toner for Jesse," Aubrey said.

"A what?" Beca asked, confused and amused at the same time.

"A toner. A musical boner. I saw it at Hood Night, and it's distracting," Aubrey pointed out.

"Yeah, that's not a thing, and you're not the boss of me, so..." Beca fired back.

"You took an oath," Aubrey reminded her.

"That oath cost you two girls already today. I'm pretty sure you need me more than I need you," Beca said before walking out.

"Are you sure that was necessary?" Chloe asked, intervening.

"Chloe, I know you admire her for her voice, but-" Aubrey started to answer before being cut off.

"But nothing! I know you're fixated on sticking to tradition, but she obviously sees things from a different point of view," Chloe fired back.

"I've noticed. You know, I was skeptical about having her as a Bella from the very beginning," Aubrey reminded Chloe.

"Well, I wasn't! Give it time, and who knows - you might learn to like her just as much as me. Everyone else seems to like her," Chloe said, prompting a deep sigh from Aubrey.

One week later, the Bellas had their performance at the Fall Mixer. It ended up being a total disaster. After their performance got cut short, the rest of the Bellas left the frat house feeling disappointed.

"Well, I hope you all remember the way you feel right now, so you'll never want to feel this way again. Chloe, your voice didn't sound 'Agulierian' at all," Aubrey pointed out. "Chloe, for serious, what is wrong with you?" she asked, waiting for a response.

"I have nodes," Chloe answered, prompting shocked gasps from the rest of the group.

"What? Oh, my god." Aubrey said, now worried and holding Chloe's hands for comfort.

"I found out this morning," Chloe continued.

"What are nodes?" Beca asked.

"Vocal nodules! The rubbing together of your vocal cords at above-average rates without proper lubrication," Aubrey answered.

"They sit on your windpipe, and they crush your dreams," Chloe added.

"Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?" Beca asked.

"Because I love to sing," Chloe said.

"Yeah, it's like when my lady doctor told me not to have sex for six weeks, and I did it anyway," Stacie shared.

"You should really listen to your doctor," Amy chimed in.

"The key is early diagnosis. I am living with nodes, but I can handle it. I just have to pull back - because I am limited - because I have nodes," Chloe explained.

"Chloe, this is horrible," Aubrey said, still worried.

"Well, at least it's not herpes...or do you have that as well?" Amy said.

"Hey! This is NOT the time for jokes!" Aubrey yelled firmly.

"Sorry," Amy said.

"Okay, everyone. See you all at rehearsal tomorrow," Aubrey said before everyone left.