Meet Me at Stagedoor

Chapter 8

"And that's a wrap...amazing work, guys," Jesse said, a smile across his face, "All of you are truly going to be great."

It had come to the end of their rehearsal time, but both Beca and Jesse felt like the group had a good handle on the routine. For the first few hours, Beca had helped one half of the group work on their vocals. Of course, Mackenzie jumped at the chance to work with THE Beca Mitchell. Her young eyes gleaming as Beca had announced that she was going to work with her first. Pulling a laughing Beca along, Mackenzie sat her down on a rock before beginning her solo.

Jesse, on the other hand, worked on the choreography, something of which he knew a little about because somehow he had ended up taking dance classes in his hometown. If you asked him, he would swear that he just liked dancing because of the music, but once you saw the genuine smile on his face, you would know that it was something more.

"It'll help you when you start a boy band. What are you thinking...more One Direction or 5 Seconds of Summer because I'm getting a Harry Styles vibe," Beca had joked with him non stop once she had heard he was enrolled in dance classes. "All you need to perfect is the hair flip and you will have millions of girls drooling."

To that comment, Jesse had winked back at her, smirking ever so slightly. So that's how you want to play it, Mitchell. Jesse was always up to the challenge. Taken aback by his reaction Beca retaliated, "Of course, I am not included in those millions of girls...but keep dreaming, loverboy." With that, Beca had turned on her heel and walked off, fully aware that she had won that round. Beca 1. Jesse 0.

For now, the sun was falling lower and lower in the sky and Jesse wanted nothing more than a snack. They had been at it for hours and not like he was complaining, because it was much better than being yelled out back in class, but he really was in need of some food. The energy of the kids was dwindling as much as Jesse's energy was, all except for Mackenzie because she had cornered Beca against a tree, quizzing her on her favorite artists at the time. Jesse thought Beca deserved an award for not killing the girl yet because if he knew Beca at all, she was already running through ways to either escape the girl or find a way to cause a temporary accident that would make her stop talking.

Beca was still working with some of the girls, her clear voice ringing throughout the field. When she had first started singing, all heads had been turned to her as she seemingly drew an audience without even knowing it. Beca was too focused on reading the music, her eyes calculating what harmonies would sound good or where she could have one kid solo, to realize the attention and even if she did, she didn't seem to care. When she finished, everyone returned to what they were doing, but still clearly moving within earshot to hear her if she decided to sing again.

Mackenzie was less discreet. Way less discreet. Jesse swore that she had formed some god complex around Beca, watching her every move and hanging to her every word. In turn, Beca had pretty much ignored it but did make eye contact with Jesse and laugh a little every time Mackenzie tried to show off or attempt to get Beca to talk about her newest mix.

Jesse, surrounded by the remaining girls, felt under attack. With wide eyes and crazy smiles they complimented his personality and then his voice and then his hair. He felt like he needed a fly swatter to keep them away. In fact, probably swatting flies would be easier than keeping those girls away. Beca just laughed at him, giving him a knowing look that she would never let him live this down. He was dreading the time they were out of the kids' earshot.

At the perfect moment, Chloe came up the the group, whose members, over the hours had slowly started to sit down on the rocks, their feet aching from the dance moves. All she had to say was "snacks" for Jesse to shoot up from his spot, almost toppling the redhead over with his momentum.

"Jeez, Jesse. Calm yourself." Her words were unnoticed by Jesse, who had already grabbed a handful of bags of popcorn before returning to his spot of matted grass underneath the tree. He heard over the crashing waves Beca thank Chloe for the food before coming next to and making herself comfortable next to him, but not too close. As if they were chicks following their mother hen, the other kids followed suit and ended up circling both Beca and Jesse, smiles dashing their faces from the food they were stuffing in their mouths.

"Hey, Becs," Jesse said, her head turning at the sound of her name, "Catch." With a moment's notice, Beca arched her neck to catch the kernel as it hurtled directly towards her, chomping on the popcorn with a smirk. Arching an eyebrow in response, Jesse tossed another one in her direction only to be amazed once again. For a girl that he was pretty sure had never played a sport in her life, Beca Mitchell had some pretty good hand-eye coordination.

He was asking for it, he couldn't complain. Beca followed his lead, taking one piece of her own popcorn and tossing in the direction of Jesse's mouth. Jesse was pretty sure he was going to catch it because he had a ton of practice in the theaters waiting for his movie to start, but he guessed wrong. The popcorn hit him smack in the eye, falling into the grass next to him.

"If you're going to challenge someone, Swanson," he knew Beca would have some witty remark at the snap of her hand, "You better be up to the challenge, yourself. Bow down to the master." Conceding to his defeat, Jesse clapped her on while she copied the wave of a princess to her adoring subjects. The rest of the kids laughed, picking up their heads ever so slightly from the bed of grass.

Suddenly, one of the girls, Nicole, blurted out, "Jesse, are you and Beca dating? Because Avril said that you guys were but I didn't think so but then Amanda said that Ryan said that you two were..."

Jesse was about to say that no, him and Beca weren't dating but Beca said it first. "Avril's wrong. We aren't dating...never have," Beca said. She swore she could hear Rachel whisper, "Now we can have him all to ourselves," but she tried to ignore it. Jesse backed Beca up, nodding alongside her. End of discussion? Nicole didn't think so.

"Well. You like Jesse, don't you, Beca? Because then I could tell Avril that she doesn't have a chance with Jesse," Nicole continued. For a brief second, something rare glazed over Beca's face: shock. She didn't know what to say or do. Sometimes she liked him, liked how his voice was as smooth as silk when he sang or how he was able to go head to head with her with her sarcastic remarks. On occasion she enjoyed how he would always push her to be better, how his passion matched her own but no, she did not like Jesse. Jesse. Swanson, really. He was nothing to her but an annoyance who woke her up in the morning and knew how to push all her buttons.

It was silent for a moment, Jesse's eyes watching her every move to see what she would say. In the back of his mind, against all good judgement, he hoped she would say 'yes'. Actually, the line between a good pause and awkward silence was almost crossed when Beca's sported her signature smirk, staring straight in Jesse's eyes and responded, "Sometimes, but only on occasion."

At least it was better than nothing and for now, Jesse could live with that.