Meet Me at Stagedoor

Chapter 12

She could try to blame it on the adrenaline from the performance, but even Beca knew that that would be a lie.

What she did next even stunned her. It was almost if her mind and her body were disconnected. She thought that he was stupid and aggravating. Sometimes he was too persistent when it came to her and she wanted him to wipe that childish grin off his face. She hated the wave his voice could fill a room and she definitely hated the way he glanced at her when he thought she wasn't looking. She hated him...except maybe she didn't.

Maybe she really didn't.

Her heart and mind were both running a thousand miles per minute when she saw him running to follow her. A goofy grin adorned his face as he stopped short in front of her.

She did the exact opposite of what her brain was telling her to do; she put one hand behind his head, grasping his tufts of brown hair between her fingers, and pulled his face to meet her own. One of his hands rubbed his thumb on her arm, sending shivers down her spine. The other hand was placed on the small of her back, pulling her as close as she could be to him.

Beca was going crazy. She knew it was happening; she could feel it, but yet, she didn't seem to care.

Beca wouldn't say it was fireworks, but to Beca, it was not possible to see fireworks after a kiss. All she knew was that she was happy. She could feel her skin start to tingle wherever his skin touched her own.

It was surprising when he began to pull away. Beca thought he was an idiot, more of an idiot that usual. Finally, Jesse had worn her after trying to annoy her for so long, only to back away mid-kiss.

Idiot.

Reluctantly, he stepped back, still managing to kiss her hair and her neck and every part of her, while beginning to speak. To Jesse, she was intoxicating.

What he said, Beca never could've expected.

"Oh shit, Beca," he said, holding her face in his hands, "I had this whole romantic moment planned out and everything. I didn't know you were going to do that. Sit down...I promise you...just trust me."

With that, he led her towards an empty seat in the first row, kissing her hard before retreating back towards the stage. By now, she had no idea what was happening, and she had no idea why she liked kissing the weirdo as much as she did, but she decided to just go with it. For once, Beca was not going to protest.

"Becs," he began, "I knew you didn't really want to do that song, so I hope you'll like this one a little bit more."

When the music started to play from the speakers, Beca couldn't help but laugh. Jesse Swanson was singing Ignition. Jesse Swanson was singing R. Kelly. Jesse Swanson was going to rap.

Jesse grinned from center stage as his friends crowded around him, "Now, usually I don't do this but uh....Go head' on and break em off wit a lil' preview of the remix...."

He was really much more nerdier than she had ever expected. He jumped off the stage, "No I'm not trying to be rude, but hey pretty girl I'm feeling you," and took her hands in his own.

By now, all the girls were swooning, but with Jesse singing only to her, it was easy for Beca to block them all out. She didn't even notice Chloe taking a picture of the two of them. Within seconds, she had already posted it to Instagram.

What the hell was happening to her. She was soft. Beca was becoming a softie.

Jesse knew that she was always a softie.

"The way you do the things you do reminds me of my Lexus coupe. That's why I'm all up in yo grill, tryin'a get you to a hotel. You must be a football coach, the way you got me playing the field."

By now, all his friends were signing behind him, blending their voices together into a seamless melody. She never knew R. Kelly could sound so beautiful and she didn't know that he could rap. She would admit, that to anyone who wasn't a singer and didn't have a love of theater, he would look like a complete moron. With his boy band moves, Jesse sure did not look badass. To Beca, she didn't care.

"So baby gimme that toot toot. Lemme give you that beep beep. Running her hands through my 'fro, bouncing on 24's," Jesse had gotten her to stand up, leading the way onto the stage, back into the chair that had still been there from their previous performance.

"While they say on the radio...It's the remix to ignition. Hot and fresh out the kitchen. Mama rolling that body got every man in here wishing," Jesse and the other guys got down on their knees, all singing straight to her.

She was going to kill him.

She knew that eyes were peering at her from the entire class and she would attempt to murder Jesse when she had the chance, but right now, she let it slide.

"Sipping on coke and rum..I'm like so what I'm drunk. It's the freaking weekend baby. I'm about to have me some fun." By then, Jesse had pulled her up, spinning her around the stage. She didn't know what had gotten into her. She had to get psychoanalyzed when this was over, but for now, she just laughed along.

Jesse got down on his knees, singing eye to eye with her. The other guys ran into the crowd, getting the entire audience to stand up and clap.

"Now it's like murder she wrote. Once I get you out them clothes, privacy is on the door." If Beca wasn't so happy, she would've killed him when he pushed her plaid shirt off the tops of her shoulders, proceeding to kiss them.

"Still they can hear you screaming more. Girl I'm feeling what you feeling. No more hoping and wishing. I'm bout to take my key and stick it in the ignition."

"Gross," she whispered to him, earning her a smile.

"Girl we off in this jeep, fogging windows up, blasting the radio. In the back of my truck, bouncing up and down," Jesse sang, ignoring the audience of cat calls behind him.

"Whoa. You are moving kinda fast," Beca said so only Jesse could hear her, a smile on both of their faces.

"Stroke it round and round," he sang, winking at her as Beca just rolled her eyes.

"To the remix...we just thuggin it out..."

By the time the music faded out and the crowd began to cheer, she knew one thing...she liked him. She really did.

She also knew that she had to go to a psychoanalyst to make sure that she was okay.