"Beca!"

Beca Mitchell squeezed her eyes shut, burying further down in the blankets.

"Beca!"

There were three things that Beca hated, more than anything.

Waking up before noon.

School.

And the screech of Aubrey Posen.

So, being woken up at six forty five a.m on a Monday morning to the screech of Aubrey Posen, for school, was about as bad as it could get. Groaning, she stuck her head under her mountain of pillows, willing the obnoxious noise to stop.

"Rebeca!"

Aubrey pushed open the door, making Beca wince at both the slam and the use of her full name.

"If you aren't out of bed in the next ten seconds, so help me God, I will leave without you. I am not being late on my first day as a senior".

Beca braced herself for the worst, as the door slammed again.

"I hate Mondays".

"Beca, up!" her father knocked on the door in passing and she let out a frustrated scream, throwing back her blankets.

She didn't know what was worse. Living with her father and stepmonster Sheila in Georgia, or living in Maine with her mother, stepfather and menagerie of stepbrothers.

At that moment, Barden Georgia was a clear winner.

After throwing on her usual outfit of skinny jeans and a singlet, a flannelette shirt thrown on top, she made her way downstairs.

"Is that much eyeliner necessary?" Aubrey wanted to know, as Beca entered the kitchen.

She rolled her eyes. "Good morning Aubrey".

"Hurry up; we've got to pick up Chloe on the way to school".

"Good morning Beca", Sheila said pleasantly, and Hailey grinned up at her big sister adoringly.

"Bec! Sit next to me!" the four year old said brightly. Beca smiled down at her half-sister.

"Alright", she agreed, tweaking her perfect ponytail. "Hey, who did your hair?"

"Bree", Henry, Hailey's twin, informed her.

"Of course she did". Beca took a sip of juice, and Aubrey eyed her warily. "What other four year old has a ponytail that perfect?"

(Hailey was a mirror image of Aubrey, with Beca's personality, whereas Henry took after Beca's looks.)

"Beca, are you almost ready?" Aubrey said impatiently.

"We don't need to leave for another half an hour, God, just chill!"

"I am not being late on my first day of my senior year", Aubrey informed her. "Mum, could you tell her?"

"Girls", William Mitchell interrupted. "Neither of you are going to be late- although Sheila, we need to get going. Henry, where are your shoes?"

"I dunno". Henry shrugged, and the man pointed.

"Go and find them. Hailey, are you ready?"

"Yep". She nodded enthusiastically.

"Good. Aubrey, your lunch is on the bench. Beca, what are you doing for lunch?" he had all but given up on his eldest daughter's meal habits, because Beca was determined to contradict everything he said.

Beca contemplated her options for a moment, before reaching for the jar of peanut butter. "I'll make a sandwich".

"Hurry up!" Aubrey said sharply.

"Bye Aubrey sweetheart. Bye, Beca darling. Have a good first day!" Sheila breezed past, holding both her bag and the twins' multi-coloured, cartoon character backpacks.

"Good luck, Bec". Will kissed her cheek, before bidding Aubrey farewell. "Have fun, Aubrey".

"Bye Dad, bye Sheila".

"Bye Will, bye Mum".

"Bye!" Hailey and Henry screamed excitedly.

(As far as Beca was concerned, they were the only good thing to come out of her father's second marriage.)

As Beca climbed into the backseat of her stepsister's car (knowing if she sat shotgun Aubrey would only tell her to move to make room for Chloe Beale, her best friend), she mused on how different life wold be, had her father allowed her to stay in Maine. Where she had friends and liked her school and actually knew people. Not where she was seen as the weird stepsister of perfect Aubrey Posen.

But her father had insisted that she move to Georgia- after spending no more than two consecutive weeks with him since the divorce when she was nine- for school. He thought that Barden High School would be great for his snarky, sarcastic, withdrawn teenager. And to her disgust, her mother didn't argue.)

"It might be good for you, sweetheart", she had said, and that was the closest to tears that Beca had gotten.

"But I like Maine! I have friends here! What am I supposed to do, just move my entire life to Georgia?"

(She had to move her entire life to Georgia.)

So, farewelling her mother, stepfather, three obnoxiously older stepbrothers she only pretended to hate (although Adam was only three days older, and let her know it) and adorable little half-sister Courtney (the three year old had cried and said 'stay here please Beca!'), she had hopped on a plane to fly to Barden, Georgia. She'd then proceeded to catch a taxi to her father's house (because she was not playing happy families), where she unloaded her mixing equipment into her room, spending the rest of the summer holed up.

"Hey Beca!" Chloe Beale, the overly perky redheaded best friend of Aubrey, said brightly. "Are you ready for school?"

"No". Beca shook her head, staring out the window and Aubrey frowned.

"Beca", she said, saccharine sweetly. "You are not ruining my senior year for me. Be nice to Chloe".

"I won't ruin anything", she said sharply. "You go about your business being the perfect blonde daughter and I'll go about mine. Look, you're acting like I want to be here, and trust me. I don't".

Chloe was quiet for a moment, observing the stepsisters' moods, before piping up with a story about Tom, the latest boy of interest.

(Chloe spent an awful lot of time in the Mitchell house, and even with her huge noise cancelling headphones, Beca heard their squeals.)

(If Beca had to spend her year riding to and from school with Aubrey, she would surely go insane.)