Mitchsen, uhm, enjoy. I'mma go to sleep now. For the review asking me whether I'm Dutch, yeah, I am. So that'll probably come through in more than one chapter. Great, awesome answer. I'm kinda proud of how I can let awkwardness shine through words, yeah, well that was all. Like I said, enjoy. Whoo, I'm gonna go now. yeah, bye.

42. the key word.

Beca Mitchell used to be a punk, well, she tried at least. She wore only black, put on heavy eyeliner and acted like she didn't care about anything, or anyone for that matter. Beca made sure she kept everyone at arm's length and she never fully trusted someone, she was always prepared to leave or to be left. So even though she thought of the Bella's as her family, of Chloe as her best friend, they never knew the real story, they never even got past the first wall. There were hundreds of them, the safety locks that Beca build around her heart, to make sure it never got broken again. Those four years at Barden were an act for her, she should've won a Grammy, one at least, for all the lies she told, for all the promises she made. It's not that Beca had that much of a fucked up youth, it just left her with some trust issues, serious trust issues. So no, Beca didn't really have friends, she lived her life alone. Her mother had passed when she was still in high school and she didn't talk to her father, she also has no siblings so she is literally alone. And she doesn't mind, she likes it that way, she never liked being in groups, talking to new people. She was also too stubborn to talk to a therapist, so she never improved and even after Barden she just continued the way she knew how to live. Until she realised how alone she was, the step was difficult but she knew that she had to make it. She didn't want to die alone. So she opened up, she let someone in. It took years, slow progress and many setbacks. But she got there, she got to a place where she had a group of friends, a good job which forced her to interact with people. She looks better than before too.

The bell rings and Beca gets up from her desk "hi everyone" she addresses the students in her class "today I'm gonna tell you something about the first world war, you know the drill, if you have a question just raise your hand and I'm willing to get into a debate" and with that she starts spilling everything she knows about the mayor historic event. You got it right, Beca effin Mitchell is a history teacher, at a high school. Birds can swim and fish can fly. But in contrary to popular believes, Beca really likes her job, it's different from what she always wanted to do but it has a lot of bright sides that overshadow the bad sides. The students like her a lot, she's laid back, always nice and they feel like she understands them. When a student hands in an assignment late or fails a test, she always makes sure they're alright and when they have a good reason she might even let them try again, she really cares about her students. She wants to make sure that they know that they can always come talk to her. One of the most important reasons that her class really likes her is that she manages to talk about a boring subject as history like she's talking about the latest rumours, she actually makes it interesting and she can always keep the attention on herself. Yeah, Beca's happy where's she's at.

Beca has grown, these past years made her an adult. Not only in how she acts or her attitude but also her appearance, less scary, more classy and with that also hotter.

The bell rings and students start packing their bags "alright everyone, I'll see you next time" Beca sits back down at her desk and watches the students leave with a kind smile on her face, time had flown by. After the last student is out, Beca starts reading the essays she had them write. Nothing serious, just something where they could let their imagination go free and earn some extra credits, god knows everyone can always use extra credits. Halfway through the third essay (it's about how Russia will be the cause of world war three and honestly a good read) the principal knocks on her door, he's a nice guy.

"miss Mitchell?"

Beca looks up, the smile back on her face "how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you could show our new English teacher around, I feel like you will make the best impression from all our teachers"

Beca chuckles at that "well, I'd be honoured to" she puts down her pen and puts her glasses on her head "where is the newbie?"

The principal steps aside, revealing a woman "that's great miss Mitchell, meet Aubrey Posen" he gestures to the blonde who steps forward "miss Posen, meet Rebeca Mitchell"

Beca recovers from the initial shock faster than Aubrey and shoots into new Beca mode "oh my god, Aubrey! It's been so long, you look great. How have you been?"

The principal looks between the two and decides to leave them to themselves "well, it seems like you two are alright. Miss Posen, if you have questions, I'm sure miss Mitchell can help. Good day" and he walks out the classroom. Aubrey is still eying Beca suspiciously, who smiles still but feels a bit self-conscious under the blonde's burning gaze. She looks at herself, she's wearing a white blouse, showing an appropriate amount of cleavage and a golden necklace of a feather. Underneath are black pants and heels that are to die for, her hair is pulled back on one side and it shows the piercings in her ear. The spikes are gone, replaced by more subtle gold and silver thingies.

"Beca" is what Aubrey says, it's less of a question and more of a statement

"yes" is the patient answer

"what happened?" it's an honest question but Beca glances at the clock, five minutes before the next lesson starts, students will come in soon, so she chooses to not answer at this moment.

"I will answer that later, now however, class is about to start. When do you start? Not like right now I hope"

Aubrey shakes her head "no, I start next week"

Beca releases a breath she didn't realise she was holding "cool, well, I'll give you my number and we can arrange for me to show you around and answer any questions you have. For now though, will you be fine walking back to the teachers room yourself or do I need to help?"

"I'll be fine" Aubrey smiles "thanks though"

Not long after she says that, Aubrey is out and the room is filled with students. The day continues as normal, except that Aubrey is always in the back of Beca's mind and it really annoys her. Part of her is happy to see the old Bella but another part of her is slightly scared, although she doesn't really know why. So she just tries to focus on actually doing her job. What she doesn't know is that the first thing Aubrey does when she's back in her car, is text all the Bella's

Aubrey Posen – 11:31: 'you'll never guess who I just saw'

Chloe – 11:31: 'who'

Aubrey Posen – 11:32: 'Beca Mitchell'

Aubrey Posen – 11:32: 'she works at the school I got a job at'

Fat Amy – 11:32: 'you saw Shawshank?!'

Stacie – 11:33: 'damn, how's shorty?'

Emily – 11:34: 'oh my stars! It's been years'

Cynthia Rose – 11:34: 'shawty better have a damn good explanation ready'

Aubrey Posen – 11:36: 'I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet but I'll ask her'

Aubrey Posen – 11:36: 'she looked great though, different'

Chloe – 11:37: 'of course she did ;)'

And that's when Aubrey put her phone away, her crush on Beca in college was not something she was proud of. Beca was simply not acceptable back then and it annoyed Aubrey to no end that the alt-girl was the subject of her affection. Now however, Beca looks great. No one can deny that, she looks more mature and Aubrey mentally kicks herself for even thinking of Beca as more than a friend. But all the things that used to hold her back kind of disappeared, that is, after seeing the brunette once. She has a steady job, dresses like an adult woman and so far, was a lot more polite than she used to be. She tries not to dwell on it. The keyword is tries, but ya'know, she tries, that's worth something right? Right? Yeah, yeah let's say that.

It's three days later that Aubrey finally caves

Unknown number – 8:03: 'hey Beca, it's Aubrey. I was wondering when you have time to show me around'

Beca – 10:30: 'Hi Aubrey, sorry for the late reply, I had class. How about you come by around 4ish and I'll show you the school, we should catch up, I haven't seen you in years'

Aubrey – 10:36: 'great, I'll see you then :)'

And so it happens, Beca gives Aubrey a tour in the school and they talk about the years after college and Aubrey is shocked that Beca is so open about her life. It only provokes an honest story from her too and Beca only seems to appreciate that, they really hit it off. So Aubrey does what she was trying to keep out of her head (again, let's focus on the trying), she asks Beca on a date and somehow, some why, Beca says yes. She also agrees to go to the next Bella meeting, with the condition that Aubrey stops them from stomping on her.

And so it happens.

Because life might not be a fairy tale, but it sure as hell can be happy. Not a happy ever after but for a while at least.

And even though Beca had finally felt at peace where she was, with Aubrey she feel complete.

So yeah, happy.

That's the new key word: happy

Yeah, let's go with that.

Great word huh, happy

Yeah

I like it.