A/N: Credit to the very talented Beth Reekles who wrote this book which is now a movie from which this is adapted. She got her start writing on sites just like this, so all the kudos to her!

Also, since people are asking: at the start of this story since they are in 11th and 12th grade respectively, Beca's 16 and Chloe's 17.

Jesse is Beca Mitchell's best friend.

They were born in the same Los Angeles hospital, on the same day, at the same time.

Their moms were best friends and they were raised like twins, and have been inseparable ever since.

Beca doesn't remember much from before high school - it's a big awkward blur of embarrassment and sadness - but for as long as she can remember, she and Jesse absolutely loved music.

They discovered the mutual affinity for it by accident through a chance encounter with a Guitar Hero arcade game at the Santa Monica Pier when they were tagging along with Jesse's older half-sister and her friends. They'd strolled past it at first, intent on a game of Whack-A-Mole, when the shiny pair of red and black plastic guitars caught Beca's eye. She challenged Jesse, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The arcade becomes their favorite hang-out - it's how they burn off their adolescent energy, it's how they let off steam and deal with the stress of middle school.

A lot of stuff happened between then and now, though.

The first Christmas Beca can remember, she was six. She got a Barbie Dreamhouse; Jesse got a scooter. Beca broke her leg riding Jesse's scooter and Jesse signed Beca's neon blue cast and brought her ice cream to make up for breaking her leg.

Beca dressed as a cowgirl for Halloween; Jesse dressed up as a doctor.

Jesse's big sister, Chloe, chased off some kids who were harassing them over their ice cream cones one summer day.

It cost them both their ice cream in "Protection Tax," but at least Chloe just ate their ice cream instead of shoving it in their faces or something.

She watched Jesse win his first spelling bee and watched Chloe win her first fight - a shrieking bout of hair-pulling with a fellow eighth-grade girl who'd called her a slut.

Beca dressed as a fireman for Halloween; Jesse went as some weird ancient Mexican bird they'd learned about and that Beca could barely pronounce.

Beca found out that her mom was sick and went to visit her in the hospital for the first time. She tried to get used to seeing her there, but it was hard.

She got in a fight with Jesse over who had the best freestyle guitar riffs and made up by getting him ice cream.

She got in a fight with Chloe for bullying Jesse by making Jesse do all her chores and made up with Chloe by letting her give her a makeover with the new makeup kit Chloe had purchased with her allowance.

Chloe was really good at makeup.

She got her first bra - which she didn't really need. She discovered she liked soccer. They discovered a way to get to the Pier on the Los Angeles Metro system so they weren't dependent on Chloe anymore to get there, though Chloe and her clique were usually there anyway.

She was 14 when she realized she wasn't going to be a fashion icon and embraced her natural state of "constant fashion emergency," having decided to own it and make it work. She discovered she was, however, good at sports, specifically soccer, and joined the Barden High School team.

That year she had a difficult conversation with her dad about her mom; the cancer was back. Worse. No longer treatable. She spent all the time she could in the hospital with her mom, telling her about school and soccer and Jesse.

She only let herself cry when her mom was asleep.

Beca almost got her first kiss from Benji Applebaum, but he sneezed in her face.

She also watched Chloe getting really, really, pretty as she practiced with the rest of the lacrosse team in the spring; it wasn't her fault that she had to wait with Jesse who was waiting for Chloe every day for a ride home.

Chloe got in another fight - and she won, though it earned her a three-day suspension and nearly cost her her spot as lacrosse captain. Rumor has it, the fight (more like yelling and shoving than really fighting) was because someone had called 14-year-old Jesse a slur.

She got her period, FINALLY. At 15, she felt like the last one in her class to get it.

She dressed like a pirate that Halloween; Jesse went as Black Swan.

She said goodbye to her mom.

She had a lot to tell her; she told her all about Chloe.

She watched Chloe show up to school on the first day of Beca's sophomore year on a motorcycle.

A motorcycle.

Chloe Beale, the portrait of absolute femininity, drove to school on the first day of her junior year on a motorcycle. And not some Vespa or one of those neon-colored crotch rockets. No, she had an honest to God Harley Davidson.

Beca had never felt her heart do quite what it did that morning - at least, not up until that point.

She watched Jesse try to ride Chloe's motorcycle which earned Jesse a lesson from Chloe about sitting on her motorcycle: a whole lot of yelling and the request, nay, demand that Jesse take out the trash for a month.

On their 16th birthday, Jesse got his dream car - a 1965 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 convertible in midnight blue.

She learned that girls could be really mean for no reason.

She played Seven Minutes in Heaven and hoped for her first kiss again; instead, she clunked heads with the guy and it was too awkward to try again.

She got a bra that she suddenly did need and wondered why she still hadn't been kissed or even been on a date. But she didn't fixate on it. Not really.

She realized she had a crush on Chloe that summer.

And got over her crush on Chloe that summer...mostly.

She's lounging poolside at Jesse's totally awesome house. It's the last weekend of summer and she's spent the majority of it in this very lounge chair. It's moments like this that make her wish things could stay this way forever.

Her phone chiming with a new text breaks her reverie and she picks it up to check it, immediately regretting doing so as a picture of someone's junk fills her screen. "Ew, perv!" She looks around to show Jesse. "Jess! Check out what Bumper just texted the entire school!"

Jesse doesn't respond though and is nowhere to be seen.

He finally makes himself known by a shout of, "Cannonball!" before he's running and sprinting off the roof of the first level of his house.

Beca braces for it, holding her phone behind her back to protect it and catches half the pool in her lap. "Oh my God, dude - that was a good one!"

"I know!" Jesse says with a grin as he pushes water off his face and pulls himself back onto the deck.

"Come sit," she says as she decides to get down to business for a few unfortunate minutes. "Tomorrow's the first day of school and Student Council's expecting our Gamers Club idea this week for the fall fundraiser. We're going to be in trouble if we don't come up with something fast."

Jesse grimaces.

"Yeah, exactly." She's about to start spitballing ideas when something catches her eye on the other side of the pool.

Something so, so eye-catching.

Something like Chloe wearing half of her field hockey uniform - the bottom half, specifically, with what appears to be the top half thrown over her shoulder leaving her in nothing but light blue shorts and a gray sports bra which, Beca notices, fits very, very tightly. Her long red curls are tied up in a bun and every inch of upper body strength is on display.

Like, wow.

Yeah.

Chloe Beale is stupid hot.

But she and Jesse developed a list of friendship rules over the years. Jesse was responsible for Rule Number Nine, which specifically states, "Relatives of your best friend are totally off-limits." It's a really, really big one for Jesse, probably the result of living somewhat in the shadow of a living legend.

And it's not like Jesse isn't awesome. He's awesome as far as Beca's concerned. But his big sister is ostensibly more attractive and more athletic than he is, which are two characteristics required to be "cool" in high school.

"Hey Jess," Chloe shouts across the pool, squinting into the sunlight, "have you seen my cleats?"

"Yeah, bitchface," Jesse asks as she stands and closes a bit of the distance between them, "I needed them for all those varsity sports I'm constantly playing."

The sarcasm makes Beca laugh and it seems to get Chloe's attention.

"Hey, Becs," Chloe says with a smile in her direction. Chloe knows she hates being called Becs.

"Yes, Chlo?" And Beca knows she hates being called Chlo.

"When did the boobs finally pop up?" Chloe asks as she points across the pool at Beca's chest which is, admittedly, very much on display in her black and white bikini.

Jesse laughs. "When you were at hockey camp learning to be a better bitch. It was like she was on human growth hormones or something."

Beca suddenly feels way, way too much on display and she grabs her towel to cover her cleavage. "Jess! Rule Number Two!"

Rule Number Two: Never share our secrets with anyone.

"Whatever," Chloe says with a shake of her head. "Mom and Dad are out of town Friday night, so the party starts at 8:00. Don't invite any jerks."

Jesse waits until Chloe's turned and heading back to the house before cracking, "Does that include you?"

Beca's already in her, "Ohhh!" harsh burn shout when Jesse spins to join her. She sees it coming but is still laughing and fails to warn him of the NERF football Chloe's just fished from the edge of the pool to heave it right into Jesse's back and knock him into the water with a yelp.

Chloe just winks at her and walks away, and Beca's still laughing when Jesse's pulling himself out of the pool. "What an ass!" he says with a sputtering bitterness.

But Beca's not quite looking; instead, she's watching Chloe walk away. "Yeah…" she says, admiring the short-shortness of the shorts against Chloe's, well, everything.

"Hey, hey!" Jesse says, snapping in front of her face. "Rule Number Nine, young lady!"

Beca scoffs. "Oh, come on, dude. Seriously?"

"Yeah, well, you got a little bit of drool on the corner of your mouth," Jesse says, pointing at his mouth.

"Oh, I do? Right here?" Beca points at her own and Jesse confirms it. "I do? Really?" She uses her words to distract Jesse long enough to grab the pool basketball from next to her chair and heave it at him.

He probably could have caught it or withstood the impact but he goes with it and lets it knock him back into the pool again.

The First Day of School.

It felt like a teenage year lived and died based on the success or failure of The First Day of School.

The good thing about school, as far as Beca was concerned, is the dress code. They had uniforms which all but eliminated her risk of fashion faux pas that other girls her age loved to use to ridicule. It was easy: always some combination of yellow, navy blue, or light blue.

She was going with a yellow short-sleeved button down, navy tie, and navy pants that she'd bought at the start of summer when the uniform warehouses had their approved options on clearance. She hadn't bothered trying anything on over the summer, because why bother? And standing in front of her full-length mirror, she thinks she maybe should have.

Everything is snug and she knows she needs a size up, but it's too late for that today so she decides to make do with it. It's when she bends over to grab her backpack that the pants give out, splitting right down the back with a heartbreaking rip right as she hears Jesse honking out front.

"Shit!" she says as she whips through the hangers in her closet. "Dad, where are my other pairs of school pants?!"

"They're at the cleaners!" floats back up to her.

It's hopeless and there's nothing left in her closet that qualifies for the dress code except the plaid skirt from 9th grade that she'd kept last year for emergencies. She hadn't yet got around to having something for emergencies this year.

"9th-grade skirt on an 11th-grade body," she says with dread as she looks at the scrap of blue plaid. "Perfect."

She knows Jesse's going to comment on it. "Don't say anything!" she threatens as she climbs into his Mustang. The skirt is ridiculously short. Like, so short it should be illegal. "My pants ripped."

Jesse just grins at her. "You should have back-ups."

"My back-ups are at the cleaners."

"What about your backup back-ups?"

"These are my backup back-ups!" she says as she shoves at Jesse to get him to shut up.

"Okay, okay! Seriously though, cover up. I'm trying to drive."

"Oh my God, shut up!"

"Nice landing," Beca snarks when Jesse hits the curb when pulls into a parking space.

Jesse smiles at her proudly. "If you ever got your driver's license, you wouldn't have to put up with my driving."

"Why would I do that when I have you as my personal chauffeur?"

"True!" Jesse says even more proudly.

"And hey dude, we need fundraiser ideas. Today. Non-negotiable."

"Fine," Jesse says with a sigh as they get out of the car.

In the 20 minutes it took them to drive to school, Beca had forgotten about her backup back-ups. She hears people whistling and looks around to see what's going on.

"Everyone's looking at us," Jesse says, and she's confused. "Actually, everyone's looking at you."

"What?" Suddenly the wolf whistles and catcalls feel gross and invasive. "No, they're not!"

"Beca, you do realize that you acquired a few curves over the summer, right?"

Beca's horrified; for the first time in her semi-adult life, she doesn't feel invisible. Everyone is looking at her. She picks up speed toward the school and that's when she feels it.

Someone smacks her ass.

She gasps and whirls and Jesse whirls with her to see a smug-looking Luke Davies awaiting a reaction.

"What the hell, Luke?" Jesse yells.

"It's fine, Jess, I got this." Beca knows exactly what she's going to do: she's going to give Luke a piece of her mind, and potentially, a kneecap to the groin.

"Relax, man."

"How about I relax your face?"

"Jess, it's fine! I got this! Jesse!"

But Jesse's already winding up his punch, which he throws. His fist smacks right into Luke's waiting palm which wrenches Jesse's arm to the side and Beca sees it happening in slow motion. Luke's wind up and Jesse bracing for it when a backpack suddenly smacks Luke in the face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chloe shouts as she gets between Jesse and Luke.

"Chloe!" Beca yells from shock more than anything.

"Whoa, little lady, back off."

"Back off? Why don't you back off Jesse and Beca?" Chloe shoves him and he flails, unsure how to handle a fight with a girl. Chloe doesn't back off, though, instead she keeps shoving him until he stumbles backward and trips over the curb to land on his back with Chloe towering over him.

It's the Vice Principal who finally intervenes. He helps Luke off the ground and yells, "You three, in my office - now!"

"Wait, me?" Beca asks meekly when she realizes it's directed at her as well and not just Chloe and Luke.

She's never been in the VP's office; she knows how to play the sweet and innocent card, and it's saved her hide a hundred times in the classroom.

"She even gets credit for my fights!" she hears Jesse grumble to himself as she turns to follow the VP into the building.

She has to wait her turn with the Vice Principal; Luke got the honors of going first so she and Chloe have to wait side by side on the cold wooden chairs of the opulent office of their private Barden High School.

"Why did you do that?" she whispers at Chloe.

"Jesse was in trouble," Chloe mumbles as she stares at her iPhone.

Beca shakes her head. "Any excuse for a fight, right?"

That makes Chloe look up. "I don't start fights; I only finish them." She goes back to her phone.

Beca scoffs.

"But no one should treat a girl like that. Especially if that girl is you."

Beca's heart stops for a second and she looks at Chloe again. She hadn't even had a chance in the chaos to appreciate the crisp white blouse, blue necktie, and blue plaid skirt (one that matched Beca's, only a more school-appropriate length). "Me?"

"Yeah. It's like those guys are trying to get in my baby sister's pants, which is super gross."

It was super great to hear her childhood crush say it's super gross to get into her pants and that she sees her as a baby sister.

"You have zero experience with guys. You've never even had a boyfriend."

Beca doesn't know the point of this is, but she's defensive nonetheless. "Whatever!"

"Wearing a skirt like that -" Chloe points at her. "They think you're asking for it even though you're not."

The door interrupts their conversation and a meek-looking Luke exits. "Miss Mitchell?" the Vice Principal says to invite her into his office where she gets detention for violating the dress code.

There's a group of girls at Barden that Beca likes to call the OMG Girls because at least 50% of their sentences begin with, "Oh, my God!" They're the uber-popular girls, the girls that got their boobs in 7th grade, the girls who lost their virginity in 9th grade, the girls who were pretty and popular and - the one thing Beca did like about them - none of them was 100% straight.

And for some reason, today they've sat down at the table where Beca's eating her lunch while she waits for Jesse.

"Oh, my God, how crazy was that fight?" Flo asks without bothering to say hello.

Aubrey's next. "Chloe was so fierce!"

"Have you made out with her yet?" Stacie asks conspiratorially. "Oh, my God, I would totally have Chloe's babies."

Aubrey tosses her hair. "I heard she's into blondes; too bad, Beca."

"Give me your numerals," Stacie says before Beca can even respond. "We should def catch up."

Beca manages an, "Okay, yeah, it's 310-"

But Stacie's phone interrupts her and whatever it is, she shows Aubrey and Flo. "Gotta go, Becky. There's a shemergency in the locker room."

A shemergency?

"Sorry it didn't work out between you and Chloe," Aubrey says with a pout that is so fake it hurts. "Guess it wasn't meant to be."

They leave as quickly as they appeared and Beca's left with her head spinning just as Jesse finally shows up to eat with her.

"What were the OMG Girls doing here? Did Aubrey ask about me? Did you tell her about my cute dimples?"

Jesse drags her shopping after school insisting on her advice in choosing "new threads" to wear at Chloe's house party on Friday.

His options are horrifying, blinding, even, and Beca looks up from her phone and shakes her head at the atrocious floral print shirt he's wearing half-buttoned.

"What are you doing?" he says as he returns to the fitting room unbothered by her rejection.

"Trying to find a good idea for the carnival fundraiser. Somebody has to."

Jesse returns wearing blue paisley.

"Come on, dude."

He sighs and disappears again. "What about the strength game, with the hammer and the bell?"

"The chess team picked that one."

Jesse sticks his head out through the curtain wearing a look of confusion.

"I know."

"What about - ooh! What about a dunking booth?"

"Swim team."

"Damn it!" He sticks his head out again.

"I know, dude, who saw that one coming?"

Jesse reveals himself again, this time in some atrocious blue and pink thing that makes Beca feels like she's on acid. "Do you think Aubrey would like this one? Because I think it makes my eyes pop, and I really want to kiss her on Friday."

"Come on!" she laughs. "Today was the first time the OMGs ever spoke to me. Do you really think Aubrey knows who you are?"

"Baby steps, Beca. Baby steps." He shuffles back to the fitting room.

"I mean, come on. She's a varsity cheerleader. Basically, the only way she'd ever make out with you is if you paid for it."

She hears it the second it's out of her mouth and she gasps and leaps off the chair just as Jesse rips open the curtain.

"Kissing booth!" they yell in unison.

"Ooh, yeah that is the perfect carnival fundraiser!" Beca congratulates herself and high-fives Jesse.

"Also, I love the irony. The girl who's never been kissed does a kissing booth? What?"

Beca rolls her eyes. "Irony is a cruel mistress indeed."

"Okay, well, all we need is Student Council to approve it."

Beca knows how to debate and negotiate. "Leave that to me."

"Great. He turns back to the fitting room and then stops. "Wait." He pops the collar of a shirt more suited for a bullfighter. "What about this one?"

Beca takes it in and smiles. "Aubrey will love it."

Jesse lights up. "Really?"

"No, dude! It's awful!"

"Dammit!"

Beca's sitting in detention with the rest of the members of their first-day scuffle when she hears a distinct, "Psst!" behind her.

She turns, confused by the guy sitting behind her handing her a folded piece of paper with her name on it. She takes it and glances at the teacher in charge of detention today but he's immersed in his Beekeeping magazine, so she unfolds it.

"I'm sorry."

She wonders...and turns to look over her other shoulder at Luke sitting a couple seats back. He pouts his bottom lip and gives her puppy eyes. It makes her laugh despite herself and she sees him reach to pass another note.

"What do I have to do to get your number?"

She likes that one; if he wants it, he'll have to work for it. She flips to a clean sheet of paper in her notebook, scribbles her demands, and passes it back and watches him read and consider it.

When she turns back, she catches Chloe watching her from a couple rows over; she looks disappointed. They exchange looks - Chloe asking her what she's doing, Beca asking her why she cares, Chloe telling her she warned her.

10 minutes pass and she notices Luke's snuck out of the classroom with the help of the teacher now snoring at his desk, but he's startled awake when the doors of the room burst open to reveal Luke wearing his boots, his football jersey, and a plaid skirt that Beca doesn't want to know how he got. He's proud and he poses and the rest of the students in detention whistle at him and the yearbook guy who's always taking pictures of everything on his phone snaps away while Luke pouts for the camera and puts on a fashion show.

"I can't believe you actually gave him your number," Jesse says with a mouthful of cheeseburger while he holds Beca's feet while she does sit-ups before practice.

"Well, it was a really nice apology. And that whole skirt thing was priceless!" It really was hilarious and while she knows Luke loves to be a class clown, this time he did it specifically for her and it was nice to have someone put themselves in an uncomfortable position for her for once.

"If word gets out that fighting me is a way of getting your number, I am in for a really long junior year."

Beca sits up and stays up at that comment. "I wouldn't really call it a fight." She takes his burger and steals a bite. "I think I'm going to go out with him. Unless you think I shouldn't."

He shrugs. "You're going to have to go on a date eventually."

Beca takes another bite of his burger. "What do people even do on dates?"

"I dunno," Jesse says with his mouth still full. "Sit around and eat food, I guess."

Beca glances at their shared burger and patch of grass and exchanges looks with Jesse, and they both burst out laughing at their "date."

Jesse drives Beca to the restaurant Luke's taking her to dinner at; she's nervous and excited, but not really excited-excited; she's just excited to finally get the enormity of her First Date out of the way. "My heart's beating so fast," she says after stepping out of the convertible and turning back to talk to Jesse.

"That's totally normal. I think."

Beca frowns and then shakes her head. "Okay, well can you keep your phone on you? I know myself and I'm going to run out of things to talk about and -"

"No, no no no," he interrupts. "You are not going to call me on your date."

"Please let me call you," she whines. "I know myself."

"No, Beca! If he can't see how awesome you are, then he's not the right person for you." He says it with such certainty that he makes it hard for her to disbelieve him.

"Gag me," she says with a smile, and he laughs.

Beca waits outside the popular hangout, checking her phone every two minutes. Their date was supposed to be at 8:00 pm. It feels like nine years pass between 8:00 pm and 8:15 pm.

It feels like a lifetime passes between 8:15 pm and 9:00 pm when she finally gives up waiting for him.

"What's wrong with me?" she asks Jesse while they pay half-attention to the song they're playing in band mode. He came to her rescue after she called him, embarrassed and ashamed, to pick her up when Luke never showed up.

"You're awesome, all right? Luke's just a dick. I don't know why I even told you to go out with him."

"Maybe because he's the only guy who's ever asked me out?" She's really feeling like a loser tonight. USDA Prime Cut Loser.

"Okay, stop it," Jesse says as he lowers his guitar. "Luke's not worth it. You're way too good for him. Plus, I heard he has a vestigial tail."

Beca laughs at his stupid joke and sees his attention shift to look past her over her shoulder, and then he's moving. She turns to see Luke hesitating a few feet away looking what she can only describe as sheepish.

"Hey, get out of here, man," Jesse says, getting as much in Luke's face as he dares. "You had your chance."

"I need to talk to Beca." He looks downright apologetic.

"Jess, it's okay."

Jesse hesitates but eventually backs away, pointing at Luke to let him know he'll be watching him.

Beca racks her guitar on the game and steps off the platform. "Running a little late, are we?"

Luke sighs. "I'm sorry I stood you up. I really did want to go out with you. But you deserve an explanation."

She crosses her arms. "That'd be nice."

"Chloe…" he hesitates, "told me it wouldn't be smart if I showed up for our date tonight."

Beca blinks, surprised and confused. "Chloe?"

"Yeah."

She shakes her head. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It's true." He seems earnest which only confuses her more. "And it's not just me. She's been telling all the guys not to ask you out for awhile now."

She's so taken aback she doesn't know if she's mad or flattered or both but mostly she's just, "What?!"

He seems immediately regretful. "You can't tell her I told you!"

"Why do you care?"

"No boobs are worth getting beat up by a girl." He hurries out of the arcade and Beca feels...she feels…

"Fine! But just so you know, my boobs are fantastic!" she shouts after him.

It's only after the words are out of her mouth that she realizes half the arcade is staring at her.

As soon as she gets home she calls Chloe and paces her bedroom. "You do realize you're not my mom, right?" She is furious with Chloe for interfering in her personal life for God knows how long.

"You have so much to learn, kiddo," is Chloe's quiet, smooth reply.

She scoffs. "Kiddo? Oh, my God! If you were here, I would push you down the stairs."

"Luke's a player."

"So are you!" she argues back; it was common knowledge that Chloe was no stranger to romance. She liked boys. And girls. And everyone. And had probably kissed a quarter of her class by now, if not more. She didn't like being tied down, though; as long as Beca's known her, which is quite literally Beca's entire life, Chloe has never had an actual partner.

"And that's why I know he's wrong for you," Chloe answers simply. "You're going to thank me one day."

"Yeah, okay," she says with sarcasm. "Today is not that day. It's not your job to babysit my dating life, so you're going to stop trying to control it."

Chloe hums. "We'll see about that."

Student Council approves their kissing booth. Beca would like to think it's thanks to her sweet presentation (hastily scribbled on index cards during History).

"Would you be working the booth?" one of the male council members asked her before the decision was made.

The thought made her shudder, and then shudder again when he leered at her. "No! No, we're just running it. But we already have some choice individuals on board to participate. Promise."

"Would Chloe be working the kissing booth?" It's Stacie who asks it, and Aubrey lights up next to her at the suggestion.

Jesse's halfway through a guffaw of, "In your dreams!" when Beca cuts him off, realizing the promise of Chloe's participation is the key to getting it all approved.

"Totally. Chloe will be there. Lots of A-list talent." She grimaces at her own words.

Maybe she should talk to Chloe about it soon.