Chapter 24: Ice Cream with the Enemy

A/N: Hey pitches! So, I would have uploaded sooner but I had an exam I was revising for, ew, but here it is! This chapter focuses more on Aubrey than the other Bella's. Enjoy!

-Bella House, Aubrey's Room-

It was half seven and Aubrey was running around her room trying to find her favourite jacket to accent her cute outfit when Chloe walked in with a smile on her face. "So, it is a guy? I knew it!" She declared, jumping down onto Aubrey's bed.

"What? I don't know what you're talki-" But Aubrey let the excuse die on her lips as she saw her best friends gaze. She should have known it was pointless trying to lie to Chloe, I mean this girl knew her better than anyone. She sighed, stopping her search for her jacket to look at Chloe. "Yes, it's a guy."

As soon as Aubrey finished her sentence Chloe let out a high squeal and started bobbing up and down on the bed. "Oh my-aca-god, Bree! Why didn't you tell me? Who is it? Do I know him? Where are you meeting? How did you meet?"

Aubrey started laughing before she placed her hands on Chloe's shoulder to control the bobbing. "It's just some guy who I've seen around campus that's all. It's not a date though, so don't go getting any ideas. Okay?" She gave her best friends a stern looking but Chloe just responded with a super cheesy smile. "We're just gonna meet up for some coffee and talk. Ya know like normal human beings. Also, don't go telling anyone else about this. No one knows and I'd like it to stay that way. Okay?"

This time Chloe answered her with a smile, "Okay, your secrets safe with me."

XxX

-Campus grounds-

Glad that Chloe had bought the excuse of some random guy she'd met with on campus Aubrey made her way to the ice cream shop at 7:55pm. Of course, she had felt super guilty lying to her best friend but technically it wasn't a lie. She was meeting someone she'd seen on campus, and it was a guy, and it isn't a date. They're just going to get coffee and talk. The only problem about her excuse was she knew that if Chloe or the other Bella's discovered who she was meeting then they'd jump her so quickly, that's why she couldn't tell them. Not even Chloe.

Aubrey was nearing the ice cream shop, 'Ice Cream You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream', whereas Jesse was already inside. She could see him through the window on a table near the door, playing with a menu in his hands and every so often glancing towards the door or out the window for signs of Aubrey.

Aubrey pushed open the door to the shop and a bell jingled overhead. Jesse turned his head towards the door so quickly that he felt a slight creek in it. Aubrey, who had already noticed him from outside, walked over to their booth-table and sat down opposite him. "Hi." She said, suddenly a million butterflies erupted into flight in her stomach storming around her body. 'Woah! Aca-scuse me?' Aubrey Posen did not get butterflies around guys she barely knew and not to mention on the opposing A Capella team. 'Calm down, he's the enemy. Remember that, solider.' She took off her small shoulder bag, placing it on the cushion seat next to her.

"Hey. Would you like some ice cream?" Jesse seemed to be speaking quickly. Like he was worried Aubrey would disappear before he got his sentence out. Jesse waved for a waiter and a woman appeared. She wore a cute yellow dress which had a big ice cream sundae plastered onto the side. Her black hair cut just above her shoulders. She held a notepad and pen, "Hello guys, my name is Lucy and I'll be taking your orders. So, what shall it be?" She spoke in a high, cheery voice.

Aubrey took another menu from a cute ice-cream holder in the middle of the table, that matched the ice cream sundae on Lucy's dress, and glanced down the list before choosing. "Mmm, can I have cherry-vanilla please?" She asked, placing the menu back in its holder.

"Good choice. And could I have-" Jesse looked down the menu, sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration. The butterflies in Aubrey's stomach were fluttering their wings so hard she thought she'd burst. 'Oh my-aca-god!' A slight blush crept onto her face but she thanked the aca-gods that it wasn't noticeable. In her emotional war with heart and mind Aubrey missed what Jesse had ordered.

"What did you ask for?"

"Oh, just a simple triple chocolate chip." He said, his award-winning smile appearing on her face. Aubrey laughed slightly at his use of the word simple when asking for a triple chocolate chip ice cream.

It didn't take Lucy long to come back with their orders. When she placed them down on the table she wished them a great time before scooting off around the corner to some other customer. Aubrey was half way through her mountainous cherry-vanilla ice cream when Jesse spoke again. This time his words weren't rushed, he seemed to be selecting them carefully.

"So, as much as I enjoy facing each other at A Capella battles I thought it'd be nice for us to meet outside of the world of championships and competition. After what happened between us, accident or not, I can't get you out of my head."

"Yeah, everything is crazy at the minute. Hey, can we not talk about the championships or anything A Cappella based? I mean I already feel super bad for meeting up with you tonight, well not exactly you but just the fact that I'm meeting up with someone who's in the rival-pella group..." Aubrey focused her gaze onto her spoon which she was swirling around in her ice cream bowling, forming it into a gooey paste.

"Oh yeah, sure. You don't have to feel bad though Aubrey. I mean we are allowed to meet and speak with one another. It's not a crime." He offered her a sympathetic smile but Aubrey didn't return it. The butterflies had vanished and her stomach seemed to twist. 'Oh my-aca-god! What the hell are you doing? You're sat here in an open area having ice cream with the enemy. This was not part of the plan. ABORT MISSION!' Aubrey mind went into overdrive.

Aubrey laughed, "Sure, go tell that to the Bella's. They'd chew my ass up and spit it out if they found out I was here with you. I mean I gave them all such a hard time when they tried out for the Bella's about not dating anyone from the Treble group and now I'm sat here having ice cream with one of them." She let the spoon fall into her bowl and the clanging of metal to pottery seemed to ring in Aubrey's head like a bell.

She grabbed her back and shook her head, getting up from her seat. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. If only things were different Jesse but we're in rival-pella groups. That's how it is and we can't be seen with each other. I can't believe we slept together and that should never have happened. We have to forget that happened. We can't be seen here together, not as friends or anything more. Bye." Without a backwards glance Aubrey walked out the store leaving a cress-fallen Jesse staring at her as she walked back across campus.