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Beca Mitchell isn’t someone that can be summed up in less than a minute. Well, one would say that she is quiet and reserved but that’s not the real Beca. That’s just the front that she puts out there. In reality there is so much more to Beca Mitchell. And hopefully this will be able to shed a little light on some different aspects of her life so far.
She’s thirteen years old when her parents finally decide to get divorced but the fighting had started years before. When it got real bad she would leave the house entirely and go somewhere quiet. Somewhere where she could think. She’s thirteen when she discovers the beauty of a pair of quality headphones that can block out the yelling without her having to leave the comfort of her room. And it is quite honestly the best thing in her life at that very moment.
She’s fifteen when she stops talking to her dad simply because she just can’t bare the back and forth between her parents. Whether it be fighting over whose house she was at that weekend or if it was each of them belittling the other to Beca she just couldn’t stand it. So, she cut off her dad for the time being only talking to him for holidays and on the rare occasion he actually sought her out. Her mom doesn’t question it and quite frankly her dad doesn’t seem to even care, besides that he seems quite preoccupied with his new girlfriend to think much of it.
She’s sixteen when her grandfather passes away. He was everything to her and the world just wouldn’t be the same without him. She was his little grasshopper. She’s sixteen when she gets her first tattoo. She asked her mom to sign the consent form only to have that idea shot down almost immediately. Beca spent the next week mastering her mother’s signature and finding a way to get a copy of her ID to the artist in order to get the tattoo. Luckily she finds someone who didn’t even bat an eye when the girl walked in with a bullshit note of permission of her supposed guardian. In all honesty, he’s just happy to have an angsty teen willing to pay the money for a tattoo. She hides it easily with her long sleeves throughout winter and by the time her mother notices the grasshopper on her arm it’s far too late to do anything about it. Regardless she’s grounded for a solid two weeks. Beca doesn’t give a shit about the punishment though. It’s not like she had anyone to see anyway.
It’s not long after that when Beca’s mother makes her see a therapist who only takes two sessions to tell her mother she was, without a doubt, depressed. She barely even told the woman the half of it and she’s kind of glad for that. She doesn’t need her mother worrying any more than she already was. Depression was one thing but the thoughts Beca was having were something she knew her mother wouldn’t be able to handle the reality of.
She’s seventeen when she gets her second tattoo. Two lines of type on her upper arm. She doesn’t often talk about what these words mean and no one ever really asks either. What they don’t know is that it’s the one thing keeping her alive for the time being.
It’s just before her 18th birthday that she gets the headphones on her wrist. She gets them for the sole purpose of symbolizing all that she’s been through and to show how throughout it all the one consistent thing she had was, and still is, music. Music, unlike anything else in her life, has always been there for her. Whether it be late at night or in the middle of the day it was there. It was the one thing that kept her going...that made her life worth living. She just needed a more constant reminder. Getting this tattoo would allow headphones to always be with her even when they physically were not present.
It’s on her 18th birthday that she throws all of her cards into her backpack and takes off to the tattoo shop to get what is probably going to be her largest tattoo. The pink lotus flowers are packed full of meaning and her artist gives her a discount since she’s finally legal. He even tells her a story of why these are the perfect flowers to describe herself and though she won’t admit it that was exactly her reason for getting it in the first place. Beautiful from afar but potentially harmful if you get too close and aren’t too careful. The way they grow is a perfect description of her life so far. She just chuckles and turns her attention back to the music blaring from the speakers leaving the artist to his work.
A few months later and Beca finds herself back in the comfort of the tattoo shop getting equalizer bars on her lower back. Music truly is the sole reason that she’s still breathing and she needs as many reminders as possible. It’s just a bonus that she’s kind of gotten hooked on the feeling of getting tatted.
Beca has a theory that most people won’t ask about her tattoos because of her badass appearance and someone’s stereotypical line of thought. She figured they wouldn’t even bother asking because they wouldn’t expect an answer at all. This theory, however, is proven very wrong not even a full minute after meeting this overly peppy redhead at her college club fair.
“Oh, a grasshopper? What’s it for?”
“Just...something,” Beca mumbles pulling her arm back to her side as if that would shield herself from being seen.
“I have a ladybug,” the redhead chirps, pointing out the smallest tattoo on the other girl’s arm. It’s so tiny she’s barely even able to make it out at first. “It’s for my grandma. I was her little ladybug.”
“That’s nice,” Beca responds quietly. “I have to go, sorry.”
“No apology needed. But consider auditioning for the Bellas,” she calls as Beca walks away with the wave of her hand.
To be quite honest Beca never thought she’d see the girl again because what are the odds of running into one specific person on a significantly sized campus. Again, for the second time, Beca’s theory was proved very wrong not even a couple days later when a certain redhead comes barging into her shower. If there’s one thing Beca knows for sure now...it’s that the redhead isn’t going away anytime soon. And that maybe Barden won’t be so bad afterall.