I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into. Today was the performance at Sigma Beta Theta's Annual Fall Mixer – really, frat houses? – and it could not have been more abysmal. Aubrey has us rehearsing two hours every day, plus cardio, and we were not even close to being ready to perform. To make us go from bad to worse Aubrey is not letting us sing anything other than The Sign/Eternal Flame/Turn the Beat Around set – with the same old choreography that could make anyone fall asleep. And to make it all worse we looked like flight attendants in those silly Bellas uniforms.
The most humiliating part of the day was that once our performance started to really go downhill the president of the frat house made us stop mid-set and leave. ALSO he said he was not going to pay us! At that point I really thought that things could not get any worse. However, I was proved wrong once again; while Aubrey was berating us Chloe let us know her “terrible news” – she has been diagnosed with vocal nodules (The rubbing together of vocal chords at above average rates without proper lubrication) and finds herself not able to sing at her full potential for the rest of her life – let alone our season. She is the second in command for our group and the only reason Aubrey is a dictator and not a raging tyrant. Chloe was our only hope that Aubrey would hear from the voice of reason, and she just put more strain on Aubrey, thus making the season much more difficult for the rest of us. Selfishness aside, I feel really bad, she's pretty nice and now cannot fully commit to her passion.
This entry is important to the quest because it is the first trial that Beca faces alongside the Bellas. This could be considered both a demonstration of sisterhood among the a cappella knights, and the quest expectation of tests and trials for the protagonist. This performance is the first of four that will be used for the methodology of this quest: how competition and performance effect the a cappella knights. Here, it shows them how much preparation is needed, and how their leader Aubrey reacts to failing. Here Aubrey’s quest for success let her ignore her second in command’s need for help. Besides Aubrey’s failure, this was an abysmal event for all of the Bellas – including Beca. Her failure in one of her first Bella tasks could be prepared to Perceval’s first accidental blunder: sexually assaulting the maiden in the tent. He thought he was doing what he was told, just as Beca was following Aubrey’s leadership.
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