Bratfest at Tiffany's by Lisi Harrison Read Free Book Online Page B

pictures and pamphlets on sex. Um, who was really getting punished here?
    Gina click-clacked up and down the rows. “Each girl will reach inside this bottle and pick out a piece of paper. Her partner’s name and baby’s gender will be on that piece of paper. And both will be yours to deal with for the rest of the semester. No trading. Believe me, if I could have traded partners, I would’ve. But unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way.”
    Gina stuck an Avent bottle in front of Krista’s face. Trembling, Krista reached her silver-manicured fingers inside and pinched out a piece of paper. Slowly, she leaned back and opened it in front of her friend Mara, a stringy-haired brunette with a face full of freckles. They tittered with delight.
    “As soon as you pick a name, please join your partner and select the appropriate baby from the playpen. From that moment on, you will sit together.”
    Hands reached into the bottle, unions were formed, and babies were selected. One minute Claire prayed she’d pick Cam, and the next she prayed she wouldn’t. The thought of him raising a baby with someone else made her feel like puking green all over again. But raising a baby together would be too difficult. What if they rekindled their love? What if they didn’t? Either way, it would be impossible to get over him if they had to spend every second together. And that would jeopardize her place in the NPC, not to mention her sleep, her grades, and her entire digestive system. The best she could hope for was that Layne picked him. That way Claire could rest knowing he wasn’t falling for his partner. Nothing against Layne, but if Dempsey Solomon was her idea of cool, she’d never like Cam Fisher. He wasn’t nearly
ew
enough.
    “Yes!” Olivia blurted. “Wha$$$[MS PAGE NO 55]$$$ssup, my baby daddy?” The unmistakable slap of a high five forced Claire to turn.
    Cam and Olivia were palm to palm, gushing like perfect valentines. They strolled to the front of the class and hovered over the playpen, in search of the perfect baby girl.
    Layne slapped Claire’s arm. “Don’t stare.”
    “Next.” Gina waved the bottle in front of Layne’s face.
    Claire stood, desperate for a secluded bathroom stall and a tube of waterproof mascara. “I have to get out of here.”
    “Not now!” Layne whisper-begged. “Don’t you want to see who I get?”
    Claire wiped her stinging eyes and sat while Layne fished out a name.
    “Pete Ehrlich?” She searched the room until she spotted the only guy left in his seat. His dirty blond shoulder length hair was parted down the middle, framing the sides of his oily face like soiled motel curtains. Layne mimed barfing in her mouth and then flipped the paper. “What does ‘T’ mean?”
    “Twins.” Gina snickered. “G’luck with that.”
    “But—” Layne tried to protest, but Gina had already moved on to Claire.
    Gina held out the bottle, her liquid brown eyes fixed on the back of the room, where Olivia and Cam were cracking each other up with baby-name suggestions.
    “How about we call her the Pied Pooper?” Olivia suggested as she fanned the air.
    Cam laughed, even though a silly joke like that was beneath him. At least it used to be.
    Claire returned her attention to the bottle, which Gina was waving under her chin. “Um, Gina? It’s empty.”
    “Huh?” The teacher’s gaze remained fixed on Cam and Olivia.
    “There aren’t any names left.”
    “I know!” Layne called from halfway across the room. She was balancing two crying babies on her lap while Pete picked a patch of dry skin off his droopy lower lip. “She can help us. We need it.”
    “I’d rather you join those two in the back.” Gina tilted her head toward Cam and Olivia, who were in the middle of jamming their crying daughter into Olivia’s yellow Kate Spade tote. They twisted and turned the baby until her chin rested on the lip of the bag like a teacup Chihuahua’s. “They need help staying focused. Go be the