Author's 1st Note: Wow! Thank you all so much for your positive feedback on this story. So glad to see so many of you enjoying it! :D

Hope you enjoy this next chapter as well.

Let the partnership begin! xD

Beca immediately stopped talking to Jesse when she heard her name.

Did Mrs. Harrington say that correctly? Did that woman really just pair her up with Chloe freaking Beale?!

Beca turned in her chair and looked over at Chloe to find her already staring back at her in shock. Beca's gaze then shifted towards the front desk, where Mrs. Harrington was smiling impishly at them both.

"Come on up, girls."

Beca looked to Jesse in panic.

"Aye! Alright," he said putting his fist out for Beca to pound it.

"What! No, dude. It's not alright." She looked over and watched Chloe slowly walk up to the desk. "This is gonna suck."

Jesse furrowed his brow, "Wait, why? I thought you liked her?"

"Dude!" Beca said, her eyes wide as she slapped his arm. "Shut up!"

"Beca," Mrs. Harrington called again, smiling as she curled a finger. "Come on."

Beca's forehead curved as she sighed in defeat and languidly made her way over to Mrs. Harrington's desk. She stood next to Chloe and shared a quick, awkward glance with her, before they both snapped their attention back to their teacher.

"Alright, now that I have you both up here–"

"I'm sorry," Chloe suddenly said, cutting Mrs. Harrington off. "But before we continue, can I formally request a different partner?" Her eyes looked desperate as she asked, "Please?"

"Yeah, I'm with Chloe on that one," Beca added. "We would make horrible partners."

"Horrible," Chloe repeated, nodding.

But despite their efforts, Mrs. Harrington's sly smile never faltered.

"Girls…" she said. "Even if I wanted to pair you with other students, I simply cannot."

"Why not?" Beca asked.

"What do you mean?" Chloe added.

Mrs. Harrington picked up the fake baby that was lying next to her, "The recording device that calculates the points lost in this particular baby– which is your baby–" she pointed out, "is already programmed with your names and grades."

Beca and Chloe stood in stunned silence as their teacher explained.

"So," Mrs. Harrington continued, putting the baby back down on her desk, "whether you like it or not," she grinned. "You two are the new parents of this little bundle of joy."

Beca and Chloe slowly turned their heads to stare at each other.

This was so going to suck.

"Now," Mrs. Harrington started, "I'll explain how the docking of points works in detail once everyone gets their babies, but for now, let me give you girls the accessories you'll need to get your baby to stop crying."

Beca and Chloe continued to watch in silence as Mrs. Harington placed a plastic bottle, two purple bracelets, and a small, fake diaper on the desk.

She held up the two bracelets, "First thing you always want to keep with you are these bracelets." She handed them to the girls, who both hesitated before reaching out to take them. "If the baby starts crying, place the bracelet up to it's chest. Once it recognizes you as one of it's parents, you will hear it chime."

Beca shifted her gaze back and forth between the bracelet in her hand and the fake baby that was still lying on the desk. Mrs. Harrington had only just started to explain the assignment and it already sounded like it was going to be a nightmare.

Especially because of the girl who was her partner. Beca found Chloe annoyingly full of herself, but she also had been secretly crushing on her for the last four years.

Okay, maybe it wasn't a complete secret. Afterall, Beca did enjoy teasing and flirting with Chloe on occasion, but that was only for fun. Beca was sure Chloe was as straight as they come, and Beca refused to break the 'Golden Rule' of Lesbianism:

Never fall for a straight girl!

"Now," Mrs. Harrington said, bring Beca's attention back to her. "Using the bracelet won't always stop the baby from crying. Sometimes you'll have to feed it–" She lifted up the plastic bottle, "which you simulate by putting this bottle against it's mouth. If that doesn't work, you can also change it's diaper, rock it or even burp it."

Beca furrowed her brow. This sounded really complicated. She had to do all of these different things just for some dumb plastic baby doll to stop fake crying?

Fuck. This was really going to suck.

"Once everyone has their babies, I will explain how the point system works and show you how to turn your babies on."

Beca and Chloe looked at each other in an awkward silence before looking down at their "baby."

"But, for now," Mrs. Harrington said, grinning. "Who wants to take this little cutie to their desk, first?"

Beca made an uncomfortable expression as she looked at the doll, "Uhh…"

"I'll take it," Chloe said, quickly picking up the baby doll, along with it's accessories, and startling Beca with her swiftness.

"Okay…" Beca muttered, confused as she watched Chloe spin around and walk back to her desk. Beca then looked to Mrs. Harrington. "Alright, seriously, Mrs. H," she said. "Why on Earth did you pair us together? We can't stand each other."

But just like earlier, Mrs. Harrington's smile never faltered, and in fact, this time it actually spread wider.

"You'll thank me one day."

Beca's brow furrowed. Okay… What the hell was that supposed to mean?

With her eyes squinted in confusion, Beca opened her mouth to question her teacher, but the older woman beat her to it and called out the next pair of students.

"Aaron and Rachel."

It was obvious Beca wasn't going to get any answers to the handful of questions she had running through her brain, so she remained quiet instead, and gradually walked back to her seat.

Once Mrs. Harrington finished calling out the pairs, she hushed her noisy students and stood at the front of the classroom.

"Okay," she grinned. "Now that I've got you all paired up, I want to explain how the point system will work in this assignment."

Beca glanced across the room to where Chloe was sitting with their baby, and noticed the way she was biting her bottom lip, nervously.

"This assignment is worth one thousand points."

Beca's eyes instantly went wide at the very large number.

"What!" she said, along with other similar comments from her fellow peers.

"I know, I know," Mrs. Harrington said, using her hands to calm everyone back down. "Look, I know it's sounds scary, but let me explain it further."

She waited until the class settled down before continuing.

"It's not going to be as hard as it sounds. You will all start with one thousand points and your scores will decrease depending on how often your baby cries." She picked up a doll that was lying on her desk chair, "For every two and a half minutes your baby consistently cries, you will be docked one point. So, on a bigger scale, if you leave your baby crying for an hour straight, you will lose 24 points."

Beca released a breath. Okay. That didn't sound so bad. Maybe this assignment wasn't going to be as hard as Beca thought.

Then again, Chloe was still her partner, and God only knew what kind of events that was going to lead to.

"So, you see?" Mrs. Harrington smiled. "It's going to be easy."

Sure. Easy.

"Now," Mrs. Harrington said, lifting the baby doll. "Let me show you how to turn it on."

After the class ended, each baby was turned on and ready to begin it's "new life."

Chloe was talking with Aubrey as she exited the class until both Beca and Jesse quickly caught up with them and interrupted their conversation.

"Hey, wait up," Beca said, walking next to Chloe as Jesse moved to walk next to Aubrey. "Shouldn't we like, talk about what we're gonna do with this thing before we take it home?" Beca asked.

Jesse grinned, "Yeah, can we talk about our baby, too, Aubrey?"

Chloe stopped walking and she and Aubrey shared a glance.

"Uh…" Aubrey muttered.

"I mean…" Chloe said, still looking at Aubrey before turning her head to look at Beca. "We all ride the same bus. I guess we could–" She hesitated, and Beca could tell it was because Chloe was about to suggest something she knew Aubrey wasn't going to like. "Sit with each other… this time?"

It was like Chloe wasn't even sure of her suggestion, and when Beca looked at Aubrey, that poor priss of a girl looked downright mortified by the idea.

"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea," Jesse said, his grin was wider than it had been before. "What do you think, Beca? Wanna sit with Chloe and I'll sit with Aubrey today?"

Beca chewed on the inside of her cheek. She knew being partnered with Chloe meant she was going to have to spend a lot more time with her for the next five days, but damn. She didn't think she would have to sacrifice the bus ride home, too.

After thinking about it for a moment, Beca released a breath through her nose.

"I… guess."

"Yay!" Jesse cheered, making Aubrey freeze uncomfortably when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her in a tight side hug.

"Get off me!" Aubrey snapped, pushing him off of her. "We might be partners, but that does notmean you get to touch me whenever you feel like it."

Jesse quickly backed off, his hands up in surrender, and smiled.

"Playing hard to get I see," he said, winking. "I like that in a woman."

Aubrey and Chloe looked at him in disgust while Beca shook her head in disappointment.

"Ugh," Aubrey groaned, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you on the bus, Chlo," she said, walking away while holding her fake baby close to her.

"Hey, wait up!" Jesse called, quickly following after her.

After Jesse ran off, Beca and Chloe were left alone, standing in an awkward silence as they side glanced each other.

When their eyes met, both girls shared a short, nervous huff of a laugh and Beca stuck her hands in her jean pockets as she cleared her throat.

"So, uh…" she muttered. "I guess, we should… get to the bus?"

Chloe nodded, "Yeah," she said, pressing the baby in her hands closer to her. "Sounds good."

Beca boarded the bus first, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone as she walked through the aisle and sat in Chloe's usually seat.

Beca pulled her backpack closer to her as she slid towards the window, turning her head back towards the aisle when Chloe didn't sit down.

"What?" Beca asked.

"You," Chloe said, eyeing her, "memorized where I sit?"

A stunned expression flashed in Beca's eyes, but the moment was gone as quickly as it came and she furrowed her brow.

"You've been sitting in the same seat for years, Chloe," she said. "It's not that hard to remember."

Chloe's lips curved into a slight frown, "Oh… right." She sat down next to Beca and placed her bag on the floor between her legs.

Beca watched as Chloe gently placed their baby on her lap, finding it amusing at how careful she was with it.

"So," Beca said. "What's the plan with this…" Beca lifted one of the baby's hands and dropped it. "Thing."

Chloe gasped, "It's not a thing, Beca," she said, cradling the doll. "It's our baby."

Beca snickered, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," Chloe said. "If we want to get a good grade on this project, we have to take it seriously."

"Well who says I want to get a good grade?"

Whoops. That was the wrong thing for Beca to say.

A serious expression suddenly fell over Chloe's face and Beca gulped when Chloe started to lean in closer to her.

"Let me tell you something, Beca," Chloe said, firmly, poking Beca's chest. "Whether you believe it or not, I actually give a shit about my grades, and I have worked too hard for too long to watch it all go to waste because of some incompetent, lazy–" She hesitated for a moment as she struggled to find the right insult. "Stubborn partner of mine." She stared hard into Beca's eyes before grunting and shaking her head as she sat back on her side of the seat. "Just don't fuck this up for me."

Beca's jaw slacked in silence as she processed everything Chloe had just said to her. Like, woah. Where the fuck did thatcome from? Beca had never seen Chloe so assertive, or angry, or aggressive. Hell, she had never even heard her say the word fuck!

It was actually pretty hot.

"Damn, Beale…" Beca said, smirking. "Didn't take you as the threatening type."

Chloe huffed and swatted some of her red hair out of her face, "Whatever." She started to rock the baby in her arms, "So what are we naming her?"

Beca quirked a brow, "What are we naming her?" she repeated.

"Yes," Chloe said, reaching an arm down to pull a piece of paper out of her bag. "Mrs. Harrington gave us these Birth Certificates to fill out the names of our babies and we have to bring it back tomorrow."

"Yeah, I get that," Beca said. "But what I meant was, how do you know it's a girl?"

Chloe furrowed her brow and looked down at the baby in her arms, "What do you mean? She's wearing a pink hat and a pink onesie."

"Wow," Beca said, her brows raised. "Way to follow the stereotypes of our sexist society."

Chloe slowly turned her head to glare at Beca, but the smirk on Beca's lips indicated her teasing intentions and Chloe couldn't help but chuckle.

"Shut up," she said, trying not to smile. "But seriously, what are we naming her?" Chloe held the baby up so it could face them both and tilted her head to the side as she studied it's face.

"I think she looks like a Beca Jr."

Chloe looked at Beca, "We are not naming her Beca Jr."

"Oh, come on. Why not?" Beca asked, smiling. "I think it's got a nice ring to it."

"No," Chloe said. "No it doesn't."

Beca laughed, "Well what do you want to name her then?"

Chloe looked back at the baby as she thought about it before a smile suddenly spread across her face.

"I know," she said, turning the baby to face Beca. "Let's name her Bella!"

Beca's nose scrunched, "Gross," she said. "No. We're not naming her Bella."

"What?" Chloe said. "Why not? It's such a cute name."

"No it's not," Beca said, folding her arms. "It's an ugly name."

"What!" Chloe gasped. "How is it an ugly name? Bella literally means beautiful."

"I don't know," Beca shrugged. "I just think it sounds–" Her shoulders lifted as her fingers wiggled in a creepy-crawly fashion. "Prissy."

"Prissy?" Chloe deadpanned.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Prissy."

Chloe looked at her before rolling her eyes and focusing on the baby doll again.

"Well I want to name her Bella."

Beca blinked, "Well I want to name her Beca Jr."

Chloe huffed, "Okay…" She placed the baby in the empty space between them and turned in her seat to face Beca. "So how do we come to an agreement?"

Beca tilted her head as she smirked, "Hmm…" Her eyes narrowed as she focused on Chloe. "I've got an idea." Beca used her back to push off of the bus window behind her and leaned forward. "A very serious and totally mature idea."

Chloe made a face, "I seriously doubt that."

Beca held up a fist and smiled, "You know how rock-paper-scissors works, right?"

Chloe quirked a brow, "You cannot be serious."

"Oh, I'm very serious," Beca said. She kept her fist held out for a few seconds, waiting for Chloe to join in, but when Chloe continued to just stare at her like she was crazy, Beca nudged her arm. "Come on."

Chloe glanced at her fist skeptically before giving in with a shake of her head.

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Beca grinned, "That a girl."

Chloe held up her fist, "Are we doing just one round, or–?"

"I'll be honest, I'm pretty good at this game," Beca said, cockily. "So to make it more fair for you, let's do best two out of three."

Chloe smirked, and Beca tried to ignore the way it made her stomach flutter.

"You're on."

Beca smirked back and started the game.

"Okay. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

They both chose the scissor option and Beca couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Chloe asked. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Beca said. "I just find it interesting that we both chose scissors."

Chloe clearly wasn't catching the innuendo.

"Why would that be interesting?"

"Because look," Beca said, ensnaring her bottom lip with her teeth in amusement as she pressed her two opened fingers between Chloe's. "Now we're scissoring."

Chloe gawked at Beca's action and quickly pulled her hand away.

"Beca!" she cried, groaning at the way Beca just laughed at her. "Can you not be gay, for like, five seconds?"

"Awh, what's wrong, Princess?" Beca teased. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" She punctuated her question by bringing her parted fingers up to her mouth and swiped her tongue over the opened space between them.

Chloe glared at her, "You're so gross." Her lips spoke an insult, but was that a blush on her cheeks?

Beca's laughter settled, "Alright, alright," she said. "I'm done messing with you. Come on." She held a fist up again, "Let's play for real."

Chloe huffed a frustrated sigh and reluctantly rejoined the game.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Beca's jaw slacked in surprise when Chloe's opened palm wrapped around her fist.

"Paper beats rock, Beca," Chloe smirked.

Beca narrowed her eyes at her, "Beginner's luck," she said. "Let's go again."

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Ha!" Chloe cheered, bumping the top of Beca's parted fingers with her fist. "Rock beats scissors! I win!"

"What!" Beca couldn't believe it. She didn't even win once! "That's bullshit."

"Don't be a sore loser, Beca," Chloe said, picking up their baby and putting it back on her lap. "It's not attractive."

Beca's lips pouted in defeat, but her mind couldn't resist pondering Chloe's last choice of words. What would it matter to her if the way Beca acted was attractive or not?

Whatever. This was no time for overthinking.

Beca groaned and crossed her arms. "Fine," she said, her body turning slightly to look out the window. "Her name is Bella."

Beca couldn't see it, but Chloe was already filling out Bella's first name on the Birth Certificate.

"Beautiful," she smiled. "Oh, wait. There's a space for her last name, too."

This intrigued Beca enough to turn back around in her seat and rejoin the conversation.

"So they want to know who's the man in this relationship?" Beca chuckled, leaning over to look at the certificate.

Chloe looked at her, "Way to follow the stereotypes of our sexist society, Beca," she mocked, making Beca narrow her eyes at her. "Neither of us is the "man,"" Chloe said. "We're both women. She should have both of our last names."

Beca snorted, "What, like, Mitchell-Beale?"

"Or Beale-Mitchell," Chloe corrected.

"Hm," Beca hummed. "Well since you got to pick her first name, I think it's only fair that my last name is first."

"Hey," Chloe said. "I won that perk fair and square, and you know it."

Beca rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever."

"But it's fine," Chloe suddenly said, surprising Beca. "I don't mind if she has your last name first." She wrote their last names out on the paper and stared at it as she read the full name aloud. "Bella Mitchell-Beale…"

"Huh," Beca said, reading over Chloe's handwriting. "Now that actually does have a nice ring to it."

"Yeah it–" Chloe said, quietly, turning her head to look at Beca with a gentle expression that made Beca's heart race. "It really does."

There was something in that moment of silence they shared that Beca had never felt with Chloe before. It was thick and tingly. It felt good, which was also alarming. Beca had already learned her lesson when it came to a straight girl's charm.

She couldn't let herself fall for it again. So she brushed the moment off.

Beca chuckled nervously and leaned back to sit regularly in her seat.

"Alright," she said. "Bella Mitchell-Beale it is."

Author's 2nd Note: That actually would be a pretty cool name, in my opinion. What do you guys think? xD

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