Free The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik Page B

him questions about his personal life, and I don’t expect him to hunt down men’s addresses because my sister thinks I need a date.”
    “You should,” Lauren said. “He’s very good at it. He sent me all of Russell’s contact info within a few hours.”
    “Did you tell him what it was for?”
    “Not exactly. Anyway, forget that for now. I was calling to ask you something.”
    “What?”
    “Would it be okay if I came to stay with you for a little while?”
    Ava blinked a couple of times. Then she said, “Excuse me?”
    “Hey, you’re the one who keeps saying, ‘Only losers live with their parents.’”
    “What did Dad do this time?” Ava asked wearily. She settled against the back of her chair and crossed her legs.
    “He won’t stop lecturing me,” Lauren said. “And not for the reasons you’d think. I mean, the guy should be lecturing me about finding a job and getting out of debt, right?”
    “That’s certainly why
I
would lecture you.”
    “I know! But guess what Dad’s deal is. He thinks I should go to
dental hygienist school
. Seriously. Last night, I was trying to watch TV and he turns it off and says, ‘I’ve been thinking. You’re never going to be the kind of professional success your sister is—’”
    “Oh, God,” Ava said with loyal disgust, but deep down she felt a small rush of pleasure at hearing that her emotionally withholding father viewed her as the family success.
    “It’s not like it’s the first time he’s pointed out how much smarter you are than me. Anyway, then he says, ‘So I’ve been thinking about it and you need to acquire some skills that will ultimately bring you in contact with the right kind of men. You’ll never make money, so you better marry it.’”
    “That’s a little harsh.”
    “No kidding. Then he says, ‘I’ve figured it out. You have nice thin fingers, so I think you’d make a decent dental hygienist. And dentists earn good money while working much more regular hours than doctors.’ Which I guess means better husband material. Anyway, he even said he’d pay for the whole thing.”
    “That’s kind of nice of him.”
    Lauren snorted. “Oh, please. Can you imagine me as a dental hygienist? Or even married to a dentist? Could the man know me any
less
? Anyway, you know how he is—if he gets an idea about something, that’s it, that’s the solution, nothing else will work. He’s figured out my future and he’s damned if I’m going to mess up his plans by, say, finding another job as a clothing buyer and actually doing what I
like
. He’s been researching dental schools on the Internet. I mean dental hygienist school—apparently I’m not smart enough to become an actual dentist.” She paused. “Or maybe no girl is—I’m not sure if it’s personal or sexist. Or which would be worse.”
    “Tell him you don’t want to do it.”
    “I intend to,” Lauren said, “but he’s not going to take it well. That’s why I need an escape route.”
    “So either I let you move in with me or you have to become a dental hygienist?” Ava said.
    “Exactly.”
    “You do have those nice thin fingers.”
    “Yeah,” Lauren said. “And they’re just itching to do a dance inside some stranger’s mouth.” She shuddered audibly. “Ew.”
    “Ew,” Ava agreed.
    “So can I? Please?”
    “Let me think for a sec.” Ava chewed on the side of her thumb, trying to do the calculations in her head. Company in the evening might actually be nice. But Lauren could be messy. And it meant she’d have no privacy. But then again she had nothing to be private about. Out loud, she said, “You’d have to sleep on the living room sofa—I’m not sharing the bedroom.”
    Lauren squealed with delight. “Oh, thank you, A! This is going to be great.”
    “Hold on.” Ava had thought of something else. “You can’t move
all
your stuff in—I don’t have room.” The UPS truck had visited their parents’ house and deposited so many boxes of