Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot Read Free Book Online Page B

going to start my own business, I’m going to need my own space in here to do that. And I want to pay for that space. It’s only fair. What about…is there a monthly maintenance fee? You know, that the building charges for upkeep?”
    “Sure,” Luke says. “It’s thirty-five hundred dollars.”
    I nearly choke. It’s a good thing I’ve sat on the arm of the couch, or I’d have spat all over it, and not the parquet floor, which is the recipient of a mouthful of red wine.
    “Thirty-five hundred dollars ?” I cry, jumping up and hastening to the kitchen for a dish towel. “A month ? Just for maintenance ? I can’t afford that!”
    Luke is laughing now. “How about a portion of it, then,” he says, as he watches me clean up my mess. “A thousand a month?”
    “Deal,” I say, relieved. Although only slightly, since I have no idea how I’m even going to come up with a thousand dollars a month.
    “Fine,” Luke says. “Now that we’ve got that settled—”
    “We don’t,” I say. “Have it settled, I mean.”
    “We don’t?” He doesn’t look alarmed, though. He looks more amused. “We’ve covered groceries, utilities, your need for space for your sewing machine, and rent. What more is there?”
    “Well,” I say. “Us.”
    “Us.” He isn’t running like a frightened woodland creature. Yet. He simply looks mildly curious. “What about us?”
    “If I move in,” I say, summoning all my courage, “it would only be on a trial basis. To see how it works out. Because, you know, we’ve only known each other for two months. What if it turns out, I don’t know. In the winter I become a real crab or something?”
    Both of Luke’s eyebrows go up again. “Do you?”
    “I don’t know,” I say. “I mean, I don’t think so. But there was this girl, Brianna, from our floor in McCracken Hall? And she used to turn into a total psychopath when it got cold outside. Not that she was particularly stable when it was warm out. But she got way worse when it was cold. So, you know. I think we should reserve the right to call off the whole living-together thing if one or the other of us feels like it isn’t working out. And since it’s your mother’s apartment, I’ll be the one who moves out. But you have to give me thirty days to find a new place before you change the locks. That’s only fair.”
    Luke is still grinning. But now the grin is slightly whimsical.
    “You’re very concerned,” he says, “about fairness, aren’t you?”
    “Well,” I say, feeling slightly deflated that this is his only response to my long speech. “I guess I am. I mean, there’s so little justice inthe world. Young mothers get killed by hit-and-run drivers, and people’s skeletons turn up in backyards, and—”
    Now Luke’s frowning. And reaching for me.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says, pulling me down onto his lap. Fortunately, I’ve put down my wineglass. “But I’m awfully glad we’ve had this little chat. Is it over?”
    I quickly run through all the things I’d hoped to cover with him. Splitting the rent and utilities, making room for my sewing machine, and a Get Out of Jail Free card in case either of us (him more than me, since I didn’t plan on going anywhere) needed it. Yes. Done.
    I nod. “It’s over.”
    “Good,” Luke says, and bends me back against the couch. “Now how do you get this thing off?”

Lizzie Nichols’s Wedding Gown Guide
    Pear-shaped girls, don’t despair! True, according to the band Queen, fat-bottomed girls make the rockin’ world go round. But often, we can’t find a thing to wear!
     
    Pear-shaped girls are in luck when it comes to wedding gowns, however. The A-line cut flatters by drawing attention away from the lower half of the body, and up toward the bustline.

    This can be emphasized even more by going with an off-the-shoulder or deeply V’ed neckline, but stay away from halter-neck gowns and full or pleated skirts, as these looks can add