Light of Day Read Online Free

long.”
    â€œThey’re both bulimic, that’s why,” I said.
    The girls’ eyes widened.
    I waved a hand. “I’m kidding. I’m sure they just want to get out of class.”
    JC and his buddies sat down at their usual table—the one I’d sat at every day since we’d started dating in the spring of freshman year. Now I couldn’t even walk by it without feeling icy stares. They hated me for breaking his heart.
    JC was the type of guy who gave flowers and Just Because notes. The type of guy who saw all the best parts of me and was ignorant to the rest. The type of guy whose family had welcomed me with open arms.
    He had the same initials as Jesus Christ, for Christ’s sake.
    Even now, I wasn’t sure I understood it. I just knew that the longer we were together, the less I wanted to be with him. And secretly, in the deep dark parts of me, I was annoyed by him. Something about him didn’t feel . . . manly. Maybe it was that he was such a pushover when it came to his best friend, Liam. After screwing around in his classes last year, Liam had convinced JC to write two of his term papers for him. I couldn’t respect that.
    The breakup had gone badly. When I’d first told him I wasn’t happy, I’d let him talk me out of it. But the end result was two months of emotional carnage.
    All my mom’s worries had been for JC. She’d pointed out that a guy like him might only come along once. She’d met my dad when they were only sixteen, and they’d married right after college. Didn’t I want a guy who’d always be there for me, who’d adore me and our future kids, just like my dad?
    She was right. But it wasn’t enough.
    JC was too good a person to go around hating on me. So everyone took care of that for him. The rumor was that I’d become a snob since I’d gotten my radio show. That I thought I was hot shit and could do better than JC Suarez.
    Everyone was all too eager to assure him—and me—that I couldn’t.
    And the truth was, I believed it.
    My brother, David, was watching TV in the living room when I got home from school, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Way to brighten my day.
    His “hey” was more like a grunt.
    I didn’t ask why he was here. Once a week he came to pick up his laundry and have a home-cooked meal. Same deal for the whole three years he’d been in college. He might be pre-med, but doing laundry, cooking, and anything besides studying and applying expensive cologne weren’t among his skills.
    I thought the point in going away to college was to go away . But he’d chosen the University of Miami and lived a half-hour bus ride from here. I didn’t see why my parents had agreed to pay his living expenses when he could live at home. But I was grateful, because it meant I didn’t have to deal with him every day.
    I went into the kitchen to get a soda.
    â€œWhat’s for dinner?” David shouted from the living room.
    â€œDon’t know.” The casserole was in the fridge, but I wasn’t going to inspect it for him.
    I thought about going to sit with him for a few minutes,but decided against it. Most of our conversations turned sour. They would start off pleasant enough, then he’d say something condescending, the old David snark, and I’d call him on it. Of course, Mom and Dad would see me pissed off and David as cool as a cucumber, and I’d get all the flack.
    â€œHey, Gab, come here!”
    What did he want now? I figured I’d be civil and go in.
    â€œSo how’s the party planning going?” he asked.
    â€œFine.” Aunt Sarita and I had been planning my parents’ twenty-fifth anniversary party since June, and David had never offered to pitch in.
    â€œLet me know if you need any help.”
    I gave him a flat look. “Oh, come on. The party’s next weekend. You’re just offering because you know