Read Online Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon M. Draper - Free Book Online

in that school who are always hanging around her. She knows a real man when she sees one. Have you noticed that she doesn’t talk to any of them?”
    â€œShe’s right, Gerald,” I told him, taking one of his french fries.
    â€œWell, if she doesn’t want to talk to any of them, I know she doesn’t want to talk to me!”
    â€œMaybe she isn’t talking to them because she’d rather be talking to you,” reasoned Angel.
    â€œNot a chance!”
    â€œGive it a try.”
    â€œCan’t.” I know Gerald hated feeling like a seventh-grade idiot, but that was how Jalani affected him.
    â€œLike I said, dumb!” Angel repeated. “But I love you, Gerald. You just have to believe that you’re lovable.”
    â€œYou have to love me ’cause I’m your brother.”
    â€œI have to love you because you have a car now and I have a ride home, even if it is an old beat-up Ford!”
    â€œShe has a new red BMW!” I added.
    â€œDon’t remind me!” groaned Gerald.
    â€œSo ask her for a ride in it.” Now I knew that Jalaniwould jump at the chance to talk to Gerald, but she had too much dignity to call him first.
    â€œNot a chance,” Gerald insisted.
    â€œGive it a try.”
    â€œCan’t.”
    â€œLike I said, dumb!”
    â€œTalk about dumb! You ate nothing! Here, finish my fries—the ones that Keisha didn’t sneak off the plate!”
    â€œI hate cold fries—and I told you I ate after practice.” Angel got up from the table and put on her coat. Her large down coat made her tiny body look even smaller. “See ya, Keisha. We tried to talk some sense into his big head!”
    I watched them leave and thought about Gerald’s pride. He and Angel lived in a high-rise apartment in a low-rent neighborhood. I knew that Gerald wasn’t ashamed of where he lived, but he had told me many times that he was afraid that a girl who had modeled in New York and drove her own red BMW wouldn’t understand the world that Gerald called home. And he wasn’t going to give her the chance to find out. I sighed and headed back to my job.
    After work, while I was unlocking the door to my house, I could hear the phone ringing insistently. I dropped my purse and packages, and chuckled at myself. What was I working for? More than half of my paycheck went for clothes at the store I worked at! Even with my employee discount, I had very little left. But I did get to rag it tough! I rushed to pick up the phone. It was Jalani, sounding concerned.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s Angel!” Jalani told me breathlessly. “She collapsed at dance class tonight and had to be rushed to the hospital!”
    â€œOh no! I just saw Angel and Gerald at the mall a few hours ago! Were you there when it happened? Tell me what’s goin’ on!”
    â€œI started taking classes at the conservatory a few weeks ago,” Jalani explained. “I didn’t even know Angel was taking classes there, too. But right in the middle of class, a girl ran into our room, screaming, ‘Help! Somebody call 911! A girl passed out in our class!’ So I ran over there to see if I could help, and it’s Angel sprawled out on the floor. It was scary.”
    â€œSo what did you do?” I asked. My heart was pounding.
    â€œWell, Angel’s teacher’s got gumdrops for brains. She’s screaming hysterically into the confusion, ‘Does anyone know CPR?’”
    â€œYou mean the dance teacher didn’t know CPR? That’s unbelievable!”
    â€œThat’s what I thought, but I didn’t have time to worry about her problems just then. Angel didn’t look like she was breathing. So I told the ditzy teacher that I knew CPR, and me and this other girl in my class started doing the breathing and compressions.”
    â€œSo was Angel breathing at this point?” I