The Book of Jane Read Online Free PDF Page A

all with goat cheese and apples. I stand by, trying to stay out of the way. Raquel looks at the back of the house again and belts out, “It’s almost dinner time. Can you go grab your sister?”
    â€œBut I need them,” Haven yells. We hear the thud of toys being thrown on the floor of her bedroom, and Haven singing “This Kiss.”
    â€œWould you mind bringing this to the table?” Raquel asks me as she shoves the salad into my hands. I shake my head and walk to the dining room. I see Haven has set it tonight. The forks and spoons are reversed, and she has given her father a giant serving fork instead of a regular fork.
    â€œJack, where’s Olivia?” Raquel yells to her husband, who is on the computer in the living room. Olivia is their younger daughter and a real live miracle. When she was born, she was completely deaf. Raquel and Jack were devastated when they found out, and their doctor was not optimistic that Olivia’s hearing could ever be improved. After visits to several specialists and a lot of prayers, they heard about a new and somewhat experimental surgery that might be able to help. Their insurance didn’t cover it, and though it cost them their savings, Raquel and Jack never thought twice about getting Olivia’s cochlear implants put in. Now except for a small square pack she has to wear in her pocket every day, you’d never be able to tell she is deaf. Olivia is as talkative and outgoing as any two-year-old.
    â€œShe’s probably with Haven, honey,” Jack calls. It will never cease to amaze me how hard it is to keep track of a two-year-old in a two-bedroom apartment. There just aren’t that many places she could go.
    â€œHaven, bring your sister to the table,” Raquel yells, placing the grilled asparagus on the table. “I’m so sorry about all this,” she says to me, shaking her head.
    â€œI’m almost ready,” Haven calls from the room the girls share. “Olivia, stop touching my things,” she shrieks, and we hear a crash, followed by the high-pitched crying of a toddler.
    â€œDon’t ever have kids,” Raquel says under her breath before rushing out of the room.
    I look around at the photographs on the wall, framed Christmas portraits of the family. Jack and Raquel have to be the hottest couple outside of Hollywood. With his blond hair, huge build, and blue eyes, he looks like an old-fashioned superhero. She is a taller Salma Hayek, and was elected homecoming queen her senior year in an unprecedented landslide. I always wanted to be her, but eventually I realized I was never going to have a mother who danced to salsa music or a cousin who starred in a telenovela. I am just Jane. Plain Jane. I look at the picture a little closer. Their daughters should really model, though I know Jack would never go for that. They practically radiate wholesomeness, their light-brown curls springy above their lacy dresses. Olivia even got Jack’s blue eyes, which are just stunning on her. They’re all so perfect. It’s hard not to envy Raquel.
    â€œYou are not wearing that at the dinner table!” Raquel yells over her shoulder as she comes into the room.
    â€œI just want to show Jane,” Haven whines, coming into the room, followed closely by little Olivia. And God forgive me, but I can’t help it. I burst out laughing. Haven is dressed in a rolled-up denim skirt, a tight pink shirt, and patent leather Mary Janes. She has pulled her hair into a high ponytail and is wearing giant dark sunglasses. She is also wearing bright red lipstick and has blue eye shadow above her eyes, around her eyes, and, inexplicably, on her left cheek. She has dressed Olivia in pink leggings and a pair of her mother’s heels and has painted her face in a similarly clownlike fashion. “Do we look cool, Jane?” Haven asks, putting her hand behind her head and sticking out her left hip.
    â€œVery cool,” I