Beach Read

January narrates her past with Gus. She says that the worst thing about being college rivals with him is that she wasn’t sure he knew she considered them rivals. Gus is several years older than January but attended college at the same time as her after saving up money through his grave-digging job. His short stories were always darker than the stories of the rest of the creative writing program, with topics centered around his work in the graveyard. January recalls that their interactions were limited throughout college but that they took turns winning writing awards, that he showed up late, and that he asked to borrow materials from her. One interaction that stuck in January’s mind was when she was passing out her story for workshopping and Gus said to her, “Let me guess: Everyone lives happily ever after. Again” (38). Though it was long before she began to write romance, January always took this as a slight. She also describes Gus as “stupidly, infuriatingly attractive” (37), and she goes into a long description of his appearance and mannerisms, explaining the nickname “Sexy Evil Gus” that January and Shadi used to jokingly call him. Finally, she describes how they constantly crossed paths because he tended to date around and engage in month-long relationships with her roommates and other colleagues.