BooksBarbecue
Back Parachutes
Chapters (93)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Sixty-Six
  69. Sixty-Seven
  70. Sixty-Eight
  71. Sixty-Nine
  72. Seventy
  73. Seventy-One
  74. Seventy-Two
  75. Seventy-Three
  76. Seventy-Four
  77. Seventy-Five
  78. Seventy-Six
  79. Seventy-Seven
  80. Seventy-Eight
  81. Seventy-Nine
  82. Eighty
  83. Eighty-One
  84. Eighty-Two
  85. Eighty-Three
  86. Eighty-Four
  87. Eighty-Five
  88. Author’s Note
  89. Acknowledgments
  90. About the Author
  91. Books by Kelly Yang
  92. Back Ad
  93. About the Publisher

He leans over. His lips open with desire. My body trembles as he climbs on top of me in bed. He kisses my lips . . . my ears . . . my neck. As we kiss, his legs wrap around mine. He presses into me. We both want more, but he stops.

“Get dressed,” he says. “There’s cereal and juice downstairs. I’ll be back in thirty.”

“Hey, who was that on the phone last night?” I ask. I wasn’t going to say anything but it’d been bothering me all night.

“Oh, that’s just my dad,” he says. “He can be a bit . . .” He makes the sign for crazy with his finger. “You know how it is.”

I smile. I do know. After Jay leaves, I stretch my arms and legs in the luxurious sheets. It almost feels like I’m back in Shanghai, and I bask in the familiar comfort. I take a shower, standing in the rain shower for several minutes, the water dripping down my body as I think about Jay and replay our kiss from this morning.

Forty-Four

Dani

Mr. Connelly gathers us after training on Wednesday.

“Hey, guys, I have something important to discuss with you regarding Snider,” he says.

My teammates and I form a circle around him. The Snider people smile smugly, looking at the rest of us like, You can probably sit this one out.

I ignore them and hold my head up high. Please, let Mrs. Mandalay have talked to him.

Mr. Connelly takes a step forward and gazes down at his leather loafers, like he’s sorry for what he’s about to say.

“After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided to make some adjustments to who’s coming to Snider,” Mr. Connelly says. My teammates suck in a sharp breath and hold it. “Dani will be coming with us.”

A smile sneaks out the corners of my mouth before I can stop it, but Mr. Connelly doesn’t look at me. He keeps his gaze glued to my other teammates, his body language says, I so did not want to do this.

“Unfortunately . . . ,” Mr. Connelly adds, “we can only send six, so this means one of you guys cannot go.” Hands fly to my teammates’ mouths. All around me, heads shake. No, no, no, no, no, no. I want to run up to the podium, grab the mic, and yell no too. This is not the way this is supposed to go down!

“Heather,” Mr. Connelly calls. Heather’s head jerks up. The look in her eyes is of pure terror. “I’m so sorry, but you’re not able to go to Snider this year. I know you’re disappointed, but—”

The rest of Mr. Connelly’s words are drowned out by Heather’s rage. “This is bullshit!” she screams.