Chapters (93)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Books by Kelly Yang
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
“You’ll get it next year,” she says. I tell her about my debate team changing the time on me.
“That’s so messed up,” she says, shaking her head. “I can’t imagine if I showed up for practice and the rest of the band wasn’t there.”
“It was pretty bad,” I say, opening my locker.
“You still gonna go though, right? To practice?” she asks.
Before I can answer, something falls out of my locker. A bloody rubber hand.
Ming and I scream.
I pick up the rubbery Halloween prop. There’s a note attached to the gross hand, severed at the wrist in fake blood. It reads:
OMG a hand touched me!
Followed by a motion:
This house believes Dani De La Cruz will do or say anything to get ahead.
Fifty-Three
Claire
Where were you??? I text Jay.
Three ??? to convey the urgency. I press Send and continue typing. How could you stand me up with my mom!? WTF?! Then I stare at the words. I can hear my mother’s voice: Don’t seem needy . . . you need to be coy with guys. I delete the words and put down my phone.
I try to focus on my psychology essay, but it’s impossible. Where was he? And why hasn’t he texted me back?
At school the next day, Jay’s not there. Jess, Nancy, and Florence tell me to relax.
“He’s probably sick or something,” Nancy says. She takes out a piece of gum from her simple Coach backpack. She’s returned all her rented bags from online. Honestly, the Coach bag looks just as nice. I’m thinking of getting one too.
“Or maybe his phone got hacked,” adds Florence. “That happened to my dad once.”
Jess glances at her but doesn’t say anything. I know she’s still processing Florence’s “situation,” but our friendship is so much stronger than labels. I smile and reach my hand out for a piece of gum from Nancy.
After lunch, Nancy and Jess hurry back to class while I linger behind and walk with Florence.
“Hey, I just wanted to say . . . I’m here for you,” I tell her.
Florence grips her MCM backpack as she walks.
“If there’s ever anything else you wanted to talk about,” I say.
Florence stops walking. “Did Dani say something to you?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No.”
“Then . . . ?”
I look around at the crowd of parachutes walking next to us and pull her into an empty staircase.
“I saw you guys the other day,” I say to her when we’re alone.
Florence’s face starts reddening. “OMG . . .”
“No, it’s okay. I think it’s great,” I reassure her. “I just don’t know why you didn’t tell us.”
Florence removes her backpack and takes a seat on the stairs. I sit down beside her. She reaches into her backpack for tissues.