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Back Parachutes Save as PDF
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

She shifts her eyes from her parents’ picture to me and scrutinizes my face. “What do you mean?” she asks. Claire’s instincts hone in on me. “What do you know?”

“Nothing,” I mutter. Quickly, I get up from her bed.

Claire follows me to my room. “Tell me!”

“Nothing!” I insist. But Claire won’t stop pressing me. She corners me in my room, and I buckle under the pressure of her intense eyes. The lotion in her hand falls onto the floor when I tell her what happened in his bedroom that day.

“He asked you guys to join in?” Claire asks. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? When you realized it was him?”

Claire gets up and walks back to her room, slamming the door.

“I’m sorry, Claire,” I say through the door. “I’ve just been going through a lot. I was going to tell you!”

“No, you weren’t! You were going to keep this a secret from me. I thought you were my friend!” she yells from the other side of the door.

Fifty-Seven

Claire

I used to think Jay looked peaceful when he sleeps, his baby face so innocent. I used to feel special sleeping next to him. Now I think of all the others who have been here before me.

“Wake up.” I jab his shoulder with my fingers.

He stirs, opens one eye, starts to smile, then sees the storm on my face.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, sitting up.

“Dani told me,” I say. “You asked her and her friend to join in?” I could feel the heat of his body, the veins on his forehead pulsating as he digests this.

He throws his head back onto the pillow, closes his eyes.

“She’s lying,” he says.

I pull his pillow out from under him and whack him with it.

“No, you’re lying,” I say. “Where were you last week? Tell me!”

He gets up out of bed, throws on a robe, and walks out of the room. I follow him.

“Were you with your whores?” I ask. “Your ‘meis’?” I do air quotes with my fingers.

“Will you shut up?” he yells back. He throws on a pair of pants and a shirt.

“I deserve an answer! Who were you with?” I press.

He crosses his arms at me. His jaw locks. “You deserve an answer?” he mocks. “Why? Because you’re my ‘girlfriend’? You won’t even let me have sex with you!” I feel the cold marble under my toes. He takes a step toward me as he hurls the words at me. “Don’t ever tell me what I can and cannot do!”

Shaking, I reach for my phone. “I’m leaving.”

Jay walks across the room and grabs his car keys. “Don’t bother,” he says, storming past me.

Hate courses through my veins as I push myself through the water.