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
I hear her answering the door, telling him I’m not here. Jay raises his voice at her. “You said you were going to keep your mouth shut!” he yells at her.
She says something that I can’t hear.
It burns inside me, the fact that the two of them have been hanging on to this secret. And how do I know Dani and her friend didn’t join in that day? Maybe they did. I shake my head, hating what this is turning me into. The person I swore I would never be. I walk outside to confront them, hands gripping my cardigan tight around me.
“Dani, what are you doing?” I ask.
She stands in the sun blinking at me.
“Why are you still talking to him?”
“I’m not!” Dani says.
Jay shouts to me in Mandarin. “Nothing happened, okay? Look at her! You think I’d be interested in her?”
I grab Dani’s hand and pull her back to the house. Once inside, Dani asks me gently, “You want to talk about it?”
I shake my head at her. No, I do not. Not with her. As she walks back to her room, I lie on the couch, wondering where on a scale of shittiness is my kissing Zach versus her not telling me about Jay.
The next day, I find Zach at the pool, fully clothed this time. It’s a lot harder to swim fully clothed, but Zach’s coach makes him do it sometimes for practice.
“What happened cannot happen again,” I tell him.
He looks up, water dripping down his brow.
“Why?” he asks.
There is no why. It just can’t!
“Because I don’t want it to,” I say.
He puts his head into the water, submerging himself. I stare at the ripples on the surface, trying to make out his face.
When at last he resurfaces, he looks all calm, as if nothing happened, and asks, “You hungry? Want to get a bite to eat?”
“Huh?” I ask.
He pushes himself out of the water, shakes his head, and gets me all wet as if he were a golden retriever. I scream. Zach smiles at me.
“C’mon, let’s get something to eat. My treat,” he says, leading the way.
I open my mouth to say no, then I realize I’m actually kind of hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat all day. I follow him out of the pool.
He takes me to Norms, a diner so American, it’s like walking into a country song. He gets the cheeseburger while I order the spinach salad.
“You’re gonna need more carbs if you want to swim faster,” he says.