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
“Shit! Someone’s coming,” he says. He fumbles with his pants as I pull mine back up. We collapse on the grass in each other’s arms, giggling.
Sixty-Two
Dani
There are dirt stains and grass stains on Claire’s shirt and pants when she finally gets home.
“I saw you guys, you know,” I mutter from the couch.
Claire looks at me, puzzled.
“In the pool.” I turn to her. “Why would you do that?”
She gives me a bunch of crap about how she and Zach have been seeing each other for a while, how they’re both swimmers, as she walks toward her room.
I couldn’t care less about their aquatic connection. “Did you even use a condom?” I ask her.
She stops walking. Unbelievable. Of course she didn’t. That would require thinking and being responsible, which she’s clearly not capable of.
“I took care of it,” she informs me. “I’m fine.”
I stand up from the couch. “Well, I’m not fine,” I turn to her and say. My lips quiver. I look away, emotions unknotting inside. All I can think about is the two of them at the pool. I haven’t been able to do anything, not eat or sleep or even get ready for Snider. “Do you have any idea what this year has been like for me?” I cry. “You stole my boyfriend!”
“He’s not your boyfriend,” she says. Claire retreats and hides behind the door in her room. “You guys were just studying together.”
It infuriates me the way she says it.
“Fuck you, Claire!” I scream. “I wish you never moved here!”
Sixty-Three
Claire
“Jay?” I call out as I walk into his house. It’s a little after 8:00 p.m. He had texted me earlier asking me to come over, saying he needed to talk. I was so shaken up after the confrontation with Dani that I said okay. I need to grab some of my stuff anyway.
“Up here,” Jay calls from the master bedroom.
As soon as I walk into the room, I sense it. In his bloodshot eyes. His nostrils. His clenched jaw. He knows.
“How could you do this to me?” he yells. “I thought you were the one!”
I shake my head. But how? How’d he find out? My breath catches in my throat as I realize. Dani must have told him.
“All this time you were telling me you wanted to wait, and I believed you, I never pushed you,” Jay continues, staggering around his room as he blinks back the tears. “Meanwhile, you were taking your clothes off for some piece of white trash!”
He charges at me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
“No!” I exclaim. “It wasn’t like that!”
But something in Jay snaps. He grabs me and throws me onto the bed. “You wanna be a whore? I’ll treat you like one,” he says.