BooksBarbecue
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

I appreciate his using the word “we,” but really this is my decision. And I’ve been thinking about it. What if they don’t believe me? I should have gone and gotten a rape test done, but I looked it up, and in order for a rape test to be effective, I should have done it within seventy-two hours. It’s been five days. Any DNA evidence is gone by now.

“It’s going to be okay,” Zach says, scooping me into his arms. As he holds me, I nod into his hair, desperately wanting to believe the words.

Sixty-Six

Dani

Ming paces back and forth in my bedroom while I text Zach. I was supposed to tutor him today, but he canceled.

“I can’t believe Florence left like that! She wouldn’t even introduce me to her parents as her friend!” she says. “I shouldn’t have told my parents.”

She tries Florence again, but she doesn’t pick up.

“It was so stupid,” Ming cries, lying on my bed and blinking back tears. “Now my parents know my secret . . . and for what?”

I put down my phone. “What’d they say when you told them?” I ask her.

“That I’ve gotten too Americanized and I need to stop.”

Ming’s phone rings. But it’s just Mr. Rufus calling. Ming presses Ignore.

“What are you going to say to Florence?” I ask.

“That it’s over,” Ming says, throwing her phone into the side pocket of her violin case. She curls up into a ball on my bed, pressing her chin to her knees. “For good.”

I reach over and put a hand on her back.

“All my life I’ve just wanted to make my parents proud . . . ,” she whispers as I rub her back. A tear escapes my eye. I feel that. I totally feel that. Ming wraps herself in my blanket. “And now I can never do that.”

“Of course you can,” I tell her, hugging her. But no matter how many times I say it, she shakes her head and says she can’t.

After Ming leaves, I try Zach once more, but he doesn’t pick up. I sit down at my computer and try to go over debate case studies. My team training sessions have been so abysmal, I’m kind of on my own for Snider. Chrome alerts me that I have email. I go to my Gmail and see a group email from Mr. Connelly reminding us of our flight reservation next week and what to bring to Snider. I’m glad he didn’t leave me off the email chain for once. There’s also an email from Google. I’d set up a Google Alert on Phoenix Capital Limited.

I click on the news article, from a Chinese business website.