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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

He wipes the water from the corners of his mouth and starts walking away.

Is he just going to ignore me? I rush after him. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? She’s kind of going through a lot right now, that’s what’s wrong. You should know.” He walks briskly and I struggle to keep up.

“Know what?” I ask, picking up the pace.

Zach stops walking.

“Hey, do you know anyone on the ad board?” he asks.

Shit, so it’s true. I tell him only Mr. Matthews. But if she’s going before the ad board, she should know the administration is ten times more powerful than she thinks.

Zach shakes his head like he doesn’t understand. I pull him into an empty classroom and finally tell him the whole truth about everything that happened to me this year. About Seattle, xomegan.com, the real reason they took away my headmistress commendation. Everything.

“Oh my God,” he says. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks. My gaze falls to my feet. I don’t have the words to explain why I kept it a secret. It wasn’t like by keeping it small, it disappeared. Instead, it just burned a hole inside my pocket.

“I’m so sorry,” Zach says, putting his arms around me.

As Zach holds me, I breathe into his sweatshirt. I think about all the times he’s cheered me up this past year, lifted me when I felt defeated. As I pull away from him, I say, “I hope you and Claire are happy together.” I say it from the most genuine part of me, the part that misses both of them.

“Thanks.” Zach smiles.

He pushes open the door to the hallway. “I’m sorry again, Dani,” he says. “I wish you had told me earlier so I could have helped you.”

I raise my eyes. “You did help me,” I tell him.

Zach gives me another hug and wishes me well at Snider. “I’m proud of you, De La Cruz,” he says. “I’ll be rooting for you.”

Seventy-Three

Claire

Early on Wednesday, the day before the ad board meeting, I go to find Ms. Jones. My parents are still really unsure about this whole ad board thing, but I reassured them that my English teacher’s going to be on it. I push open the door to my English class, but instead of finding Ms. Jones at her desk, I find Mrs. Wallace.

“Where’s Ms. Jones?” I ask.

“Home!” she exclaims. “I’ll be teaching this class again.”

I immediately make an excuse to go to the bathroom. In the bathroom stall, I tap into my in-box, closing my eyes as I hit refresh and wait for my emails to load. Please please . . . let it not be true.

And then I see it.

Dear Claire,