BooksBarbecue
Back Parachutes
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

“You are the strongest girl I know,” she says. I shake my head. My mom puts down her mug and holds my hand in hers. “Being strong doesn’t mean never hurting.”

I stare down at her hand on top of mine, brown and wrinkled from washing too many dishes in too many strangers’ homes. “I’m hurting, Mom,” I whisper. It’s the first time since I was a little girl I’ve ever admitted to my mom that I am feeling anything other than 100 percent. And it’s terrifying. I gaze cautiously up at my mom, worried she might break.

But my mom does not break. Instead, she takes me into her arms. “I know, my anak,” she says, taking my glasses off and stroking my hair. “But you will get through this. You wanna know why? Because you are so brave and you are so smart and you are”—she pauses for a second, searching for the word—“what is is that you kids call it these days, bad butt?”

I laugh through my tears. “Badass,” I tell her.

“You are badass.” She smiles.

As I hug my mom, my phone dings. I look down at the email from the headmistress’s office.

To: Danielle De La Cruz

From: Office of the Headmistress

Subject: URGENT

Dear Ms. De La Cruz,

You are hereby notified that your academic scholarship has been suspended with IMMEDIATE EFFECT. Please see Headmistress Mandalay at her office upon your return to discuss your suspension and the conditions you must meet in order to return to school.

Stacey Webber

For and on behalf of

Headmistress Joanna Mandalay

Eighty-One

Claire

Jess pulls up to the In-N-Out drive-through window and orders for us. We get burgers and fries to go and eat them in the car while the girls try to cheer me up about the hearing.

“You were so brave,” Nancy says.

“And inspiring,” Florence adds. “You made me think about some things I need to do and say in my own life.”

“So now that it’s over, what are you going to do?” Jess asks. “Are you going to move to another school?”

I look down and don’t say anything. Is it really over though? I know I’d gone to the ad board and failed. But watching Dani’s speech these last few days, it’s made me rethink what I want. Is it simply not having to see Jay again at school or is it more than that?

Jess drives by the local police station and I point to it.

“Can we turn in here for a sec?” I ask Jess.

Jess gives me a wild look but turns like I ask. She parks next to a police SUV and switches off the car. We sit in the hot afternoon sun staring at the entrance to the police station. I don’t make a move to get out.