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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

I sit up and stare at the “please” with a period. I tap Accept. The next thing I know, my phone rings and Bree’s voice comes on the line.

“Dani, I watched your speech at Snider and I just . . .” She starts to cry.

“It’s okay; I’m okay,” I assure her. I tell her after I left the bar that night, Mr. Connelly backed off. “Thankfully, he didn’t try anything else.”

There’s a long pause.

“Well, he did with me,” she says.

Eighty-Three

Claire

On the day I’m supposed to go with Dani to the police station, my mom wakes up and walks into the living room in her silk robe.

“Dani came by yesterday,” I tell her.

“How is she? It’s terrible what happened to her,” my mom says, shaking her head.

“We’re thinking about going to the police,” I say.

My mom doesn’t respond. I know she’s still uneasy with the idea of me going to the authorities, but she’s been quietly calling up lawyers. I know because I see the caller ID on my mom’s phone when it rings. Still, the admissions letter to Terry Grove is taped prominently to the refrigerator, beaconing an easier solution every time I reach for a LaCroix.

“Do we have any espresso?” my mom asks. “I can’t think about going to the police without caffeine.”

I shake my head.

My mom makes a face. It’s been interesting being roommates with my mom these last few days. She still functions as though Tressy is here, leaving her towels and clothes on the floor everywhere. I hope I wasn’t like that when I first moved in with the De La Cruzes.

“We should get on that,” she says. “Do they sell coffee machines at Trader Joe’s?”

I chuckle. Ever since I took her to Trader Joe’s, she’s been obsessed. She even asked me who Joe was as she walked around in her red Versace feather skirt, looking like an out-of-place peacock while the other shoppers stared.

The doorbell rings.

My mom and I glance toward the door. “I hope it’s not another package from your father.” She rolls her eyes. My dad has been sending her apology gifts. He called twice, begging her to come back. Both times she put him on the phone with me, and he whined and complained that we both ditched him. I told him, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon, even though I hoped it wasn’t true. I hope my mom will stay for a while.

“Hey, maybe next week, we can go out to dinner with Zach,” I suggest as I go to the door.

I open the door to find the mailman standing there. He hands me a letter, posted by registered mail.