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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

“Actually, I’d really like to go to the school and have a word with Mrs. Mandalay about how she handled this whole thing. Maybe I’ll go in with Dani’s mom. She’s got to be pissed too. . . .” Her voice trails off when she sees my face as I look down at the letter.

“It’s from Jay,” I tell her.

“A confidentiality agreement?” Jess asks. She slides her sunglasses off. We’re at Pinkberry, sitting outside.

I nod. The letter, sent from Jay’s family’s attorney’s office, proposed a nondisclosure agreement between me and Jay, whereby I agree not to reveal the facts relating to the dispute of what happened the night of Friday the fifteenth in exchange for a monetary settlement.

“How much?” Jess asks.

“Two million dollars,” I tell her.

Jess’s eyes go wide. Her frozen yogurt spoon falls out of her hand. “Claire, that’s fucking great!” she exclaims. “Are you gonna take it?”

I push the yogurt around in my cup with my spoon, watching it melt. “I don’t know. To not be able to talk about what happened? With anyone? Not even the police?”

“Claire, it’s two million dollars!”

When I don’t say anything, Jess leans forward. “Do you remember what I said before? About how there’s always a private solution?”

I nod, recalling the conversation we once had about her dad.

“Sometimes the private solution is just as good as the public solution,” Jess urges.

“And what is the private solution here?” I ask her.

“The private solution is you take the motherfucker’s money, transfer to another school, and move on. That’s enough money for you and your mom to buy a nice house! Start over!”

I shake my head. “But I don’t want a nice house . . .” My eyes slide down to my watch. It’s four thirty. Dani’s going to the police at five. If I want to meet her over at the police station, I have to leave now.

Jess lets out an exasperated sigh. “What do you want then? He already said he’s sorry . . .” She grabs the letter and thrusts it at me. “This is how sorry he is. Do you really want to go through a public trial? Your name will forever be tattooed to what happened . . .”

I consider my reply. “I can never get my name completely away from rape,” I tell her. “But maybe I can get it closer to, you know, justice.”

Jess laughs. She waves around her yogurt spoon as she says, “Girl, justice is something Americans invented to sell movies.”

Eighty-Four

Dani