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

“Besides, the school needs you. They need you to win trophies so they can get the next group of full-paying kids in and get their parents to write big fat donations checks. That’s how it works.”

I laugh. “You make it sound like a scam,” I say, munching on a fry.

“It is a scam!” he insists, grinning. His face grows more serious as he breaks off a piece of toast. “But Mrs. Mandalay, I have to hand it to her. Four years ago, the school was a dust bowl. It was smart, recruiting Chinese kids.” He points at me with the toast. “So for purely selfish reasons I’d do it.” He beams.

I smile at him.

On the drive back to school, I close my eyes and imagine, is this what having a father is like? If my dad hadn’t left, are these the kind of soul-affirming conversations we’d have? I look over at Mr. Connelly, happily tapping on his steering wheel to the music. If I could choose, I’d want a dad just like him. It makes me want to write speeches all day long, just to try to live up to the version of me in his head.

Nineteen

Claire

It feels so weird waking up, knowing what Teddy and I did last night. Was it the alcohol or all the nights of explicit sex talk on Skype culminating in us taking the next step? I always thought my first time undressing for a boy would be somewhere intimate, somewhere special, not sitting in a stranger’s house, breasts illuminated by the neon green camera light of my MacBook Pro.

But he was so into it. Like so into it. He kept saying, “God, you’re beautiful,” his eyes like saucers, as he studied every freckle, shadow, and curve of my body, as if so he could re-create my breasts at any moment in his mind.

It’s fascinating, to know that I have that kind of effect on a boy. My phone dings. It’s a message from Teddy.

Are you ok? Last night was so special.

Aw. He’s sweet.

Yes, I write back. Are you ok?

Never been better image, he replies.

I laugh.

I swipe over to Insta, where my eyes boggle at the number of followers I have. It says I now have 520 followers, thanks to last night and the tagged posts from Jess and the girls. I click on some of my new followers.

The profiles of strung-out-looking men and creepy randos stare back at me. A few of them slide into my DMs, and hesitantly, I tap to read their messages to me.

I want my yellow fever cured now, writes Bob, 38, a carpenter from North Carolina.

Me love you long time! writes Derek.

I can do things to your sexy Asian body that you didn’t even know are possible image, writes another.