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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

But there are things I do care about. I care about loyalty to friends and family. I care about taking responsibility for our actions and how they affect people. I care about Emily’s happiness. I care about Hannah and Heart’s Desire, and about the I way feel when I’m there, like I have a purpose, like I can make someone’s life a little bit more beautiful, a little bit more meaningful, the way Hannah does, and the way my granddad and his father did; I care about the connection I feel to that history, to something bigger than me. And speaking of history and families and responsibility, I care about justice for the Motoharas—the family my school should be named after. Those are the things that motivate me. Those are the things that inspire me to act. Which gives me an idea. I pick up my phone and start texting. I’m going to disappoint Mom in ways she never dreamed of.

27

FROM THE BOOTH IN SWEET EMILY’S, I TEXT Emily and Aviana, and after a brief dither, I put Owen on the thread, too.

Help me do something about this, I type, and then send the link to the article.

CJ: I’m in the last booth at Sweet Emily’s

Hiding from the press cuz I’m such a hot celebrity

Actually, no. The truth is, I hesitate before putting Emily on the thread. I feel like she’s drifting away from me; maybe she won’t want to be part of this. Maybe I’m being insecure and irrational, but what if I’m not? What’s even worse, a mean little voice inside hisses that maybe I should keep her out of the conversation—just for a day—before inviting her to help me. Let her feel left behind, the way she made me feel yesterday.

In the end, I’m able to mute that voice. My trust in our friendship has to be bigger than my fears of her turning away from me. And even if those fears don’t go away, I have to remember that this thing is bigger than my personal issues.

Five in the morning is really early, and after I send the texts, I doze for a while. When I open my eyes again, it’s five after six, and there are two text notifications on my phone. One is from Aviana, who has swim practice from six o’clock to seven thirty but still wants in. The other is from Owen, a minute ago.

O: On my way!

fucking autocorrect. I sound like my mom

O M W

How can he already be on his way? I reply:

CJ: Why are you awake right now? Do you even know what time it is?