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Back This Time Will Be Different Save as PDF
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

Oh my god. It’s Shane. He’s let go of my hand and stepped forward and is now locked in a stare-down with this kid, a scrawny, weaselly looking dude who Shane could probably break in half with his bare hands. It’s like something out of a superhero movie.

It’s kind of thrilling.

But also a tiny bit . . . well, I had a comeback for once in my life, and I didn’t get to use it.

Ah, fuck it.

“If anyone’s triggered, it’s the dude who can’t handle credit going to someone besides a white person.”

Both Shane and the kid look at me in astonishment. Other kids are starting to notice us and take their phones out—hoping for a fight they can post somewhere, I’m sure. The kid sees this too and backs down pretty much immediately, probably because he doesn’t want the entire school to see a video of himself getting trounced. He rolls his eyes and looks at me and says in a voice spiky with resentful sarcasm, “Sorry.”

Shane turns to me and says, “That wasn’t a very sincere apology, CJ. Do you need a better one?”

It was a shitty apology, but there’s no point in drawing this out. Even if the kid apologizes again, he won’t really be sorry. “It’s fine,” I say. And to the kid, pointedly, “Goodbye.”

He vanishes, muttering to his friends.

“Holy shit,” says Shane. “What a fucking prick. CJ, you okay? Does that kind of thing happen to you often?”

“I’m fine,” I say. “And nothing like that has ever happened to me.” I mean, I hear bigoted comments all the time. Don’t we all? But I don’t make a habit of arguing with the random douchebags who make them.

“Well, you’re a fucking badass! I’m sorry I jumped in like that. I bet you could have kicked his ass.”

“Oh. Well,” I say, smiling modestly, and then I run out of things to say.

“Anyway, I get it now, for real,” Shane says. “I’m all in on STORM. Let me know if you need any help with anything, okay? I don’t have time for meetings and stuff, but like I can show up for fund-raisers or whatever. Anything.”

“Cool. Thanks.”