BooksBarbecue
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

I wish I could say that business has been brisk because of the publicity we’ve been getting on the news, or the flyers I put up around the neighborhood for the store and at school for my own little side hustle. But Hannah says it’s hard to tell, since the week leading up to Valentine’s Day is always crazy. In what little spare time she’s had, she’s been on the phone with the JACL and the National Japanese American Historical Society, trying to convince them that this new angle on the McAllisters justifies her request for funds. I get the feeling it’s not going well, which is worrisome. April is only six weeks away and if this week isn’t going to give us a cushion, I don’t know how we’re going to manage to keep the store.

I’m actually glad for the distraction of financial woes, since things have been a bit strained between me and Owen and Emily ever since they went out with Brynn and Sabrina last weekend. The whole thing’s been pricking at me like a burr in my sock, but I can’t be angry because, technically, I was invited and I said no.

But like, Owen didn’t text or DM me all weekend. It’s not like we text all the time, but still. And Em was super weird about it, too. “Oh, you know,” she said, when I called her on Sunday to ask how it was and what they did. “Nothing, really.”

I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t, so I said, “Nothing? What, you didn’t go anywhere? You didn’t do anything? At all?”

“No, seriously. We hung out at the Creamery for a while, and then Sabrina had to go home. Literally, that’s the only interesting thing we did.”

And when I tried asking Owen in a general, roundabout way about it on Monday, he changed the subject.

It feels like the three of us are in a badly acted play where the actors haven’t quite memorized their lines or figured out where to look or how to stand on the stage. Emily keeps hinting that I’m secretly into Owen, probably to distract me from whatever is going on with her and Brynn. Owen pretends that he’s not hiding this Sabrina thing from me. I pretend I don’t feel resentful and hurt. We all pretend everything’s cool, even though it’s not.