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’m not being defensive. You’re being nosy.”

“CJ! He’s allowed to ask questions. I’m curious, too. What are you and Shane discussing?” Hannah looks decidedly disgruntled now, which, seriously? It’s none of her business.

“Nah, it’s okay, Hannah. Don’t worry about it. It’s cool,” says Owen. I’m sure it’s not cool with him at all, but his face is blank, and he’s currently working very hard at getting the dregs of his ramen into it, so I can’t tell what he’s feeling. I don’t exactly know what I’m feeling, either.

Another text comes through, this time from the STORM committee. Owen checks his phone at the same time that I do.

Hey, guise. Ugh, it’s Brynn. I’m with Nik and Lili, and I just had a great idea to get some press for the movement.

Double ugh. Let’s wait until after February break, I reply.

I watch Owen read it. He looks up and I can tell he’s going to scold me for shutting Brynn down, but I am not in the mood to have an argument about her motives or my issues with them, and anyway, Hannah’s not supposed to know I’m involved in STORM, so I glare at him and bend over my phone.

Almost immediately, I get a bunch more texts on this thread, but I’m out of patience. I remember something I read over Hannah’s shoulder last week in some BuzzFeed article on self-care. “Block anyone who makes you feel less than. At the very least, turn off notifications from that person. Don’t allow them to disrupt your life every time they have a thought they want to share.”

Perfect. I just need some time when I don’t feel like I have to deal with Brynn and worry about what she’s scheming. I don’t have the guts to flat-out block her. But I go to Settings on my phone and turn off notifications for this thread.

Immediately, I feel lighter. In fact, I should just cut this entire evening short, in the name of self-care. I put fifteen dollars on the table and push it toward Owen. “Thanks for the ramen,” I say. “I’m gonna go home.”

34

EVER SINCE OUR STORY BROKE AT THE BEGINNING of the month, I’ve taken to reading the newspaper and googling for news about McAllister every morning. Today, on our first day back from February break, I flip to the Lifestyles section of the Merc and see this:

“I Couldn’t Just Sit There and Do Nothing”

A White Student Explains Her Efforts to Rename McAllister High School

by Geoffrey Acosta

What?