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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

She finally winds down and the reporter turns to the camera, ostensibly to sign off. This has been Vicky Nguyen for KRON with Owen Takasugi, Aviana Fong, Brynn for President, and Brynn’s enormous fucking ego. And now back to the studio.

Suddenly I know what the expression “it makes my blood boil” means. I feel as if my heart is pumping outrage, as if it’s flowing through my arteries, hot and poisonous and bubbling, flooding my brain, my lungs, my arms, my legs. I knew it. I knew it. Brynn, true to form, has managed to make this whole thing about Brynn.

Then I feel ugly. Is some of this plain old green-eyed jealousy? Do I just want to be in the spotlight? That could be me with my picture in the newspaper, me being interviewed on TV, me being the #winner for once. Instead, it’s Brynn getting all the attention, as usual. I don’t know.

The camera crews head back to their vans and Owen, Aviana, and Brynn are swallowed by the herd of kids who had gathered to watch them being interviewed. I follow them onto campus at a safe distance. Once we get to the quad, individual human beings materialize and separate themselves from the mass, heading off toward their classes. Tulasi, who’s at the edge of the crowd, sees me and walks over, calling, “Hey!” I wave back and look for Emily, who ought to be close by. I wonder if seeing Brynn take over the television interview will be enough to convince her that I’m right.

Just as Tulasi reaches me, I spot Emily. Standing with her, deep in conversation, are Owen, Aviana, and Brynn, along with Zach and Sabrina. And no one looks angry or upset at all.

35

WE’RE IN MR. HARRISON’S CLASSROOM FOR OUR STORM meeting, which doesn’t officially start for twenty minutes. But I called an emergency premeeting meeting about Brynn, so here we all are. Except for Brynn.

“All I’m saying is maybe we should give her another chance,” Emily says. “I don’t think she meant to overshadow anyone.”

“Are you kidding me? You know she engineered that feature in the Merc. I’ll bet she got KRON to come to school today. How come the rest of us didn’t know about it?”

“We did. Didn’t you get the text?” asks Emily.

“She never texted me about it.”

“She did,” says Owen. “On Valentine’s Day. She was with Nik and Lili; she sent that group text? You said to wait till today?” The others nod, and suddenly I remember that I turned off notifications on that thread. I check my phone. Dammit.

“It doesn’t matter, though. She did completely center herself. I watched her interrupt you, Aviana,” Nikki says. “She’s my friend, but that wasn’t okay.” I feel a wave of gratitude toward Nikki, who I wasn’t sure would support me on this.