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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

“He’s not married, sweet pea. It’s technically not an affair,” says Hannah, dabbing her right eye with a cotton ball.

“So she is going out with him?” I ask, incredulous.

“No, I meant if she was, it wouldn’t be an affair.”

“She said she didn’t want to keep it a secret from someone, and that someone might not be ready to hear it. A her. She didn’t want to keep it a secret from a woman.”

Hannah starts on her left eye and says, “Or maybe she’s getting ready to break the news to you.”

“Why not ‘them,’ though? Wouldn’t she want to tell us both? If she was dating him?”

“She’s probably thinking that you’d take it harder than me.”

“You’re the one who hates the McAllisters,” I remind her.

“Good point.” Finished with her eye makeup, Hannah starts washing her face. “On the other hand,” she says between splashes, “maybe if they got married, we’d be billionaires, and we could just keep Heart’s Desire without having to worry about how profitable it is. I might be able to stomach a McAllister in-law if he paid for the store.”

“That would be so cool. Billionaires,” I sigh.

“I wouldn’t count on it, though. You know your Mom.”

“Yeah.”

“Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s done, so there’s no point speculating. She’ll let us know when she lets us know,” Hannah says. “Anyway, we’ve got secrets of our own, don’t we?” She smiles at me. “I can’t wait to see the look on your mom’s face when she sees our client list in April.”

12

RAINY DAYS IN CALIFORNIA ARE THE WORST. I know, I know, we need the rain—it’s what we always say, and it’s true. Still. Apart from being generally depressing, it means that you can’t eat in the quad, and you have to either brave the smelly cafeteria (hard pass) or eat your lunch standing up, freezing cold and huddled under the awnings of one of the school buildings.

Which is what Emily, Aviana, and I are doing as we discuss the OUTlet LGBTQ+ mixer, coming up next weekend.

Em is nervous. What if it sucks? What if she hates everyone? What if no one wants to talk to her? What if someone does talk to her and she responds by laughing inappropriately or fainting or throwing up?

As I listen to her, I dab a paper napkin at the pools of grease in the pepperoni circles on my cafeteria pizza slice. It’s gross compared to Bibo’s, which is what the water polo team sold last week, but greasy cafeteria pizza is better than the whole-wheat veggie sandwich that Em’s got.

“Em,” I tell her. “It’s going to be fine. It’ll be just like a school dance.”

“Which you hate,” she points out.

“This is true.”