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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

“Ugh, your mom.” Hannah grimaces. “Let them call. I’ll defend you. I will fight her to the death if I have to.” I catch Owen’s eye and I can tell that (a) he wants to do this, and (b) he’s going to ask me later why Hannah’s so upset. I wonder if I should tell him.

“We won’t get caught,” says Owen. “This’ll be fun.” Sigh.

“See?” Hannah smiles triumphantly at me. “Now, go.”

If you’ve never run across a golf course carrying a fifteen-foot ladder with a partner, with a pair of security guards in hot pursuit, let me take this opportunity to advise you never to try.

Operation Monterey Pine started off okay: sneak into the golf course, find the trees, put the ladder up. But the pine cones were high up in the tree, and the ladder was heavy, and every time Owen shifted his weight, the entire thing swayed dangerously. And the rain made everything slippery and unstable.

And then I saw a flicker in the distance that could only have been a flashlight.

“Owen, hurry up. I think someone’s coming,” I said anxiously.

“Just a couple more,” he muttered from the top.

I was squinting into the darkness, trying to anticipate where I’d see the next flicker of light, when Owen cursed and I felt the ladder lurch out of my hands. I looked up to see him dangling from a branch, thank God, instead of plummeting to the earth. The ladder teetered precariously for one heart-stopping moment—and then toppled over and crashed to the ground.

Shit. I glanced over my shoulder to see not just one, but two flashlights now, side by side, like a pair of unblinking eyes. They were still too far away to catch us in their beams, but they were unmistakably heading toward us.

After several seconds of frantic struggle, I got the ladder vertical. Then I had to walk it forward, pivoting clumsily from one leg to the other. Pivot, plant; pivot, plant. I glanced up and saw the two flashlights bobbing, coming ever closer. Pivot, plant; pivot, plant.

“Jeezus, fuck! CJ, the ladder! Hurry!”

“I am hurrying!”

Finally, I got the ladder close enough for Owen to swing himself over to it and come scrambling down. Once Owen was back on the ground, we each grabbed an end of the ladder, threw a last backward glance toward the advancing pair of flashlights, and took off running.