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

“You can’t just slide along the way you’ve been doing. You need to get out there and be proactive. You need to have a road map.” Being Proactive and Having a Road Map are Mom’s two favorite things after Having a Vision.

“I’ve been helping out at Heart’s Desire. Hannah says I have talent.”

Mom doesn’t respond right away, and suddenly I realize why I’ve let her think I’ve been watching kitten videos in my spare time since SAT prep classes ended, instead of telling her I’ve been working at Heart’s Desire. I think Hannah might be right, that I might actually be good at something, for once. I don’t want Mom to tell me that Hannah’s wrong, that it’s stupid, that it’s a waste of time. Crap. Why didn’t I lie just now and tell her I’ve been doing independent research on . . . on . . . Right. That’s why.

Finally, Mom says something. “CJ. Flower arranging is a hobby. I don’t know what airy-fairy delusions Hannah’s been feeding you, but you know Heart’s Desire isn’t doing as well as it should, and I really don’t like you being part of it. Listen, I was talking to Carlos from Alphabet the other day, and this is strictly confidential information, but . . .” She proceeds to describe Carlos’s job, his credentials, and how he’s planning to leave Alphabet and start a new company in some hot new space in the ecosystem of big-data enterprise architecture that she’s been researching lately, and I tune out because I have only the barest inkling about any of that stuff, and even less interest, and why should I pay attention anyway, since she clearly has no interest in what I want or what I think?

“CJ! Are you even listening?”

Oops. “Um, yeah. Just . . . That last part again?”

Mom releases an exasperated puff of air and says, “I told you that he said he’d be willing to interview you for an internship position. It’s unpaid, but it’ll look great on your college applications, and you might be able to use it to springboard to something you could monetize later. That’s the kind of thing that’ll distinguish you from all the other kids—the thousands of other kids, I might add—gunning for a spot wherever you apply for college next year.”

“But I don’t want to be an intern.”

“I’m not asking if you want to be an intern. I’m telling you that you can be an intern.”