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

It’s too complex to think about right now, and once we’re inside, it feels like betraying Hannah to express any doubt about the future of Heart’s Desire. But Owen’s question keeps surfacing and resurfacing, always unanswerable.

What game is going to change?

24

SUNDAY MORNING IS UNPLEASANT, TO SAY THE least. The bride has planned a sunrise wedding on a hilltop, so apart from the criminally early hour, setup is dark and freezing and frantically rushed. The upside is that I get to go back to bed when I get home. Of course, Mom is already up, drinking coffee and flipping through the Mercury News.

“Another Sunday wedding, huh?” she says when Hannah and I practically crawl through the door. “You two are crazy.” She shakes her head ever so slightly, no doubt thinking, How pathetic.

“Not crazy for long, though,” says Hannah with a cryptic smile. “Things’ll turn around pretty soon.”

“I hope so,” Mom says, turning her attention back to the paper.

Hannah winks at me, and I manage a weak smile before heading to my room. I really believe tomorrow’s article is going to be a good thing, but my conversation with Owen last night has confirmed my suspicions: Hannah believes that it’s going to be the thing.

I wake up to a text from Emily that she’s craving Sharetea, so I let her drag me to the mall because I’m a good friend. Sharetea makes good boba, I admit, but I’ll happily fight anyone who thinks it’s worth a trip to Valley Fair on a Sunday afternoon for its own sake.

Once we’re finally in possession of our drinks (coffee milk for me and hokkaido pearl for Em), we leave the food court and score two seats on the bench outside Nordstrom, where we can sip in peace.

“I hate Fiona. Why’d she agree to see you a second time if she wasn’t ready to start seeing anyone new? She should have told you up front.” I chew on a boba ball and take another sip of iced coffee. “I’m going to start an I Hate Fiona Club. Wanna join?”

“Come on, Ceej, be fair. She was up front with me yesterday. She thought she was ready, and then she realized she wasn’t.”

“I guess.” I sigh. “I’m just so bummed for you. You two would’ve been perfect for each other.”

“Eh.” Emily shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“What d’you mean, ‘maybe, maybe not’? She was smart. She was hilarious.”

“What happened to the I Hate Fiona Club?”

“I’m changing it to the I’m Very Disappointed That Fiona Is Unavailable Because She Was Perfect for You Club.”