Chloe and the Kaishao Boys


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
 An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York
 
 
 
 First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023
 Copyright © 2023 by Mae Coyiuto
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 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Coyiuto, Mae, 1994– author.
 Title: Chloe and the Kaishao boys / Mae Coyiuto.
 Description: New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2023. | Summary: Seventeen-year-old Chinese Filipina Chloe’s father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates in hopes of convincing her to stay close to their Manila home for college.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022027457 (print) | LCCN 2022027458 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593461631 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593461648 (epub)
 Subjects: CYAC: Dating—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction. | Manila (Philippines)—Fiction. | Humorous stories. | LCGFT: Romantic fiction. | Humorous fiction. | Novels.
 Classification: LCC PZ7.1.C6936 Ch 2023 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.C6936 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027457
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027458
 ISBN 9780593461631 (hardcover)
 ISBN 9780593619773 (international edition)
 ISBN 9780593461648 (ebook)
 Cover art © 2023 by Alex Cabal
 Cover design by Jessica Jenkins
 Design by Suki Boynton, adapted for ebook by Andrew Wheatley
 This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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 To my brilliant mother, Elena.
 When I was a kid, I dreamed of writing a novel and dedicating it to my mom.
 It happened, and it all started with you.
 
 
 
 
 THE LIANG FAMILY lunch is far from the ideal setting to celebrate my dream coming true.
 Unless you’re abroad or on your deathbed, attendance at Sunday lunch is mandatory. When my cousin Peter got his wisdom teeth pulled out, Auntie Queenie still brought him to the same Chinese restaurant our family has been going to since the beginning of time. So when I tried asking Pa if I could sit this one out, he gave me his go-to answer: “If Peter can make it to the restaurant with cheeks as swollen as tennis balls, you can too.”
 Things would be more bearable if Pa hadn’t already broken the news about USC to my aunties. I begged him not to post anything after I told him that I got off the wait list. He stayed silent on Instagram, but I’d completely forgotten about the Liang family groupchat.
 His photo series went like this: a picture of my USC wait-list letter, me frowning, my acceptance letter, me smiling. All the photos had the accompanying hashtags #FromWaitListToYesList #CantGoLowyWithChloe.
 Pa is weirdly obsessed with hashtags and adds them at the end of every message. He once spammed the groupchat with dozens of them, and I messaged him separately that they don’t work that way. Auntie Queenie proceeded to reply with more hashtags and renamed the group #LiangFamGang.
 In terms of USC, it’s not that I want to keep secrets from my family. It’s more that I already know what my aunties have to say.
 “Chloe, I don’t understand why you’re considering going to America to study cartoons.” Auntie Rita says “cartoons” like it’s a dirty word. When my aunties first heard that I’d applied to a college in the US, they were shell-shocked. When they found out I wanted to study animation, they were downright offended. “How are you going to support yourself? You should choose a major that’s practical. Something that you can build here.” She turns to Pa. “Ahia, your daughter is getting too Americanized.”
 I bite my tongue and flash my polite smile, the one where I keep my mouth shut and lift the corners of my lips. It’s the secret weapon I deploy when my relatives make me want to say what I actually think.
 Americanized has become my aunties’ favorite word around me. Just last week, Auntie Queenie shared an old picture of me wearing a crop top at the beach on our family groupchat with the message Look at Chloe. She’s so #Americanized!
 I shit you not, a crop top turned me American.
 The thing is, I don’t get why being Americanized is bad. Just because I like some parts of American culture doesn’t mean I’m rejecting who I am. And I’m still trying to figure out who I really am in the first place. What do you call a Chinese girl who grows up in the Philippines and whose mom lives in the US? I don’t really know.
 “You don’t want to be a school’s second choice, Chloe,” Auntie Queenie chimes in. “Every woman who settles for being the second choice gets cheated on.”
 I can always count on Auntie Queenie for words of wisdom.
 “No more hunting the Pokémon!” Auntie Rita scolds the kids’ table. I peek at the smaller (and more fun) table behind us. Whenever my cousins’ kids are on their iPads, Auntie Rita just assumes they’re doing something Pokémon related. During my days at the kids’ table, all I had to worry about was listening to my perfect cousin Peter enumerate his list of accomplishments. Once I