Throwback

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Throwback by Maurene Goo

On a very rare rainy day in LA, Sam gets drenched on her way to a country club interview. Her parents are very interested in joining, but Sam just doesn't get it. She interviews the interviewer about the club’s green practices which gets really awkward really fast and her mom, Priscilla, is obviously put off. Later, back at home, Sam’s aunt Grace comes over. Grace is 11 years younger than Priscilla, so Sam gets along with her better. Grace also doesn't get the country club thing but remembers Priscilla’s teenage best friend having her Sweet 16 there. Sam thinks the 90s were weird.

At school the next day, Sam realizes it's Pajama Day because Homecoming is soon, but like, who actually cares about Homecoming and dress up days? Sam's best friend Val is dressed up because they will take any opportunity to dress up and they are the picture of perfection. Sam starts to tell Val about the country club thing and then Curren, Sam’s boyfriend, comes up and rags on her mom, but it kind of rubs Sam the wrong way. Val thinks Priscilla is wasted on Sam and Sam agrees, but Curren is still kind of a dick about her. Priscilla doesn't like Curren and how much Sam does for him, like helping with his movie projects, and doesn't do anything to better herself. 

In homeroom, Homecoming court is announced and even though it's not even cool anymore because it's so gender traditional, Curren and Sam are nominated. Sam is sure she's only there because of Curren’s star power making them a power couple, but whatever. As class ends, Sam's teacher, Mr. Finn, asks her about her senior project proposal that was due last week, but she really doesn't have a good idea for it. Maybe something about When Harry Met Sally? Nah. Nothing seems right, but she promises to have it turned in by the end of the week. 

Sam goes to her grandmother Halmoni's apartment for dinner that night. She loves Halmoni and sends her voice memos all the time. She's probably her favorite person in the world. On her way to her apartment, she bumps into Mrs. Jo, also Halmoni's name, but this other Mrs. Jo has dementia, so Sam helps her get to her place. 

At Halmoni's, while Sam's there eating the traditional Korean food that her mom never cooks, she and her grandmother start to talk about Homecoming, but then Priscilla drops off some groceries, not even realizing her daughter is there. Halmoni asks Sam about Homecoming and she has to admit that she is nominated for the court. Priscilla is ecstatic about it because she wanted so badly to be queen when she was in high school, but then she drops it because she knows Sam doesn't care about the same things she cares about. When they leave, Sam tells her mom that she will participate in Homecoming because it clearly means a lot to her, but Sam's not very excited about it. 

The next day, Sam is helping Curren with his video project like she always does and is getting annoyed by it. Maybe she's starting to realize that her mom is right about her always helping Curren with his project to get into college and not doing anything for herself. He also calls her Boo which is really annoying, so hopefully she realizes that, too. Unfortunately, Priscilla texts and tells Sam that Halmoni is in the hospital. She rushes there immediately to find that Halmoni had a heart attack, is in a coma, and isn't doing so well. Aunt Grace comes by too and is also very worried, but Priscilla sends everyone home because there's nothing anyone can do right now. Sam really wants to stay though. 

The next morning it's raining again and Sam’s car won't start. She asks her mom for a ride, but instead of going to school, Priscilla drives them to the mall to go shopping for Sam’s homecoming dress. She's clearly trying to connect with her daughter but Sam is so upset over Halmoni that she tells her mom that there are more important things to be worried about. The fight escalates and ends with Sam getting out of the car in the pouring rain, telling her mom that she hates her. Priscilla tells Sam to find her own way to school and drives off. 

Sam’s dad is at work and Val is already at school overachieving, so she decides to text Curren, but he's too busy getting donuts to even care about anything Sam is going through. Time for a ride share app! Sam downloads one with billions of good reviews called Throwback Rides and only five minutes later, a car arrives. It's an old beat up hatchback driven by a weird looking lady called Marge who asks Sam what's going on because she's not looking so hot. Is she having trouble with a boy? A girl? A pet? A new superpower she hasn't figured out yet? No, but she did tell her mom she hates her. Marge asks if Sam would take it back if she could and she says no, she wouldn't. She just wishes that her mom was different and understood her.

Marge stops at the school and offers Sam a menacing good luck as she gets out. Sam is thoroughly weirded out as she walks to her locker, which is painted a different color. She bumps into a white girl with Chun-Li buns and then a dude asks her if she's new and what she's doing at his locker. Sam gives up and goes to class, but Mr. Finn has all the seats rearranged. And all the seats are filled with people Sam doesn't recognize. She looks at Mr. Finn then and realizes that yeah, that's Mr. Finn, but he's like… young and super hot. Mr. Finn asks a beautiful cheerleader girl if there are any new students at school that day and she says no. Then Sam realizes he asked Priscilla. Her super hot teenage babe of a mom. What in the fresh hell is going on?

Sam has to get out of there and figure out what is going on. She looks at her phone to see a message from Throwback that they hope she finds what she's looking for and to keep her phone with her because that's her only connection to her ride. Did the rideshare send her back in time?! She tries to use other apps, to text Val, to call 911 but obviously nothing works because she has traveled back in time and smartphones don't exist yet. 

After freaking out a little, Sam realizes she must have been sent back in time for a reason, but surely not to like, stop 9/11 or the pandemic or anything. Maybe it has something to do with Halmoni! She finds a bus stop and heads to Halmoni’s apartment. Riding the bus it's not something that she's ever done before but how else is she supposed to get around in the 90s? On the way, a pushy grandpa type guy sees her phone and asks her what it is. She straight up tells him it's a phone and she's from the future and he just goes along with it and wishes her well. 

When Sam gets to Halmoni's assisted living apartments, she realizes that she doesn't live there yet because time travel, duh. As she starts to freak out, Mrs. Jo tells the receptionist that Sam is her granddaughter and escorts her to her apartment for lunch. Does she already have dementia? She must. As she serves a delicious meal, Mrs. Jo asks who Sam is, but still takes care of her anyway. She insists that she stay with her instead of in a hotel because obviously she needs help and is not where she's supposed to be. Sam reluctantly agrees, not wanting to take advantage of this sweet woman, but then asks to borrow her car.

Sam drives Mrs. Jo’s car to Halmoni's drycleaners, remembering that's where she would be in the 90s. She goes in, asking for a job, but there are no openings. Priscilla comes in then and it's a little awkward for Sam to be talking to her super hot teenage mom and calling her by her actual name, but they discuss not seeing each other at school after homeroom and the conversation feels normal. Priscilla and Halmoni bicker then about Priscilla working for free and being a cheerleader instead of playing sports that would help her college applications and it sounds so familiar to Sam. 

Talk then turns to Homecoming and Sam offers to help Priscilla win, goading her about the actual person that did win since she knows the future and all. Sam tells Priscilla that she has experience with winning homecoming and that she can help. Priscilla and Halmoni keep bickering and then Sam remembers her mom saying that her relationship with her mom fell apart around this time, so now Sam knows what to do. She's got to stop that from happening, so she's got to help Priscilla win homecoming. 

Sam stays with Mrs. Jo who continues treating her like family and registers herself at school the next day. The secretary is vaguely racist, and like, so is everyone else, but Sam gets registered and starts her school day. She runs into Priscilla and her friends and they gossip about everyone. Sam notices that Priscilla has gotten her period and ushers her to the bathroom, shares her future tampons and teaches her to wash her white jeans in cold water to get the stain out. Sam has extra tampons and knows the cold water trick thanks to her future mom. They start to bond a little and then they encounter a bullying situation in the hallway. Neil, the locker dude from yesterday, who also happens to be Priscilla’s boyfriend, is bullying another new kid, Jamie, for basically no reason. Sam steps in because no one likes a bully, but Jamie doesn't appreciate it and everyone else is just embarrassed for/of Sam. Uh yeah, no one likes a bully… in the future. Apparently bullying is fine in the 90s.

In homeroom, Sam and Priscilla make a plan on how to get everyone to vote for Priscilla. Sam uses future influencer tactics and they plan to make a million flyers of Priscilla and put them up everywhere. Sam wants everyone to know who Priscilla is, but she's only concerned with the popular kids knowing her, so Sam wants to make sure she focuses on the “losers” too. Finally, she wants to give everyone swag, but uh, no one knows what that is yet, and when she learns what it is, Priscilla says it's like a bribe, but she doesn't even have anything to give away or any money to buy anything anyway. They will work on that part of the plan later. For now, Sam will go and make all the flyers. 

Sam runs into Jamie at the copier. He's struggling with the machine and Sam tries to help. Jamie tells her off for standing up for him, but she explains that she wasn't doing it just for him, she just can't stand a bully and he kinda seems to understand. Priscilla finds them trying to fix the copier and knows how to fix it, which is typical for Sam’s mom. She always knows what to do. After Jamie gets his copies and leaves, Priscilla talks about Sam obviously liking him. What? No way, Sam has a boyfriend, and not a made-up one from Canada like Priscilla suggests. They put flyers everywhere and go to their next class.

Next is government and they break up into groups to discuss a bill becoming a law. Priscilla is in a group with her best friends so Sam joins up with presumably some “loser” kids, plus Jamie. The “loser” kids are also both Asian and when Sam talks to them about voting for Priscilla, they call her a banana, yellow on the outside and white on the inside, and tell Sam that homecoming is white people shit. Wow, so much racism all over the place. She even gets it from the teacher who can't tell her and the other girl in their group apart and seems to not care at all about that. No one does. Priscilla's friend Deidre even laughs about it. Sam can't understand how in just 30 years the same exact school can change so much. In the future, they have gender neutral bathrooms and drag shows at lunch. Sam tries to persuade the “losers” to vote anyway. At the end of class, she and Jamie pair up for a project. 

At lunch, Sam is on her own and she scans the lunch crowd. She sees that Priscilla is the only POC at a table with white kids, all the others clustered into their own groups, and then there are the other groups of white kids, too, like jocks and goths just like in Mean Girls. She visits with a group of gamers playing Zelda on their Gameboys and a group of goths talking about horror movies and seamlessly blends Priscilla into their groups, but it's really her awesome future self fitting in everywhere. 

After this, still during lunch, Sam gathers lots of magazines for 90s research and sits alone reading. Jamie approaches her and they talk about college and “current events” and are generally cuties with each other until Jamie gets hit in the head by a laughing football bro. This one is his friend though, Teddy, and Jamie excuses himself. 

The next day is Saturday and Sam and Priscilla plan to meet up to work on homecoming posters, but instead of doing it at Priscilla's like they planned, Priscilla has to go help out at the drycleaners and watch her little sister Grace. Sam is shocked at seeing little girl Grace but offers to help out, so they go to the drycleaners. Sam really hopes to get to spend time with Priscilla and Halmoni together, but that doesn't work out so well because Halmoni has to leave to deal with vendors. Sam helps Grace with her homework and the girls make posters and then Priscilla has to help an old sexist Korean lady. When Halmoni returns, Sam offers to help out there after school and so Halmoni hires her, taking some of the pressure off Priscilla.

On Sunday, Sam goes to church with Mrs. Jo and sees Priscilla, Halmoni and Grace there, too. She makes Priscilla help out the two banana kids from class with a volunteer project they are working on and they seem to become friends. They have lunch and bible study and even though church is not a thing that Priscilla or Sam do in the future, Sam appreciates it anyway. That night, Sam eats dinner with Mrs. Jo and the next day, Mrs. Jo leaves Sam some money to buy clothes after school, noting that she doesn't have anything and she deserves to have new clothes even if she's only staying for a little while. 

The next day at school, Steph, Priscilla’s rival, approaches Priscilla and Sam as they plan to see about giving away drycleaning discounts as swag to voters. Steph is shitty and racist about that and when Sam stands up to her, they're called the Korean Mafia and everyone laughs. Neil comes over then, the white savior, and puts his arm around Priscilla, ending the cat fight that was surely seconds away from happening. Steph just said she was coming over to remind Priscilla about the homecoming brunch at the country club later that week. With new fierce determination to win after Steph leaves, Priscilla thanks Sam for having her back.

After school, Sam works with Halmoni at the drycleaners and Halmoni shares about her late husband, Priscilla and Grace's dad, who died four years previously. It's a tender moment. Afterward, Sam turns on her phone to record a voice memo for Halmoni, as she's done a couple of times here and there, and asks wonderingly why she never told anyone about her heart condition.

After this, Sam meets up at school with Jamie for their project. They decide to go to the public library where they are led to the microfiche machines by a helpful librarian. Sam has no idea how to use the machine so lets Jamie take over, but they end up flinging a roll of film across the library after accidentally rewinding it too fast. Sam realizes she is crushing pretty hard on Jamie until she does the math and realizes how old he is in her future. 

The next day, with four more days until homecoming, Sam comes across one of Priscilla's posters, but it's defaced, so she takes it down quickly. She talks to Priscilla after homeroom where they watch a homecoming report about maybe trying to film an interview with the school news people. Jamie happens to be one of those people and helps them film after school. Before they record, they discuss the defaced poster with Teddy, Jamie's football friend, and he's supportive of Sam trying to figure out who is responsible. When Priscilla sees it, she just wants to throw it away like it's no big deal. They record some really great interview questions and Jamie plans to help get it on the school's news broadcast. 

Priscilla takes Sam shopping at the mall after they film and they have a great time. They have a pretty heartfelt conversation about their parents, which is weird for Sam, obviously, since Priscilla is her mom, and Priscilla talks about wanting to fit in with like, the American dream, even though her mom doesn't seem to like any of her friends because they pretty much all suck and maybe Priscilla is starting to realize that. They buy some new clothes in a definitely 90s movie makeover montage and then stop at Claire's for some accessories. Priscilla buys herself a necklace that she says is expensive and kinda feels bad about it, but she deserves it. 

At the food court, Priscilla invites Sam to go to the homecoming brunch with her and then they talk about the dance. Priscilla is obviously going with Neil and Sam proudly says she's going solo which leads to a huge discussion about Jamie and Curren and how Sam is in high school, so it's okay for her feelings to change and to want to date someone new. Sam is really enjoying this connection and actually being friends with her mom. 

The next day, three days until homecoming, the school news plays the interview with Priscilla and instead of it going well, it backfires. People even start rumors about what Priscilla might have done to get that airtime. Sam stands up for her and this time, Priscilla appreciates it. At lunch, when Sam almost beats a guy up, Jamie stops her from making things worse, and then they see that Steph is giving away free ice cream, which was just like their drycleaning idea! Ugh! Bitch! 

The homecoming brunch at the country club is painful. All the rest of the homecoming court are there with their families but obviously Halmoni couldn't come because she's working. There's weird racist pity for that, and the fact that Priscilla's dad died. Steph’s father compliments Halmoni's tiny Korean hands doing such delicate work with his pants at the drycleaners, making Sam rage. It gets worse when they start a slideshow of the court with baby pictures. Priscilla told the presenter previously that she didn't have any baby pictures because they were in storage after her dad died, but the presenter told everyone that they were left behind in Korea. So. Much. Rage. As they leave, the presenter invites Steph's family to try to join and tries to offer Priscilla a job. Rage! After this, Priscilla decides to give away the drycleaning coupons, no longer worried about what people think of her and her mom. 

Sam has dinner at Priscilla's that night and mentions to Halmoni that Priscilla is running for homecoming. She has to explain that it's not about grades but about popularity, which upsets Halmoni who thinks if Priscilla spent as much time worrying about her family as she does her popularity, their lives would be much better. Sam, who normally feels such a connection to Halmoni, actually takes Priscilla's side this time. She records a voice memo later worrying about everything. 

After dinner, Priscilla and Sam go to Priscilla's room and make a plan for Priscilla to write an apology to share in the newspaper about the news clip, then talk changes to what Sam is going to wear to the dance. Priscilla offers her a dress and makes her try it on. When Sam is about to leave, she sees three jars of money on the desk, and one of them has Samantha written on it. Uh what? Geez Sam, that's for the most popular American Girl doll for Grace! Don't be weird! Sam realizes that she was obviously named after this doll that clearly means a lot to her mom and aunt.

At school the next day, instead of sharing the apology in the newspaper, Priscilla gives it as a rousing speech with her fellow cheerleaders supporting her. Jamie is there, too, and asks Sam if she wrote it, which yes, then he says something totally weird as they hug. “I’m pretty sure you won hearts and minds. Yes, you did,

Obama.” What. After awkwardly trying to make up something really unbelievable about Barack Obama to cover up his mistake, Sam stops Jamie. They are both from the future! So maybe he's not creepy and old after all! 

Priscilla comes over then and invites Sam to help decorate the homecoming parade float and pass out the drycleaning flyers, and so this revelation is put on hold. That is until Sam sees Jamie jumping the school fence and running away. Sam steals the float truck, pretending that its pedal is stuck, and drives after him. Between this time, after the drycleaning coupons are passed out, and when they meet up again after school, Jamie skipping football practice, they tell each other everything. 

Jamie is from 2023, so he's only two years older than Sam. Yes! Not creepy! He thinks he's there to help Teddy, who is actually his uncle. Teddy apparently really takes a hard turn after losing this homecoming game and starts drinking. He and his buddies end up killing a couple in a drunken car accident and Teddy is never the same again. During this conversation, Sam realizes she's very attracted to Jamie and pictures dumping water on herself Flashdance style several times. She tells Jamie about Curren though, so even though she's flashdancing about him, she's still trying to do the right thing with her present-future boyfriend, and Jamie is really decent about the whole thing. Sam explains her story and maybe starts to realize that helping her Mom win homecoming isn't all about Priscilla being a different person after it's all over, but about herself being different, too. 

The next day is homecoming election day, but first is the presentation that Sam and Jamie worked on in the library with the horrible microfiche incident, which also now makes so much sense. The presentation is awesome and mentions some ways the students can help combat climate change, which Jamie and Sam sneakily threw in to help with the future that they both know. After class, Jamie tells Sam that she is a really good storyteller, like a podcast come to life, and she thinks about her future and college. Maybe now she has an idea about what she would like to do. Future Priscilla would probably be pleased, especially when Sam realizes she felt good about working on her own project for once with a supportive partner, unlike when she has to help Curren. Unfortunately Priscilla grabs Sam after this, telling her they're screwed. 

The principal wants to disqualify Priscilla for bribing the students with the drycleaner coupons. She and Sam try explaining that they are not a bribe but an incentive, they won't even be good unless Priscilla wins, but he seems set. They also explain that Steph has been giving out free ice cream and he's not doing anything to stop her, but that doesn't matter. Priscilla apologizes and says she'll tell everyone that the coupons aren't valid. He tells her he will make his decision soon. Priscilla leaves Sam after this, clearly upset. Then Sam sees Steph going into the principal’s office. She also sees Jamie, but he's short with her. Apparently Teddy got drunk with the bros after practice the night before, the one he skipped to be with her. He's got to stay focused on his mission. Sam is bummed but understands.

When Steph comes out of the principal's office, Sam confronts her about her sabotage attempt. Sam thought Steph was mad at her, but she's just really jealous of Priscilla and doesn't like her friends because they are mean to her. Sam agrees that Priscilla’s friends are jerks but Priscilla's not like them. She has to try to fit in with them, too, and most of the time, they're just as mean to her as they are everyone else. They're not even helping her with homecoming! Steph realizes all this is true and together, she and Sam go back to the principal to tell him she's okay with the coupons after all. 

It's finally homecoming day! Sam spends the first bit of the day with Mrs. Jo. She wants to thank her for taking care of her the past week and lets her know she's leaving that night. They go to the Korean grocery store, Mrs. Jo’s favorite place, and while they are shopping, Mrs. Jo tells Sam they knew each other in a previous life and that's why she knew she should take care of her like family. Sam doesn't deny that they have known each other in another life, just a future one, not a past one, and breaks all rules of time travel, Marty McFly be damned. Sam tells Mrs. Jo several Korean groups to invest her money in in the future, writing it down and begging her not to forget. 

That afternoon, before the football game, Sam helps Priscilla with finishing touches on her parade float and they gaze pervishly at the football players. Suddenly, Sam switches topics and asks Priscilla about her dad. Priscilla opens up about her dad dying and her not wanting to ever go to a hospital again even though she's grateful for what everyone did to help him in the end. They also talk about how Halmoni felt about the whole thing. She was so sad there wasn't any room for Priscilla to be sad, too, and that hits Sam hard. They switch back to gazing pervishly again and Priscilla asks if Sam has broken up with her ugly boyfriend yet as she sees her looking longingly at Jamie. No, she hasn't. She also hasn't asked Jamie to the homecoming dance, and she's not going to. 

The homecoming game goes well and is maybe the only football game Sam has ever watched and/or enjoyed. She yells and cheers and jeers so much that the crowd moves away from her. At halftime, the game is tied. The homecoming court comes out onto the field in their floats and Sam sees that all the girls have their fathers with them, which means Priscilla is alone, but not for long. Sam runs out and joins her mom. The principal makes a speech and invites everyone to the dance afterward where they will announce the King and Queen. Jamie, who has not even glanced Sam's way since Teddy nearly got kicked off the team, looks at Sam now with his hand over his heart. It's pretty swoony. 

The game wraps up after this and in a last minute, nail biting play, Jamie passes to Teddy who scores the winning touchdown. Everyone rushes the field and Sam runs straight to Jamie. As they hug, Jamie's cell phone goes off. It's Throwback Rides alerting Jamie that he's completed his mission and his ride will be there soon. He and Sam rush to the front of the school as the rideshare pulls up. Sam tells Jamie not to look for her in his future because everything will get messed up and that she will find him when she gets back. 

After this, Sam gets ready for the dance alone in the locker room. She has the dress she borrowed from Priscilla in her backpack, having been fully prepared all day to go straight back to the future after the homecoming queen announcement. She's the first one at the dance and is excited to see Priscilla arrive with Neil and her friends. Priscilla looks amazing. They dance and again, against all rules of time travel (well, not really because Marty McFly does it in Back to the Future 3), Priscilla convinces Sam to take a picture together. At the last second, Sam covers the bottom half of her face. They keep dancing until finally it's time for the announcement and Priscilla is named Queen!

After congratulating her mom, Sam expects to get her notification from Marge just like Jamie did, so she goes to sit in front of the school. But then everyone starts piling out of the gym and the dance is over. Did she fail her mission? Priscilla comes out asking if Sam is ready to go to the after-party at Deidre’s and is exactly the same person as before. Maybe she did fail. Sam hangs out on her own at the after-party and then there's a ruckus at the front door. Halmoni has come for Priscilla and she is angry. A lot of people laugh at her and Priscilla as they leave. 

Sam follows them outside, thinking that what she had done up until this point would have stopped such a bad fight from happening, but then she realizes she has to be there afterward to fix it. She watches as Halmoni tears into Priscilla for going to parties with trashy bad kids with no thought for her future. Priscilla bites back that what is important to her and Halmoni is different but none of these kids are bad. She just wishes her mom would understand (oof, that sounds familiar) and explains that she works all the time for free and is expected to take care of everything at home. She adds that she was offered a job at the country club and she should accept it so she will no longer be a financial burden on Halmoni. Halmoni tells Priscilla she is a bad daughter just before they drive home. 

Sam catches a bus and follows them. When she gets to their apartment, Halmoni is leaving to go back to work. Halmoni asks if Sam's parents know she goes to parties and she doesn't lie when she says yes. Halmoni tries to explain that parents just want what's best for their children and that being supportive of whatever they want to do is a luxury that she doesn't have. She is afraid of losing Priscilla like she lost her husband, but Sam tells her she will always be Priscilla's mom, she should just try to understand her.

Sam checks on Priscilla and tells her that Halmoni wants what's best for her, even if Halmoni's best and Priscilla’s best aren't the same thing, and that sucks, but it's okay. She says her own mom is like that, too, and it all clicks into place. Sam realizes that traveling back in time helped her understand her mom more, but it also helped her understand herself, and she knows that what's most important is that her mom loves her. Priscilla tells her it's like she came into her life at exactly the right time, and then Sam gets her notification from Marge. She did it.

Marge pulls up outside the apartment and takes Sam back home. She drops her off at her house at the same time she picked her up, so no time has passed. There's no one home when Sam gets there, so she goes inside, wiping off her dance makeup and carefully puts Priscilla's dress away. She looks over the family photos and sees that they're all the same, her and her older brother Julian growing up, her grandparents in Korea, her Mom's senior picture, and then she spots it. The photo from the dance. So it really did happen. Just then, Sam gets a text that Halmoni has woken up from her coma. Remembering that her car is busted, Sam jumps on the bus, something she never would have done before going back to the 90s, and rides to the hospital. 

When she gets there, it's to find Halmoni awake and joking that everyone shouldn't be crying because she's not dead. After a short, happy visit, Sam gets a ride to school with her mom who keeps things light by talking about the Korean pop group they are going to see in concert soon (that's new and really cool!) and how lucky they are that Mrs. Jo always gives them great tickets to things. It seems Mrs. Jo remembered and took her advice! Sam asks about her dementia, but because she's so wealthy, she's got the best care and is doing just fine with her mild symptoms. Thank goodness! 

Talk then changes to their fight. Sam apologizes and says she never meant to say she hated her, but Priscilla understands. She just wants Sam to know that everything she does is to make her happy, but she knows that sometimes they have different ideas about what that means, which is pretty much exactly what Sam told her in the past about Halmoni. Everything all patched up, Sam tells her mom that she wants to go to the dance and try to become queen and needs help finding a dress. 

At school, Sam gets a squeeze from Val and lets them know that Halmoni is okay, then she finds Curren and breaks up with him, which he is pretty okay with. Then she goes to Mr. Finn’s class and tells him about her senior project. She wants to create a podcast about her family's life, her grandmother's journey from Korea and how it shaped her mom's life, and how it impacts her. It's all about how their dreams are passed down and about what gets lost and what remains between generations. Mr. Finn is impressed and knew she had a great idea in her all along. 

Nine days later, it's time for Sam's homecoming. She and Val go with each other instead of having dates. Several past winners are there as well because this year is the school's 100th year celebrating homecoming, so that means Priscilla and Sam are at the dance together again. Sam's dad and brother are also there, but they are pained and hiding in a corner somewhere. Finally it's time to announce the homecoming royalty, not necessarily king and queen, thanks everyone for being open-minded and less heteronormative. A queen who is not Sam is announced first and Sam is a little bummed but not really, and then a second queen is announced and it is Sam! She's more excited than she knew! Sam's family congratulates her and then her brother tells her to save her first dance for someone special. Well that's weird.

Jamie approaches her then. When he got back to his timeline and went to college, he got into Yale, just like her brother Julian, and they became roommates. He managed to keep that a secret until right now, which wasn't long at all for Sam, but was two years for him. He apologizes for being creepy, but he wanted to know how her life turned out without tracking her down, like she asked him to. She tells him that almost the first thing she did when she got back was break up with Curren, not to put pressure on him or anything, and then they kiss and dance the night away, their whole future ahead of them.