A Girl Like Gracie

by Scarlett Haven

  “Everybody talks about how I date a lot of girls and break up with them. Vanessa thinks I’m like him. But I’m not,” he says. “I date a lot of girls because I don’t want to be like my dad. I want to find somebody that I want to be with forever.”

  “Do you believe that everybody has one person they’re meant to be with?” I ask.

  “Like soul mates?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know,” he answers. “Maybe. But even if there is one person for everybody, I still think they’d have to work at their relationship. My dad’s marriages all fail because he’s never willing to work. Usually, around the time the honeymoon phase is over, he’s filling for divorce.”

  “I don’t know the reason why my parents got divorced,” I say. “All I know is everything was perfect and then one day, when Alfie and I were twelve, our mom and dad came in and said ‘we got a divorce. Your dad is marrying somebody else. Mom is moving to Korea. Pick who you want to live with.’ And my life changed instantly.”

  “Wow,” he says. “You know, this is a pretty heavy topic for a first date.”

  “First date?” I ask. “No. We’re friends. I came with you to your dad’s wedding as a favor. That’s it. It’s definitely not a date.”

  “Fine, fine,” he says. “But someday, when we really are dating, we will look back at this moment as our first date.”

  “Nope,” I say. “If I ever date you, I wouldn’t want your father’s fifth wedding to be our first date. That’s just wrong. I won’t consider any outing with you our first date until you confess.”

  “You’re going to make me do that?” he asks.

  “Of course,” I say. “But don’t do it, cause I would say no.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t even know you,” I answer.

  “Do you at least think I’m cute?” he asks.

  I laugh at the forwardness of his question. “I like your hair like that. I also like your eyes. Guys in Korea only have brown eyes, so it’s weird seeing people with green eyes. They’re amazing.”

  He grins way too big at my comment. “Amazing eyes and good hair. I like that.” He glances to me, then back at the road. “Do you want to know what I like about you?”

  “You like the fact that I can eat with chopsticks better than anybody else you know?” I say, just joking.

  “Well, that is true. And I do like that you’re not just American. You’re Korean. And you embrace that about yourself, even if other people think it’s weird. I also like how cute you are. It’s not just the way you look, though I do like that, but it’s the way you talk, the way you dress, the way you act, even the way you correct our math teacher, even though he hates you for it. You’re smart. And you never apologize for being who you are. I like that.”

  “I’m proud to be a weirdo,” I say.

  Noah laughs.

  And I’m glad I could distract him from the awful day he’s had. Maybe, just maybe, I made it not so bad.

  Monday, August 29

  Fried chicken.

  On Monday morning, when Jace, Alfie and I go to get in Alfie’s car, I look longingly at my car that is sitting in the garage. Since the day I got it, it’s just been sitting there, waiting for me to get my license. I have just over five months before then, and I’m really sad that it’s taking so long.

  Claire took me out driving yesterday. She let me drive her car, which made me nervous. I think her car is really expensive and I was scared to death I was doing to crash it. Thankfully I didn’t. But it was a stressful trip, that’s for sure.

  “Why don’t you ever drive?” I ask Jace, once we’re in Alfie’s car.

  Jace’s driver drives him over every morning and drops him off in a limo. If I were him, I’d take the limo to school. It would be awesome to have your own personal limo. I think Dad has one, but we hardly ever use it.

  “When I was little, I was with my mom and a drunk driver ran a stoplight and hit our car. My mom died instantly, and I was in the hospital for about six months. Five of those months, I was in a coma. They wasn’t sure if I would ever wake up,” he says. “I have my license, but my dad won’t let me drive. I’m taking these professional driving courses. Until I finish that, I won’t be driving. Which means, I won’t be driving until the summer after we graduate high school.”

  “Wow,” I say. “I’m sorry about your mom.”

  “I was five at the time of the accident and I don’t remember anything that happened before,” he says. “I didn’t even know my own father when I woke up. So don’t feel bad. I don’t miss her. I mean, I’m curious about her, but that’s it.”

  I couldn’t imagine not knowing my mom. She’s been a good mom. She’s a great cook. When Alfie and I were kids, she always cooked for us. When we moved to Korea, things were different because she was working so hard, but Sunday was our ‘family day’, so she’d always cook me my favorites and I’d have left overs all week.

  Even when she was working, I could see the things she did for me. Like I’d come home from school around eleven at night, and my bedroom would be clean, or my favorite dessert would be sitting on my bed for me. She always left these encouraging notes. The thought of somebody not having that with their own mom breaks my heart.

  “Your dad must really care about you a lot,” I say, thinking about all those driving courses.

  “I am a burden to him,” Jace says. “Anything he does in life, it’s to punish me. Maybe he thinks it’s my fault she died.”

  I don’t say anything to that, but I disagree with him. Maybe his dad isn’t around much, but to make him take all those driving courses… he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t care. I think maybe his dad loves him more than he thinks. But it’s easy to say that, because I’m on the outside looking in.

  “Did you have fun with Noah on Saturday?” Alfie asks me.

  “I actually did,” I answer. “We didn’t spend much time at the reception, then we went to a Korean restaurant. There was this awesome ajumma there. She has only been in America a few years. She cooked amazing. We had kimchi, spicy rice cakes and black bean noodles. We have to go sometime.”

  “I haven’t had kimchi since the last time I visited Korea,” Alfie says. “What did Noah think of kimchi?”

  I laugh. “He didn’t like it. The ajumma made him some fried chicken. It smelled so good. I wanted to try it.”

  “You ate chicken?” Alfie asks.

  “No. But I wanted to,” I say. “I wanted to so bad.”

  “Why don’t you eat meat?” Jace asks.

  “Because my mom doesn’t,” I answer. “I’ve just never ate it.”

  “Well that’s not right,” Jace says. “You can’t decide to be a vegetarian if you’ve never ate meat. It should be something you decide on your own.”

  “Exactly,” Alfie says. “I love meat now.”

  “Okay. I’ll try it. But I want the first thing I try to be that ajumma’s fried chicken,” I say, my stomach growling just thinking about it.

  “What’s an ajumma?” Jace asks.

  “It’s just something we call middle aged women in Korea,” I answer. “By calling them that, we honor them. People in America don’t respect their elders. In Korea it’s a really big deal.”

  “Ah, okay,” he says. “I like that. The respect your elders thing. You’re right. When I get older, I want to be respected too.”

  “There are a lot of things I miss about coming to Korea,” Alfie says. “The culture there is amazing.”

  “I like the language too,” I say. “I can be over dramatic there and it’s just normal. If I’m over dramatic here, people get annoyed and call me a drama queen.”

  Alfie laughs. “Gracie, you can be dramatic all you want. I promise not to get annoyed.”

  “I don’t think anybody will get annoyed,” Jace says. “Alfie’s right. When other girls do that whiney thing, it’s annoying. But I’ve seen you use it with Alfie and I see why it works. Even I find it hard to resist.”

>   I laugh.

  “So, what should I expect out of this whole Noah thing?” Alfie asks me. “Are you two going to date?”

  “Aniyo,” I say. “Absolutely not. He’s just my friend.”

  “Good,” he says. “I’d hate to have to give him another bloody nose.”

  Noah and me isn’t going to happen. Why would it? He’s dated lots of girls, most of them probably much more beautiful than I am. I wouldn’t stand a chance even if I was interested. Which I’m not.

  Now you’re too late.

  When we get to school, we all head our separate directions. I stop by my locker to drop my books off. When I open my locker, inside there is a cup of coffee sitting inside with a sticky note on the side of it.

  I like you.

  —Noah

  I smile as I read the note. I slip my books inside, and sip my coffee on the way to class.

  Yum. White chocolate and raspberry.

  I read the note one more time before I slip it into my purse and head into class. When I get there, there is a huge teddybear sitting at my desk and another note on top. I pick it up and read it.

  If you date me, then I promise to take you to eat Korean food every night. I won’t even complain about the smell of kimchi. Even though it does smell really bad.

  —Noah

  I laugh, and stick the note in my purse.

  Now, what am I going to do about this huge teddybear.

  While I am thinking about it, a few other people enter the classroom. They’re all watching me, and my face turns red. Before they can ask questions about the bear, there is a loud squeal over the intercom. Before I can cover my ears, the sound stops, and a voice speaks from the system.

  “Gracie James, I’m not sure how this whole confession thing works in Korea, but I want to make sure I got it right.” It’s Noah. “I want everybody in the whole school to know that I, Noah Pennington, like you, Gracie James. And I know you’re going to say no, but you should know that I’m really persistent. I’m going to keep doing things like this until you say yes.”

  The speaker clicks off, and I look up to see that everybody in the room is staring at me, plus a few people have their heads stuck in the door and are staring at me too. Not knowing what else to do, I bow to them and say hi in Korean.

  “Annyeonghaseyo.”

  I feel my phone vibrate, so I pull it out.

  Alfie: Friends, huh?

  Me: You heard him. He knows I’ll say no. And I will. I barely know the guy.

  Alfie: Don’t let him break your heart.

  I slip my phone back in my purse as Noah walks in the room. He walks up to me with a huge smile on his face. I can’t help it. I smile back.

  “Hi,” I say. “Thanks for the coffee. And the teddybear. Though, I’m not sure what to do with the teddybear.”

  “So, I confessed,” he says.

  I nod.

  “What’s your answer?” he asks.

  “We can be friends,” I answer.

  “I knew it,” he says, but his smile doesn’t falter. “You know I’m going to keep trying, right? Until you say yes.”

  I lean closer and whisper. “Maybe you could do it in a more private way, cause this is a little embarrassing.” I motion to the people behind us who are staring and trying very hard to listen to our conversation.

  He looks back and laughs. “Gracie, you should know something about me. I’m never quiet. And when I like something, I shout it from the rooftop. So you should just get used to it.”

  “Aish,” I say, and grab the teddy bear from my desk, walking out of the classroom. I got back to my locker to stuff it inside, and when I open it, I see another note inside.

  Wow, Noah is really serious about this.

  “This kid,” I say, shaking my head. I pull out the note and stuff in the teddybear.

  This note is not written on a sticky note, but instead is inside of a big black envelope. I open it up and see a picture of Noah and me from the wedding, but a huge black X is drawn over my face. I turn it over and see there is a note written in a sharpie on the back.

  I told you to leave. Now you’re too late.

  —X

  There is no signature on it, and I don’t recognize the handwriting.

  What does this mean? “I told you to leave.” I look at the note for a few minutes before I realize that I got a note before. I thought it was from Alfie, but maybe it wasn’t. I wish I would’ve kept that note so I could compare the handwriting. Is this the same person?

  Before I can think about it too much, the warning bell goes off. I take off running towards my class and slide into my desk just as the second bell rings. I stuff the photo in my backpack. I will deal with that later.

  Snooze you lose.

  When I walk into the cafeteria for lunch, everybody turns to look at me, and I am mortified.

  Ugh, Noah, why did you do this to me?

  I got take my seat by Alfie and am thankful that I’m shorter than everybody else at my table. They make a protective hedge around me.

  “This is so embarrassing,” I say, pulling out my packed lunch. The ajumma at the Korean restaurant packed it for me. She was so sweet. I definitely plan on going back there often.

  “Want me to take care of him for you?” Alfie asks, acting like he’s going to stand up.

  “No!” I say quickly, pulling him back down. “If you punch him, it will just cause a scene. Then you’ll get suspended from school and then I’ll have to walk. Plus, people really would stare at me then.”

  “Walk to school,” he says, laughing. “We live ten miles from school.”

  “Then I’d have to take the bus.”

  “The bus doesn’t go anywhere near where we live,” Alfie says.

  “Then Jace would have to pick me up in his limo,” I say. “I wouldn’t mind that anyway. Can you imagine riding in a limo everyday to school?”

  Jace laughs. “You’re pretty much the only person who would want to take a limo to school.”

  “Actually, I’m pretty sure everybody in the world, aside from you, would like to take a limo to school,” I say, getting a big bite of rice.

  “How do you eat rice with chopsticks?” West asks me.

  I answer him with my mouth full. “Like this.” I shovel another bite it. “It’s easy.” But my voice is muffled by the food, so I’m pretty sure he can’t understand me either.

  “You have no table manners. My mom would have a heart attack if she saw you eating,” West says.

  “What?” I ask, around my food.

  Alfie and Jace both laugh.

  “Is she always like that?” West asks.

  “Always,” Alfie and Jace say at the same time.

  “You’re just jealous you don’t have kimchi,” I say to Alfie, as I stick my chopstick in the kimchi. Halfway to my mouth, Alfie grabs my hand and eats the bite. “Hey!”

  He smiles victoriously. “Snooze you lose.”

  “It’s okay, Oppa. You can buy me Korean food tonight for dinner,” I say. “We can have Ajumma make it for the whole family. I wonder if Claire likes Korean food.”

  “I will, if you try the fried chicken,” he says.

  I think about his offer, then nod. “Okay. I will try the fried chicken. But Jace has to try some jjamppong. Level ten.”

  Jjamppong is a super spicy dish they serve in Korea. I’ve seen foreigners try to eat it, but they can’t. I watched one girl faint because it was so spicy. I didn’t even realize that was possible! However, I love the spiciness.

  Alfie laughs. “Really?”

  “What is that? It’s not pig intestines or something gross, right?” Jace asks.

  “No. Nothing like that,” I say. “It’s just a little spicy.

  “My grandma on my dad’s side is half Mexican. She always cooks these super spicy dishes when she comes to visit, and I love them. Trust me, I can handle spicy,” he says, confidently.

  Alfie and I grin at each other.

  “Does that mean you accept the
challenge?” I ask him.

  He nods. “Yes.”

  Dinner tonight is definitely going to be interesting.

  You’re in my way.

  I forget about the note I stuck in my backpack until later that night. I’m pulling a book out of my bag and it falls out. It’s then that I notice another note has been stuck in there. I unfold the small white envelope.

  You’re in my way. He’s going to pay the price for you.

  —X

  “He?”

  I grab the photo and the note and head towards Alfie’s room. Maybe this is some kind of a prank he’s pulling on me. If it is, it’s not a very good prank, but I shouldn’t over react when I don’t understand what’s going on.

  I knock on Alfie’s door and a few seconds later, Jace opens it.

  “Hey,” I say. “Can I come in?”

  Jace steps back out of the way and I walk in. Alfie is sitting at the computer. I walk over to him and lay down both the note and the picture.

  “What is this?” Alfie asks.

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “I was hoping that you would know.”

  I show him the note on the back of the picture first.

  “I told you to leave. Now you’re too late,” Alfie reads. “It sounds like this person sent a previous warning.”

  “I got another note last Monday. I thought it was just you, because you didn’t want me here. It said something like ‘If you know what’s good for you, you will go back to where you came from. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ I threw it away,” I say. “It wasn’t anything too threatening anyway. But the person signed it the same way. With an X.”