Read A Girl Like Gracie Online

Authors: Scarlett Haven

Tags: #romance, #love, #young adult, #high school, #stalker, #spy, #korea, #rich and famous, #south korea, #seoul

A Girl Like Gracie (10 page)


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.”

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