A Girl Like Gracie (3 page)

“
This is a nice car,” I
say.

“
Very nice,” she says,
agreeing.

“
I don’t even have my driver’s
license,” I tell her. “I always took the subway in
Korea.”

“
Then we will take you to get your
license,” she says. “You study the book this weekend and I’ll take
you Monday to get your permit.”

“
Okay,” I say, then look at the car.
“Are you sure you want me to drive something so nice?”

She nods.

I smile. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“
You can probably find the book online
to study for your permit,” she says.

I pull my handphone out of my purse. “I’ll
study hard!” I yell, then take off towards the house.

Today, I will spend my day studying.

Saturday, August 6

She looks like a twelve
year old.

On Saturday morning, Claire wakes me
up early. She wants to take me to get
pampered
. Dad is working and Alfie won’t talk to
me, so I agree to go, just because I want to get out of the house.
First, we go and get our eyebrows waxed, and then we get a
mani-pedi. I don’t like using fake nails or even color on my nails,
so I just get clear polish. It doesn’t surprise me that Claire gets
bright red on hers.

After that, we go shopping for a little bit.
Claire buys me some more shoes and clothes. She says I need school
clothes. I’m pretty sure between what she bought me today and what
she put in my closet, I wouldn’t have to wear the same outfit twice
to school, but I don’t complain. Claire is being surprisingly
pleasant and I don’t want to ruin my relationship with the only
person in the house that will talk to me.

We go get our hair fixed after a day of
shopping. She got us an appointment at this amazing salon. But the
girl curls my hair and makes me look like a star from an idol group
in Korea. I actually feel pretty.

Maybe I misjudged Claire. I mean, it’s not
her fault that my dad married her. Dad didn’t even wait two months
after his divorce with my mom was final before he married her.
Really, it’s my dad’s fault. It was just easier to blame her.

“
I can’t wait to see you in the dress
I bought you,” she tells me, once we get back home. She sends
Fredrick out to get the stuff we bought out of the back of her car.
She has a small car and we filled it up.

I walk up the stairs and I go to my room.
Claire goes the opposite way, but a couple minutes later, there is
a knock on my door. I’ve hoped that Alfie would knock on my door so
many times, but it’s never him. So I go to the door and open it,
knowing it’s not him.

Claire is standing on the other side with a
long white box in her hands. It has a big pink bow tied around it.
She holds it out to me and I take it from her. I walk over to my
bed and open it up. Inside, there is a beautiful, pink gown. I pull
it out and hold it up to myself. The bottom of the dress ends right
at my knees. It’s got a little tulle under the skirt, making it
puff out a bit. And the top is modest. I won’t even have to wear
anything over it.

“
I love it,” I tell Claire.

She smiles big. “Good. You know, I’ve been
seeing stuff like this when I go shopping and have wanted to buy
it, but I don’t anybody to buy for. I’m too old to wear a short
gown like that.”

“
Why don’t you have any kids?” I ask.
Maybe it’s a little personal, but she
is
my stepmom.

She sighs. “Your dad already has two kids.
I’m not sure that he wants more. Any time I’ve talked about it with
him, he always changes the subject. He’s older than me, so maybe he
thinks he’s too old to have more kids.”

I try to imagine having a sibling now, but
I’d be away at college by the time he or she would be born. It’s
always been just Alfie and me. I like it that way. But if Claire
and Dad had a baby, I think I’d be happy.

“
Your dad has missed you a lot,”
Claire says. “He doesn’t open up a lot, but I can see how sad he
is. It breaks his heart that you never wanted to come visit
him.”

I frown. “If he felt that way, then why
isn’t he spending any time with me? I’ve only seen him once since I
got here.”

“
He works a lot,” she says. “He’s
obsessed with his job. But he’s so glad you’re here.”

I don’t believe that.

I also know that Alfie is unhappy that I’m
here.

Why did my mom force me to leave Seoul and
come here? South Korea had become my home. I miss my mom. I miss my
friends.

“
What’s the point of me being here if
they don’t want me here?” I ask her.

“
I want you here,” she says. “And they
do what you here. Just give Alfie time. He will have a change of
heart. That boy loves you.”

“
I love him too,” I say. “And I hate
that he’s treating me this way. I don’t know how to react. Alfie
and I never fought much as kids. Now he acts as if he can’t stand
to be in the same room as me.”

“
It’ll work out,” she says, patting my
arm gently. “Now you, get dressed. I want to see you in this pretty
dress.”

“
Ne,
” I say,
bowing towards her. I grab the dress and go into my huge walk in
closet to get dressed.

I pull the dress on and zip it up and much
as I can. I come out of the closet and have Claire zip it up the
rest of the way. When she does, I turn around so she can see
it.

“
What do you think?” I ask, after
spinning in a circle.

“
Gorgeous,” she says.

I hear Alfie’s door open.

“
Alfie!” Claire yells.

Alfie sticks his head in my door. He looks
at me for just a second, then looks at Claire, as if I’m not even
in the room.

“
You need something?” he
asks.

“
What do you think of Gracie’s dress
for the ball?” she asks.

He looks at me again and shrugs his
shoulder. “She looks too skinny to me. Like, she looks twelve.
Nobody will believe she’s my twin.”

I want to reply with a sarcastic comment,
but why add gasoline to a fire. Nope. I will just bide my time.
Eventually, Alfie will forgive me. When he does, then I will get
him back for this time he’s been mean to me.

With his comment, he walks away from my door
and a few seconds later I hear the door to him room slam.

I jump at the sound.

“
Don’t worry about him,” Claire says,
putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shrug her hand off. “You should get
ready,” I say curtly.

She looks hurt for half a second, making me
feel bad, but she quickly smiles. “You’re right. We will be leaving
in half an hour,” she says, walking towards the door. When she gets
there, she turns around and looks at me. “Gracie, you’ll be the
most beautiful girl there tonight.”

And my guilt just upped itself by a
million.

“
Thanks,” I tell her.

She walks out my door, closing it behind
her.

I turn around and face myself in the full
length mirror.

Alfie was right. I do look like a twelve
year old.

You better not text him.

When I walk into the foyer thirty minutes
later, Dad and Claire are already standing there waiting. A few
seconds later, Alfie comes down behind me. He just looks at Dad and
Claire. Though, I guess him ignoring me is better than him
constantly hurting my feelings.

“
Wow, Gracie. You look beautiful,” Dad
tells me.

“
At least you don’t have to worry
about guys hitting on her,” Alfie says. “Except twelve year
olds.”

And the insults begin.

“
You’ve already told me I look like a
twelve year old,” I say to him. “You need to get better insults if
you’re going to keep this up.”

“
No fighting,” Dad says.

“
Let’s just get out of here,” Alfie
says, storming past me. He opens the front door and I see a limo
waiting there for us. He climbs in.

Dad motions for Claire and me to go first. I
follow Claire. She gets in on the empty seat. I contemplate sitting
beside her so I don’t have to sit by Alfie, but I don’t think Dad
will let that happen. Instead, I take a seat by Alfie, who scoots
over as far as he possibly can.

“
I really wish the two of you would
work things out,” Dad says, as he gets into the limo.

Alfie doesn’t say a word.

I turn and look out the window, and I hear
my dad let out a sigh. He must be frustrated with me, but what can
I do? Alfie has decided to hate me for some unknown reason. I don’t
like it either.

“
Gracie and I went shopping today,”
Claire tells Dad. “We picked her up the cutest dresses.”

“
That’s nice,” Dad says, then turns to
me. “Did you have fun?”

I nod.

I did have fun. Claire isn’t my mom, but
she’s also not the monster I thought she was. She’s actually… nice.
I can see why my dad likes her.

“
I don’t think I’ll have to wear the
same outfit twice this school year,” I tell him. “You guys have
been so generous. Especially with the car. Thank you. Claire says
she’s going to take me for my driver’s test on Monday.”

“
Monday?” Alfie asks, looking at me.
“You just got here. You think you can past the test that
quick?”

“
I studied the book yesterday,” I
say.

“
I studied the book for a month before
I passed,” Alfie says, then rolls his eyes. “Whatever. You’ll fail
anyway.”

“
Gracie was first in her class in
Seoul,” Dad says.

“
Sometimes,” I say. “This one boy and
me went back and forth between first and second. But when I left, I
was first. I bet he’s glad he won’t have to compete with me
anymore.”

“
Isn’t school in Korea hard?” Alfie
asks.

I nod. “It took me a while to catch up when
I first moved here. There were days that I studied twenty hours. I
got these real bad nose bleeds and even passed out from exhaustion
once. After that, I found my balance and ended up doing well.”

“
You would’ve rather lived like that
there than live with me here?” he asks, now looking
hurt.

“
Alfie…”

He cuts me off. “Whatever, Gracie. I don’t
want to hear it.”

Alfie turns to look out the other side of
the window and tears fill my eyes. I turn away quickly so nobody
can see. The last thing I want is for Alfie to know how much he
hurt me. It would only give him satisfaction.

I’ll be strong. No matter what it takes, I’m
going to survive.

After a twenty minute ride in complete
silence, we finally reach our destination. We pull up in front of
this huge mansion. It’s not quite as big as Dad’s house, but it’s
still impressive. The limo comes to a stop in front, and somebody
opens the door.

I get out first. An older guy holds out his
hand, and I accept it, letting him help me out. Once I’m out, I
stand there and look at the massive house in front of me.

“
Impressive, right?” Alfie
asks.

I nod, unable to answer.

“
While you were living in a two
bedroom apartment smaller than your bedroom and getting nose bleeds
from studying so hard, I was here, going to parties and living an
extravagant life. You don’t belong here anymore,” he says, then
walks past me, inside the house.

After taking a deep breath, I follow
him.

Inside, the foyer of the house is full.
There are people standing around. All of them are wearing gorgeous
gowns or tuxedos. There is a piano in the corner of the room, and
some girl is sitting at it, playing a classical piece that I
recognize.

Claire and Dad walk up beside me.

“
Are you going to be okay here?” Dad
asks.

“
Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I answer, not
quite believing it.

“
Okay,” Dad says, him and Claire
walking away to go talk in the crowd.

I just stand there, looking at
everybody. I feel like an impostor. Alfie was absolutely right.
I
don’t
belong
here.

“
Are you all right?” somebody asks
from beside me.

I turn towards the voice and see a boy that
I don’t recognize. Not that I know anybody, aside from my family,
Jace, and the Sherwood family. And I’m not even sure if Jace will
even be here. And if he would be, he would be hanging out with
Alfie anyway.

The boy has on a nice tuxedo. It looks
really expensive. His short, dark brown hair is messy, but you can
tell it’s intentional. And he has the most amazing emerald green
eyes.

“
I’m not sure,” I answer, deciding to
be honest. I’m pretty sure the answer is already plainly written on
my face anyway.

“
I’m Noah Pennington,” the boy
says.

“
Annyeonghaseyo
,” I say, then bow to him. “I’m
Gracie.”

“
Do you have a last name?” he
asks.

“
Yeah, sorry,” I say, bowing again.
Ah, why do I keep bowing? It’s not normal to bow to people in
America. “James. I’m Gracie James.”

“
James,” he says, repeating it. “You
wouldn’t happen to be related to Travis and Alfie James, would
you?”

“
Travis is my dad,” I say. “And Alfie
is my twin brother.”

“
Twin?” he asks, looking at
me.