A Girl Like Gracie (11 page)

I show him the other note.

“
You’re in my way. He’s going to pay
the price for you,” Alfie reads.

“
Who is he?” Jace asks.

“
That’s what I want to know,” I
say.

“
Let’s just hope this is a prank
somebody is playing on you,” Alfie says. “I’m not sure what we can
do with a bunch of notes anyway. It’s not like they’re really
threatening you or anything. Just let me know if you get anymore
notes and we will go from there.”

“
Okay,” I say, taking the notes off
his desk. “I’m going to keep these, just in case I need them
later.”

“
Good,” Alfie says. “Also, just so you
know, I do want you here.”

I can’t help but smile. “Thanks.”

Tuesday, August 30

Banana milk.

Jace ate
jjamppong.
And he literally cried because it was
so spicy, and I felt bad. He was shocked when he saw Alfie and me
eating it like it was nothing. Though, Alfie was drinking a lot of
water with his. I guess he’s gotten used to American
food.

I tried fried chicken. At first, I thought I
would be grossed out by eating it, but it was awesome. I can’t
believe I missed out for so long by being a vegetarian. I wonder if
my mom would be disappointed if she knew.

On Tuesday morning, when I get to school,
there is a bottle of banana milk sitting on my desk in math class
with another sticky note. I smile, because I know this one is from
Noah.

Do you like me? (Circle
one)

Yes

No

I smile at the note as I pull out a pen.

Thanks for the milk,
friend. How did you know banana milk is my favorite?

I put it on his desk and start drinking the
banana milk.

I could definitely get used to this.

It’s hard to find banana milk in the states.
It’s not exactly popular. I could pick it up at any convenient
store in Korea. Me and my friends often drank it while we were
studying. My teacher would allow one person to go pick it up for
everybody during break. I miss those days.

School in America is too easy. I find myself
very bored. I have a lot of free time. I’ve already studied through
all my books and have not had any sort of challenge.

I pull out my phone and send a text to my
best friend from back home, Suel-bi.

Me:
I miss
you.

이슬비
:
Miss you too. Class isn’t the same without you.
Can’t talk though. I’m studying… SO TIRED! But we have a crazy hard
test coming tomorrow. Hope all is well in American!
FIGHTING!

I put away my phone and sigh.

I am glad I am in America, because here I
have Alfie. But it’s nearly midnight there, and Suel-bi is still
studying. I’m so jealous.

Noah sits down in the desk beside me and
smiles as he reads the note.

“
I special ordered it,” he tells me.
“I have a fridge full of it, so you should expect one every single
morning.”

I take a drink. “Ah. So refreshing. I’ll
drink it well.”

“
What does that mean? I’ll drink it
well. I notice you say that when you eat too,” he says.

“
Sorry. It’s a Korean thing. It’s a
habit. I always forget.”

“
So, do you have plans this weekend?”
Noah asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know yet.”

“
This weekend is Labor Day Weekend, so
we will have Monday off from school,” he says. “We should try to do
something fun.”

“
Maybe,” I say. “I wonder what Alfie
has planned.”

Noah holds up the note. “You never did
answer my question.”

“
That is because, if I circle yes, you
will think I want to date you,” I answer. “And I’m not going to
circle no, because you’re my friend. I like you as my friend. So I
am not going to answer.”

“
You know, you’re the only girl that’s
ever turned me down.”

“
I must be a huge blow to your ego,” I
say.

“
Why won’t you date me?” he
asks.

“
I’m still trying to figure you out,
honestly. My brother doesn’t like you. Everybody says you change
girlfriends every few weeks, even you’ve said that. And you were
unkind to Austin Yang on the first day of school,” I say. “Austin
was scared of you. But you’re a different person with me. I guess
I’m just waiting to see what your true colors really are, because I
don’t want to be just another girl that dated Noah
Pennington.”

“
Then I guess I will have to prove
myself to you,” he says.

The warning bell rings and the classroom
fills with kids, so I turn my attention away from Noah and towards
my studies. But I can’t help but wonder exactly how Noah will prove
himself. Only time will reveal.

Three minutes.

When I sit at the table, I pull out my
container of food. After a few days of eating the school cafeteria
food, I decided to start bringing my own lunch. I brought my
jasmine rice and left over
jjamppong.
Alfie and me were the only ones who
would eat it after it made Jace cry.

“
What do you have there?” West asks,
as I open the first container. The spicy smell hits my nose, making
my stomach growl.

“
Jjamppong
,”
I answer. “Want some?”

“
It smells awesome,” he
says.

“
Don’t be deceived,” Jace says. “It’s
so spicy that I thought my tongue was going to burn
off.”

I laugh. “He’s a wimp.” I scoop out a bite
onto West’s tray. “Try it.”

He hesitantly picks it up with his fork and
smells it. “It does smell spicy.”

“
Scared?” I ask.

A tray sits down beside me, and I look over
to see Alfie sit down.

“
Is that
jjamppong
…” Alfie’s voice trails off, as West
puts the bit in his mouth. His eyes immediately start to water as
he grabs his drink off the table.

Jace and me laugh hard.

“
You’re so mean, Gracie,” Alfie tells
me.

“
Just like my brother,” I
reply.

He smiles. “True.”

“
Have you gotten anymore notes?” Jace
asks me.

“
No. Just one from Noah. That kid is
persistent,” I say. “But at least I got banana milk.”

“
No fair,” Alfie says. “Maybe you
should date him and convince him to bring me banana milk
too.”

I laugh.

“
So why aren’t you dating him?” Jace
asks. “He obviously likes you. I don’t think he’s never been turned
down by a girl before. Do you not like him?”

“
I don’t know,” I answer. “I mean,
he’s attractive and nice, but I also think you’re attractive and
nice. It doesn’t mean I want to date you.”

Jace’s face turns a shade of pink.

“
What about me?” West asks.

“
Of course.” I give him a thumbs up.
“You even handle you
jjamppong
very well.”

“
I handled it well?” he
asks.

I nod.

“
Jace cried,” Alfie says.

“
You guys didn’t give me anything to
drink,” Jace says, in his own defense.

“
Should I be worried that my sister
finds you attractive?” Alfie says to Jace.

“
Ainyo
,” I
tell Alfie. “Why would guys go for me in this school when there are
so many pretty girls? The only reason Noah is interested in me is
because I’m new. I turned him down. Once somebody else captures his
attention, he will move on from me. Until then, I’m going to enjoy
my banana milk.”

“
As long as you don’t date my best
friend,” Alfie says.

“
You’re the only Asian girl in the
school,” West says.

“
What does that have to do with
anything?” I ask.

“
I just saying, some guys find Asian
girls attractive,” he says.

Alfie whacks West on the back of the head.
“Don’t talk about my baby sister like that.”

“
Baby sister?” I ask, then laugh.
“He’s three minutes older than me. Hardly enough older for me to be
called younger.”

“
Three minutes is three minutes and I
am going to claim it,” he says.

“
Aish
,” I
say, rolling my eyes. “
Oppa
,
you annoy me sometimes.”

He grins. “That’s right.
Oppa
. I’m your older brother. You
should respect me as such.”

“
We have no such customs in America,”
I say.

“
But we’re not completely American,”
Alfie says.

“
You, my brother, are completely
American,” I say, motioning towards his fork. “How can you even eat
with that thing? Better yet, why would you want to. Forks are
useless. Chopsticks are superior in every way.”

Alfie grabs the chopsticks from my hand.

“
Hey!”

He starts eating his lunch with them, so I
pull another set from my purse and start using it.

“
Do you carry those things
everywhere?” Jace asks.

I nod. “I ordered a bunch of disposable ones
to carry with me.”

“
You are serious about you
chopsticks,” West says.

“
She needs them, trust me,” Alfie
says. “I watched her try to eat with a fork once. It wasn’t pretty.
She spilled food all over herself.”

Alfie picks up a piece of his food with the
chop sticks and ends up dropping some down the front of this shirt.
I smile, victoriously.

“
Sorry I’m not westernized enough for
you,” I say.

Even though the school is too easy and I
miss my life in Korea, I’m genuinely happy to be here with my
brother and his friends. Because I have something I didn’t have
before—Alfie. I didn’t realize how much I missed him living so far
away. I’m glad my mom made me come back. No matter where life takes
me, I will always cherish these memories.

An accident.

As I am sitting in my room, I read through
one of my texts books for the third time. If I were in Korea, after
school I’d be going to special tutoring. I miss my tawkwondo
classes. And my Japanese classes. Most of all, I miss my piano
classes.

I think about the piano sitting in Noah’s
foyer. I wonder if he’d let me come over and play it sometime. I
pull out my phone and text him.

Me:
Can I
come over sometime and play your piano? I miss playing. I’m quite
good. I’d even let you listen.

I watch my phone for a couple minutes,
waiting for for a response, but I don’t get one. I let out a sigh
and close the book in front of me. I knew that Noah would get bored
of me. I didn’t think it would be this soon, but it was bound to
happen sooner to later.

My phone starts vibrating and I look on the
screen and see Noah’s name pop up. I grin and I slide my phone to
answer it.

“
Hey,” I answer.

“
Gracie?” I hear a girl’s voice on the
other end, and the girl sounds like she’s been crying.

“
Yeah.”

“
It’s Vanessa, Noah’s sister,” she
says. “Noah has been in an accident.”

“
An accident?” I ask, sitting up. “Is
he okay?”

“
I don’t know,” she says, sniffing.
“He’s in surgery now.”

“
What hospital are you at?” I
ask.

“
Bayside General Hospital,” she
answer. “Gracie, please hurry and get down here.”

The call comes to an end and I run to
Alfie’s room. I knock.

“
Alfie!” I yell through the closed
door.

Alfie swings the door open, Jace standing
behind him looking worried.

“
Noah’s been in an accident. I need
you to take me to the hospital,” I tell him. “He’s in surgery. His
sister just called me.”

Alfie and Jace both swing into action. Alfie
grabs my hand and we run down the hallway. Jace follows closely
behind us.

When we get out to the car, Jace is the one
who quickly climbs in the back seat. I get in the front, and Alfie
takes off before any of us even have time to put on our seat belts.
I reach over for mine and quickly put it on, then scoot up my seat
so Jace will have room in the back. Even I think his backseat is
small, and I’m short. Jace is tall, so I know he needs the extra
room.

The whole way there, I am a nervous wreck,
wondering is Noah is going to be all right. He’s the only friend
I’ve made on my own, the only friend that isn’t my brother’s friend
first. I feel close to him. He even did a Korean confession to me,
which is probably embarrassing for him. And he brought me banana
milk, which pretty much takes him to a new level of awesome. I want
him to be okay and back at school with me.

When we get to the hospital, Alfie parks in
the parking garage and then we head inside. The lady at the desk
tells us where Noah is having his surgery, so we run up there. When
we get to the floor, his older sister, Vanessa, is talking to a
police office. She calls for me and waves me over when she sees
me.