A Girl Like Gracie by Scarlett Haven

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