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.
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.
“Yeah, I know. I look twelve.”
Noah laughs. “No, that wasn’t what I was referring to. You two just don’t look related, like, at all. Are you Asian?”
“Our dad is white, and our mom is Korean. I take after my mom and Alfie takes after our dad,” I explain.
“That’s why you keep bowing?” he asks.
I nod. “It’s not on purpose. I just keep forgetting.”
“Oh, right. Alfie did say he had a sister living in South Korea,” he says. “So… you’re back.”
“I am,” I say, nodding.
“Good,” he says.
“Good?”
He doesn’t respond.
“This house is massive,” I say to him, looking around the room. There is even a huge statue in the middle. Their foyer is definitely bigger than ours, even though our house is bigger.
“Not as big as your house,” Noah says.
I look at him. “You’ve been to my house?”
“Many times,” he says.
“So are you and Alfie friends?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he says, but doesn’t say anything else.
“What is your house like?” I ask. “Is it huge like this?”
“Do you not know whose house you’re at right now?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“It’s mine. Or my dad’s,” he says. “But I live here.”
“Wow,” I say, looking at him. “Your dad must be rich.”
“Not as rich as yours,” he says.
I look back at the crowd again, and see Alfie walking towards me with Jace following closely behind. He walks right up to me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Alfie asks me.
“Um… standing here,” I answer.
“I mean talking to him,” he clarifies.
“Alfie, come on man,” Jace says. “Leave them alone.”
“I’m confused,” I say. “What is wrong with Noah? Isn’t this his house we’re at? He’s nice. Did I do something wrong?”
Noah puts a hand on my arm.
“Get your hands off her,” Alfie says, then swings a punch at Noah.
I hear the crowd around us gasp, but I’m too busy watching Alfie to notice anything else. His fist connects with Noah’s face.
“Alfie!” I yell at him.
Noah’s nose starts to drip blood.
“Don’t let me ever see you near my sister again!” Alfie yells.
Before anything else can be said, Alfie grabs my arm and pulls me away. We go right out the front door, and Jace comes out with us.
“What were you thinking?” I ask Alfie. “Why the heck did you just hit that guy?”
“You can’t talk to him,” Alfie says. “Or go near him. Or even think about him.”
“Why not?” I ask. “He was nice. Not that it matters. He’ll never want to talk to me again since you punched him in the face without a reason!”
“I had plenty of reason!”
“You did kind of overreact,” Jace says, coming to my defense. “All he did was talk to her and he touched her elbow. What do you think he was going to do in front of all those people?”
“I don’t know,” Alfie says.
The front door opens up and Claire walks out. She looks angry.
“Alfie James, what were you thinking?” she asks him, as she walks up to us. She doesn’t give him a chance to answer. “Your father is in there trying to smooth things over with the Pennington family. We will be lucky if they don’t sue.”
“He started it!” Alfie says.
“What did he do?”
“He talked to Gracie,” he answers.
“That’s it?” Claire asks.
“He touched her elbow. But he only did that to make me mad,” Alfie says.
Claire lets out an exasperated sigh. “Alfie. I just… I don’t know where to start. You guys go home while your dad and I sort things out.”
She walks back inside and Alfie pushes off the side of the house where he was leaning.
“Maybe you could make a list of people I am and am not allowed to talk to,” I say. “That would make this all a lot easier.”
“Don’t talk to any guys besides me. Period,” he says.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not thirteen anymore,” I say. “I can talk to any guy I want to. Besides, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was standing there all alone and I was just thankful that the boy came and started talking to me.”
The doors open up again, and I expect it to be Claire or Dad, coming to yell at Alfie. But it’s not. It’s Noah. He’s got a handkerchief pressed against his nose, and it’s stained red.
“Are you all right?” he asks me.
“I think I’m supposed to ask you that,” I say.
“Come back for seconds?” Alfie asks him, in a taunting voice.
“I just came to give you this,” Noah says, handing me a piece of paper. I grab it from him, and then he walks back through the doors.
“What’s that?” Jace asks me.
I hold up the paper.
It has his phone number on it.
“It’s the number to his handphone,” I answer.
Alfie tries to grab the paper out of my hand, but I hold onto it tight. I put the piece of paper in my bra where I know Alfie can’t get it.
“You better not text him,” he says.
I don’t respond. I just smile.
“Gracie Nicole James, I am serious,” Alfie says.
“You know, I wasn’t going to, but if it annoys you, I might just do it,” I say.
Jace who is watching the two of us laughs. We both turn to look at him and he stops laughing immediately.
“You two are fun together,” he says. “I think senior year might be the best year yet.”
The limo pulls up in front, and a guy opens the door for us. The three of us get in and head back home in complete silence. I can’t help but wonder what this means for Alfie and me. Are we friends again? I hope so.