A Girl Like Gracie by Scarlett Haven Page B

not, you’re going with him
to the wedding as a date,” she says. “I won’t have my stepdaughter
looking bad.”
    “ Okay,” I say, sitting back against
the seat.
    I have a feeling this is going to be a long
day.
     
    Friends.
     
    That afternoon, when Noah comes to
pick me up, I am exhausted from my day with Claire. I feel like I
tried on hundreds of dresses and shoes. But I do look pretty. At
least I think I look pretty,
which is all that matters.
    I told Noah to text me when he was on his
way over, but instead, his arrival is told to me when Fredrick
knocks on my door that afternoon.
    “ Your date is here, Miss James,” he
says.
    “ Why does everybody keep calling him
my date? He’s not my date,” I say.
    Fredrick just chuckles and walks away.
    “ And don’t call me Miss James. It’s
Gracie,” I yell after him.
    Wait.
    Did he just say Noah is here?
    I grab my heels and purse off the bed and
take off running down the hallway. The absolute last thing I need
is for Alfie to find out that I’m going with Noah to his dad’s
wedding. Then Alfie will think it’s a date and everything will be a
big mess.
    When I get close to the balcony, I slow down
to a walk. I don’t want Noah to see me running and think I’m
excited to see him or something. I’m just going with him today as a
favor.
    And it’s definitely not a date.
    As I get to the top of the staircase, I look
down and see Noah standing in the foyer. He’s wearing a very nice
black suit, a white shirt and a black tie. He looks good… really
good. His hair is fixed like it was the first time I met him, and I
like it like that. Somehow, standing there, he looks more mature
than he does when I see him at school. He looks up at me, and my
stomach tightens in a weird way.
    I’m nervous?
    Ugh, why am I nervous?
    It’s probably because everybody keeps
calling this a date. It’s not. I just need to stop letting people’s
words get to me.
    I make my way down the staircase, hoping
that I don’t trip.
    I carefully count each step to the bottom.
There are thirty three steps. I like odd numbers, so the fact that
there is thirty three is comforting for some strange reason.
    “ Hey,” I say to Noah once I reach the
bottom.
    “ Wow,” he says. “You look
beautiful.”
    I look down at my bare feet against the
marble floor and push a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Thanks.” I
look up at him again and see that he has a huge smile on his face.
“What?”
    “ Just thinking that you look so
beautiful my dad might try to dump his bride and date you instead,”
Noah says.
    I roll my eyes.
    “ I’m serious. Don’t be offended if my
dad hits on you.”
    “ Are you being sarcastic? Because
American humor is different than Korean humor,” I say.
    “ I am being serious,” he says, then
holds out his arm for me. “Are you ready to go?”
    “ Yeah,” I say, looping my arm through
his. I really just want to get out of here before Alfie catches us
here together. That would be a disaster.
    As we walk towards the front door, it opens
up and I watch Alfie and Jace step inside. I try to scoot away from
Noah, because I’m pretty sure if Alfie sees us touch it’ll be that
much worse, but Noah tightens his grip so I can’t get away.
    This boy really has a death wish.
    “ What are you doing?” Alfie asks
Noah.
    I cringe at the harshness of his voice.
    “ Don’t be mad. I’m going to his dad’s
wedding with him,” I say. “Noah asked me to go so he didn’t have to
go alone.”
    Noah remains quiet beside me.
    Alfie’s shoulders drop a bit. “Okay.”
    He starts to walk around us and up the
stairs.
    “ Okay? You’re just saying okay?” I
ask.
    “ Yeah,” Alfie says, turning towards
me.
    “ You made such a big deal out of him
talking to me. And now I tell you I’m going to be spending the
entire afternoon and a lot of the evening with the guy and you just
say okay?” I ask.
    “ Yep,” he says, without another
explanation, then him and Jace walk up