Free A Girl Like Gracie by Scarlett Haven

waitress, I feel a little sick to my stomach. No
wonder he’s been divorced four times.
     
    An hour later, we manage to leave the
wedding reception without anybody noticing. Noah is in a much
better mood now that the whole thing is behind us, and the smile is
a permanent fixture on his face now.
    “ What do you want to eat?” he
asks.
    “ Spicy rice cakes,” I say,
sighing.
    “ What is that?”
    “ Korean food.”
    “ There is a Korean restaurant not too
far from here,” Noah says. “Let’s go.”
    “ Okay,” I say, sitting up straight in
my seat. “Oh, I wonder if they have kimchi. I don’t eat fish that
often, but when I do it’s usually in kimchi.”
    “ Vegetarians eat fish?”
    “ Some do. Fish is the only kind of
meat I eat. I guess it depends on the person’s preference,” I
say.
    “ Why are you vegetarian?”
    I shrug. “My mom is, so I’ve just always
been.”
    “ Don’t you want to try
meat?”
    “ Sometimes,” I answer. “I hear the
fried chicken in Korea is the best. It smells good. But I didn’t
try it.”
    My phone goes off with a text from my
mom.
     
    아마 Mom: How are you?
     
    My mom hasn’t called or texted me the
whole time I’ve been here. Almost a whole month. And now she decides to text
me.
    “ What’s wrong?” Noah asks.
    I lock my phone and put is back in my purse.
“Nothing.”
    “ Are you sure?” he asks.
    I sigh. “It was my mom. I’m rather annoyed
with her right now.”
    “ You should text her bad, even when
you mad,” he says.
    “ You’re right,” I say, pulling my
phone back out and begin to text a reply. “Do you talk to your mom
often?”
    “ My mom died when I was seven,” he
tells me.
    “ I’m sorry,” I say, because what else
can I say?
    “ She was going through a really rough
time. My dad had just left her for another woman, and she was
struggling with depression. One weekend, while we were at our
grandma’s house, she committed suicide,” he tells me.
    “ Oh, wow,” I say.
    “ I try not to be mad at her, but she
left me and Vanessa all alone. She knew what kind of man our dad
was and what kind of life we would live,” he says. “But she still
chose to leave us.”
    “ I’ve been mad at my dad for a long
time,” I say. “It’s not really healthy to hold onto anger towards
your parent, but sometimes you can’t help it.”
    “ What did your dad do?”
    “ He left my mom,” I answer. “And two
months later, he married Claire.”
    “ At least he stayed with Claire,” Noah
says. “My dad ended up divorcing the woman he left my mom for three
weeks after my mom’s funeral. That’s the kind of man my mom thought
was worth dying for. It makes me sick.”
    “ I can’t imagine,” I say, my chest
tightening at his confession.
    “ Everybody talks about how I date a
lot of girls and break up with them. Vanessa thinks I’m like him.
But I’m not,” he says. “I date a lot of girls because I don’t want to be like my dad. I want
to find somebody that I want to be with forever.”
    “ Do you believe that everybody has one
person they’re meant to be with?” I ask.
    “ Like soul mates?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ I don’t know,” he answers. “Maybe.
But even if there is one person for everybody, I still think they’d
have to work at their relationship. My dad’s marriages all fail
because he’s never willing to work. Usually, around the time the
honeymoon phase is over, he’s filling for divorce.”
    “ I don’t know the reason why my
parents got divorced,” I say. “All I know is everything was perfect
and then one day, when Alfie and I were twelve, our mom and dad
came in and said ‘we got a divorce. Your dad is marrying somebody
else. Mom is moving to Korea. Pick who you want to live with.’ And
my life changed instantly.”
    “ Wow,” he says. “You know, this is a
pretty heavy topic for a first date.”
    “ First date?” I ask. “No. We’re
friends. I came with you to your dad’s wedding as a favor.