to have forever | scarlizzie

Chapter 2

Hey, it's James! What's up?

Katelyn had her phone balanced between her shoulder and her head, a box hugged close to her chest as she struggled to hold up the box while digging through her pocket for the keys to the apartment her parents owned. The box had come earlier that week, for her parents, and it's probably another work-related thing.

They work in a company that requires more business trips then she could count. Although they used to try to shorten the trip as much as possible before she was ten, now four years later it was as if that didn't matter.

"Oh thank god, James. Could you tell me what I missed today-"

You've reached the voicemail of James Stan, leave a message after the beep.

It took years of practiced not to smashed her phone right then and there as she finally found her keys and quickly unlocked the door, pushing through the door with her back after she turned the handle. Throwing the keys onto the coffee table besides the sofa, she flipped the lights on with her elbow before closing the door and placing the box down by the sofa, cursing every god she does not believe in for the heavy box she had to carry up five flights of stairs.

Katelyn took the phone from her shoulder and threw it toward the sofa as well before closing and locking the door, trying to deal with her wet and messy hair. She blamed the rain honestly. It's not supposed to rain this much in New York. It rains in Seattle, where she had originally lived with her last adoptive parents before they...

Honestly, she hated trying to remember her past life. It causes nothing but headache. It's not like it's weird if someone can't remember their life before they're five. It's just a blank, and Katelyn learned to ignore it. Or else she knew she might go crazy trying to remember those details.

She picked up the box once more, taking it to her parents' office before she went to the bathroom connected to her room, grabbing a random set of sweatpants and hoodie. Her fair was still wet from the rain but she chose to ignore it for now, it would air dry in a while.

When she walked out to the living room, Katelyn rolled her eyes when her phone vibrated on the sofa. Taking a quick glance, she realized it was James. She picked it up, a snappy remark already on the tip of her tongue.

"James Ethan Stan. There better be a good fucking reason why you had that annoying fucking voicemail," Katelyn growled. James laughed, making Katelyn feel more irritated than she already was.

"Wow, not even a hello. And two cuss words in a sentence, I must really pissed you off."

Katelyn rolled her eyes. "You're lucky that this is a call. Or else I would have painfully murdered you."

"You want to be charged with murder?" James questioned, his tone playful and light hearted.

"In the words of Taylor Swift, no body no crime," Katelyn hummed. "Anyways, do you think you could sent me today's homework? I had to cover a shift today at the shop."

James paused, and Katelyn wondered what her best friend was thinking. She had known James since elementary school, while Megan came later on. She may hang out with Megan often, but she prefers the company of James. "You choose work over school?"

"One, the boss paid me double. I didn't miss anything today, did I?" Katelyn grimaced. Hopefully she didn't miss anything too important.

James's over dramatic sigh could be heard over the phone and Katelyn rolled her eyes again. "I'll come over later today with work. You're welcome."

"This is why you're my best friend," Katelyn smiled, walking towards the kitchen and opening the fridge, frowning at the decrease of food. She definitely needs to go shopping soon... after she asked her parents for the food money...

"Ha ha," James laughed dryly. "Glad I could be of service. Would your parents mind that a boy is going to your house?"

Katelyn shook her head, before she realized that he couldn't see her. "My parents are out again for the week. Plus we both know I'm way to gay for you."

"That one hurts, Katelyn Ellis. That one hurts," James pouted. Katelyn scoffed.

"Suffer bitch. I have dinner to make."

"Ouch," James sighed dramatically. Katelyn laughed, pressing the hang up call before he could see anything else.

But before Katelyn could actually starts with anything, another text came through from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN

heyyyy can ou cme pikce m up??

im at he bar ew went ot yestetday

Unsure of what she should do, Katelyn frowned before quickly typing out a reply.

Katelyn

are you drunk?

UNKNOWN

noooo nott dunk

dutnk

dunck

fuck.

Katelyn

mhm, sure, real convincing

UNKNOWN

Not trunk

reaaaly sobre

Katelyn

sure. Whatever you say...

UNKNOWN

can uo come pikc mee upp???

Katelyn

sorry, i think you have the wrong number

UNKNOWN

...

no, your numbre si xxx-xxx-xxx

Katelyn

yeah, sorry, i don't have that 8, mine is a 3

UNKNOWN

oh.

Katelyn

oh.

UNKNOWN

Do u konw how i am?

Katelyn

am i supposed to?

seen at 7:58 PM

The text was seen but there was no response after that. Katelyn shrugged, ignoring that for now. There's no reason for her to care about that. She finally just found the correct phone number she was actually searching for.

She finally opened the fridge, before deciding that maybe box mac and cheese would be good enough... James can eat box mac and cheese.

Grabbing a stockpot, she filled it with water before turning on the fire, grabbing the box mac and cheese from the cupboard, letting out a sigh as she waited for the water to boil.

The day was definitely chaotic. She woke up with a text from Jessie, sending her a link with a news article about Scarlett Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen spotted in New York. Then she was called in to work by Kevin, who asked if she could fill in, which led her to calling into her school office, faking a voice and pretending she's her mother.

And now she definitely needs to study for finals soon. She remembered the untouched biology notebook and textbook still in her room. She should definitely be studying for biology soon.

Glancing back at the stockpot, she felt satisfied with the boiled water before she poured the noodles into the water, glancing at the clock and counting twelve minutes.

Katelyn had just placed the mac and cheese into two bowls before a knock on her door signaled the arrival of James. Placing a spoon into each bowl, she went over the open the door.