Dear Katherine

Chapter 9

Ding! I grab the hot bag of popcorn out of the microwave and divide the fluffy, buttery kernals into two plastic bowls.

"The popcorn is ready." I say handing a bowl to my mother and our neighbor Karen. "Would you like some?" I ask Liam.

He is sitting on the ground in front of the love seat. When he doesn't look up from his phone I ask him again, "Do you want some or not?" I snap.

"Katherine! Be polite." My mother harshly whispers before turning back to Karen.

I look back to Liam who has the biggest smirk on his face. "Here you can have the whole bowl." I say, shoving it into his lap.

I climb behind him onto the loveseat. "What are we watching?" I ask. When several seconds have passed with everyone ignoring me, I stand up and go back into the small kitchen. I open the pantry and take out a packet of Ramen Noodles. My stomach lets out a loud growl, reminding me I haven't eaten since three.

I put a pot of water on the stove and turn the heat on. While I wait for the water to heat I take out my phone and scroll through my twitter feed.

Behind me I hear feet shuffling. I turn around to find Liam, with the same smirk on his face from before.

"What?" I groan. I honestly don't want to be near him, even though I am stuck in this small ass apartment with him.

"What are you doing in here?" He looks down at the white tiled floor.

"Making my dinner. What are you doing in here?" I get up and walk over to the stove.

"I just wanted to be in here with you." He says with that god damn smirk on his face again.

"Well I don't want you to be here. So maybe you should just-"

"Why don't you like me Katherine?" He says, stepping closer to me.

"Because you were rude to me and all I was trying to do was be nice." I say whispering so our mothers don't hear us.

"Why did you come over anyways?" He says taking the Ramen Noodle packet from my hands.

I snatch the packet back. Only for him to take it and open it into the pan. "I was going to see if there were any kids living there to get a babysitting job." I grab a wooden spoon from the drawer and begin to stir the noodles.

He turns on his heel and begins to walk out of the kitchen. "This is the kind of stuff that makes you seem rude." I harshy whisper.

He spins back around and strides toward me. "Stop calling me that." He barks with a thick british accent.

"Then stop being rude to me." I turn the heat off on the stove and pour the noodles into a bowl. On the counter, my phone begins to ring. Before I can grab it, Liam snatches it off the counter and looks at the screen. "Who's Adam?" He asks.

My face begins to turn red.

"Ohhh. Is this your boyfriend?" He taunts.

"No!" I say a little too quickly. Just then, my phone stops ringing.

"He left you a voicemail." Liam says handing me the phone and walking back into the living room.

I type in the code and listen to the new voicemail:

*"Katherine, hey! I was wondering if you wanted to hangout tomorrow with me and a few of my friends? We were going to go to see a movie. Text me if you want to go."*

I hang up the phone and send a text to Adam.