Evan Carpenter sat in the darkened living room, peaking cautiously through the blinds at the street outside. It was 10:30 at night, and his mom and dad had gone to bed early in preparation for their big trip tomorrow, but they were notoriously light sleepers. They had a bad habit of waking up and moving around the house when he was up to things he knew they didn’t approve of, and he’d been caught sneaking in and sneaking out many times. This time he wasn’t really doing either, but he still didn’t want them to know what he was doing.
There! Outside the window he saw the lights of a car slowing down to turn onto his driveway. On the roof of the car was the telltale illuminated Pizza Hut logo of a delivery car. Quickly, yet as silently as he could move, Evan hopped off the couch, padded off to the front door, and slipped out into the cold night air to meet the delivery car, leaving a wadded-up sock in the doorway to keep the screen door from slamming loudly shut behind him.
The door for the car opened, and out stepped an attractive redhead in a well-fitting Pizza Hut delivery girl’s uniform. She looked over at Evan as he approached the car and smiled, shaking her head.
“You’re something else, you know that, Evan?”
“I’m something else? My parents are something else,” Evan whispered. “You know how they are about me eating junk food. I have to be sneaky if I’m going to get any at all.”
“I know how they are, but I know how you are too. You keep sneaking this much junk food and soon you’ll be too fat to be any good at sneaking.” She gave his hard-to-ignore potbelly a playful jab with her finger.
“It’s a price I’m glad to pay, Katie. “
Katie was a senior at Evan’s high school, and, as with most other people he knew who worked in the local fast food industry, he’d endeavored to get closer to her, and, by association, closer to the food she served. It hadn’t taken more than a few of these conspiratorial late-night deliveries for Katie to figure out Evan’s situation: he was a foodaholic who had unaccommodating parents. Unlike some of the other people who had figured this out, however, Katie didn’t really seem to care, and since he tipped her well, she had come to appreciate the chubby boy’s quirks, and gladly played along with them. Plus, even though he was two years younger than her and noticeably obese, there was something about him that she had to admit was kind of cute.
“Speaking of prices, that’ll be $32.50,” she said, hefting four large pizza boxes out of the car and gingerly setting them on the steps to Evan’s house. Evan handed her the money in exact change, plus a hefty tip.
“So you’re really going to eat all these on your own?” She remarked. “You’re not having a slumber party or anything?”
“Yup. These are all mine.”
“That’s….impressive, I suppose.” Her tone suggested that she wasn’t entirely sure if she was genuinely impressed or disgusted. “This is a lot even for you, don’t you think? Are we celebrating something?”
“You could say that…” Evan replied.
What is Evan Celebrating?
1: The Joneses invited Evan to join them for a two week trip at a beach resort, complete with full access to a luxury spa and unlimited endless buffets.
2: The Joneses have won a year's supply of free dessert foods, and have offered to share the wealth
3: The Joneses plan to go on a well-stocked camping trip, and Evan is invited
4: Evan's parents are leaving the country for a year, and Evan is temporarily moving in with the Joneses, and will simply be living their normal lifestyle with them.
5: More options...