"Help me clean up, girls."
Erin didn't quite register what her mother said. Although she was doing her best to hide it, her focus was locked on the family's new guest, Evan Carpenter. They'd known each other for ages, but lately, she'd started to think about him differently. She'd noticed the fact that he was handsome for the first time a few months ago, and now, every time she saw him, she found herself filled with all sorts of new emotions. He was tall, a year older than her, with a cute face. But there was something else, too: he'd gained weight. In the past year, he'd put on over fifty pounds, and based on how he ate, it didn't seem like he would be stopping there. Some would say that he looked better when he was thinner, but as part of the Jones family, she was no stranger to extra pounds. Maybe it was because her sense of "average weight" was a bit skewed toward the heavy end, but she thought his new thicker frame was... well, attractive, to put it simply. He looked better fat. Every part of it suited him. The softness, the way it bounced when he walked...
"Hello? Erin? Are you helping or not?" Her mother was looking at her. She quickly pushed her chair back and got to her feet.
"Sorry, sorry," she mumbled.
"What were you daydreaming about?" her mom asked. Evan's face popped into her mind.
"N-nothing!" She said quickly, taking dishes to the dish washer. "Just, um, school stuff."
"Ah, I see." Karen wasn't born yesterday. She wasn't sure about the specifics, but she knew that blush wasn't about her history project.
Once the table was clear, Erin wandered upstairs to start working on homework. She couldn't believe Evan was going to be living with them for a whole year. He'd be living right down the hall, in the guest bedroom. She and Evan would be sleeping in the same house. Riding in the same car. Eating the same food.
And a lot can happen in a year.