Pete looked out the window of the van at the five storey office buildings and shopping malls on the east side of the town of Spring Lake.
His father had just signed on as manager of a local food processing plant. Unfortunately it meant a move - Spring Lake was a long way from the suburbs of Chicago that Pete had called home all his life. But at least Spring Lake wasn’t a tiny town. And another plus was that it's in California - good bye snow, hello sunshine!
However, Pete hadn’t minded the cold that much - at least in Chicago he could hide his corpulent body under layers of thick clothes. Now, in the famous California heat, he imagined that there’d be no way to go around without people staring at him.
Pete disliked being stared at - but stared at he was, due to his size. Pete was fat - hugely, undeniably fat. Just 18 years old, he already carried 350 pounds on his six foot frame, and a lot of it was fat. Pete was not at all muscular - one of his crueler classmates in Chicago had described him as a big blob of jiggling lard with arms and legs.
Pete's dad was a small, slight guy, just five foot six, and barely 140 pounds. He was a single parent with a busy job, and it seemed as if he tried to make up for the lack of time he had for Pete by making sure his only child had plenty to eat - plenty at every meal, and lots in between. Pete, to his occasional chagrin, had inherited his father’s all-around appetite but not his hummingbird metabolism, and consequently had grown into an obese young man. His dad did occasionally wonder how Pete could be so different from himself - yet still he provided Pete with endless snacks and always ensured he had generous meals every day, acting at times as if food could make up for his lack of time and the absence of Pete’s mother. Pete, as a hungry male teenager, ate everything his dad provided - and Pete's size was the result.
Pete’s dad stopped the van at their new house. It was a ranch style house in the suburbs. Pete slid out of his seat and stepped down into the yard to get a better look at the place.
That’s when the heat shocked him. Although Chicago is still hot in late August, it doesn’t have the heat of California’s sunshine - and Pete had just spent the last three days inside an air-conditioned van with his father, who ran warm, and liked to keep the air conditioning cranked. Within moments, Pete began to sweat so he reached down and pulled off his sweater. The white t-shirt beneath rode up with it and exposed his entire belly, which hung out like a vast sack of jelly. Pete quickly covered up his untanned white skin by pulling down the t-shirt. But the t-shirt was too short for Pete’s gut, and ended an inch before his belly did, leaving a ring of furry white gut hanging below. Self conscious about his soft white gut, Pete glanced over at the house next door and noticed a curtain moving back into place.
Someone had seen him? "Oh no!” he thought, “someone saw me without a shirt! Great, nice first impression Petey boy." He quickly put his sweater back on.
His dad saw Pete putting his sweater back on and said, "Ummm Pete? It's kinda hot here son, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, dad. Let’s look inside..."
*****
-> NOW, PUT YOURSELF IN PETE'S SHOES <-
*****
You push open the large French doors into the house and sigh with relief knowing no one can see you inside. You take off your sweater again and walk around in your too-small t-shirt. Dad walks in behind you and says, "It's a nice place, huh?"
"Yeah dad. Looks great," you say and walk towards the back windows. There is a large patio and an above-ground pool (still empty) but at least it'll be someplace to swim later on.
You follow your dad down the hallway and he points out your room. You enter the roomy bedroom and are amazed at the space. There is a place for an entertainment system built into the wall (though nothing’s installed yet) and the room is big enough to be a living room. You walk to the window to check out your view.
It's the house next door. But this time, there’s a teenage jock standing in the yard, leaning against the fence that separates the houses. Wearing just a tank top and shorts, you can see that he is built, and is incredibly handsome. By the time you catch sight of him, you realize he is looking directly at you and smiling (or is that smirking?) You decide to...
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