Dismantling Evan Read Online Free Page A

many options for this room.”
    Dad opens the door to the master and enters as he says, “You are right, it does have potential hun. Let’s just get the essentials settled first before we start on the loft. When does our furniture get here?”
    Mom pulls out her cell phone and starts tapping and scrolling as she concentrates on the screen of her iPhone. “The driver’s last text says they should be here before 2:30. It is just after noon now. Maybe we should get some lunch.”
    Dad comes back into the loft area. “There was a hamburger place across from the high school. I can go pick it up and bring it back.”
    Mom looks at me. “Does a burger sound good, Evan?”
    This was the setup they did every single time we talked about food lately. The medication has killed my appetite; side effect.
    My go-to response is to smile and say, “Sure,” and walk away. I slip in my go-to response as I walk to my new room.
    I feel them watching me. The pressure of their eyes on me, wondering if I gave them a real ‘sure’ or a fake one. I open the door and walk in. It has two windows; one large one that stretches almost the entire wall. As I walk over to the big window, I look out at the driveway through long tree branches. So many trees. There is a smaller window on another wall. I look out, but there isn’t a view. Just the wall and windows of the neighbor’s house. Gavin’s and Brody’s house. I stand in the middle of the room and mentally picture which wall my bed will go against.
    “We are getting you a burger and fries, Evan,” Mom calls from the loft area.
    I call back to her, “Okay.”
    Dad leans against the door frame. “Wow, this is big compared to your old one.”
    He calls back to Mom, “Lucy, Evan’s room is huge!”
    My room back home was just long and wide enough to fit a full size bed and a small night stand. I had to put my bureau in the closet, it was such a tight fit. With the size of this room, I will easily fit my bed, side table, and maybe desk and chair with plenty of room left for my bureau.
    I sit down in the middle of the floor and cross my legs as I picture where my furniture will go. Mom stands next to Dad in the doorway, her eyes wide and excited for my acceptance of my room. “You like it?”
    I nod as I look around me. “Yeah.”
    Dad places his hand on Mom’s back. “I’m going to go pick up the food. You girls hold down the fort?”
    “Thanks babe,” Mom says.
    Dad kisses Mom’s forehead as she rests her hand on his chest. Even though my emotions have a tendency to be dulled by the meds, the emotion I witness between my mom and dad always makes me feel comforted, like they are the stability in my life.
    Still, they are my parents, and their loving displays can get a little much, so I pull out my phone to distract myself from their PDA.
    Angry Birds is my mindless distraction as Dad leaves and Mom comes into my room.
    “So, that girl. . .” she probes.
    Already irritated by her accusing voice, I talk while I play. “Her name is Nikki.”
    “Nikki. She lives across the street, huh?”
    What a stupid question. If she was watching out the window she would know this.
    “Yep.”
    “What about the boy?” she inquires.
    “Which one?”
    Mom scoffs. “Which one? What? Have you met more than one? The strange one standing. . .”
    Her sarcasm and the way she is talking so flippantly about the ‘strange one’ pisses me off. “Yes, I have met more than one. And, the boy is just a little different that’s all.”
    Mom folds her hands across her chest and leans against the windowpane, put out by my reaction. She always makes me feel like I have hurt her feelings. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Evan,” she says and shakes her head.
    The way she is studying me, I know she is wondering why I’m so damn irritable. More proof the medication isn’t treating my symptoms. Because I DO NOT HAVE A BIPOLARTHINGY. Annoyed by her bearing down on me now, I tuck my phone into my back pocket