Chapter 1

I waved goodbye to my parents as they pulled out of the driveway, watching their car slowly make its way down the street of our quiet suburb. All morning I’d been trying hard not to appear too excited to see them go. But now as their car at last rounded the corner, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Living at home for the first year of college had its advantages of course, but whatever points it won for providing free room and board it lost in the severe lack of privacy. It was hard to do anything without my parents noticing. But not Today. This was exactly the break I’d been waiting for. My parents were off to visit my grandparents, leaving me with over 24 hours all to myself. No need to worry about being caught or interrupted this time. I was finally alone and could begin putting my plan into action.

A giddy sort of excitement bubbling up inside of me, I practically skipped back inside the house, ran up the stairs two at a time and flung open the door to my bedroom. Heading over to the closet I began gathering up a selection of soft, fluffy fleece blankets in a range of pastel colors, a few delicate velvet cushions and some thick comfy throw pillows. My arms loaded with the plush bounty, I took off down the stairs again and dumped everything onto the living room couch. It landed with a muffled thud as the bundle of fabric hit the cushions. Humming happily to myself, I quickly put together a makeshift bed on the couch. With access to the living room TV and set much closer to the kitchen, this would be a far better place than my bedroom for what I had envisioned.

I headed back up to my room and from under my bed, pulled out a large box that had once been filled with old clothes to be donated. Unbeknownst to my parents, I’d quietly gotten rid of those last month in preparation for today. Now it was my private stash, filled with an assortment of glorious junk food. Inside was a treasure trove of chips, candy bars, and all the other snacks I love to indulge in. I’d spent the last few weeks sneaking up bags and boxes of all my favorites when no one was looking. It would not do for anyone to know exactly how much of it I was going to require over the next 24 hours. My parents weren’t exactly health nuts, but I found it difficult to imagine them approving of what I had in mind.

I made my way back down the stairs a lot more slowly this time, my arms laden with a pile of treats. Carefully, I placed the bags of chips, packages of cookies and candy bars on top of the coffee table, arranging them such that they’d be in easy reach of someone lounging on the couch. I stepped back to admire my handiwork. Aside from big holiday dinners, I’d never seen quite this many calories laid out in one place, and certainly not intended to be consumed by one person. Looking at it all I experienced a moment of doubt. Was this a good idea? I’d never actually heard of someone doing this quite so deliberately. But no, it was fine. I was alone and it was just an experiment after all. And besides, it had been a long time coming, almost 2 years in the making really.