Read Online Evvie at Sixteen by Susan Beth Pfeffer - Free Book Online Page A

spend all your summers here?”
    Sam nodded.
    â€œGood pizza,” Evvie said. “I don’t believe how hungry I am. Could you hand me a napkin?”
    Sam did. “Do your parents stay here, too?” she asked as she wiped her mouth. “In the summers, I mean.”
    Sam shook his head. “I live with my grandparents year-round,” he said. “During the school year, I live with my mother’s parents, the Greenes. In the summers, I live here, with my father’s parents, the Steinmetzes.”
    â€œOh,” Evvie said. “Do you mind?”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Sam said. “I don’t remember any other way. And they all love me, that I know. You have tomato sauce on your chin.”
    Evvie wiped accordingly. “My mother’s an orphan,” she said. “That’s why she lived with Aunt Grace. My father’s one, too. He’s been one since he was sixteen.”
    â€œYou outnumber me in parents, then,” Sam said. “But I have a big advantage in grandparents.”
    â€œI used to want grandparents,” Evvie said. “You know, the traditional kind. Especially around the holidays. Kids I knew were always going off to visit their grandparents at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always felt deprived.”
    â€œThat must have been rough,” Sam said.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Evvie said. “You must have wished for parents a lot harder than I ever wished for grandparents.”
    â€œNo,” Sam said, and he smiled. “It was just a given. I lived with my grandparents. I’m not big on wishing for things I can’t have.”
    â€œNicky wishes for everything,” Evvie declared. “And he gets what he wishes for about half the time. Thea, that’s my sister, she wishes for things all the time, too, but her winning percentage isn’t nearly that high.”
    â€œWhat I really wish for is another slice of pizza,” Sam declared. “Could I interest you in one?”
    â€œPlease,” Evvie said. She watched as Sam walked back to the counter, then returned with two new slices.
    â€œSo you have parents named Nicky and Megs and a sister named Thea,” Sam said, after handing Evvie her slice. “And of course, there’s Aunt Grace. Does that complete your family?”
    â€œNo,” Evvie said. “I’m the oldest of four sisters, Thea, Claire, and Sybil.”
    â€œOh,” Sam said. “Your initials spell etceteras. Did you know that?”
    â€œYou’re not the first person to point that out,” Evvie said. Sam looked disappointed. “But you did it faster than almost everybody else,” she continued. “How about you? Any brothers or sisters?”
    â€œJust me,” Sam said. “Things are complicated enough without siblings.”
    â€œComplicated in what way?” Evvie asked.
    â€œIs Evvie short for something?” Sam asked instead. “Are you really an Evelyn in disguise?”
    â€œThat’s complicated, too,” Evvie declared. “My name was just about the only thing my parents ever disagreed about. Megs wanted to call me Evann, which would have been short for Eventually, because it took them forever to get married, and then even longer before they began having children. Only Nicky wanted to call me Eve, because I was a fresh start. So they ended up with Evvie.”
    â€œDo you like it?” Sam asked.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Evvie said. “When I’m old enough, I think I’ll switch to Eve. When I’m ready to handle it. So what’s so complicated about your life?”
    â€œWhat isn’t,” Sam said. “Take names. I have a batch of them, too.”
    â€œHow many?” Evvie asked. “I’d hate to think we weren’t properly introduced.”
    â€œIt depends which grandparents I’m with,” Sam said. “During the summers, I’m Sam Steinmetz. During the school