"This is a stupid idea," Evelyn told him as they parked in the front lot of Alfredo's. She glanced up at the flickering sign of the decaying building and rolled her eyes a little at the large banner across the front that said "The Town's Best Pizza."

"When did Albert get that?" She nodded towards the sign.

"Last week," Parker said, rolling his own eyes. "I know because he made me print it out. As if anyone would believe a word it says."

The bell jingled as they walked into the dingy pizza shop. "How's the sign look?" Albert stood in the middle of the room, sweeping the floor. He was a shorter man, much smaller than Parker, but still a little taller than Evelyn, and his growing stomach made his marinara stained apron stick out like a Kardashian in a flea market.

"It looks like a bunch of lies." Parker grinned. "Almost as fake as the name on your tag."

"Hey." Albert pointed a finger at him and then at his name tag, Alfredo, like the name of the restaurant. "Do you think anyone's gonna want to buy pizza from a guy named Albert?"

Parker chuckled. "Probably not. But nobody's buying any pizza from you, anyways, so what's the point?"

Albert groaned and Parker just smiled, coming over and patting him on the back. "Good to see you, Uncle Al."

"What do you want?" Evelyn smiled at his frustration, knowing the two of them could bicker for hours, and Parker would always win. He did love his uncle, though, and Uncle Al loved him, even if he gave the poor man a hard time.

"Well, we were hoping to borrow your truck." Al stopped sweeping the floor and looked up at the both of them, blinking.

"What the hell do you want it for?" He set the broom against the wall, giving them the look, meaning he really did mean what he said. The pizza truck was a train wreck. The license plate was loose, the heater didn't work right, and every once in awhile, one of the headlights would stop working.

"Well," Parker explained. "We need it to drive to Austin. Cooper Langford's big basketball game is tomorrow, and it's also he and Evelyn's one year anniversary."

"Congratulations." Al smiled like a barn cat. "He sounds like a wonderful guy."

"However, last night he decided to go out to a club and cheat on her with some random girl."

Al immediately stopped smiling, shaking his head. "I am so so sorry. What an animal."

"So we're going to get revenge."

Al pursed his lips. "That's a stupid idea."

"That's what I told him," Evelyn sang, almost laughing as Parker shot her a glare. She sighed. "I mean, I appreciate your efforts, but none of this is ever going to work. Why can't we just use someone else's car?"

"He'll be able to see us," Parker protested. "Besides, it's way more interesting in the pizza truck. It's like we're on a mission, or something. It's our top secret van."

"That smells like anchovies and pepperoni grease," Al interjected. They all scrunched up their noses. "Sorry, probably shouldn't have mentioned that."

"Please, Ev." Parker flashed a smile and got down on one knee, thankful Al had just gotten done sweeping the dusty flour off of the blue and white checkered floor. "If you don't do this now, you're just gonna break up with him normally. I know you, it'll be pitiful." She narrowed her eyes and he took her hand to distract her. "Please do this with me. Don't just let him get away with it."

She sighed. "Are you even sure you wanna get into that filthy, god-awful truck?"

He chuckled. "He already had me sold at pepperoni grease."

___________________________________

"I can't believe we're doing this." She blew air out of her cheeks from the passenger's seat as Parker started the truck. It took a few tries, but finally the engine roared to life, or in this case, squeaked.

"I can. I always get you into all sorts of stupid situations, don't I?" She glanced over and couldn't help but smile. "Couldn't let you down, Evelyn."

He pulled out of the parking lot slowly, the both of them grimacing as the air conditioner finally started blowing the stale air around. "It really does smell like anchovies and pepperoni grease," she said.

"I don't mind." Parker shrugged. "It's growing on me."

"Gross," she muttered. He laughed when she rolled down her window as they drove down the street, the lamp posts lighting the road along the way. "I don't even understand what we're supposed to be doing when we get there."

"Well, when we get there," he said, stopping as a light turned red. "We'll have to—." The light turned green and he pressed his foot on the gas, furrowing his eyebrows when nothing happened. He tried again and when the truck didn't move, he groaned, putting the car into park.

"What's wrong?" She asked as he cursed, pressing his forehead against the wheel.

"It's broken, and we're not even out of town, yet." He sighed and started to lean back, but jumped as he heard a knock on the driver's side door. He reached to roll down the window, but groaned when it didn't. "Does anything in this stupid truck work?" He pushed open the door and smiled weakly as whoever was on the other side of it yelped. "Sorry."

"It's fine," a male voice said, moving back a little as he opened the door the rest of the way. The street was empty except for the truck and the man's car behind them, the truck unfortunately blocking his way. "Are you alright? I noticed your truck wasn't moving."

"It won't let me move forward," Parker explained. He nodded at the man. "Thanks for not honking."

"My horn is broken," the guy shrugged. "Hey, Evelyn." He waved and she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to focus on his face in the dark.

When she still couldn't see, Parker reached up and turned on the reading light. He huffed. "At least one thing works."

She blinked for a moment as her eyes adjusted, but finally smiled a little as she saw a familiar form with dark hair and kind blue eyes. "Jonah Hughes."

"Am I just in time for the party?" He grinned.

"You would've been," Parker sighed. "But the stupid truck just broke down, so now we're not going anywhere."

"Lucky for you, I'm studying to be a mechanic."

"Seriously? That's great, can you get us out of here?"

"I was just kidding about the mechanic part." Parker sighed yet again. "But I'll see what I can do." He disappeared for a minute and then came around to the front of the truck, popping the hood. "What did you say was wrong with it, again?" He yelled from the front.

"It won't move when I press the gas."

"That's what I thought," he said back, a little quieter. It took just a moment before he closed the hood again. "I'll be right back."

It was five minutes before he'd come back again, just as the duo was considering getting out and checking on him.

"Sorry," he apologized as he climbed into the backseat of the truck. The both of them turned to look at him, a grinning and slightly grease smudged boy, his black curls a little damp with sweat.

"Where did you go? I was about to come looking for you." Parker chuckled.

"Did you fix the car?" Evelyn asked, knowing that was the more important question.

"Yeah, it's all fixed. Needed transmission fluid." Jonah nodded, wiping his hands on his jeans, making Evelyn grimace a little, thankful they were dark, for his sake. "And I just drove my car home. I walked back." The two of them stared at him. "So where are we going?"

"We?" She raised an eyebrow at him, starting to wish that the old pizza truck had broken down somewhere else, anywhere else but that stop light.

"Yeah, we." He buckled his seatbelt, strapping himself in to show he wasn't moving any time soon. "I'm bored, and I'm up for an adventure."

"Who said we were going on an adventure? We're going home," Evelyn said, Parker nodding his agreement quickly.

He chuckled, resting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. "Oh, Evelyn. We both know you wouldn't get in this disgusting pizza truck for any old reason. So let me ask you again, where are you going?"

The pair looked at each other, Parker sighing as he finally gave in. "We're going to Austin. And we're going to sabotage any shot Cooper Langford has at getting a scholarship in that lousy sport."

"Sabotage?" Evelyn jumped, glaring at him.

"Basketball?" Jonah raised an eyebrow.

"I never want to hear that word ever again, do you understand?"

Jonah glanced at Evelyn, but she shrugged. "I don't know what you're looking at. He's talking to you."

Jonah just smiled, wiping his forehead with the arm of his shirt, getting a smudge of grease off the top of it. "I'm down for sabotage. Langford's an asshole I could get behind ruining."

"We're not sabotaging anyone," Evelyn clarified, ignoring Parker as he huffed. "I just want to get back at my boyfriend for cheating on me."

"Ex boyfriend," Parker clarified himself.

Jonah glanced over at Evelyn, nodding his head. "Got it." He sat back in his seat, for once going quiet.

Parker stepped on the gas, smirking as the truck lurched forward, taking a little pride in the fact that fate had gotten the old jalopy moving again. Evelyn sat still in the passenger's seat, glancing out the window and watching the buildings go by in the dark. Meanwhile, Jonah sat in the back, eyes trained carefully ahead, thinking about the past, but every so often his eyes would wander to the passenger's seat.