Teen Ink

High-Cal, High Fat, High Sugar...the Works!

Every morning, Caroline’s grandparents brought her on a Krispy Kreme run before driving her to North Park Elementary School. She always ordered the same thing: Caramel Kreme Crunch. “This yeast-raised doughnut has a rich, ooey-gooey caramel Kreme filling. It is hand-dipped in smooth, creamy chocolate icing and topped off with buttery toffee crunch.” In other words…amazingly delicious. While the other toddlers were busy gulping down icky baby food mush, she was scarfing down saccharine doughy rings with chocolate dribbling down the sides. Whenever the car pulled into the driveway, Caroline would jump about in her seat excitedly, urging her grandparents to “Drive faster!” After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, she was lastly handed the heavenly pile of sugariness. Mouth watering heavily, the aroma of the donut sifted teasingly into her nostrils before being devoured wholly.
When she arrived home from school, Caroline religiously sunk into the leather couch in front of her plasma TV screen. She’d sit there for hours each day, clicking the remote with one hand, scouring the potato chips with another. At six o’clock on the school days, Karen would slam the glass door behind her, announcing her arrival home. The sound of paper bags crunched between her flaccid arms and swelling sides. Popping up alertly, Caroline would squeal excitedly, leaping over the couch and sprinting to the foyer’s door. After eating whatever deep-fried specialty from McDonalds, Burger King, In-N-Out, or Panda Express that Karen brought home, Caroline would head upstairs to start her homework, only to fall into a bottomless slumber two hours later.