Sustainable

Chapter Eleven

"I can't believe you guys. All these presents are so..."

"Awesome? Fantastic? Well thought out?" Ro sat by the oven, lolling around on a kitchen chair.

"I was gonna say expensive." I finished, staring at the table. Not only had Elliot given me a fully professional digital camera, Carmen had bought me a laptop, Em had given me a complete set of camera lenses, battery packs, empty photo albums and tripod, Mr McKennah gave me a new phone and Levi had got me a full music system with an iPod filled with music.

Not to mention him and Elliot were setting it up as we spoke.

"I love it all though." I grinned happily, and Ro dumped her plate on the table and sat down.

"Say cheese!" I snapped a picture of Ro, and laughed at the result. "Well, grilled cheese." I turned the camera to show her, and she pushed it away and frowned. "Ugh, delete it."

"Nuh-uh. This is going straight into the archives." I smiled. The picture showed Ro at the most awkward of moments; stuffing her face with a huge grilled cheese sandwich. "Seriously, how do you stay so slim?"

"By being so amazingly awesome. Being this great is hard work; you burn so many calories." She preened, pursing her lips and striking an over the top pose.

"So vogue."

"Vague, more like." A deep voice broke the fit of giggles I'd burst into, and I stopped to see both Elliot and Levi in the doorway. Ro stuck her tongue out at Levi in retaliation, which he ignored. "Sound system's set up. Wanna hear it?" He said to me, his voice and expression completely lacking of any emotion.

"Sure." I heard myself say quietly, sliding off of my chair. He turned and left the room, and Ro made a face. "Charmer."

"Don't be so hard on the man." Elliot sighed, sauntering towards Ro. "Is that grilled cheese? Good, I'm starving..." He reached for Ro's plate, to which she swiftly replied, "No touchy. Get your own." I laughed, and he made puppy dog eyes.

"I'll make you one in a minute. Let me just check out this amazing sound system." I grinned, walking towards my door.

When I walked in, Levi was already sitting on my bed, staring at my drawings. I stood quietly, afraid to move and spook him. This was the first time I has been alone with him, and I was intrigued.

Oblivious to my presence, he carefully touched my drawings, running his finger over the pencilwork delicately. A picture of Em and Carmen in a discussion that I drew a week ago, and he ran his fingers over the soft lines of Carmen's hair.

"You two are close." I spoke softly, and he jolted, looking up at me with fearful eyes. He stood quickly, knocking over the selection of drawings. "Shit," he cursed, and I watched him scurry to pick them up. "How long were you there?" He asked sharply, and I was taken aback. "A few seconds." I replied, my cheeks growing hot. "Besides, it's my bedroom. It's not like I snuck up on you." I added harshly, and he cleared his throat. "Right."

He kept his eyes on the floor, not even looking at me. This simple habit irked me, but I decided to let it go. "Let's see this amazing sound system then."

He handed me a tiny remote; a small silver egg. "It's a bit weird. Instead of buttons, it uses a motion sensor to work. Swipe up and down for volume, left and right for tracks, et cetera-"

"Like a novelty universal remote?" I cut in, and he stopped. "Yeah. Guess so. Have you used one then?"

I blushed, thinking of my Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver remote at home. No way was I going to reveal I was that nerdy yet. I nodded simply.

"Good. You know how to use it then. There's your docking station," he pointed to a tiny hub, nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the system. "Try it."

I swiped the remote, and You Me At Six blasted out of the various hidden speakers. I quickly turned the volume down, and smiled. "Sounds great. It's clear and each instrument is distinguishable. Fantastic system. Thanks again." I flashed a smile at Levi, who passed me a small fleeting one back. He held out his hand, and I tentatively took it, unsure of the gesture. He shook my hand, his large one completely enveloping my small hand. "Happy birthday, Amelia." His voice was soft and smooth, causing my heart to pound in my chest.

He let go of my hand abruptly, pressing a small envelope into my now tingling palm. Without another word, he left the room and sped down the hallway.

I exhaled, unaware up until now that I was holding my breath. My hand burned where his skin had touched mine, and I rubbed it on my jeans. The small envelope dropped onto the floor, and I picked it up, examining it. On the back he had scrawled the letter "A" in a large, lazy print, and I tipped the contents into my still tingling palm.

A Micro SD card rested in my hand.