Sustainable

Chapter Twelve

"Gotta hand it to Levi, he might be a jerk, but he knows his music. And yours too, apparently." Ro lounged about on my bed, pressing the buttons on the control pad furiously. An elf on the TV screen jumped whilst casting a spell, and a quick blow from the enemy's battleaxe finished off Ro's already dying avatar. She growled as the screen cut to black, throwing the pad down on the bed in defeat. "This game sucks. There's no storyline. You just run around and kill things. It's stupid." She huffed, and I picked up the pad defensively.  

"No it's not. Elder Scrolls are brilliant games, you just don't have the imagination." I saved her game and switched to my profile on the PlayStation that she had got me for my birthday. As well as Elder Scrolls, Rowan had bought me a wide variety of games to go with them – from the football based game Madden to the new Assassin's Creed. I loaded my Skyrim game, and my avatar – a petite red-haired Nord – appeared in the small town of  Whiterun.  

"You are so nerdy. Like, it's ridiculous." Ro laughed, and I stuck my tongue out at her. After years of not having many friends and growing up with only a brother, gaming and music had become a large part of my non-existent social life.  

"Anyway, like I said, isn't it weird how Levi knew what music to put on your iPod? Like, every single song that's come on you've known and liked. It's weird. It's like he knew you in your past or something."  

"Maybe Elliot told him. He was at my old house, after all, wiping the memories. They were bound to find out more about me." 

I hadn't told anyone about Levi's extra present to me, not even Ro. Earlier this afternoon, I'd put the card into my new camera and had a look; it was all my old photos from before I'd left. Photos of me and my brother, pulling stupid faces, of me and my dad at his and Jenny's wedding, of us all at Thanksgiving when Jenny set the turkey on fire and we'd had sausages instead for our Thanksgiving feast. All amazing memories with the people I'd never see again, I thought sadly.  

Clearly, Levi knew more about me that we thought, especially since Ro was right about my iPod. All the bands and tracks I used to listen to were on here, even the classical music I enjoyed when I was alone.  

"Hmm," Ro murmured, clearly not convinced. "I dunno, it's just a bit weird."  

I pulled a face, not wanting to talk any more about Levi. I was still confused by him; one minute he was nice, then he'd be cold and stand-offish – occasionally he even seemed angry. Even though I knew it was partly because he was good looking – really good looking – I knew I was intrigued about something more about him. No point in asking Ro, I thought. I already know what she thinks of him.  

I needed to speak to him again, but I was too much of a coward. I contemplated asking Carmen about him, but I shook that idea off. If I asked her, she'd want to know why I wanted to know. And I was not going there. 

"Hey, Ro, do you know if Sean is in his office? I need to speak to him pretty soon." I'd only started calling him by his name this morning when he gave me his present, but it still sounded weird to me. He reminded me of a teacher, or headmaster, and I felt that calling him by his first name was disrespectful. Nonetheless, he told me to call him Sean from now on – a habit I was actively trying to get into.  

"Dunno, haven't seen him since this morning at breakfast. Check his office? I could come with you if you want, I need to talk to him myself." She smiled, and I forced a grin. As much as I liked Ro, this was something I wanted to do alone.  

At least alone with Sean, I could grill him about the others without fear of confrontation. About Levi, in particular, but with Ro, she'd know something is up. 

"Yeah, sure." I paused the game and switched off my controller. I stood, brushing down my skirt. Ro looked up at me in surprise, and stayed motionless. "Now?"