Chapter Three

"Why is it that all of the thoughtless, lazy, self-absorbed and uncaring people all end up in the Environmental Geography class?" Genevieve asked. She had intended the question to be rhetorical, though Levi felt it was his place to answer.

"That isn't fair, Gen—you're not that self-absorbed."

She shot him a look.

"Not most of the time anyway."

The two stood just outside the Geography classroom, observing the students trickling in. They were the usual straight C's kids, mostly boys, who were each loud, obnoxious, and generally cruel to fellow classmates. True, it was a general level class, and considered by most to be an easy credit, but none of that had occurred to Genevieve when she signed up for it. It was called "Environmental Geography"—she had, foolishly it seemed, assumed that those taking it might be remotely interested in environmental issues.

Near the back of the room, Randy Weir downed his bottle of Coke, tossed it over his shoulder, and let out a loud belch.

"Hey, wanna skip today?" Gen asked. "Please? You don't need Biology. You're not going to be a biologist. "

The second bell rang before he could answer, though she knew what it was going to be anyway.

"Have fun," Levi said with a smirk as he turned to race for his classroom.

Genevieve started into the class, dragging her feet as she went. She should have switched to something else at the beginning of the semester. There wasn't much else she was the least bit interested in taking though. Kern had a Canadian Literature class, but, obviously, that was Kern who would be teaching it; signing up had been completely out of the question, since one of her classes was more than enough. There was also one of the few Art courses Genevieve hadn't taken yet that was held at the same time—Arts and Crafts. Now that, while boring, she could have gotten into without a problem, and only two days into the semester, she'd even made an appointment with the guidance counsellor to change it.

But something—or specifically someone—had changed her mind about it, and as she slid into her seat near the front of the room, she was reminded again why that was.

Janine Marlin-Garcia.

She sat four seats across from Genevieve and one seat ahead, and days into the semester, she had transferred into the class when Gen was planning to leave. Called into the counsellor's office about switching to the Arts and Crafts course, Genevieve thought and debated in her head over the decision, then finally elected to stay in Environmental Geography. That meant five months with people she loathed—five months that could have been spent in an easy Art class...but also five months to daydream about Janine.

Daydreaming was all she had, though. Everyone knew Janine had a girlfriend—a steady one at that—from one of the neighbouring high schools. Plus they had different friends. Completely different social circles, in fact. And there was the small matter of Janine not even knowing Genevieve existed. But it still seemed more fruitful than a straight girl crush, so Gen stuck with it.

Janine's best friend, Lisa Anne, leaned in and said something to her. With the roaring laughter and shouts from the boys behind her, the joke went unheard by Genevieve, though she saw the effects of it as Janine threw back her head of shiny dark hair and chuckled.

The disturbing events of the night before almost seemed like a dream now that Genevieve was sitting in class, and the more she thought about it, the more surreal it became. Stalked, threatened, attacked? Had all that really just happened to her? The creep must have been confused about who she was. He had to be. She couldn't think of another explanation for it.

Well, except that he was a lunatic.

Gen supposed it was the kind of thing she would normally brush off. But that knife...that made it all way too real. Every time she seemed to be pushing the experience from her mind, an image of a cold silver blade, threatening her throat, flashed before her.

A pair of rich, chocolate brown eyes met hers, and Gen's cheeks flushed as she realized she had been staring at Janine all this time while lost in thought.

"Can I help you with something?" the object of her affection asked, one dark, shapely brow raised in a look of amusement.

Genevieve felt her face grow even hotter. She quickly shook her head and looked away, cursing herself for being so stupid. Though she swore she felt Janine's eyes linger on her a few beats longer, she didn't dare look. No sense getting her hopes up.

Janine's laughter erupted again, followed by the giggles of Lisa Anne. After folding her arms on the desk, Genevieve's head slumped down in prayer for class to hurry up and end soon...or at least start, so she could focus on something other than Janine laughing at her.

Their teacher, Mr. Guerin, showed up seven minutes late, hurriedly imparted the day's task, then left with the claim of having a meeting. He seemed to have a lot of those, though Genevieve tried to avoid hearing the rumoured explanations why; she wasn't interested in knowing about the internet porn alias of her Geography teacher.

Yet another independent project was left for them to work on. They seemed to have a lot of those, and Gen usually didn't mind, but this time they were told to work in small groups. The instructions also said something about making posters to explain air pollution to be posted in the library, as if anyone in their generation didn't already know all there was to know about the subject.

Sitting up, Genevieve took stock of the room. Janine was, of course, already grouped with Lisa Anne and her boyfriend, so her as a partner was out of the question.

Even if I could get up enough nerve to ask her, she thought wistfully.

Everyone else—or at least the dozen or so that intended to do the assignment—immediately gravitated toward one another and started planning, while the ones that never bothered continued to not bother, choosing instead to continue talking.

Why didn't I skip?!

Oh well, this was hardly the only project she'd be missing this semester—

"Um, hi," said a quiet female voice.

Genevieve glanced to the desk in the next row and found the hopeful gaze of a girl she didn't know. The desk behind her was empty, and it was clear she probably didn't have any friends in that class either. She tucked a chunk of thick, dark, shoulder length hair behind her ear, revealing a pair of striking auburn brows that didn't come close to matching her coffee brown hair colour. Grey T-shirt, indigo blue jeans, shoulders that seemed to naturally turn inward, and a ghost-like presence—this was a girl who didn't like to be noticed. Genevieve appreciated that in a person, especially in a class of attention whores.

"Do you want to be in a group?" the girl asked.

"Sure," Gen replied with a shrug. As the girl moved her desk over, Genevieve racked her brain for a name. She'd see her in class before, she was sure of it, but that was where her familiarity with her ended. Despite the lazy dye job on her hair, she was pretty, though not the jaw-dropping, stare-at-her-constantly kind of pretty like Janine. With her curvy build—and if she stripped her hair back to its natural colour—just a different set of clothes and proper posture could make all the difference, though. Still, Gen had no idea what her name could be. Hopefully it would be on one of her books, so Gen didn't have to go through the embarrassment of asking—

"I'm Meredith," she said.

At least now I don't have to ask.

"Genevieve."

"I know," Meredith said, then quickly fumbled to correct herself, her shy voice barely above a whisper. If the classroom din got much louder, Gen would have a difficult time hearing the girl at all. "Well, I mean, I'm in your English class, so I know who you are."

Damn, Meredith was in at least two of her classes, and she didn't know her name before this? As someone who prided herself on being observant of people, this was just humiliating.

"Ah, so you were audience to yesterday's show, starring me and the spandex hell beast," Gen replied. "I was a little unsure of the performance at the beginning myself, but I really felt it picked up during the second act."

"She can be kind of scary," Meredith agreed with a laugh. She swept back her hair into a ponytail and opened her notebook. "Is that why you didn't go today?"

"Yeah," Gen lied. The truth was that she didn't fall asleep until nearly four-thirty in the morning. Every time she began to drift off, something startled her, be it Penny shifting on the bed, or a noise outside. When she finally did pass out, she slept straight through until noon. At least being stalked had some perks—she missed out on another class with Kern.

"She asked about you," Meredith said.

"Kern?"

"Yeah. She asked if anyone knew where you were."

"Did she seem mad?"

"Um...kind of," Meredith confessed. "Someone told her you were home with food poisoning, though, so she didn't mention it again."

"Someone?" Who the hell would tell her that?

"Uh...I don't remember his name—he's that guy you hang out with a lot. I mean, the one that was just outside of the class, a few minutes ago—not that I was paying attention or anything, I just saw him, and—"

"Levi," Genevieve filled in for her.

"Right. Sorry—I'm new, and there's just so many people here." Her sentence was punctuated by a shout by Randy behind them as another guy sucker-punched him. The two fell to the floor, play fighting and knocking desks around, to the cheers and delighted squeals of their audience.

"And many you could probably do without knowing," Genevieve replied as she opened her notebook as well. Just as her pen touched the top of the paper to copy the instructions from the blackboard, a small, pea-sized lump of wet crumpled paper flew over her shoulder to land on the book.

Gen shuddered at the sight of the spit ball on her paper, but the roaring laughter behind her suggested several guys were involved, and turning around to bark at them would probably just get her wad in the face.

"Do you ever wish you had magical powers you could use for the forces of evil?" Gen asked with a sigh as she tore the ruined paper from her notebook and crumpled it up.

"It's definitely crossed my mind," Meredith agreed with a sympathetic smile.

For a class that usually felt as though it dragged on for hours in its short, seventy-minute period, the time seemed to fly by. Soon the bell was ringing, and everyone filed out of the room, leaving the desks and poster supplies in a state of disarray.

"Do you want to meet after school or maybe tomorrow at my place to get the rest of this done?" Meredith suggested as she and Genevieve followed the other students into the hallway.

While she didn't have any particular plans for that evening, Gen still preferred to keep to her house, at least for one more night so she could keep an eye out for any more stalkers.

"Tomorrow sounds good," Gen replied.

"Great." Meredith scribbled down her address and tore the sheet of paper from her notebook, then handed it to Gen. "Ten o'clock, maybe?"

"Hmm, if it's a Saturday, better make it closer to one—trust me, you don't want to deal with me in a sleep deprived state."

"Okay, how about one-thirty then. See you." Meredith gave her a quick, shy smile, then went on her way, easily slipping amongst the throngs of students and disappearing from view.

"Did you just get some girl's phone number?" Levi asked as he fell in step next to Genevieve.

"Ha ha. Funny."

"She's kind of cute."

"But not my type. No, we're working on a project."

"Wow, you made a friend? An actual, new, real live friend?"

"Again, you're so funny, Lev," Genevieve replied dryly. "If basketball doesn't work out, maybe you could try lame stand-up comedy." Sure, she didn't have a lot of friends. She liked the ones she had, and never felt the need to make new ones, which probably seemed odd to Levi—both he and Hayden seemed to build fast friendships with anyone they met in a matter of seconds.

"Are you coming to my game tonight?" he asked.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, yeah, of course not." Levi sighed. "Think you'll at least make one this year?"

"Probably. As soon as I'm sure my stalker is gone. Hayden's probably going though, right?"

"Nah, he's working."

"Guess you'll have to lose without an audience then."

"Yeah, I guess so..." His voice trailed off, and Gen didn't really need to look to know where his gaze strayed to. Sage was headed toward the doors that led to the parking lot, and she brushed past Gen and Levi on the way without so much as an acknowledgment. She had to have seen him there, Gen was sure of it. But she completely ignored him, the skank.

"So I guess Hayden won't be bringing her along?" Gen guessed.

Levi shook his head. "Even if he could go, she probably wouldn't be able to make it. I think she went to one game with him last year."

"So why do you bother getting your hopes up?"

He shrugged, and they both knew there was no good answer for that one. She had Janine and he had Sage—two girls completely out of reach for either of them, and they knew it. Of all the things she and Levi had in common, Gen wished that wasn't one of them.

"No, no way," Sage said firmly.

"It'll only be for a few hours." Hayden gave her that look—that please-just-do-this-for-me-look that she always gave into. But no, not this time. She was putting her foot down, damn it. Well, at least she would be figuratively. Literally, she sat on the hood of his car, which was parked in the school's lot. Her jean-clad legs dangled over the edge. Hayden put a hand on either side of her thighs and leaned in to kiss her lightly. Lightly turned heavy in a hurry, however.

He never played fair.

"He won't even notice me there," she insisted as she pulled back. She saw it was a losing battle though, and not just with him. No, with her own resolve as well. Hayden's hazel eyes pleaded with her, and she knew that when she walked to his car—even before she heard what he had to say—she'd eventually say yes. He always did that to her. It didn't matter if she'd made up her mind about something; he'd change it, usually with just a grin. Always did, and likely always would.

"Oh, he'll notice." Hayden smiled and Sage rolled her eyes. "You know he'll notice."

"Not funny."

"I had to get something from his room the other day for Mom, and this notebook was wide open—"

"Stop telling me this!"

"'Dear Diary,'" Hayden said in a high pitched voice, and Sage couldn't help but chuckle. "'I know the prettiest girl in the whole wide world but she won't give me the time of day.' And then there was this little sad face."

"You're kidding, right?"

She waited with bated breath, but he didn't respond with anything more than a grin.

"Right?!"

"Duh," he replied. "But that's what you seem to expect him to say. This isn't ninth grade anymore."

Ninth grade. Sage shuddered to think about it, to imagine this had gone on that long. It was thanks to Levi—or, more specifically, their ninth grade History teacher for putting them in a group together for a project—that led to her meeting Hayden, and she'd always be grateful for that. But gratitude wasn't enough to encourage her to spend any alone time with the guy.

"He isn't daydreaming and drooling over you all the time, surprisingly," Hayden continued. "At least go to the game, it'll mean a lot to him.

"But why should I—"

"Because none of his friends ever show up, and I have to work tonight on his first game of the season. You've avoided him for two full years—you have to make an effort. I could understand you being a little uncomfortable when we were first going out, but you should be used to him by now."

This was ridiculous. They both knew why she avoided Levi. It was something they just didn't talk about. Ever. That was the unspoken deal. How long could a guy hold a crush, anyway?

"I have classes tonight," Sage said, still trying to wiggle out of it.

"You have classes every night, hun. You manage to miss them when you want to, like last weekend when we went camping—"

"Which is why I can't skip tonight. My teacher will have my head."

"I don't think they do that anymore, if they ever did. And it's just this once. C'mon, for me. Go to his game, sit in the stands, maybe clap if you can stand to."

"Stop making me out to seem—"

"Do this for me, Sage?"

She sighed. "Of course I will. What time?"

"Seven-thirty. It should last a couple of hours."

"Not the way they play."

"Touché."

She pushed him out of her way and hopped off the hood of the car. "You owe me big time," she said, crossing her arms and trying very hard to look defiant and angry.

"And I look forward to working it off," he replied with a grin, leaning down to kiss her again. One hand slid to her waist, the other caught in her shoulder-length braids to pull her closer.

His watch beeped suddenly, interrupting the two.

"Ten to three," she said as he glanced at his watch anyway, hoping it was a mistake. Sage knew it wasn't, though—Hayden was always on time, which was part of the reason that damn accountant hired him to help. It probably wouldn't hurt him to be a little less responsible and dependable sometimes, but then he just wouldn't be Hayden.

"Maybe it's a little fast..."

"Nope, you gotta go." She poked him in the side. "Don't be so lazy."

"I know, I know. Want a ride?"

Sage shook her head, as Hayden knew she would. "Since someone wants me to skip class tonight, I should get some exercise in. I'll jog home."

"Okay, wish him luck for me."

"Maybe," she replied as he walked around the car to get in the driver's side. "But I'll definitely cheer, and do all sorts of useless things like cartwheels and twirl pom-poms."

"Hey, don't knock the cheerleaders—they provide a valuable service to the community."

"The community, you say? And here I thought it was just the varsity boys' teams."

Hayden feigned shock. "And here I thought you were more progressive than—" He closed the door and she couldn't hear the rest of what he said. He started the car, but didn't drive yet. Instead, the passenger side window rolled down, and Sage leaned in. She rested her arms on the door to continue their conversation.

"Nope, sorry, not me—not progressive in the least."

"So then you'll stay home and cook my food, clean my house, and be my love slave?"

"No, but I'll make catty remarks about airheads whose sole accomplishment in life is to finding new words to chant that almost rhyme with 'Newhaven.' I will, however, consider the roll of love slave if you make it to work on time so you can get your pay check and buy me a present."

He pretended to think it over, then shook his head. "Nope, no deal. I think I'll get myself one of those cheerleaders instead."

"I've got news for you babe—they'll be wanting presents too. Probably more expensive ones at that."

"Nah, you don't know cheerleaders very well. They're more interested in the box it comes in anyway. Plus who cares for diamonds when you've got shiny wrapping paper?"

"Well then, you might also want to try bubble wrap. It provides hours of entertainment for those of little brain cells."

"I'll pick some up on the way to work," he agreed. "Call you later."

"You'd better."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Another grin that said to her, "Ha-ha, I got you to spend the evening with my little brother who's in love with you," and he was off.

Here they were: first game of the season, and the Newhaven Phoenixes were going to get their asses handed to them. There was no doubt about it—at least not in Levi's mind. They lost all but two games last year. This wouldn't be any exception.

He drummed his fingers impatiently on his knee as the rest of the team filtered out of the locker room and sat down. Yes, they were going to lose, but he wanted to get out there anyway. Regardless of the score at the end of the night, he just enjoyed being on the court.

"So, what are our odds?" Warren Humber, team captain, asked as he sat next to Levi. The two guys looked at one another and started laughing.

"Odds of winning or odds of just not embarrassing our school?"

"We won't embarrass anyone," pointed out another team member. "It's not like we're expected to win."

Levi glanced across the court to see the visiting team gathered in a circle, and the ref walking to centre court.

"I think we're starting," he said.

Warren jumped up in front of the team and spoke in his mock-excited, commanding captain voice. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Lose!" chanted the team on the bench.

"How much are we going to lose?"

"A lot!"

"And will we be good sports about it?"

"Never!"

"Why?"

"Because we're the Newhaven Phoenixes! Phoe-nix-es! Phoe-nix-es!" The team stood up and shouted their own name, and the home crowd in the stands went wild cheering with them. Usually Levi stood back to chuckle in amusement at his school's acceptance—and even pride—in the fact that they'd be losing...but his attention was drawn to a single figure in the stands. The shoulder-length black braids, nondescript athletic clothing, gorgeous face...

Is that...? No, it couldn't be. She wouldn't be here...

No, wait, there was no mistaking that expression of utter boredom. It was definitely Sage Bethany.

He scanned the people around her, but didn't see Hayden or anyone he recognized that well. Sage came here alone? To the game? His game?

"Hey," Warren called, and Levi realized his team was already lined up to greet their opponents. "C'mon, we've got a game to lose!"

To hell with that! Tonight, they were going to win!



The Newhaven Phoenixes lost the game.

While Levi would defend the score of forty-six to seventeen as a sign that they had definitely put up a fight—as it was rare they cracked the double digits—they still lost.

He didn't bother showering when he ran into the locker room after the game; he simply grabbed his duffle bag, threw on his jacket, and flew back out the door. Warren and a few of the others called something after him, but he wasn't listening. He had to find Sage.

Levi found the gymnasium virtually empty, with only a few stranglers hanging behind. None of them was Sage. Next he tried the hallways outside of the gym, the front foyer, finally ending up in the parking lot. It was dark outside, and though he scanned the people getting in and out of their cars, he saw no sign of her. Great, where did she go?

He was about to give up when he spotted someone far out in the field, jogging in the direction of the ravine way out behind the school. Hayden had commented several times on her cutting through there on her way home from school...what if that was her?

I should probably just talk to her tomorrow, he thought. But here she had come all the way to his game; he ought to at least thank her for it. Nothing would ever happen between them—this he knew. She was over at his place every other day, and though it was vaguely annoying to see her and Hayden together, it was clear they were happy. It would be different if his brother was a horrible person or something. But even as kids, they got along. Hayden was too easy-going to pick a fight with, and Levi himself didn't have any complaints in the sibling department.

Except that his big brother managed to not only get a girlfriend—which in itself was an accomplishment given his preference to never leave the basement in favour of playing video games—but snag Levi's budding crush and stay with her for two years.

But why come to his game? Especially alone? He had to find out.

Levi crossed the parking lot and jogged in her direction.

"Sage!" he called when he reached mid-field. I hope I catch up to her... It would be hard to follow her through the dark ravine. "Sage!"

She didn't even acknowledge she heard him, instead running along at a steady pace.

Damn, she's fast, Levi thought as he pushed himself ever harder to close the distance between them. Sure, he could blame his windedness on the fact that he just finished a game, but she'd been going steady for awhile and hadn't slowed a step.

"Sage!" he called one final time before she disappeared down the steps that lead to the creek and fields. Great! He supposed he could call her and thank her later...

Levi was about to turn around when he noticed four tall, broad shouldered men dressed in dark clothing come out from the trees near the steps. They conferred for a moment, then glanced down toward the creek.

They were too old to be from Newhaven High. And they almost looked as though they'd been waiting for someone...

The memory of the guy who'd been stalking Gen invaded his mind suddenly, sending a chill down his spine. Was there some sort of gang in town bothering high school girls? He scanned his memory for any recent news of similar attacks. Usually, that sort of thing warranted an announcement or possible school assembly to warn people, but nothing like that came to mind.

There were multiple flashes of silver as each man pulled something out of his jacket. Dread filled Levi's gut as he realized they had knives. The men filed down the stairs, moving slowly as if trying not to be seen.

Sage...

Levi glanced back at the school. It would take twice as long to reach the pay phones inside as it would to run down to the ravine and make sure they weren't after her. Dammit, why did he never remember to bring his cell phone?

He started for the stairs. Last night wasn't so bad—it had just been one guy who grabbed Gen, and Levi had the element of surprise. Now, however, he was looking at more than an elbow to the face for his efforts. What was he going to do against four men with weapons? Nothing. He knew it. Hopefully he wouldn't have to do anything, though—Sage seemed pretty fast, so they could possibly outrun the guys. Maybe.

He'd find out in a moment.

He paused at the top of the staircase, staring down into the abyss-like darkness below him. No lights were around to penetrate the night down there, and since trees shaded most of the path, he was facing a trek through the ravine in pitch black. The shadowed bottom of the stairs was a huge mouth, waiting to eat him whole, daring him to tread forward with the promise he might help Sage. But scary darkness or not, he couldn't leave her.

His heart racing, Levi thumped down the steps, gaze probing the night for any sign of them. At the bottom of the staircase, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. The small creek moved fast tonight, water rushing over the rocks. It was about knee-deep in middle, though the wooden bridge off to the side saved anyone from wading through it. He ran across the bridge and studied the clearing through the break in the trees. There was no one there. So where the hell did they go?

Levi was about to head for the clearing to continue his search when the rustle of tree branches stopped him. Swinging around to the left, he watched the trees closely, but saw no one.

A trickle of sweat slithered down his forehead, and as he reached up to brush it away, he realized he was trembling. Great, some big hero he was…

And then he caught sight of Sage in the distance. Near the middle of the creek, she stood on a rock sticking out of the water, her back to him. She waited there a moment, back perfectly straight as she studied the water in front of her, then she hopped off the rock onto another a few steps away. She seemed okay...

Levi opened his mouth to call out to her when the men from earlier appeared from the trees not far from the creek's edge. There was one...two...three...damn, where was the fourth? He didn't have time to wonder—they were closing in on Sage.

Perhaps it was due to the noise of the busy creek that she didn't notice them approaching, because she continued hopping to the next stone without so much as a glance behind her. Levi started jogging toward the scene, but they were still several yards away.

The man nearest to her treaded through the water without hesitation, twirling the knife in his hand and swinging his arm in an arc toward her—

Sage turned and kicked the knife out of his hand with one swift movement. Levi stopped dead in his tracks, stunned as he watched her move with the grace of a dancer, kicking off the ground and twisting mid-air. Her heels swung upward in a smooth arc, one after the other, striking the man in the head as one of her hands touched down on the stone for balance. She landed perfectly back on her rock again after completing her strange, one-handed cartwheel, then stood upright and surveyed her opponent. He fell back into the rushing water, too stunned to move. Her gaze moved to the others now advancing on her.

What the...?

Her new attacker approached, while the third waited only steps behind at the water's edge. Just as her opponent drew near, she grabbed his head and—to Levi's astonishment—vaulted over him and landed on the man behind him. They both fell to the ground, and Sage rolled off of him and flipped onto her feet.

Sure, Levi knew from Hayden that she took a bunch of self-defense classes or something, but this was insane! That just...that wasn't humanly possible.

Whether it was possible or not didn't seem to matter to Sage, though; she now took on two armed men, and was quite clearly winning. She guided each punch thrown at her to the side, sending her attackers sprawling to the ground. She took the odd hit to the face, but every time it seemed the men were gaining ground, she pulled out some new trick and turned their attacks around on them.

The sight of the fourth man breaking through the trees disrupted Levi's daze. At first, it relieved him to see he didn't appear to be carrying a knife like the others...then he noticed the dark object in his hand, and how he was taking careful aim...

Scanning the ground for any sort of weapon, Levi's gaze landed on a large branch. He scooped it up and ran at the guy wielding the gun. Just as he tried to slam it down on the back of the man's head, the gunman immediately ducked, as if he knew Levi was there.

When the branch didn't connect with its target, it threw him off balance, and he fell easily when the gunman elbowed him in the back. Just as he turned the gun Levi's way, the teenager swung the branch against his legs.

As the fourth attacker stumbled, Levi's grip tightened around the branch, and he slammed it against the side of the man's head.

The wood connected with a thud against his skull, and the attacker fell to the ground. Sage's opponents were also down for the count, and her eyes drifted over the bodies and fell on Levi, who struggled to stand.

He gaped at her, still uncertain of what to say. He really just saw that, right? She really knocked out three armed men?

He tried to talk to her, to ask if she was okay, to find out if she knew what the hell was going on, but the words stuck at the back of his throat. She casually stepped over the bodies, kicking the gun in the water as she passed it.

"H-Hi," Levi managed to stammer as she walked past him. She paused, pulled a small earphone from her ear, and he then noticed the iPod at her waist.

"Hi," he said again, giving her a look of utter confusion.

"Hi." She stared at him for a moment, awkwardly biting her lip as she contemplated something. "Good game tonight." With a weak and uncomfortable smile, she started jogging out of sight.

Levi gazed after her, then looked at the still unconscious men once again. "Good game tonight?" That's all she had to say?

What the hell was going on?