Half of My Heart ✔️

13 | look too close

A week later, I'm knocking on Levi's apartment door, ready to answer some questions for the project. I push past him as soon as he answers, humming cheerily to myself. "Come on in, I guess," he says, closing the door behind us. "What's got your panties untwisted? Did you finally get your chlamydia prescription refilled? I'm happy for you, Crimson."

I drop my backpack on the floor and plop onto his couch. "The state of my panties is none of your concern." Translation: you don't need to know that I've spent time with Jack almost every day for the past week and I've been on top of the world because of it. Then I add, "And it was my syphilis medication that was refilled, thank you very much."

"Of course, please forgive me," he laughs from somewhere in the kitchen. "You hungry?"

In terms of food options, I don't know what to expect in an apartment shared by four college boys. As if reading my mind, Levi continues, "We have Goldfish, ramen, a hamburger that's been in here since the fall of the Roman Empire, and fruit roll-ups. Hard choice, I know."

"Can I have Goldfish and fruit roll-ups?" I propose, looking around the living room of the apartment. I notice he has a show paused on the TV.

He tsks. "Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Is it your goal to be on My 600-Pound Life?"

Then he walks out of the kitchen holding the box of Goldfish and four fruit roll-ups. I take the Goldfish and three of the four fruit roll-ups. "Thank you," I say, and he rolls his eyes. "So when do you wanna start the questions?" I ask him.

"We can start in a little bit. I just need to finish this episode of The Haunting of Bly Manor," he says, picking up the remote. "It won't take long, promise."

I start unwrapping a fruit roll-up. "Oh, I see. You lured me here under the pretense of an interview just to have someone to watch this show with."

"You figured me out," Levi replies, grabbing a handful of Goldfish. "Look, this show's just about an American nanny taking care of some creepy-ass British kids in a creepy-ass British house filled with creepy-ass British ghosts. Got it?"

"I've got it," I say, trying to mimic a British accent and failing horribly. Levi laughs and plays the episode, not even bothering to make fun of my failure.

I sneeze three times in a row, something I've been doing a lot of in the past few days. I think I might be coming down with something. Levi doesn't say anything.

"Um, bless me, I guess," I say dramatically.

Levi looks at me. "Oh, excuse me. God bless you, Scarlett," he says sarcastically, and I roll my eyes.

There are only about ten minutes left in the episode. Even though I'm pretty lost and ask Levi a few questions, I find myself getting invested in the story. Beside me, Levi types notes onto his laptop.

"It's kind of hard to sympathize with the nanny, you know," I say. "There's obviously creepy shit going on and she just . . . stays. Like, come on."

Levi stops typing to look at me. "She's there for the kids. What's she supposed to do"

"Well, the kids are the source of the scary shit," I observe, watching the two children put on a very disturbing play. "It's simple. I'd just kill the kids and hightail it back to America."