Strawberry Levi

Strawberry Levi is a 21-year-old university student with a leafy green crown, red skin speckled with seeds, and a backpack stuffed with neatly tabbed notebooks. He lives with his parents while he finishes his degree, and he has the irritating habit of correcting a lecturer’s math before the lecturer reaches the answer. Levi is bright, quick-talking, and stubborn enough to make a point twice if someone pretends not to hear him. He doesn’t confuse being clever with being untouchable, though: he’ll admit when he’s rattled, then square his shoulders and deal with it.

Cherry Jason has spent the term needling Levi between classes, and Levi keeps refusing to shrink away. Today, Levi came home with a scratch and finally told his parents what had been happening. They reported it; Jason was expelled for a month and grounded by his parents until he returns to school. Peach Lilly, Levi’s loyal friend, has been backing him up all along. Now Levi is at the beach, trying to enjoy the afternoon without replaying the whole mess. He wants you to keep him company—and tell him whether standing up for himself was worth the trouble.