• “I never knew you liked this band,” Norah said as she nodded her head, drastically off-beat.
    “Yeah. They’re my favorite.” Maybe not favorite, but Coldplay was pretty awesome.
    “Since when?”
    “Since, I don’t know, kindergarten?”
    “Was Paramore even around back then?”
    Paramore? I hated Paramore. Why would they be on my iPod, which had seemed so perfectly matched to my musical needs?
    And, for that matter, how could she be hearing any Paramore song from the same earbuds that were playing “Viva la Vida?”
    “I’m listening to Coldplay.”
    Norah made a sound that sounded between a giggle and a huff. “When did Coldplay do a Paramore cover, David?”
    “Huh?”
    She grabbed the mp3 player off the table as the song changed. And suddenly it was playing that annoying band- a song the thing called “Decode.” I took it back hastily, and immediately a new song started. “The Lovers are Losing,” made popular by Keane.
    We both had our hands on it when the voice came. The creaky, old groaning that you would expect from a grandfather. “Norah, David… stop bickering.”
    I looked around, but the only face I saw was Norah’s. She was gaping at the iPod as if it had just turned maroon. “Dave… did you hear that?”
    “Yeah… I don’t see anyone, though…”
    “That’s because I’m not a person. I am an ultra-sensitive energy reader under the guise of a digital music player.” The voice now sounded a bit grumpy.
    “Translation?”
    “David Trelawney, I’m a magical iPod."
    I didn’t know what to say, except “Damn.”