Glitch (boyxboy/android)

Chapter 20: A slight reveal

"Who's Ralph Morgan?"

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"So...you were about to tell me who this person was that you liked." Yan looks at Leo from across the table in the library. After the surprisingly productive chat he had had with his father, Leo didn't feel quite so bad about everything. Having said that, he'd not actually done anything about it. 

"Ok..." Leo leans as close over the table as he can. "So what if I was to tell you that it...it might be a guy?" Leo gets ready with a backup joke in case it goes array. 

"I...it's not Ralph Morgan...is it?" Yan looks at Leo almost as if he's angry, no...that's not the word, territorial...that's it.

Leo looks at Yan with a confused frown. "No...who's Ralph Morgan?" 

"N...no one important. Forget I said anything...great! You love a guy." Yan pats Leo on his arm. 

"I...don't love him...no... it no....him, I'm just curious." Leo could feel his new found inner self loving confidence diminishing in a rate of knots. 

But it's too late. Yan has heard the word 'it' . "Woah Nellie... do you actually have a crush on... your tutor?" Yan sits back, his hands pushing through his hair, mouth wide open in humourous surprise. 

"Ssshhhh will you. Keep it down." Leo tries to reach forward to silence his friend's big mouth. 

"This is gold." Yan chuckles, again leaning forwards. "Hey does he have...you know, all the bits?" 

"What? No. I mean yes...but I've not actually seen them." Leo can feel this conversation becoming more complex than he initially thought. He gets up and maneuvers his chair so he is now sat next to Yan. "Do you know who Cameron King is?" 

Yan looks at Leo in thought. The name did ring a bell. "Um...is he like the son of an inventor?" 

"Yeah he's the son, you know, of the tutor robots." He explains, with Yan raising his eyebrows in acknowledgment. Leo then pulls out his phone googling the name to reveal multiple images of Cameron King. He holds his screen up to Yan, swiping to the next one and then the next one.

"Okaay!" Yan takes in each image before resting his chin on his upturned palm on the table. "He's a good looking guy!" 

"You think?" Leo looks at the images.

"Yeah but what has this to do with you crushing on your new toy?" Yan questions.

Leo lets the infantile comment slide. "Yan, that is literally my tutor." He slaps his phone down on the table, an image of Cameron staring up at both of them. 

Yan picks up Leo's phone again looking closely at the image. "Jesus Leo. And he's in your bedroom like every night?" 

He gives the phone back to Leo and takes a sigh. "Quite a predicament. Shame it's not one of those love dolls...have you seen those?"

Leo goes quiet...he hadn't told anyone about all the tutor's additional features. 

"What do I do Yan?" Leo signs. 

"Well, what do you want to do?" Yan returns the question. 

"Honestly?" 

"Honestly." Yan reiterates.

Leo sighs. "I don't want to go to the prom with Anna...Would it be weird if I took Cameron? I mean The PT?" 

Yan looks at his friend, hanging on to what he was going to say. Leo felt that if just one person accepted this situation or whatever it was, then maybe that was enough or at least a start anyhow. 

"YOLO as the saying goes." Yan stretches forward resting his head on his history textbook letting out a yawn. 

"So...are you taking Chloè?" Leo asks, not wanting to make everything about him. 

"We're not seeing eachother anymore." He sighs, not even moving as he closes his eyes. 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, it seems the urge to do the nasty was more appealing than being with me. It was still my fault of course." Yan lets out a dry chuckle. 

Leo wondered how some people did it. How they could turn their issues on others and make them feel guilty for it. His mind thinks to his mother, the prime example. Leo was constantly being reminded of how he had to succeed where she had essentially failed, like he had to paper over her cracks, in order to allow her to forgive her own misgivings.

"Anyways...I wanna sleep now." He suddenly stills on the books, but it is short lived. 

Leo looks up to see a rather out of breath and slightly annoyed Harley approaching their table. He pulls up a chair the other side of Yan and pushes his arm forcibly. "Hey! I've got a bone to pick with you."

"Whaaat?" Yan whines as he begrudgingly lifts his head from its semi comfortable resting place. 

"You've upset Chloè haven't you." Harley says through gritted teeth.

"Oh what the fuck...seriously?" Yan sighs. "What has it got to do with you anyways?" Yan looks at Harley with a furrowed expression. 

"I have just wasted my free period listening to Hope literally go on and on about how upset her friend is because of you." Harley jabs Yan's shoulder with a finger. 

"Ow!" Yan responds, rubbing the area with his palm. "So you're pissed because you didn't get to make out with Hope and that's somehow my fault?" Yan says accompanied with a dry laugh. "What did Hope say about it anyway?" 

Harley, a little less fraught, now he'd had his initial rant, sits back a little on the chair. "I don't know exactly...something about you not fancying her and being stuck at second base. "

"So she left out the part where she went and actually slept with someone else because I told her I wasn't ready." Yan didn't know why he was surprised. People always have a habit of filtering the truth to fit their needs.

"No...no she didn't." Harley says, now looking a little ashamed. "I'm sorry Yan." 

"I'm over it." Yan sighs with a stretch as he resumes his napping position. 

Harley looks at Leo, who looks back with an equal look of compassion. "Well at least everything is going well with you and Anna. Please... don't give Hope any more ammunition." Harley's eyes are pleading and Leo again feels compelled to do what is expected of him. 

"I won't." He utters, forcing a smile.