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Part Three

nucLEOnic: how do u feel abt being added to a gc?

It took a month of talking with Sam to feel comfortable enough about sharing personal information, but Leo was ready to introduce his new friend to his favorite group chat in his life; one with Elijah and Skip. They were weird folk, the sort that you wouldn't expect to see in the same place or time, but found them getting along regardless, and Leo was proud to call them his best friends.

Skip wasn't his actual name, Leo found out later than sooner. His birth name was Zeke, and he was born a rebel amongst Catholics. They say the best way to make sure your child ends up atheist is to raise them in the most religious pursuit possible, and such can be confirmed in the instance of Zeke's upbringing. He hated following rules (unless they belonged to his benefit) and kept a reputation amongst peers for being the 'badass' that never showed up to class on time: hence the nickname bestowed upon him. When confronted about the childish label, Skip reaffirmed that it was his idea in the first place, and he would call himself Skip no matter how 'immature' it seemed.

Skip was the first to meet Leo in a social media discourse about why vegans shouldn't exist. Leo proclaimed his stance on the matter, and when an internet troll decided it would be hilarious to call him names and argue with no further knowledge on the subject, a stranger in shining armor came to Leo's rescue with the username Skipperrr. Not the most clever of usernames by far, but one that got straight to the point, similar to Sam's in some respects. And when the online discussion had ended and everyone went off in their own separate directions, Leo took to thanking Skip on his not-so-friendly protection. Skip, in response to being thanked, made it a ritual to text and direct message Leo nearly every day after that, and they became as close as friends could over the Internet.

A total of three hundred and seventy six miles apart, but not a single delay in relationship for the two boys that became friends with a snap of their fingers.

Only a few months later came Elijah skipping into their existence from California; a comedic kid with no real talents to offer, but just enough charisma to keep his head on straight in the event of being offered friendship by a group chat of two people his age.

Elijah, or "Eli" to those closest to him, made videos for fun. Videos to post on his feed and let everyone laugh (or scoff, depending on who was watching at the time) at his attempt at comedy. When two boys messaged him asking about a possible friend group due to a common sense of humor amongst them all, he jumped on board without a second thought about it.

It was soon learned that Eli cared about what others thought of him. Unlike Skip and the attitude that surrounded him like an aura, Elijah had a hard time believing his friends when they told him they laughed at a joke he had just made. He didn't know if they were being honest with him, or just being nice to make him feel better, and it wasn't long before he felt the need to express his insecurities to the group before him.

Leo and Skip surprised him, to say the least. Skip went on a rant about how he shouldn't care about what others think of him; that he should stick to what he knows because he's damn good at it, and Leo agreed wholeheartedly with another speech in mind. He told of how often he went through old conversation archives with Eli and laughed at them until his head hurt. That alone gave the insecure boy the confidence he needed to stay in the group chat for good, because these were the type of people he wanted to surround himself with. Genuine people, no fake followers that wanted his attention because he got over a thousand likes on a post one day.

Three boys, three human boys, got along like butter on toast, and remained close as time went on.
So, when presented with the opportunity of adding one more to the group, Leo thought it over and decided that yes, it was a good idea, because what could possibly go wrong?