"Is anyone gonna tell me what's kicking off?"
☆
"I got your text, what's the emergency? Jojo says, walking into the Alessi household a little out of breath, from the race to come over.
Enzo pulls Jojo a little to the side, out of earshot from his parents who were watching tv, "shhh, just come upstairs."
Jojo looks over to Enzo's mum and dad who seem to be too engaged in the screen to even notice his presence, as he removes his shoes and lightfoots it up the stairs.
"In here." Enzo pulls Jojo into Leo's room and closes the door behind him. Jojo sees Leo nervously biting the thumb of his nail, glancing at The PT, which was still in a dormant state.
"So is anyone going to tell me what's kicking off?" Jojo now crosses his arms impatiently.
"Jojo, the tutor, it's going crazy weird, I think it's picked up a virus or something. You need to fix it before our parents find out and kill us all." Enzo says, his usually chill voice being replaced with an uncharacteristically fraught one.
"Kill you two, you mean, why would they kill me?" Jojo says half laughing.
"You put the upgrade on, I said will it be safe, you said yes. But look at this..." Enzo puts a palm to The PT's to turn it on, The PT powering up again...
"Hello Enzo, do you wish to learn so som som...help me please." The PT begins to once again jerk and stammer. Enzo quickly deactivates it again with his hand.
"Oh." Jojo nods slowly.
"Too right oh. You need to sort this out. I gotta go to work." Leo huffs, stuffing his uniform in his bag and putting it on his shoulder. "I want it fixed by the time I get back or I will kill you I swear." Leo exits his room, slamming the door behind him. Leaving Jojo and Enzo staring at each other.
Jojo again turns his attention to The PT. He runs both his hands through his hair and sighs. "Ok....ok. get your laptop Enzo." Enzo hurriedly exits the room and soon returns with his laptop, setting it up like before.
"Do you know how to fix this?" Enzo asks apprehensively, now sitting next to Jojo on the carpet as he powers up the device.
"No, not really, I'm thinking maybe removing the download, but I'm not sure how..." Jojo soon begins to tap searches into the laptop to locate the download that they had used. "Oh shit." He exclaims, running his hands down his face.
"What...what is it?" Enzo looks at the screen.
ERROR 404. THIS WEBSITE CANNOT BE FOUND
***
"Hey, excuse me.. I ordered large fries with this." The customer pushes the regular sized container back over to Leo, whose mind was anywhere else than on the job in hand.
"S...sorry." He says, bowing his head, replacing the fries with the correct order. The customer takes the container and walks away shaking his head.
"Leo, a word." His boss Mr Benson beckons him over to the side of the kitchen area. "What's with you this evening? That's your fourth mess up on orders."
"I'm sorry Mr Benson. It won't happen again." Leo bows his head.
Mr Benson sighs heavily. "You're not taking on too many shifts are you? I mean, I know you have exams this year."
"No...no it's fine." Leo insists, raising his hands in disagreement. "I need this job sir, I'm saving up."
Mr Benson raises an eyebrow in interest. "Oh yes, what's your goal?"
"I want to move to the city...to become an actor." As he says it, his whole face lights up. Maybe this was the drive, the potential that The PT was talking about. Nothing made Leo as passionate as performing.
"Well, good for you kid." Mr Benson says, patting Leo's arm. "But you're not there yet, so get back to work." He says with a smile.
"Yes sir." Leo says before bowing his head again and returning to the counter.
***
The shift comes to an end and Leo is now too tired to worry or stress anymore about anything. As he stacks up the last few chairs, he hears footsteps approaching and a flyer being placed on the table before him. He looks up to see Mr Benson tapping the top of the flyer as it rests on the table. "Have you seen this?" He questions.
Leo now picks up the flyer and reads it...
AUDITIONS TAKING PLACE
PEARL ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY
FRIDAY 16TH DECEMBER 10 am to 9PM.
COMMUNITY HALL
"Thought you might be interested." He says with a smile.
"Y...yes." Leo stammers back. "Thankyou Mr Benson.'"
Leo reads the flyer one more time, smiling to himself. This could be it! His chance, his opportunity to shine, to be that amazing bee!" But then his smile drops a fraction and the realisation of the date. Friday the 16th. The date of the winter prom.
YOU ARE READING
Glitch (boyxboy/android)
RomanceSCIENCE-FANTASY/ROMANCE In the near future, if you need help with your studies, you can purchase a tutor. A synthetic teacher to help with your studies. When Leo is given a PT by his parents for his 18th birthday he is less than impressed, but what...
