SYSTEMERROR - Bars and Melody ᵉⁿᵍ

5 - Control

"Who do you think I am? Who are you?" he replied so as not to put the alternative Leo in an uncomfortable situation.

But he had cut him off.

"Stop it, Leondre told me. He has you under control." the guy looked at him seriously.

So Leo gave in. "How am I supposed to know who I am when I don't even know what's going on here? And apparently I can't control it either."

"So you're Leo too?"

He nodded carefully. "And he can control it? Did he say how?" Leo asked the guy with the icy blue eyes. His name was Charlie, but how would Leondre know that?

"Well, he said that he just had to wish very hard that he wasn't here and he'd be gone." Charlie replied.

The music bothered Leondre immensely when he was talking, he had a hard time blocking it out. His "parents" had to know that he was skipping school. Or what day of the week was on this page.

Leondre found a cell phone in his pockets. Probably that of this Leo. But, soberingly, the day of the week and the time were exactly the same.

"I think you're moving through some kind of alternative universe that is connected by the two of you." Charlie added his realization.

That made sense to Leondre. He nodded, then ran his hand thoughtfully through his hair. It was quite long, he noticed. Not so long-haired, but probably close to it. About the same as he had it when he was sixteen.

"Nobody has noticed on this page yet, but I think you could help him." Charlie starts speaking again. "He told me you're a bit of a loser. And I think he's been acting a lot like you. I'm sure you could tame his ego a little."

"But if I can never meet him, how am I supposed to do that?" Leo looked at the guy questioningly.

"It's enough if his reputation at school drops a little. I'm sorry if that sounds bad, it's just that there are worlds between you."

"It would only be logical if I come from a parallel world," Leondre grumbled, annoyed. Maybe it was better not to have any friends after all.

"Why is it taking so long?" he asked the new acquaintance, a little worried.

"We agreed that he would stay over there until I've taken a closer look at you. But I'll just tell him that you're really cool and I can't imagine that your life over there is really the way he tells me. You can go if you want to go."

"What's the point of me changing if I live over there anyway?" Leo asked him. After all, he was the only one he could talk to about it. He had a lot of questions.

"You noticed that yourself, didn't you?" Charlie shook his head.

"The weird guy with his huge ego beats people up and I have to stay after school for it. Yeah, great." he snorted angrily.

"Maybe you like it better on Friday night. Around 6 p.m.?"

"What's that? A date?" Leo grumbled.

"An invitation to a party."