Modern Family: New Life-Chapter 143: Leonard and Howard’s advice

The afternoon light was golden, streaming through the window and partially illuminating the room. It was four-thirty, and although it was Tuesday, practice at Palisades had ended early, the season was on pause and the days were lighter.

Andrew was sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall, his gaze lost beyond the glass.

Leonard was reading a Green Lantern comic with apparent focus, while Howard, sitting on the floor by the desk, had his head down and lips pursed, as if pondering something deeply troubling.

"Hey," Howard said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Leonard didn’t look up, only murmured a distracted, "Hmm?"

Andrew didn’t move at all.

"Don’t you think girls who are a mess when they eat are kinda cute?" Howard asked, with a tone as serious as if he were discussing quantum physics.

Leonard raised an eyebrow and looked at him, unsure if he’d heard correctly. "Where is that coming from?"

"I saw Margaret today... you know, our classmate from programming, short, glasses, freckles, nothing remarkable..." Howard explained, using his hands for emphasis. "She was sitting alone in the cafeteria, reading a book and eating like a five-year-old. It was a mess... but suddenly she seemed cute. I don’t know why. I’d never really noticed her before."

"Oh, I see..." Leonard said, closing his comic. "You mean her clumsiness made her attractive."

"Exactly!" said Howard, snapping his fingers. "There’s something about that, right? Like... vulnerability."

"Depends on the level of clumsiness," Leonard replied. "If it’s tripping and spilling a drink, fine. If it’s chewing with her mouth open, hard pass."

Howard nodded, thoughtful, as if evaluating a hypothesis.

"It’s weird how certain behaviors can make girls you’d never thought of before seem attractive, you know?" Howard said, resting his hand on his chin.

"Oh! I’ve got another one! When they’re shy... Isn’t that like, kind of attractive? Almost erotic?"

Leonard looked at him with a mix of disbelief and resignation. "Erotic? Isn’t it more like... sweet?"

"Well, yeah..." Howard agreed, "but it gives off that sense that you’re in control, you know?"

Leonard arched a brow and gave a faint smirk. "Tell me, when’s the last time a girl was shy while talking to you?"

Howard frowned, grabbed a pillow, and hurled it at Leonard with force.

"Hey!" Leonard laughed, barely managing to catch it. "I was just asking... for the sake of your hypothesis."

Howard flopped back on the beanbag with a dramatic sigh.

"Whatever. The point is... if those little unnoticed traits can make girls seem more beautiful, then it has to work the other way around too. What dumb little details make us more attractive to girls?" he asked with total seriousness.

"More than the face and a square jaw?" Leonard asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah."

"Confidence, maybe. Or humor. I don’t know, I’m not a girl," Leonard replied after a few seconds of thinking.

"Humor doesn’t work if you’re fat and don’t have a jawline," Howard said with resignation. "Look at Ryan: he makes all the girls laugh and doesn’t even get a hug. He told me he’s thinking of starting a diet and working out."

"Well, that only applies if you are fat, and I don’t mean that in a bad way, but it happens on both sides, with girls and guys."

"Go on," Howard said, looking at his friend with interest.

"I mean, there are overweight girls who, if you see them being clumsy or shy, they don’t seem more adorable. Just clumsy and shy. Right?"

Howard stared at him. He said nothing.

Leonard pointed at him with a slight smile, "Thanks for your silence. You just proved my point." freёwebnoѵel.com

"That’s not it! It’s just... well, yeah, you’re right," Howard admitted, shrugging. "Does that make us horrible people?"

"No," Leonard said, also shrugging. "It makes us teenagers. Teenagers aren’t fair. And attraction isn’t a charity."

"So if you’re average or good-looking, humor and shyness work. But if you’re below the standard average, those traits don’t add much... or barely anything. Which means I need to work harder on the kind of humor girls actually like," Howard concluded.

"More or less. It’s social math. There can be exceptions, of course. But if you flip a coin a hundred times, what matters is the stats," Leonard nodded.

"And the stats say Ryan’s gonna stay single until he starts that diet..."

Leonard nodded again.

"Unless some girl sees something in him beyond the physical. Which can happen. But it’s not the norm."

Howard sank deeper into the beanbag with a long sigh. "Teenage life is a silent war of stereotypes and unfair biology."

"And on top of that, no magic, no mechas, no superpowers," Leonard added, still staring at the ceiling.

"Well... not for everyone," said Howard in a theatrical tone, turning to face Andrew with a mock-offended expression.

There he was. Andrew. Quarterback, over six feet tall, 180-something pounds of pure muscle, jawline like a Greek statue, and on top of that, extroverted, charismatic, ran a successful YouTube channel... and as if that wasn’t enough, he trained like a pro getting ready for the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Of course, all of that didn’t come from genetic luck or a desire to fit in, it came from a mind obsessed with discipline, a past his friends didn’t know about, and an insatiable need for perfection when it came to football.

Howard and Leonard glanced at each other for a second, then looked at Andrew, who had been in the same position for a while now, staring out the window, completely absent.

Howard sat up on the beanbag and called out to him.

"Hey, big guy. You alright? Still overthinking the whole Mater Dei thing? Your new school’s still a ways off. First, you’ve got to ace your exams here, remember?" he said with a half-smile, his tone half joking, half genuinely concerned.

Because they both knew Andrew was changed schools next year. He had said it the day before, plainly, no sugarcoating.

Their reaction hadn’t been dramatic. No guilt-tripping. No nerdy sobbing. None of that.

At the end of the day, Andrew was their friend.

It had always been the two of them: Leonard and Howard. Super-smart nerds with other friends, sure: in science clubs, comic forums, video game chats, kids at school who shared their geeky interests. But none had become a real close friend.

Andrew had.

And without even trying, in two years, he had changed their lives.

From staying locked in at home playing video games and watching movies... to becoming way more social, part of a much broader friend circle. Hangouts with more people: Cana, Zach, Sophie, Lauren, Haley, Willa, Steve...

Parties, not a ton, but the few they went to they had a blast.

Howard ended up becoming the official cameraman for Andrew’s YouTube channel. He and Leonard even started their own gaming channels to post Call of Duty matches.

From knowing nothing about sports... to yelling out plays from the stands, celebrating every touchdown and Palisades title.

And yeah... they were sad. Even if they didn’t say it.

Because the nerd in the football helmet had become their best friend.

One who never judged their interests. One who stood up for them against whatever jerk came their way, without blinking.

That’s why they supported him. Because they knew they couldn’t stop him... and deep down, they didn’t want to.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

"Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking..." Andrew said, finally looking away from the window.

"I haven’t told Pippa or the guys yet."

Howard looked at him more seriously than usual, "Do you know when you’re going to tell her?"

"You have to do it before Friday," Leonard warned. "You’ll be skipping class to go on the Mater Dei tour, and you won’t be able to lie about that."

"Yeah, I know," Andrew said with a sigh.

"And the longer you put it off, the worse it’ll be. You’ve seen that look Pippa gives when something’s bothering her. It cuts through you like some kind of emotional laser beam," added Howard with a dramatically serious expression.

Andrew gave a faint smile at the comment. "Yeah, I know that better than anyone... I’m going to her place for dinner tonight. Her mom’s making her specialty: smoked salmon pizza."

"Pizza... with salmon...?" Howard repeated, eyebrows twitching. "I thought pineapple pizza was the bottom of the barrel, but I might’ve been wrong..."

Andrew chuckled lightly. "It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s actually delicious. And salmon’s high in protein."

"Does she suspect anything?" Leonard asked, arms crossed, staying focused.

"Yes, she kind of does. A few days ago I told her, vaguely, that I’d received some offers from Division 1 private schools. We talked a bit, but that was it. At that point, I hadn’t accepted any offer yet. I hadn’t chosen the one that’s the farthest away."

There was a short silence.

"And do you know how you’re going to tell her?" Howard asked.

"I guess. I don’t have anything planned. I’m just going to say it, right? It’s not like I did something unforgivable. I’m just changing schools for my future... She’ll understand," Andrew said, though his tone didn’t match the confidence of his words.

Howard raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, it’s just a change of school," he said. "But you still need to be gentle. You can’t just drop a ’Hey, I’m going to Mater Dei, twenty-five kilometers from here’ out of nowhere, you know?"

Andrew looked at him in silence.

"As much as it might not seem like it, this does affect your relationship," Howard continued. "You won’t see each other every day like you do now. And while that doesn’t mean it’s over... it does change things. If you want it to work, you guys need to talk it through calmly, but honestly."

Leonard looked at him, surprised, even a little impressed.

"Wow... that was mature," Leonard said, incredulous. "Who are you and what did you do with the Howard who, five minutes ago, said shy girls were erotic?"

Andrew looked at him too, though with a small smile, and then nodded. "He’s right. If it’s hard for me to say it... it’s exactly because of that. Because I know something between us is going to change."

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

Leonard, crossed his arms and spoke in that logical tone he used when organizing his thoughts like a PowerPoint presentation.

"You can tell her that yes, it’s true, you’ll be sharing less of the day-to-day stuff. You won’t be at the same school anymore, and that’s noticeable. But it’s not like you’re disappearing. You’ll be back home every day around six in the evening, right?"

Andrew nodded silently.

"And on weekends you’ll be here. Even on Fridays," Leonard added. "If there are games, she can come watch you play. I mean, unless she doesn’t mind missing Palisades games..."

Howard made a theatrical gesture, hand to chest. "Oh! Disloyal to her school! Traitor!"

Leonard ignored the comment and went on,

"Also, think about it: where did you guys really spend the most time together? At school, sure. But Palisades has over fifteen hundred students. It’s not even easy to share classes. You and I only had two classes together all year. And with Howard, I think none. Still, we became best friends."

Howard nodded, "I remember the first time we rang your doorbell in ninth grade. I heard about the meetup from Max’s cousin who lives nearby."

"That’s what made us friends," Leonard continued. "Not being in the same classes. What really keeps people close are the moments you choose to share: lunches, walks, dinners, texts... Like today, you’re going to her place for dinner."

Andrew furrowed his brow slightly, but it wasn’t irritation, just focus.

Leonard kept going, calmly, "Yeah, you’ll lose the breaks, the cafeteria, those hallway run-ins. But you can still see each other Friday nights, hang out on Saturdays and Sundays, or have dinner together during the week like tonight. You’ll still have your moments. This isn’t a long-distance relationship. You’re not moving to another state. You’ll still be living less than ten minutes away by car."

"Well said, Leonard," Howard nodded in approval.

"It’s true... it doesn’t sound so tragic when I put it that way," Andrew murmured, then looked up at them with a grateful smile. "Thanks for your Jedi wisdom, Masters."

Leonard gave a solemn hand gesture, like a salute from the Order.

Howard simply raised his eyebrows, as if to say: It’s what we do.

"And just so you know," Howard added, "I’m coming to all your games at Mater Dei. I don’t care if that makes me a traitor at Palisades! I’m still your official cameraman for the highlights! Plus, it’s not a long trip, and I can probably hitch a ride with your family. Between your grumpy grandpa or your parents, one of them’s bound to have space."

Leonard nodded, he wanted to go too. He had become a football fan because of Andrew, so of course he wanted to see his games.

Andrew smiled wider, realizing he wasn’t losing his friends, just changing settings.

Howard was already in full fan mode.

"I can’t wait to see the show at such an elite school! Cheerleaders in bright red uniforms, a massive school band, huge bleachers... it probably looks like a damn high-budget parade. And when you upload your first video from Mater Dei? How many views do you think it’ll get? Just imagine the title! Something like: My First Game at the Most Competitive Football School in California. I Break Records."

"Yeah, with red arrows, giant text, and your face looking all shocked," added Leonard sarcastically.

Andrew laughed, shaking his head.

"I taught you two the art of clickbait way too well," he said, pointing at them like a proud master watching his students thrive. "Clickbait hasn’t even been invented yet in this era, but you already master it. I’m proud."

"Does that mean we’re now Jedi Knights of the Algorithm?" asked Howard, crossing his arms solemnly.

"Telling Steve, Archie, and the others will be harder," Leonard said more seriously. "You’ve trained and played together for years. They might see it as some kind of betrayal."

Andrew let out a small sigh. That thought had already been circling in his mind.

"Unless one of them also ends up leaving Palisades," Howard pointed out. "Wouldn’t be that crazy. With your channel, your skill level, and the views you get, I’m sure at least one of those four has caught the attention of some school."

"Could be..." Andrew said. None of them had said anything so far. But of course he thought about it: Steve, Archie, Reggie, and Kevin were all playing above typical D4 level. They could easily get offers.

"Still, I’ll find a way to tell them before Friday. I’ve known them too long. I will," Andrew said firmly.

Howard stretched dramatically on the beanbag, raising his arms to the sky.

"Alright, enough emotional farewell talk. The year’s not over yet, and before you become a Jedi Knight from another galaxy..." he sat up, "let’s play some video games before you have to go eat salmon pizza with your girlfriend."

"That sounds way better," said Leonard, standing up too.

"Yeah, let’s go crush some noobs," said Andrew with a faint smile.

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