“Do you find it easy to meet and make new friends?” Janeway asked.

“Let me tell you about my mother?” Pyewacket said gruffly with a sudden lurch towards his interviewer.

Terrified the teen girl scrambled backwards. Her open backpack toppled from her chair as she nearly fell to the floor. At turbo speed the Android jumped over the desk and grabbed Janeway before she tumbled from her chair.

“Sorry Beautiful it was just a line from an ancient flick. I was trying to lighten the mood not break your collarbone,” Pyewacket said.

“Unhand me you you gray pile of tin cans,” Janeway hissed.

Pyewacket leapt back gracefully and the girl landed on the library floor with a surprised groan.

Added Pyewacket, “how’d you like that gravity meat bag?”

Mr. Wilkins the social studies teacher poked his head into the door. He took in the newest student, the first android to attend a saturnine high school, standing arms folded and Janeway Parks, sophomore class president, chair captain, yearbook editor, and secretary of the junior Junior League, sitting on the floor. The teacher’s eyebrows raised.

“Everything okay in here. Miss Parks are you in need of assistance?”

“No I’m fine sir,” Janeway said from the floor.

“We were just discussing Bladerunner and Janie here was acting out the fight scene. Good stuff!” Pyewacket said.

Confused mr. Wilkins backed from the doorway. Smirking Pyewacket offered her a hand. Janeway slapped away his hand.

“This is ridiculous. Why are you here!”

“You know my story Janeway. It was in the news. I was damaged during the civil war—“

“Android insurgency,” Janeway mumbled retrieving her fallen items.

“I lose much of my memory to an head injury and I wanted to try to experience growing up finding myself.”

Pyewacket leaned on the desk. He rubbed his new youthful face. He reached for the words to explain the cognitive dissonance. The meaning slipped away.

“What are you doing in high school?”

“To …learn,” the android said.

“You’re a damn machine. You could learn from video chats. What are you doing in my school!”

“We all could learn from video chats. But high school offers something … unique.”

Standing Janeway scowled at him. Pyewacket lifted the desk with a finger and nudged a paperback clear with his foot. He saw it was a vintage Philip K. Dick short story collection. The android swoped the treasure up and examined the cover of metallic men against a psychedelic wasteland. The teen grabbed the book and the android held it for a second before letting go. And understanding surged between them until Pyewacket pummeled over to his side of the table.

“Surely my adorable meat bag you ready to administer this ridiculous test to determine whether in the right fit to join the cheerleaders?”

“Are you more comfortable making decisions based on facts or based on intuition? And don’t call me Shirley.”

Pyewacket paused and then laughed out loud. Janeway hid her grin behind her hand. Mr. Wilkins peeked in again. Ms. Freeman tapped her colleague’s shoulder.

“How goes it? I know Pye was so nervous.”

“Okay I guess if I didn’t know better I would think they were flirting,” Wilkins whispered.