I was walking down the sidewalk with a can of paint in my hand. No, "Stayin' Alive" was not in the background and this is not Saturday Night Fever(I never liked that movie anyway). Although, my life is shit and I work at a paint store like Tony Manero...I'm just glad I don't have friends that prove my life is horrible. I have a better life than most people, so that's a plus side...for me at least.

"Castelda! Stop mumbling to yourself and give me that paint bucket!" I was already at the front of the store and my boss was ordering me from the top of a ladder. Some people walking by on the sidewalk glanced at us, so I handed the paint bucket to my boss, , a 40 year old man who's married, has two daughters, and just entering his mid-life crisis.

"Castelda, there's customers in the store and I gotta paint the sign, would you-"

"Say no more." I mumbled, entering the paint shop and already seeing three people in a line holding paint supplies. I get behind the counter and say

"Thank you for waiting." And I start scanning. This is my life. I get up, go to work, go home, eat, and sleep. That's it. My life is a repeat and just trying to keep up with society by getting money. My father has passed away and my mother is having financial problems already, so I gotta work alone(plus, I'm an only child, no siblings). My mother wants me to find a partner, but after I tried it in highschool, I found out how cruel and hurtful a breakup is, so...I don't want to try it again. I am lonely, but I'll buy a dog as soon as I can move out of my crummey apartment.

"Castelda, I need to get home to the Misses. You can close and lock up the shop whenever you're ready." gave me the store keys and I looked outside and noticed it was dark and no one was in the store. I drifted off at the counter again. I've been doing that since I was a kid.

" , I'll get paid if I work overtime, correct?" was right in the doorway as he turned to see my pleading face.

"*sigh*Kid, I'm sorry, but I can't pay you that much. This store can't afford it…"

"I understand...good night, sir."

"Good night, kid." left. I stayed about 20 minutes more and then looked at my watch, which read "9:30". No one but people with crazy plans buy paint supplies at this hour, so I turned off the lights and locked up the shop. I walked home with a yawn. I turned to my left and looked at all the different stores and alleyways I was passing by. I find them more interesting than the open road. One alleway I passed caught my attention. I could see a teal light in the dark alleyway. Huh...that's new. Do I explore the light that hasn't been there in my five years of working or do I go home? Well, this light story is facebook worthy already, so why not. I go into the dark alleyway, towards the teal light. The source is small and in the corner. The closer I get, the more I notice that it's...shivering…

"Um...h-hello?" The small thing shivering seemed to try to get away from me,

"H-Hey, I won't hurt you." I kneeled down and tried to get a good look at the small thing shining the teal light. The thing turned towards me, the light burning my eyes at first, but the light soon started to fade. Before me was a small, metal robot, with teal eyes. It was about a foot tall, no face, just eyes, with tiny arms that were attached to hands the size of a baby's, and cylinder legs supporting the little guy. The robot was still shivering and his eyes showed that he wasn't happy.

"Holy fuck, you're adorable. I wonder who your creator is, where you came from, why you're in an alleyway...it seems like you're cold, but how can a robot be cold? You don't have skin, you're made of metal." I looked around the alleyway, standing up and crying

"Hey! Anybody missing a cute, teal eyed robot?" I even exited the alleyway and shouted around until people living in the area told me to shut up. So, I went back to the small robot, still shivering, and looking sad.

"Well...um, can you talk?" The robot shook its head,

"But you can understand me." The robot nodded,

"Well, you know what, my apartment says I can't have pets, but you're more like a new friend, so people won't mind. Can you walk with super speed since you're a robot, or, no, you have little legs." The robot put his arms up, like a child, indicating that he wanted to be picked up.

"Very well." I said, picking up the little guy, his head over my shoulder. Together, we got out of the alleyway and started to head to my apartment. The robot stopped shivering and started to...purr?

"Hey, you're not a cat, maybe you have an identity crisis. You know what, you need a name, I can't call you 'it' and 'robot' all the time.*gasp*You know, Invader Zim is a great part of my childhood. You remind me of GIR. That is now your name. Oh, and I'm Johnny, by the way." I could feel GIR nod on my shoulder, agreeing with his new name,

"Yeah, I'm Johnny. I really hope you don't know what The Outsiders is because people have cried just looking at me, but seriously, I look nothing like the guy, it's just my freakin name…" I started to ramble on again, GIR listening and agreeing to everything I said. We entered my small, 300 sq. ft. apartment. I sat GIR on my one-person-sized bed as I pulled up the only wooden chair in my apartment facing the bed.

"Alright, GIR, I'm gonna ask yes or no questions. You must answer them all, understand?" GIR nodded, his eyes showing that he's been happy since he started purring,

"Do you know where your creator is?" GIR shook his head,

"Do you know who your creator is?" GIR looked right, seeing the only window in my apartment and shook his head,

"Huh...do you know how you ended up in the alleyway?" GIR nodded and started looking around my apartment, wanting to communicate,

"There's not much here. I'll guess….uh, I bet you woke up, didn't know where you were or how you even existed, found out this world is cruel, and stayed in the alleyway to hide from it." GIR nodded sadly,

"I wish I could hide too, my little friend. I do wonder how you got here and you can understand English, so your creator built you to understand, but not communicate…" GIR then looked at my alarm clock, reading "10:00", and folded the sheets and blanket of my bed open. He then jumped off the bed, and made a gesture indicating that he wanted me to go to bed.

"*chuckles*GIR, it's only ten, c'mon, we have the whole night." GIR marched up to me, grabbed the leg of my pants and tried pulling me to my bed. Of course, I was able to stand still and watch the foot tall robot try to make me go to bed. Although, it does get annoying after awhile.

"*sigh*Alright, fine. I'll go to bed, but we should stay up later sometime." I stripped down to my underwear and got into bed. GIR jumped on my bed, his arms holding onto my blanket. With all his might, he was able to get up using his small arms and legs. I laughed seeing the small, determined robot. GIR got under the covers with me and closed his eyes. This all happened so fast. Just because I saw a teal light, my life has been, all a sudden, happier. What if I didn't start my life until I met GIR? What adventures will this small robot bring me? I wonder if he eats nuts and bolts...of course, I drifted off to sleep, question after question.