Authoress's Note: Thank you to Riza-san, KityPryde, and Purplestar for your reviews. Okay, everyone, this is the last cute little friendship chapter. I know chapters Eight, Nine, and Ten have been sort of slow, with not much exciting stuff happening. ( Although they are adorable! :D ) Anyways, this chapter has the same name as the book title. You'll see why once you read it. Enjoy! :D

My Best Friend Is An Android

Chapter Ten: My Best Friend Is An Android

(Tessa's POV)

The sun was just beginning to set as Erek and I skated back to his house. Streaks of orange and pink spread across the sky. We stopped to gaze at it for a moment.

"Earth is a very, very cool place," Erek said.

I turned to look at him. "Did… did Pema have sunsets?"

"Yeah. Beautiful ones," he said wistfully. "We had two suns, a golden one four times the size of Earth's sun and a smaller red one. Sometimes, when there was really nice weather, we would sit outside and watch the suns setting…" He trailed off and swallowed hard. "But Earth is really nice, too." He smiled at me and quickly changed the subject. "So, you were saying, earlier…?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, you being an android also explains why you're so good at everything," I continued. "Like, you always get all A's in school. And you can do really hard tricks on your skateboard without even trying. And you're totally great playing the drums. Which is why you should so be in my band."

Erek smiled and shook his head. He was trying to be modest- but it wasn't working.

"And it explains your little ego problem."

"What? I don't have an ego problem!" he protested.

I gave him a look. "Yes, you do. I mean, if I could do half the stuff you can, I'd probably act conceited sometimes, too."

I grinned at him. I was just messing with him. I knew that the more I said how awesome he was, the more he'd try (and fail) to be modest. And then I could tease him more!

"Oh, shut up," Erek said good-naturedly. We laughed.

"Hey, Tess?" Erek began. "You know what you said earlier, about us still being friends? It's really cool of you to do that."

I laughed. "Yeah, well, it was really weird at first. I'm not sure I'm even completely used to the idea of you being an android yet. But it's also pretty cool. I mean, how many people have an android for a best friend?"

"Probably hundreds," Erek replied dryly.

"Well, yeah. But they don't know that their friends are androids, do they? How many people know about the Chee?"

"Only you, and a group of six, humans and… other species. You can meet them tomorrow, if you want to."

Other species?

I decided not to ask.

"Well, anyways, it's also pretty cool. I mean, now that it's not so much of a shock. Now that I know that you're an android, think of how much better things will be. You can be in my band. I bet you're even better playing the drums then you let on. And you can help me during history. You won't be able to pretend you don't know an answer when I ask you anymore."

Erek shook his head with a smile. "I'm not going to help you cheat on your history test, Tessa. Sorry."

We reached Erek's house and went up to his room.

"Oops," I said.

The milk and cookies Erek had given me were spilled all over the floor from when I had jumped back in shock. I had crashed into his shelf and a few CDs had fallen down into the milk puddle.

"Oh, well. I'll clean it up later," Erek said breezily.

So we took out our history books and began studying for the test. It was actually much easier and (I know, shoot me) a lot of fun. Only because Erek told me a bunch of interesting and funny stories that made it much easier to remember. That was the only reason. I'm not trying to say that I think reading history textbooks is fun or anything, cause I definitely don't.

After a while it started to get late, so Erek and I said goodbye and I went home. I lay down on my bed so I could think.

Obviously, it had been a very eventful and life-changing day. Just this morning, I had been Tessa McConnell, average eighth-grader. I had had a best friend named Erek King, just a normal kid who lived across the street. I hadn't believed in aliens and I had thought that intelligent robots were only in Star Wars.

Now I was Tessa McConnell, average eighth-grader. I had a best friend named Erek King, an android. Now I believed in aliens and had proof of intelligent robots right across the street.

I thought about this for a moment.

My best friend is an android.

Hmm. That would make a good title for a movie, or at least a book. Too bad the only thing I could write was music. Maybe someday I'd get someone to write it for me.

I sighed, stood up, and went outside. My dog, a border collie named Coco, ran up to me, a Frisbee in her mouth. She wagged her tail happily.

Now, ordinarily I would have said something like, "Not now, Coco. It's getting late, and I should probably start on my English homework."

But now, I looked at her, at her happy, bright doggy face, and I thought of the Pemalites. I smiled and knelt down.

"You want to play?" I asked. I took the Frisbee and threw it across the yard.

Coco barked, wagged her tail, and ran after it.