Star-Crossed by Loren Bailey

Author:Loren Bailey [Bailey, Loren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: AI, AI High, Artificial Intelligence, Darby Creek, Fiction, High School, Hi-Lo, Hi-Lo Fiction, Robot, Robots, Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Young Adult Science Fiction, Science, Science & Technology, Technology, Social Themes, Prejudice, Racism, Courage, Dating, Differences, Families, Family, Family & Relationships, Family and Relationships, Friend, Friends, Friendship, Loren Bailey, Love, Overcoming Adversity, Overcoming Obstacles, Relationship, Relationships, Romance, Romantic Relationships, School, Star-Crossed, Teen, Teenagers, Teens
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2019-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

8

Reid

For Reid’s fourth photo, he asked Alyssa to meet him in the park in his neighborhood on a Friday night. Most androids didn’t go to the park very often yet, as the concept of enjoying nature for the sake of enjoying it was still a bit unfamiliar to them. But Reid liked spending time there. He wasn’t surprised to find the small grassy clearing was empty when he arrived.

“Hey,” Alyssa said behind him, a little breathless as she jogged up to him. “Sorry, I told my parents I was going to see a movie with a friend, and I stopped to buy a ticket just in case.”

His eyebrows raised. “You went to all that trouble? Why?”

“So I can leave the ticket stub in my trash.” She shrugged, trying to look casual.

“Your parents check your garbage can?”

“I don’t know, actually,” Alyssa said. “But John is a cop, so you never know. And this way if they go snooping around, then I’ll have some evidence.”

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why do you have to do that?”

She breezed past him, grabbing the camera bag from his shoulder and striding through the cool grass into the clearing. “So what are we doing here? Taking some kind of artsy nighttime shot?” she joked. She was clearly avoiding his question.

Reid decided he would let her—for now. “Not many of us come here,” he explained. “When we moved into the neighborhood, it was the biggest surprise. None of us had ever lived somewhere with a space just dedicated to trees and grass and the earth. It’s a very . . . human concept.”

Alyssa grew quiet as he spoke. She pulled the camera out of its bag and looped the strap around her neck.

Reid looked up. They were far away enough from the city lights, so the stars gleamed brightly against the black of the night sky. “Sometimes I like to come here, to remind myself.”

“Remind yourself of what?”

“That even with the most advanced technology, the most developed AI science has ever seen, we’re still so small compared to all that,” he gestured up to the starry sky. “My brother loves to talk about how superior we are to humans. He thinks it makes him significant. I’m okay with being insignificant.”

There was a flash of light in the corner of his eye. After a couple seconds, he turned to see Alyssa crouched on one knee with the camera angled up at him.

“The Glory of Insignificance,” she said quietly. He smiled at the title.

Alyssa moved to get up, but before she could Reid dropped to the ground beside her. He grabbed the camera from her and put it away, then stretched his legs out in front of him.

They didn’t speak for several minutes, each taking in the quiet sounds throughout the park—the gentle breeze stirring the trees, a small stream trickling, the crickets chirping in the taller grass. Without even thinking about it, he knew there were four crickets total. If needed, he could have told Alyssa exactly how far away each cricket was from them and the note of each chirp.

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