23 What's Up With RoboCat?

Emily couldn't get the conversation she'd had with Brandon on the ride home from the arcade out of her head.

"Your friend is a total doofus. Why do we have to go out with them again?"

"He is not! Besides, he was the first friend I made after moving here so I want to be nice."

Emily didn't feel comfortable with him calling Justin a doofus. He may be awkward but it was part of his charm.

"Just because you want to be nice doesn't mean I have to waste my time on weirdos. Who spends that much time and money trying to win a lava lamp?!"

Sighing, she decided to get on Blogr and distract herself. To her surprise, RoboCat was online. It had been weeks since they were on at the same time.

'Hey, nice to know you aren't dead' she sent with a gif of a vampire rising from its coffin.

'How do you know I'm not dead?'

'Fair point, I could be talking to your ghost…'

He sent a laughing emoji. 'Don't worry, I'm still among the living. Barely. I just got home from the hospital and am not allowed to get out of bed for a day or two'

'What happened?!'

'Honestly, it's too embarrassing to tell'

Emily frowned. 'Well now I'm going to spend all night imagining every possible scenario. The truth can't be nearly as bad as the products of my imagination'

'…I got a concussion while on a sort of date. How's that for embarrassing?'

'RoboCat, you went on a date?! Was it with that girl??'

If it was she was happy for her friend. He deserved to be happy more than anyone else she knew.

'That's even more embarrassing. I was with my cousin and ran into her when she was with her boyfriend so we joined up. Then I got a concussion because I suck at anything involving movement'

Emily didn't know what to say. 'That's…really sad'

'I know. I'm destined to die alone' RoboCat sent an emoji of a damsel in distress dramatically draping herself across a chaise, which cracked her up.

'But seriously, a concussion? What did you hit your head on?'

She had been so caught off guard that he went on a date of sorts that she had momentarily forgotten that he was injured.

'What I hit it on doesn't matter, the fact that I passed out did. I'm never leaving the safety of my apartment again'

'Aw, come on, there's so much more to the outside world than athletics! Don't give up yet, RoboCat!'

'Seriously, every time I go outside I embarrass myself. I can do pretty much all of my work from home so there's no point, especially now that more restaurants are offering delivery'

'Man cannot live on takeout alone' She sent a gif of a wise old man stroking his beard philosophically.

'This one can'

Emily laughed before a serious thought struck her. 'RoboCat, do you really spend your whole life cooped up in your room or are you joking around?'

A pause. '…I really spend my whole life in my room. Since high school I have only left the house when forced'

'What about your friends? Your family?'

'I moved away for school. And I've already told you I don't really have friends'

Her heart was heavy. Everyone needed some form of human interaction. 'Then what do you have? Everybody needs somebody'

'I still talk to my family on the phone…other than that it's just coworkers and you'

Emily bit her lip. 'What about that girl?'

'I already told you she has a boyfriend. I don't have her and I probably never will'

More than anything, she wished RoboCat lived near her so she could give him a hug right now and tell him things would be okay. He had held her together with his dumb jokes and random thoughts throughout the darkest time of her life and now that he was alone and struggling she couldn't help him.

But he was on the east coast—he told her how his parents had gone nuts bragging when he got into an Ivy League school.

'For what it's worth, you still have me'

RoboCat didn't respond for a while. 'Thanks, Grape Juice'

For some reason, his response seemed sad to her. It was three words on a screen but she felt the sorrow behind them. Was he sad because his self-proclaimed only friend was a stranger on the other side of the country?

She debated before typing 'RoboCat, who are you?'

His response was slow. 'No one special'

'I'm serious. I wish I could be your friend for real'

'Grape Juice, trust me when I say that if you knew me you wouldn't want to be my friend. I knew someone very like you once. Never even saw me when I was right there'

'RoboCat, that isn't—' Emily prematurely sent her message in surprise when he logged off in the middle of their conversation.

That wasn't like him. He always said goodbye. Somehow, this felt like more of a goodbye than any of those ever had.

She sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. She would not cry over a stranger on the internet who didn't want her as a friend.