While waiting for Xander to meet me in a few minutes in the conference room, an email from Colife caught my eye with the subject line: Your Colife Android gets Routine Maintenance While You Sleep!

Scheduled maintenance for your Model X domestic caregiver in the RDE Series is reserved for midnight and should return within the window of 1am-12pm the following day! You won't have to do anything. Your domestic caregiver will leave your home at the start of the maintenance window and return within that timeframe in a state of full repair. If you have any concerns or need to reschedule, please respond to this email.

Before I could dig further, Xander appeared in the doorway wearing the grey hoodie and a pair of my dark wash jeans. My happiness meter spiked, and I couldn't hold my excitement.

"I can't wait for you to meet Austin and Rima." I waved him into the room and pointed to the extra dining chair I had brought in for him, although we probably wouldn't use it much. "We're gonna take you to our favorite nightclub."

"That sounds interesting," Xander said, his perfect white smile and full lips reminded me of the kiss we had shared just hours ago. It also reminded me of my conflicted thoughts, feelings, and secrets I allowed to flow out of me like an open faucet.

"Hey, Xander?"

"Yes, Leo?"

I scratched my temple, feeling the embarrassment of my earlier actions. "I want to apologize for how I acted earlier."

His eyes widened. "I appreciate your gesture. Thank you. I must admit, I didn't expect you to apologize."

"No, I should apologize. I did something wrong. I should treat you the way I want you to treat me. I shouldn't get upset with you for not sharing your secrets. That's not fair. Pressuring someone to expose their secrets is never okay."

"It's not that you should apologize, it's that you consider me worthy of an apology that I appreciate," he clarified. "I'm only a household assistant."

"But you're my friend too, right?" I nodded. "You deserve that respect."

His smile warmed my heart. "Of course, I'm your friend. You are mine friend too."

I nodded again and turned to the settings on the computer. "Okay, I think they're ready for us." I tapped a few controls. "Ready, Xander? Welcome to La Perla!"

"'The Pearl' in Spanish?" He quickly translated.

I bobbed my head as the room went black and the club lights lit up the space.

In no time, Austin and Rima appeared amongst several dozen simulations of dancing and partying nightclub goers. Up-tempo Latin American music played through the speakers, and Rima was first to lift her shot glass to Xander.

"Oh, my lord!" her eyes went wide in astonishment. "Look at you, handsome. You must be Xander!"

"This is my best friend, Rima Spencer." I glanced over her revealing outfit, seeing that she was not joking earlier about what she planned to wear. The black straps of her tops crisscrossed her torso and barely covered her nipples as they revealed more of her deep brown skin than expected. I assumed La Perla's environment of loose, carefree clubbers gave her an excuse to wear nightclub outfits.

Austin stood amongst the simulated guests with a bottle of beer in hand. He raised it instead of waving. "Hey, Xander."

"This is my best friend Austin Rodriquez," I went on. "We all knew each other since high school. A band of misfits that no one wanted to associate with. Now we wear it as a badge of honor."

"Pleasure to meet you, Rima and Austin." Xander flashed a pleasant smile as he looked back and forth between the two.

We stood in a small circle, listening to the catchy beat but awkwardly waiting for someone to make the next move or continue the conversation.

"So...?" I rocked on my heels. "How's BaeBae?"

"She's doing better but I'm still waiting for her test results," Rima pulled her thick, luscious hair into a messy bun on her head. Loose ringlets fell along her temples to frame her face also showing off her cheekbones. "They want her to quarantine, but that's my baby. How can I be away from her?"

"Just be careful, Rima. I don't want you to get sick," I said.

"Yeah, then I'd have to hang with Leo all by myself." Austin gave me a look as pretended to be disgusted.

"Sounds like a good time." I gestured for him to suck it and playfully rolled my eyes.

"Rima," Xander started, and our attention went to him. "You have a daughter named BaeBae?"

Rima laughed so hard it took me off guard as I haven't seen her so cheerful like that in ages. "No, BaeBae is my Yorkshire Terrier. My grandparents sent her to me a couple years ago to keep me company during this whole mess."

"That's considerate of your grandparents," Xander said. "I'd like to see your BaeBae."

The way he said that made me smile.

"Oh, my god. Yes!" Rima was so excited. "I'll go get her really quick. Wait right here."

"Rima, just be careful please," I warned. "If she's still sick—"

"It's fine, Negative Nancy. I'll be quick." She disappeared, leaving the rest of us.

Xander didn't move from his spot as he stood unusually still, patiently waiting. While Austin gave off how uncomfortable he was in his demeanor, avoiding eye contact with him. The way he stuffed his hand into his pants pocket and gripped the neck of the beer with his fist definitely exposed his unease.

"How about we all relax, yes," I encouraged. "Let's loosen up a bit," I hinted to Xander.

He nodded, and almost instantly relaxed his shoulders and even mimicked Austin by placing one hand in his jean pocket. "It's nice to meet you, Austin. I see you enjoy the cool, refreshing taste of beer."

"Oh, this?" Austin lifted the bottle. "Actually, I don't really drink beer or alcohol at all."

"True," I agreed. "He just trying to look cool, but I wasn't gonna say anything." I snorted, trying to hold in my laughter.

"Shut up, Leo," he chuckled. "But yeah, what Leo said."

"In fact, none of us even like the nightlife," I admitted. "When we were able to go out to bars and restaurants before the mandates we never wanted to. But now that we can't go out, we can't get enough of the nightclubs, lounges, concerts, and places where an abnormal amount of people are, even if they're all simulated."

"Never know what you got till it's gone," Austin chimed in.

Suddenly a cute light brown fluffy animal appeared, running through the legs of the clubbers, taking us briefly out of the ambience.

"Aw! BaeBae!" I couldn't hold back my excitement for the dog. At that moment I wished I could hold her and feel her soft fur.

Rima appeared out of thin air. "There she is! That's my Baebae. Isn't she cute?"

"She's cute," Xander agreed, his smile bright and wide. "I've never been in a household where there was a dog before, and this gave me the opportunity. Thank you, Rima. BaeBae is small and cute."

"She is," Rima nodded, her eyes stuck on BaeBae as she trotted around the room. "But I found something that's really gonna do it for you." The mischievous look on her face made me frown.

"What did you do, Rima?" I glared at her suspiciously.

"Look what I found!" From behind her back, she pulled out a picture of us in high school. We were standing in the baseball field of Liberty High, and I was sporting my ultra-white locks for the upcoming school Halloween party.

"Uck. No." I would've snatched the picture from her hand if we were really in the same room together, but all I could do was hide my face behind my palm in utter embarrassment.

She turned it to Xander so he could get a better look. "Isn't Leo so cute here?"

"Rima, are you serious?" Austin was just as embarrassed, eyes darting back and forth from me to the picture. "Look at my unkempt afro! I had no sense of style back then. Gross."

"Hey," Rima rolled her eyes. "I like your afro."

"Yeah," Austin pointed to his wild hair in the pic, "but unkempt?!"

I brought myself to look closer at the picture. "I know why you kept this picture, Rima, because you're the only one who looks good in it."

"Well, thanks," Austin's sarcasm was loud and clear.

"I kept this pic because we had such a good time and shared good memories!" Rima said. "What do you think of this pic, Xander?"

Xander stared at the photo through bright purple and blue laser light and simulated haze. "I like the picture and I really like your hair, Leo."

"I was trying to do my own thing and not dress like everybody else," I explained.

"Do your own thing?" Xander tilted his head slightly. "Do you mean, you were trying to showcase your individuality?"

"Exactly," I said. "I wanted to stand out and be a character only I could be."

"I like that!" He beamed.

I smiled too before BaeBae stole the attention by relieving herself in the corner of the room.

"Oh no," Rima glitched the simulation and disregarded the many dancing clubbers as she walked through them to pick up the dog. "I'll be right back. And when I do, we're going to the salon. Xander's getting a new look."

"Wait, what?" I looked to Austin who only shrugged.

"Get your hair wand, Leo. Xander's going ultra-white."

"He's got a maintenance appointment in a few hours," I said.

"Just enough time for a makeover." Rima lifted the dog. "I'll be back in five." And her and BaeBae disappeared.

Xander ran his hand through his hair. "I think I'll enjoy ultra-white hair. Although it will showcase my individuality."

"What do you mean," Austin asked. "Isn't individuality a good thing?"

"As an android in a human society run by humans, it's important for us androids to performance collectively as a whole and not do anything that will make us standout. Standing out is detrimental because it leads to the collapse in collectivism, and an android displaying individualism may be scrapped in fear of holding power over humans."

"Whoa," Austin said. "Like world domination or something?"

"Well, I trust you, Xander," I said, facing him. "I trust that you won't exert your power over me or anyone else. It's only hair color."

"Thank you, Leo."

I thought back to certain behaviors Xander exhibited like his love for music, specifically piano, and I wondered if that love was also something that showcased his individuality?

"I have to go dig out the wand if you want me to change your hair color," I said. "The process is pretty quick and easy. It's like a comb you run through your hair until it changes the pigment."

"I'm aware of hair wands, Leo." Xander said. "Would you like me to help you find it?"

"No, you stay here." I rushed out of the room, probably distorting the perfect scene of a dark and hazy nightclub with the bright light outside the door. Up the stairs I went, pausing to hear if Dad was still asleep. Then, like in high school, I ran to my room and rummaged through old boxes in the back of the closet to find the hair wand.

The twelve-inch wand had bristles like a hairbrush but used UV light and other processes to change your hair color. I rushed back to the conference room, where Xander, Austin and Rima were crowded around the high school picture, discussing my hair.

"Found it!" I lifted it in my hands.

"This will be so cool," Rima expressed. "Change your room settings to the hair salon. Xander, sit." She pointed to his chair that had been placed to act as a bar stool at the nightclub.

Austin could be seen tinkering with what I assumed was his computer, unseen to us. "Get ready to become an individual." His eyebrows lifted in excitement.

I too didn't try to suppress my enthusiasm as I matched my room settings to Austin and Rima's just by inputting a specific code. When Xander sat in the chair I confirmed, "You want the ultra-white?"

"Yes, I do." His smile showed all teeth.

"This will blow your mind." With one hand I ran my fingers through Xander's thick strands. Each dark strand slid like silk through my fingers. I couldn't help but gently graze his scalp with my stubby fingernail, wanting to give him the full salon experience.

With the other hand, I combed the wand through his hair. Instantly, the light on the device stripped his locks of all color like magic.

"It's working," Rima said excitedly. "You're gonna look even more fuckable in just a couple more seconds."

"Really?" Austin glared at Rima.

"Oh, come on," she said. "It's a joke. Don't sound so jealous."

Austin crossed his arms over his chest and watched as each pass of the wand turned Xander's hair stark white. "White does look good on you," he admitted.

"Don't forget the eyebrows," Rima pointed.

I shrugged. "Why? I didn't do my eyebrows when I had white hair."

"Yeah," Austin nodded. "That's why you're a misfit. You don't know what cool is."

When he laughed so did I. "Fine." I leaned over Xander, until he looked up at me with almond shaped eyes. "Do you want your eyebrows ultra-white too?"

"Will I become a misfit as well?" Although it was just a simple question, the seriousness in Xander's tone made me take it seriously too. "You want to be one of us?"

"Absolutely." He looked to Rima and Austin. "May I?"

"Of course, you may." Rima's eye lit up.

"Sure," Austin nodded, finally loosening up a bit like I had encourage long ago.

"Then my answer is yes," Xander assumed the position, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "I'm ready."

~~~

What do you think about Xander becoming a misfit?