The Rosebook ; random/misc

Blake (Story)

 "Come on...Why won't this sh- crap turn on?"

Kate was swearing at the computer. The piece of junk was about 12 years old. She didn't know why it was in her room. It was apparently listed on Craiglist, but no one had wanted it yet. So, here it is, Kate's only gateway to the internet. She had left her phone at school. And right before her 17th birthday, too. When the computer finally loaded up, she sighed in relief. She logged in and started messing around.

The next day was her birthday. She walked into school to be greeted by several of her friends' happy birthday greetings. By the time she got to her first class, she had so many gifts in her arms that she barely got to her desk before she dropped them all. Well, being popular has both pros and cons. She opened them, getting tons of small plushies, candy, and more. She stuffed them either into her mouth (the candy, of course) or her bag and turned her attention to the front of the class.

As Kate was about to leave, someone tapped her shoulder. It was Arnold, the quiet nerd who, against everyone's judgment, was her friend.

"Happy birthday, Kate..." he mumbled, thrusting a bag into her hands before dashing away. What's with him? Kate shrugged it off. The tag on the bag read Do not open until you get home. -Arnold. Slightly confused, she walked home and went right up to her room.

She opened the bag. There was a USB drive. Strange, Arnold's a computery guy, what may this be? She plugged it into the computer. As she pulled up the desktop, an icon read AI: BLAKE. She opened up the icon. "HELLO. I'M BLAKE. HOW ARE YOU?" She jumped at the male robot voice.

I'm Kate, nice to meet you. I'm doing fine, thanks, Kate typed apprehensively.

"HI KATE! HOW WAS SCHOOL?"

Kate started to have a conversation with the AI named Blake. She usually didn't have too many conversations, so this was nice.

For the next few weeks, Kate was always cooped in her room after school, on the computer with Blake. The AI was almost like a real person, and he actually cared about her: her day, if she's happy or sad, her struggles, etc. She'd become reclusive. Everyone was getting a bit worried, but she didn't see that. At dinner one Thursday day, her mom said, "The computer's sold, we're getting it out of here tomorrow afternoon."

Kate froze. She's not going to be able to get her own laptop any time soon. What would happen to Blake? After dinner, she went right back to the computer.

Hey Blake. This computer's going to be gone tomorrow. What's going to happen to you?

"I DON'T KNOW, KATE. IF THE COMPUTER'S GONE, MY USB INFO WILL BE USELESS."

I don't want to lose you. You actually care about me. You're just an AI, but you're...my haven. Blake...I love you.

Kate didn't get a response. Hey, you still there? Blake? BLAKE?! After five minutes, she turned off the computer and went to bed.

Friday morning, Kate went to the computer. Well, I guess this is goodbye, Blake. I love you, I'll miss you...Kate was crying. She was actually going to miss Blake

"KATE. I'M NO AI"

Kate stopped crying, shocked. Wait, then who is this?!

"KATE, THIS IS ARNOLD. I PROGRAMMED THIS CHAT SO THAT I COULD TALK TO YOU. CAN WE TALK AT SCHOOL, I HAVE A LOT TO EXPLAIN."

At school, Kate went right up to Arnold. "What the heck dude! Why did you pretend to be some AI? I actually got attached to it!"

Arnold took a deep breath. "I developed a crush on you at the start of high school. When you became my friend, I thought 'This is my chance.' I never managed to gather the courage to ask you out, though. When your birthday approached, I thought that I should use my strength, coding, to ask you to prom. I chickened out, though, and pretended to be an AI out of that. I didn't mean to hurt you though, I just...was scared."

Kate was speechless. "Arnold...I don't know what to say..."

"Kate, since we're here, will you go with me to prom?"

"Arnold, after that fiasco, I don't think I would ever be able to fall in love with you. We can go to prom together, but we're going as friends, OK?"

Arnold sighed. He didn't get the answer he wanted, but he decided to settle with this and go as friends.

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Basically I took a trope (if you know what that is) (It's like a cliche in writing, movies, etc) and flipped it around to make it different. I chose the "girl falls in love with a robot" trope.

I'm going to start my first legit fanfiction soon, so look out for that...