My Friend Astro

Chapter 28: The Robot Celebrity

Even though Astro knew Metro City was dangerous now, he had to admit that it was too little too late to get Riley home.

He decided to take her to a place where she'd be safe. The two teens walked down the busy streets of Metro City.

All the sudden, he stopped in his tracks.

"Riley," Astro says, "before we walk on any further, there's something you should know."

Riley's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Oh?"

"I'm kinda a celebrity here. I mean, saving the city from the Peacekeeper last year pretty much made me famous," Astro explained.

Riley smiled at him. "Famous how?"

Astro rolled his eyes playfully at her. "I don't know. Maybe Everyone-Can-Recognize-Me-Even-By-My-Silhouette kind of famous," said Astro.

"Oh! I see,"

Astro desperately tried to hold back a laugh.

Suddenly he felt someone tug his shirt. Astro turned around and noticed a woman and her daughter behind him. The woman had brunette hair and brown eyes. Her daughter looked just like her, only she had cute dimples on her rose-red cheeks.

"Hello!" the woman said, "my daughter is such a big fan."

She then looked at the 7-year-old girl who hid shyly behind her.

The woman placed her hands on the little girl's shoulders. "Come on, sweetie. Don't be shy," she said.

Astro smiled at the little girl. He bent down so he could match his height with her's.

"Hi, there," Astro said, "what's your name?"

The little girl looked shyly at him. She didn't say a word.

Astro was confused for a moment. He wondered why she wasn't saying anything.

Finally, the girl's mother spoke. "She's deaf. You don't have to talk to her. She just wanted to see you,"

To everyone's surprise, Astro did something amazing. He made signs using his hands so he could communicate with the girl. He used sign language while he talked out loud.

"Hi. I'm Astro. What's your name?" Astro says, as he spoke it in sign language.

The little girl's jaw dropped wide open. A surprised look grew on her face. She had tears of joy down her cheeks.

The little girl communicated in sign language back to him.

M-Y N-A-M-E I-S C-L-A-R-A.

Astro smiled. "Clara. That's a beautiful name," he says, while translating it in sign language to her.

Riley watched in awe as they continued communicating back and forth.

Clara then asked Astro if she could take a picture with him, and he gladly agreed.

Clara's mother took out her camera. The little girl strikes Astro's signature pose, one hand up and the other hand on her hip.

When Astro saw that, he couldn't help but laugh.

"YES!" Astro said, enthusiastically,
He did the pose with her.

The mother took the picture. She smiled at it. "Very cute!" she complimented.

When they were done, Clara immediately wrapped her arms around Astro and hugged him tightly. The robot boy hugged her back.

They ended their sweet hug.

"Thank you so much!" said Clara's mother, as she took her daughter by the hand.

Astro stood up. He smiled at her. "It was nothing. All I did was talk to her," said Astro.

He waved to Clara and her mother as they left and they waved back.

Riley stared at Astro. "Did you know you could do that?"

Astro smiled at his friend as he shrugged his shoulders. "Do what? I'm not following you," Astro jokes.

The two teens continued walking down the street.

"Did you know you knew sign language?" Riley asked.

"Well, an old friend taught me how. We communicated in sign language all the time," said Astro.

Riley seemed impressed.

"Does your dad know?"

Astro laughed at that. "Riley, he probably doesn't even know 'bout the machine guns in my butt!" he jokes once more, "of course he knows. I do have the ability to translate more than 60 languages."

"Now that is awesome! You learn something new every day," said Riley .

"Yep." The robot boy agreed.

Out of nowhere, there was a girlish scream. It wasn't a horrified scream. It was a fangirl scream.

There were a few teenage girls, about Astro's and Riley's age.

"Uh-oh!" Astro shouts.

The fangirls took off running towards him and Riley.

Astro looks over at his friend. "RUN!" he shouted.

The two teens ran away from the fangirls. They ran down the street.

"Astro! Can I marry you?" one fangirl called.

"NO! YOU CANNOT!" Astro snapped.

Then, at the right moment, Astro and Riley turned down a dark alley. The fangirls ran the opposite direction.

Riley was panting hard as she burst out laughing. "Boy, did this happen to you all the time when you lived here?" she asked.

"You mean the fangirls trying to devour me alive? Yeah," Astro jokes again.

Riley smiled and rolled her eyes. "All superheroes have fangirls!" Riley claimed.

"Come on," Astro said, "let's go see Cora and the others."