Protea Artura smoothed down her frizzy hair. She wished it were long enough to pull back into a ponytail like some of the Earth girls’ hair so she’d fit in better. Her guidebook How to Make a Stellar Friend said you didn’t have to worry about looking like everyone else, but she’d feel better if she did. Ever since she arrived on earth, she’d been lonely. According to her guidebook the first thing she had to do was make a friend.

    Protea sighed. At home she never had to make her own robotic friend. Her parents gave her one, ready-made. Finding parts and all would be harder than finding cheese on the moon. Her guidebook listed three steps for making a friend. Protea scanned the Make-a-Friend steps.

    Step one: Talk to people.

    Protea’s pale lips curved upwards into a grin. “I love to talk!” she said. “I’ll talk to people and find out how to make robot friends.” She programmed her cerebral neurons for Earth languages and walked toward some girls jumping up and down to avoid a long rope.

    “Hi,” she said. The girls waved. “Do you know where I can find spare arms and legs to make a friend?” she asked.

    The girls dropped their rope and screamed. Protea stepped over the rope and tilted her head. The girls raced down the street and she was alone with just a rope to talk to.

    The guidebook had another step and Protea read it out loud: “Be yourself. You don’t need to act like you’re from another planet to get others to notice you.”

    “I can be myself!” she said. She pressed her belly button and in milliseconds her eyes turned white again; and her skin flashed its healthy green glow. She floated along the sidewalk. The earthlings around her disappeared faster than a shooting star. Their shrieks hurt Protea’s ears. It wasn’t a friendly sound. She hung her head and a pink tear rolled down her cheek and splattered on the ground. She brushed away another tear, pressed her belly button back to Earthling mode, and read her guidebook.

    “Step Three: If you are interesting and have hobbies you will make friends.” Protea had the feeling she wouldn’t be able to make a friend with quasar cooking as her hobby. She passed by a store window and stopped to look inside. Someone had tried making some friends because little humans lay on a plate. The tag next to them said Gingerbread Men.

    Protea was light years away from making a friend. She plodded across a cement field toward a human doing anti-gravity tricks with a ball.

    “Hi,” she said and he did not run away. He smiled and metallic bands around his teeth sparkled like stardust in the afternoon sun. Maybe he was a ready-made robot friend!

    “What are you doing?” she asked.

    “I’m working on my free throws,” he said.

    “Free throws? What are free throws?” Protea asked.

    “It’s when you try to throw the ball through that hoop from where I’m standing.” He nodded towards the white line beneath his feet.

    Protea watched the boy push the ball into the air. If he used more thrust and aim to oppose gravity he’d reach his target. A teacher in Space Universe City taught her that when she was its star pupil. “My name is Protea. I can show you how, if you like,” she offered.

    “Sure,” he said, as he passed her the ball and smoothed his spiked purple hair with his hand. “My name is Josh.”

    “Nice to meet you. Now… push more with your arm and guide the ball with your hand like… this,” Protea said as she aimed for the target.

    Josh placed his hands on his hips and whistled as the basketball flew like a comet through the air and dropped through the hoop. “Cool!” he said. “Hey, you want to practice with me?”

    “Okay,” Protea said. She tucked her guidebook into her star-pack.

    Protea and Josh practiced free throws until the celestial patterns changed from afternoon to evening. When she returned to her sleep hatch that night she’d beam the good news to her parents on Home Planet: “Having stellar fun with Earth-friend who is learning new hobby. Discovered most interesting factoid: Earth friends aren’t made with batteries or wires or spare parts. They’re made by talking, being yourself, and sharing! Isn’t that the coolest thing in the whole universe?”