Gerard looked up at his mother. He was grasping her leg tightly, tears streaming down his pink cheeks. She ruffled his dark hair and pried him off, despite his cries of protest.

"You'll be fine, honey. I promise." Gerard stared at her, hugging his backpack to his chest, fat tears dripping to the sidewalk.

"But, what if no one likes me?" he kicked at the sidewalk, scattering stones, his light-up sneakers glowing.

"I'm sure you'll make some friends. Just be nice, that's all." She kissed his forehead and grabbed his hand, leading him into the building. The parking lot was practically empty because they were late. They were late because Gerard made himself sick with worry and hid under the bed. It took an hour of his mother's coaxing and the promise of new crayons to get him out.

"Come on, Gee. Let's go make you some friends." They entered the building, the air inside cool from the air conditioner. About fifteen kids inhabited the room, some finger painting at multicoloured tables, some playing with toys. Nobody sat alone.

The teacher, a young woman in a pencil skirt and black hair dye, came over. Even though she was smiling, Gerard hid behind his mother, trembling. They began to talk, and for a second, Gerard thought he was safe, that he had been forgotten. Then his mother called his name.

"Gee, sweetie, this is your teacher, Ms Heffer." He grabbed his mother's leg again as Ms Heffer bent down, kneeling in front of him.

"Gerard, would you like to come play with the other kids?" He shook his head, feeling tears come again. His mother placed her hand on his head.

"Mommy's gotta go now, baby. You be good, okay?" She knelt down and hugged him.

"Mommy! Don't leave!" he cried, but it was too late. The teacher was tending to a little girl who had dumped paint in her hair, and his mother was gone. He was all alone.

Sniffling, he went over to a corner and sat before starting to cry. He had known nobody would want to be his friend, and his mom had just left him. Getting an idea, he opened up his backpack. On top of everything else sat his action figures, his only friends. They always made him feel better. He began to play with them, making up stories, and after a while he didn't feel so alone. He played in his hiding spot through snack time, undisturbed, until a voice distracted him.

He looked up, expecting Ms Heffer, expecting to be yelled at for wandering away. Instead, a boy was looking down at him. He had dark brown hair, much like his own, and was wearing a Batman t-shirt. This caught Gerard's eye.

"Why are you sitting on your own?" asked the boy. He looked genuinely concerned. "Don't you have any friends?" Gerard shook his head and pulled his toys closer to himself. "Well, I'll be your friend. Do you want to meet my friends?" The boy stretched out his hand to pull up Gerard. He hesitated at first, but let the boy pull him to his feet. He stuffed his action figures back into his bag. "I'm Frankie," said the boy, his face spread into a grin.

"I'm Gerard, but everyone calls me Gee," replied Gerard. He was staring down at his sneakers. The other boy's hazel eyes lit up.

"I like that name. Now, come on!" Without warning, Frankie had grabbed his hand and was pulling him towards some boys. Gerard stumbled over his own feet as Frankie dragged him. "Ray! Bob! Look, I found another boy!"

In front of them were tow boys. One had blonde hair and was playing with a plastic drum. The other had curly, brownish hair and was smiling, his hands dripping with finger paint. "This is Gee," Frankie said, his entire face proud.

The boy with the curly hair jumped up. "Hi, Gee!" He reached out his hand to shake, but quickly realized it was covered in red paint. The same paint was splattered on his face and in his hair. "I'm Ray. I'm five." He showed five fingers on other, clean hand, before dunking it into a pot of blue paint.

"And I'm Bob." Gerard looked over to see the boy with the drum. He was hitting it, making a lot of noise, his mouth turned up into a grin. "I like making noise."

Ray and Bob turned back to their own activities. Frankie grabbed Gerard's hand again and sat him down. He pulled out his backpack and began to show Gerard some of his toys, from his action figures to his colouring books. They began to draw pictures, making up stories to go along with them.

In what seemed like seconds, Gerard's mother showed up. He looked at her with big eyes and begged her to stay with Frankie. She tried to explain that Frankie would have to go home, too that they would see each other in the morning. After various protests and a few tears, she finally got Gerard out of the building.

That night, Gerard dreamed, but he dreamed of playing with Frankie, Bob and ray again. H couldn't wait for school the next day.

The next morning, at school, Ms Heffer gathered all the kids in a circle. Gerard, Frankie, Bob and Ray all sat side by side, talking loudly to each other.

When everyone was quiet, Ms Heffer said that they were going to play a game, a game to get to know each other. They would go around the circle and say what they wanted to be when they grew up.

They went around the circle, getting answer like 'Spaceman' and 'Vet.' When they got to Gerard, he blushed, scared of how people would react. He looked up at everyone and said his answer clearly, smiling.

"I wanna be an artist," he said proudly. His pride soon vanished as kids began to laugh and started to say mean things. A girl across the room said and artist was a dumb job, and a b oy called him stupid. Beside him, Frank stood up.

"Being an artist is NOT STUPID!" he yelled, looking down at Gerard, who was crying. I wanna be a rockstar. My daddy said that a rockstar is an artist. Are rockstars stupid?" He sat down and put his arm around Gerard. "I think being an artist is awesome, Gee." He wrapped Gerard into a hug before they were released to go and play.

That was when he realized that Frank was his best friend, and would probably be forever.

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