DISCLAIMER: I do not own Despicable Me.

Chapter 1

The Cold Saturday

"Hello, McDonald's. How may I take your order?"

"One MugChicken - plain! - a cheeseburger, three small fries, twenty-piece McNuggets, and a plain Filet-O-Fish."

"Daaaaaaaaaad."

"Please." Gru rolled his eyes affectionately at his three girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes.

The woman bagged their orders and handed them to Gru. "Please come again!"

"Thanks."

Gru tossed the bags into the backseat. "Okay, gorls, eat up."

"Yay!" cried Agnes, grabbing a chicken nugget.

"Do you know what's in there?" Edith asked. "It's called - "

"Don't tell her, Edith." Margo shook her head as she took a bite of the cheeseburger.

"Awww." Edith pulled up her pink cap and grabbed the Filet-O-Fish. "Can I have some fwies, dad?" she said through a mouthful.

"In the yellow bag."

Edith opened it up. The heavenly smell of fried potatoes filled the car.

"Mmmm, yummy!" said Agnes.

The Grus were grabbing a quick breakfast. It was a cold Saturday in February, and they were driving around, deciding what to do.

"Where do you want to go, gorls?" Gru said, stopping for a red light.

Margo was reading a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book and didn't answer.

"Winter Wonderland?" Agnes suggested. She'd always wanted to go there. At school, she'd heard from friends on how incredible it was. She hugged Superfluffy, anticipating.

"I don't know about that, sweetie." Gru sailed through the sea of traffic with one of his great inventions - the Cutter. "It's supposed to rain today."

"Awww," Agnes whined. She turned sadly to Superfluffy and patted it. "Don't worry. We'll go some other time."

"How about we Rollerblade in the park?" said Edith. "I heard Sandy's going to be there, and we could bring along Dave and Steve." Sandy was Edith's best friend.

"Yeah, that sounds fine," said Gru.

"Fine," Margo murmured, pulling out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Agnes asked her, leaning over to read what she was texting.

"Texting my friend," Margo replied.

"Who?" Agnes asked.

"Avery Barrett."

"Cool."

That was the end of the conversation.

The Grus pulled up to the park. Agnes got out, stretching, Edith rolled out, and Margo stumbled out, still looking at her phone.

"Gimme that, it's ruining everything," Gru said, snatching it out of her hands. "At least look at where you're going!"

"Sorry." Margo walked steadily to the slide when she felt her heart pound with nervousness.

There stood a boy. Messy brown hair, pale skin, shiny white teeth, and the most intense brown eyes she had ever seen. He was holding hands with a girl maybe Edith's age, and the girl was laughing and singing along with him.

She had to know his name.

"Ooh-ooh, Margo's starstruck!" Edith teased, pointing at her sister, who was now walking over bravely to the boy and his family. Agnes giggled.

The boy caught Margo's eye. He smiled. "Hey."

"Hi," said Margo numbly. "I'm Margo..."

"Oh no, oh no. This is bad, very bad." Gru slapped his forehead and shook his head. "Get over here, honey! Margo! Ma-a-a-argo!"

She paid no attention to him.

"I'm Jack," the boy said. "Jack Overland."

Margo just stood there, her mouth hanging open. "I'm Margo..."

"How about we talk alone?" Jack suggested, taking her hand.

Meanwhile, Agnes had found a playmate.

She spotted a curly-haired girl patting the sand. Agnes approached her, dragging Superfluffy along. "Hi!"

The girl looked up, startled. Then she relaxed. "Hi," she said shyly. Agnes liked her at once - especially since her smile seemed to have pure sunlight in it and she had hair like a princess. It was curly and the color of melted gold.

"What's your name?" Agnes continued excitedly.

"Cassandra," the girl said.

"I'm Agnes!" she said in a cheery tone, holding out her hand. She sat down next to her. "Can I play with you?"

"Sure," Cassandra said, looking relieved that Agnes wasn't about to trample her. "I'm making a sand-cake. I'm pretending to be a Pilgrim."

"Okay!" said Agnes, sitting down next to her and grabbing a handful of sand. "Can I make one too?"

"Yeah," said Cassandra, handing her the spade. "You can borrow this."

"Thanks!" Agnes was so happy to find a friend.

Edith liked to follow Margo around - she was an idol to her, but she found the conversation between her sister and Jack complicated and boring. She wandered off, kicking the stones and playing at the strings that hung from her hat. She sat down by the slide, feeling neglected. Edith sighed with longing at the sight of Agnes and Cassandra laughing, covered with sand, together.

She looked down at the ground and started to trace a drawing with her finger.

Edith gazed upward, expecting to see a blue sky and a few clouds, but instead saw a skinny little girl, not older than she, missing her two front teeth and with freckles. "GAH!" she yelled, jumping back. "I didn't hear you coming up to me."

"Sorry," the girl apologized. "I'll never get any friends if I sneak up on them." Her face suddenly lit up, and she held out her hand. "I'm Emma Overland!"

"Edith," she said, shaking her hand. When they let go, she said "Hey, do you like shooting games?" seeing Emma's black shirt with a rifle on the design.

"Yeah!" Emma replied. "I especially like Duck Hunting 3."

"Me too," said Edith. "Let's play shooting games here."

"Sure," said Emma.

They set out into the grass, away from the sand. "Oh, wait," Emma said. She ran back to the picnic table her parents were sitting at. "I forgot these." She rummaged in a big green bag and emerged with two plastic guns.

"Okiedoke, I think we're ready," she said.

Edith grabbed one gun and Emma grabbed the other. They both hid behind the trees and skillfully shot at each other. They continued this until the day was over, and it was time to go home.

"Gorls!" Gru called. "Time to go!"

"Awwwww!" they chorused, getting up.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," said Margo to Jack.

"That's okay," he said. He handed her a slip of paper. "I was waiting to give this to someone special. Call me, okay?"

Jack Overland

181-267-8862

Margo was stunned. A boy, giving her his own number! She wished she'd come prepared. "Mine is 888-613-4444. Ask for Margo Gru. One of our minions will probably answer it."

"Minions?" said Jack, but he decided not to question further. He smiled. It was a sweet, goofy smile, and Margo thought she had never seen anything more beautiful.

They parted.

"Gorls!" Gru called. "Time to go!"

"Awwwww!" they chorused, getting up.

"Gotta go!" said Agnes, giving Cassandra a tight hug. "See you later! Maybe we could have a playdate?"

"Okay," replied Cassandra. "I'll ask my mom."

"You have our address, right? My dad said I could give it to you."

"Right here." Cassandra held up her hand. Scribbled in pen was the Grus' address.

Agnes held up her own hand.

Cassie's Address

152 Merlin St.

USA

Planet Earth

was written there. "See you later, alligator!"

"In a while, crocodile!"

They hugged one more time and separated.

"Bam, bam, bam, bam!" Edith clicked her rifle, reloaded, clicked and reloaded and clicked and reloaded. She stared at Emma in disappointment. "You're dead now, Em! Come on."

"No I'm not." Emma came out of the blueberry bush she was hiding in and walked up to Edith.

"But I shot you eight times!" Edith said.

"I was using my bonus health packs," explained Emma, indicating a large battery. "That means you can't get shot for a full minute."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Shooters never tell secrets to the enemy," said Emma, smiling slyly.

Edith grinned. She was about to say something more when she heard her father's voice.

"Gorls!" Gru called. "Time to go!"

"Awww!" Edith said. She gave Emma a quick pat - her way of hugging - and smiled. "See you later, Emma. I know Margo has your brother's number, so let's not exchange."

"Okay, that's fine."

"Gorls! Come on!" Gru was getting impatient.

"Bye!" Edith ran off into the car, waving to Emma.

A/N: Okay, so how did you like that? Huh? Please review, I like reviews. Thanks!