"Alright, class! I have an announcement to make." Miss Maybeth was standing in front of the classroom, her hands on a little boy's shoulders.

"This is our new student. His name is Ryan and I hope you will all make him feel welcome." Greg rolled his eyes.

"Why is it when new kids come in we gotta be nice to them? When they aren't new anymore, we'll just be mean anyway." Greg whispered to Jimmy, who rolled his eyes.

"That's because some of us aren't mean." Jimmy stated, and Greg laughed.

"Like i believe that. Hey! Let's go welcome ourselves to the new kid." Before Jimmy could reply, Greg was making his way to Ryan.

"You the new kid?" The little boy looked startled, but he nodded.

"Yeah. I'm new to the country too. I'm from Australia." Robbie's head perked up at the word Australia.

"Great. Another kid who's gonna talk weird." Greg sighed.

"Hey, Ryan, do you wanna come over and play with us?" Jimmy changed the subject.

"No thanks. I want to stay here and read."

"He reads too?! What a freak." But Jimmy had already pulled Greg away. Robbie couldn't help but sneak glances at Ryan. Ryan was really cute; his had well taken care of sandy blonde hair and forest green eyes. At this point, Robbie was staring. Ryan caught him and smiled.

"Hello."

"Oh! Hi. Sorry." Robbie lowered his head and stared at the desk.

"You Australian, too?" Robbie nodded.

"So, when did you move here?" Ryan moved closer to Robbie, who was blushing.

"Uh, when I was two." Ryan nodded. The two boys looked into each others eyes and stopped talking. Just then, Greg saw what was happened.

"What are those two doing?" He asked Jimmy, who shrugged.

"I guess Robbie has a new friend. Why does it matter?"

"Nobody talks to my Robbie." Greg mumbled, and walked away before Jimmy could ask him what he just said. He didn't want to be obvious, so he stirred up a plan.

"Allie! Come here!" The little girl skipped over to Greg.

"Go over there and ask Robbie to play."

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to." She looked over at Robbie, then back to Greg.

"Why?"

"I'll stop being so mean to you."

"OK!" She skipped over to Robbie and asked him to do something with her. Like I'll keep that promise, he smirked. Finally, Ryan was alone. Greg walked over to him.

"So I see you are getting very comfortable with Robbie." He scared Ryan again, who jumped.

"Yeah, he's my new friend." Greg laughed and shook his head.

"I don't think so." Ryan was confused.

"Why not?"

"Because Robbie is mine, and I don't share. Go find someone else. There are plenty of other kids."

"But Robbie is Australia."

"Then go back to Australia!" Ryan got upset, and ran to the nearest group of people. Greg was feeling very triumphant and smiled at his victory.

"Where did Ryan go?" Robbie asked when he finally returned.

"Oh, he got bored with you and wanted new friends." Greg said nonchalantly, staring at a book that was in front of him.

"I don't get it." Robbie frowned. "He was so fun. And he was-"

"If you say that word, I swear I will smack you." Robbie closed his mouth. Finally, after a moment of silence, Robbie asked, "Greg, are you my friend?"

"Me? No. Of course not. I don't have friends." He shooed off the comment. Robbie nodded, as though he understood, and Greg was amazed. How easy people are, he thought. Just as Jimmy walked by, he whispered "Never work in the public." To Greg, who threw a ball at his head.