Description: He had been so kind, helping her out when no one else would. Perhaps she had another friend in this place.

AN: This is set when they're kids- about 7/8, I'd say. It's basically how Gina becomes friends with Nick, Toby and Lucas.

The day had started off quite normally at Venture Falls Junior School. All that could be heard was the sound of teachers droning as they attempted to teach their students their multiplication tables or the different phonics.

Gina sat in her chair, not paying attention to the teacher. The seat next to her, which was usually occupied by Jessica, was empty. Jessica was Gina's best and only friend in the school but she had a dentist appointment and wouldn't be back until lunch. This meant that Gina would be all alone for another three hours.

The bell rang and the teacher dismissed them, after telling them not to be late back to class. Gina picked up her book and walked out the classroom very quickly. She looked around before heading outside and plopping down under a large tree that would give her some shade as she read.

Just as she was starting to relax and enjoy the quiet, a cruel voice cut through the air, "Well, well, boys, look who it is!" Gina's mouth went dry. She could recognize that voice anywhere.

Ike Pinkney stood in front of her, surrounded by his lackeys. Each of them wore menacing expressions. Gina looked Ike squarely in the eye, trying not to show that she was terrified. She was, though. They terrorized her wherever she went and she was afraid of going places alone. That was why she was so worried about Jessica not being there; she was the only one who would ever stick up for her and help her.

"What do you want, Ike?" she asked, trying to sound calm even though her heart was thumping in panic.

"You're in our spot! Move!" Ike said rudely. Gina, not wanting to give in so easily, remained where she was. He would have to do much more than yell at her. His lackeys then joined in with shouts of:

"Are you deaf or something?"

"Yeah, you heard him! Move!"

Gina shook her head. "I wasn't aware that you owned this spot, Ike. I don't see your name anywhere so there's no reason why I can't sit here, right?" It was a dangerous move and she knew it but somehow she was filled with reckless bravado like the hero in... her book!

Ike had picked up her treasured book and said cruelly, "I don't see anyone around to help you, do you?" She lowered her head, knowing that he was right. "That's right, because you don't have any friends! The only reason Jessica is friends with you is because she feels sorry for you!"

Gina's eyes widened and she said in a trembling voice "That's not true!" Ike was just playing with her head and she wasn't going to believe a word he said.

Ike, however, seemed to know that he had hit a nerve and continued to taunt her. Gina ignored him but she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep up the façade.

Just then, she heard the sound of ripping paper. She looked up and saw Ike ripping up her precious book. Her eyes pricked with tears but she wouldn't let them fall.

"Oops, look what I did!" Ike laughed meanly before running off, still laughing, with his lackeys.

The pages of her book fluttered in the breeze and Gina, knowing she would never be able to catch them all, finally let the tears fall. That book had been the most treasured possession she owned and now it was gone.

Meanwhile Lucas, along with his friends Toby and Nick, was just walking out onto the campus grounds. None of them had heard the confrontation between Ike and Gina. As they approached the door, Ike came running through, laughing loudly to his lackeys.

"Did you see her face? I bet she's blubbering like a baby right now!" His gaze fell upon the three friends. "Out of the way, weirdos!" They quickly complied, none of them in the mood to deal with Ike Pinkney.

"What was that about?" Toby asked, mystified.

"I don't know." Nick replied simply.

The three friends walked outside and were greeted by the glare of the sun, pieces of paper flying around and the sounds of a girl crying. Lucas managed to catch one of the pages as it fluttered towards him. "Hey!" he exclaimed, holding the page out. "It looks like a page of a book!"

Toby and Nick both peered at the page and then looked up at Lucas. "You're right, Lucas!" Nick said, looking at the page. "I wonder which book it came from?"

Toby, still hearing the sound of crying, turned around and saw someone curled up on the ground sobbing. "Maybe it's their book?" he suggested. "We should try and get the pages back!"

"Good idea!" Lucas agreed and Nick nodded.

For the next ten minutes, the three boys raced back and forth across the campus grounds, each of them collecting pages as they did so. Their piles grew until there were no more pages to collect. They exchanged hi-fives, before each picking up a pile.

Lucas, followed by Toby and Nick, started to move toward the sobbing girl who, as they got closer, they realized was Gina. All three of them were laden with the pages. She looked up at them as they approached and her eyes widened with surprise.

"Hey, Gina," Lucas spoke and handed her his pile of pages. "We managed to get them all back, I think." He looked at her, seeing her tear-streaked face. "What happened?"

"Ike, I'm guessing," Toby interjected. "Wasn't he all "I bet she's blubbering like a baby right now!""

Gina nodded sadly and Lucas frowned. There was no need to pick on other people, especially when they couldn't defend themselves and there was no one to stand up for them.

"T-Thank you for bringing the pages back for me." Gina said shyly. "No one has ever done anything kind like that for me before, except Jessica."

"No problem." All three of them said in unison.

"If you ever need help, you know where to find us." Nick began.

Gina couldn't believe it. They were being so nice and kind. She hadn't thought that anyone in the school knew how to be kind. "Do you really mean it?"

"What are friends for?" Lucas and Toby said together.

"You want to be my friends?" she asked, looking at them all as they nodded. "Well, if you want, I mean I've never really had many friends before."

Lucas smiled at her kindly. "Well, you have us and Jessica now. We'll help each other out, right?"

"Right!" they all said together.

As they all walked back inside, Gina felt that, with the help and kindness of her new friends, she could make it through anything, even Ike Pinkney's taunts. Perhaps she wasn't alone in the world after all.