When he was 12, he nearly stood up for a friend, Billy Stockhausen, who was being bullied, but did not, and has hated himself for it ever since. In 1954, he tried reading How to Win Friends and Influence People, but the advice he gained from this book made people stay away from him even more.[2] George was probably bullied from a very early age, not just by Biff but by other classmates such as Mark Dixon.[2] He had been attracted to Lorraine for some time by 1955 (they may have met for the first time upon entering high school) but was too scared to ask her out.