BULLIED 2

Submission 1157

I'm not proud to say I have been bullied before. It's not something I like to parade around as a label. Actually, I didn't even know I was getting bullied in the first place.

I'll tell you this, not everyone is a superhero. No one has to come and wave their flag as some mighty savior. Because each breath you take won't cause the bully to go away. I was scared once upon a time. Scared of the bully.

People say that you should stand up for yourself or others when a bully approaches. It's really hard, though. It's not that easy. I have had counselors face me, shifting nervously, trying to explain the bullying situation to me. How to defend myself.

Do you know how hard it is to build a fortress around myself when all I have is plastic bubbles?

In Ender's Game, they say the more you understand the enemy, the more you love them.

It's true.

Fifth grade.

I had a friend who was a girl. She's part of the reason why I still have friends and why she isn't my friend.

She wondered what was sex and asked me straight out.

I didn't know she was manipulating me.

I told her I didn't because my parents never bothered with the birds and bees talk when I grew boobs early in fourth grade. I had no idea, honestly.

At the time, there was this overweight kid that no one really liked. I didn't know about this kid - since I was the new kid on the block. Being nice to him was my first mistake. He started complimenting me and invading my personal space. I didn't want to say anything to make the sensitive guy cry.

My friend started pushing me to other social circles, trying to burst my tumid bubble.

As a fifth grader, I was timid and shy towards girls. I was a girl, but I didn't know how to talk to them. Boys were easier, since we talked about video games and playing ball.

I did get friends out if this arrangement. I'm still friends with them.

But the girl started teasing me in front of them. I assumed she was only JKing. All of us laughed it off, thinking it was typical. Mind you, I had never had genuine friends and thought it was okay.

The jokes got worse. She started telling me that I would have sex with the overweight boy (poor him, he didn't know that I didn't like him in that way) and make babies. She confided in me and I confided in her, telling me about my fancy for a certain popular boy in our class (he had a crush on one of my friends).

The worse thing was, she started saying that she was "fat," that she needed to lose weight. I started looking in the mirror and comforted her. She practically fed off of the attention. This later affected me in middle school, the weight problem, although we went to different schools.

When we hit middle school, she started turning her back on me, seeing that I wasn't in the same middle school. My friends that I had elementary, we kept in touch, since we had the same

Problem of not being in the same school. They soon learned the price of having a friend bully them mercilessly. We grew stronger. At my new middle school, I became friendless and booksmart. I absorbed my books and education effortlessly.

And that was the end of my bully problem. I haven't came across any yet. And I hope to keep it that way!