How do you stop a bully?
I haven’t been able to figure that one out yet. Maybe because I’m not the one being bullied. But, even still, when it’s someone you care about, it can feel like a helpless situation. My friend Allen is being picked on by the biggest troublemaker in school. No one else seems to actually care. It’s got me a little stressed.
###
As soon as I walk into class, I notice the new girl everyone’s been talking about, but she’s not looking up. She’s writing or drawing in some little book. Clearly, she doesn’t want anyone speaking to her; I understand completely.
The teacher has her back to everyone as she writes: Presentations Today.
“Hey Ally,” I say, as I sit down at my desk.
“Oh, hey girl. I finished my part of the PowerPoint last night.”
“Oh, good. I was hoping you had time to work on that.”
“Sure did,” he says with a big smile as he wiggles his head back and forth a little.
The teacher turns and looks around at the class, but the bell hasn’t rung yet, and everyone isn’t here. She sees me looking at her and asks, “Elizabeth, are you two ready to present your project today?”
“Yes, miss,” I respond as I turn to look at Allen to confirm.
“Good, then you guys will go first.”
Great. We’re first, and now my stomach’s in knots. Stressed.
Then she says to no one in particular, “Okay, I have to go get my copies, be right back.”
Almost as soon as she leaves the room, Richy starts in on Allen from the hallway, wearing what seems be his favorite flannel shirt.
“Looook at Allen.”
He pretends to switch back and forth as he walks into the room. Putting his hands on his hips, saying, “Look at me, everybody. I’m so special. I wear pink and lip gloss. So, don’t call me Allen. Ewww no. Don’t you dare. I want you to call me Aaaallllllyyy.” Then he blows a kiss to the class and does a little half-twirl.
Almost everyone laughs.
Then his tone goes a little darker as he says, “You look so stupid. Like a big, stupid joke.” And he pulls Allen’s ponytail.
“Ow, stop touching me, Richy!” Allen says.
“Stop touching me,” Richy mocks.
“Knock it off! Why are you always picking on Ally? Just go away and leave him alone.” I say, trying to defend my friend.
“Shut up, Lizzie, no one’s talking to you,” says Richy.
“Jeesh. Just leave the boy alone already. You act like you like him,” says the new girl, not looking up from her book, and Richy just freezes.
He then looks at Allen with a weird look on his face, and Allen just bursts out laughing. He always laughs when he’s super nervous, and that gets him into trouble usually.
Looking up now. “Oh my God. That’s it, isn’t it? You like him. Hmpf, who’d a thought.” The new girl chimes in again as she leans back in her chair. Then she starts laughing a little too.
Richy turns bright red like he’s going to explode, and starts yelling, “Shut up! You just shut the hell up you stupid ass girl! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, I don’t really care. I just wanted you to leave that poor guy alone so I could have some peace. You’re just obnoxious,” she says matter-of-factly.
He storms up to her desk, and she watches him, unbothered. I think I even see a slight smirk on her face like she’s amused. But the rest of us are worried about what he might do next. He has a temper when people challenge him, and I worry that he’s going to hit her. He just lifts and slams her desk down instead, making the loudest noise. Still, she seems unfazed by his tantrum. She didn’t even flinch. And because of this, he bends over, gets in her face and says, “I’d watch it if I was you. You don’t know who you’re talking to.”
She just rolls her eyes as if to say ‘give me a break,’ but doesn’t actually say anything.
The teacher comes back and says, “What’s all the noise in here?” Then she sees Richy and asks, “Richard, what are you doing in here? This is not your class.”
The new girl laughs big and hard, then says, “Richard? Your name is Richard? Oh, that’s so perfect.”
Red in the face again, he simply says, “Shut up!” Then he turns around, heading out of the class.
But before he leaves, she says, “Okay, sure. I’ll shut up, as long as you stop being such a Richard,” and to that, the entire class starts cracking up.
I can’t believe it. I thought he was going to turn around and hit her for sure that time.
But all he does, before he leaves, is turn back a little and tell her that she better watch her back, and then he stomps out.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she says, then goes back to what she was doing in her little book.
Allen and I look at each other, not sure what to say. He starts doing a mini clapping gesture with his hands, wearing a huge smile, and I turn to look at the new girl. I can’t believe she just said all of that. She doesn’t even know Allen, yet she stood up for him.
Everyone else is talking about and laughing at what just happened.
“All right, settle down. Seriously, settle down. The bell has rung, and you’re on my time now,” is all our teacher says to that whole situation. Then she calls my name and tells Allen and me that it’s time for our presentation.
I look back at the new girl again, and she’s sitting there with her arms crossed, just staring at our teacher with this look on her face that I can’t interpret.
###
Other kids try to talk to her after class, but she kinda just ignores them and leaves. I want to talk to her too, but I don’t dare try now. I want to tell her how awesome she was for standing up to Richy like that, but I want to tell her to watch out, too. Richy’s spiteful, and she really embarrassed him; he’s not gonna let that go.
I see her at the lunch table in the back of the cafeteria by herself, but I’m still afraid to go talk to her. When I get my lunch and come out of line, I see that Gabe and another guy are sitting with her, and I decide that it’s now or never, so I go over to where they’re sitting.
“Um, excuse me,” I say, but she doesn’t look up at me.
“Oh, hey Liz,” says Gabe instead.
She now looks up and I explain, “I just wanted to come over and say thank you for defending Allen in class today.”
She just looks at me.
“Look at yooouu, being nice to people,” says the other guy, teasing.
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head a little as she gives the guy a quick look, then turns back, putting her focus on me again.
I feel a bit awkward, so I say, “I’m usually the only one who speaks up for him, and it was nice for a change to see someone else say something. I know he really appreciated it, too.”
“Yeah? So, why are you the one thanking me? Where is the friend Allen then? I mean, why are you here and not him?” she asks.
“Oh, he’s not in this lunch. But I’m sure when he sees you, he’s gonna say something too. Richy has been bothering him all year.” I explain.
Gabe turns around to look at me and says a little too loudly, “Richy? She pissed off Richy?”
“Starting problems already?” the other guy says to her.
She makes a face and says, “he’s a jerk, and was acting like a jerk, so I was being a jerk back to him. It’s not my fault if he couldn’t handle that.”
“No, no, no. That’s not good. I’m gonna take care of this. I’m gonna go talk to him,” says Gabe as he begins to stand up.
“Whoa there, cowboy.” Holding her hand up a bit in a gesture that says stop. “Just sit back down, I didn’t ask for your help. I don’t need to be rescued. I’ll be just fine.” She tells Gabe.
“Yeah, it’s that Richy boy who I’d worry about.” Says the guy with a half laugh.
“I don’t know, maybe Gabe should talk with him. I mean, he’s gonna try and come after you.” I say.
“So, let him try. I’m not scared of him,” she says, and I’m dumbfounded. I’ve never seen a girl act as if she’s not afraid of him before. I put my tray down on the table because I almost dropped my lunch when she said that.
“Oh shit, our bad, have a seat,” says the guy. “I’m Jonathan, the brother, and this is Samantha,” he adds.
“I’m Lizzie.” I sit down, and she narrows her eyes at me but doesn’t try to stop me from sitting with them.
“So this happened in class? What did the teacher say?” Asks Gabe.
“That cow didn’t say a word.” Says Samantha, and now I understand why she was looking at the teacher that way.
“No one usually does,” I announce.
“Whelp, he’s met his match with this one,” Jonathan says, as he gestures towards Samantha, then puts his focus back on eating.
I look at her, and she just looks back at me. Again, not saying anything, and suddenly I have a vision that she’s got a Terminator-type computer in her eye and she’s calculating how much of a threat I am. I really need to break the silence, so I ask, “You guys are new new, right? Well, I don’t know if you’ve walked around town yet or not, but if you’re ever in the mood for pizza, my family owns Luca’s at the light, and I’m usually working there. If you stop in, I’ll give you a free slice.”