I’ve been a victim of bullying all school year, and I’m sick of it. There’s only so much you can take before you have to take a stand, look your bully in the face, and say “No more”. For me, today is that day.

I’m going to walk up to him - calmly, but firmly - and say “Greg, I’m not going to take your shit any more”. We’ll probably get into a shouting match, and it may come to shoves, but he’ll know that from now on, I’m going to fight back. I’m not just going to be picked on any more.

I’ll let him know that he’s not going to call me Boner Bradley any more just because of that one time I stood in front of the classroom with a boner. I’ll say something like “It happens, and one day when YOU go through puberty, you’ll see for yourself”. That’ll sting. That’ll make people laugh at HIM for once. I’m going to write that down on a napkin so I don’t forget it when I confront him.

I’ll stand my ground and let him know that he’ll no longer be wiping his boogers on the back of my shirt. That it’s disgusting and demoralizing, and that I don’t like it. He probably won’t care. After all, there’s a reasonable chance that he does it to disgust and demoralize me in the first place, and that verbalizing that will only satisfy him on some weird, sociopathic level. Still, I’ll feel better getting it off my back. The boogers, I mean.

I’ll make it clear to him that he can no longer have my lunch. That it’s MY lunch. That my mom packs it every morning for ME because I have a gluten allergy and I can’t eat the food at school. That going hungry every day at lunch makes my blood sugar drop, which gives me a headache and makes it difficult to get through the day. It’ll be good news for the school nurse, too, who I’m sure is sick of seeing me every day.

My mom told me to stand up for myself. I don’t like fighting, but it’s good to know that mom’s got my back if the shit hits the fan. She’s tried reporting it to the school a few times, but they don’t ever believe her. Even that time I came home with a bloody nose after Greg punched me at recess. She got so mad, she went down to the school and demanded to see the principal. He still wouldn’t hear it, though, even though she brought me into his office, crying and bloodied. That was the last straw for mom.

She told me that I should stand up to him. That I was going to have to be strong and stand my ground. That the only way a bully would stop picking on me is if I stood up to him. That I’d have to be brave. That I MIGHT have to get into a fight for him to respect me.

So today’s the day. I’m finally going to stand up to Greg. I’m finally going to approach him. I’m finally going to speak my mind to him. And he’s going to listen. He’s going to stop his shit. He’s going to respect me. He’s going to stop picking on me.

Because if he doesn’t, he’s going to fail my class.