As he walks down the hallway, everyone scatters outside until it is just him and his victim. His name is Billy Jean. You could say he’s at the top of the food chain. Everyone knows that he was bullied when he was little, so now he bullies others to make them feel weak just like him. Every year he picks one new kid who best fits his criteria: weak, ugly and popular. Every second you see a kid jumping for his book or starving at the lunch table. If you’re lucky, you can get a front row seat to the ultimate flagpole wedgies. You never see that unfortunate victim smile, laugh or by himself. It’s sad that those kids don’t go here anymore... oh, don’t worry, nothing happened to them; they just decided to transfer schools. Well, all but two; me and my best friend Brianna Lopez. But this isn’t about me; this is the story of Brianna Lopez, the hero of our school.

      It was the first day of junior year and Brianna was the new kid and might I add made a great first impression. She walked in with her red hair with blue highlights flowing swiftly behind her. She wore all white: white shirt, white skirt, white shoes and her nails were red, white, and blue. She kind of reminded me of the American flag, but I wasn’t the only one. All eyes followed her as she walked to her locker including the eyes of Billy Jean. He followed her to her locker and as she opened it, he slammed it closed. She studied him from head to toe.

      “Oh, is it time for class already? I don’t think I heard the bell, but I guess I must be going. Thanks for closing my locker for me!” Brianna said cheerfully as she started to walk to class. He grabbed her arm and threw her against the lockers.

       “Now just a minute Captain America, I--”

       “Actually, it’s Miss America, but everyone always get them confused, so you’re forgiven. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be going to class.” Brianna tried to get past him but he just pushed her back against the lockers. He started to turn a healthy reddish color as he clenched his fist and hit the locker besides her head.

       “First off, no one corrects or talks back to me. Second, do you KNOW who I am or should I introduce myself?” Billy asked furiously. As he began to open his mouth to do so, Brianna interrupted him, once again.

       “Oh no, that’s not necessary. I know exactly who you are. Billy Jean age 17. When you were 8, your favorite teddy bear Snuggles was taken by a 13-year old and you haven’t seen it since. Now you go around bullying others because of that day.” Everyone was silent. She took a deep breath and looked pleased as she looked at everyone and ended with Billy, who stood as frozen as a statue. She picked up her books and walked off to class. She brushed off his shoulder causing him to lose balance as everyone pointed and laughed.

      I followed her down the hallway and saw that she looked lost. Before I could tap her on her shoulder, she turned and faced me and said, “So, you want to tell me where Señora Chavez’s class is since you’re following me?” I didn’t know what to do besides to remain where I was and smile. Then finally I was able to speak.

     “It’s just down the hall. If you want, you can follow me to class. By the way I wasn’t following you; I just happen to be heading in the same direction.” I started shaking as she motioned for me to lead the way.

     “So, is this always the first thing you do when confronting a girl for the first time?” Brianna asked with a slight smile on her face.

     “Do what?” Okay, so I knew what she was referring to but I wanted to hear what she had to say. There’s something about this girl that is unique and rare. I mean come on, how many times you see a girl stand up to a guy who is way bigger and stronger than her. She stood up to Billy and talked him down! No one has ever done that besides me but I did it on the last day of school; I knew that I wouldn’t see him during summer and by the time school started he would have moved on to another newbie.

     “Following them to their classes. Don’t you think you should be your own leader and just say what you want to say and don’t be scared. Take Billy for example, everyone here is too afraid to stand up to him and let him know that he can’t bully us anymore. Only one person has done that besides me. And that person is standing right in front of me.” Brianna placed her hand on my shoulder and pulled me close. “You are not scared of him so why don’t I see a swarm of girls worshipping you for your bravery? I would be the first here on my knees if I were them.” As the bell rung for class, I felt her hand slip off of my shoulder and she disappeared into the crowd of students running to class.

     After class we walked to the lockers but we didn’t stop at her locker; we walked over to Billy’s locker who was walking towards us.

     “Move out of the way USA.” Billy said as he tried to push Brianna away from his locker but she held her ground.

     “I’m sorry but I believe that is not the correct way to talk to a lady.” Brianna crossed her arms and stared in Billy’s eyes. Billy made eye contact with her; and then with me. He started to move towards me but then Brianna stopped him. “Why don’t you go back to the end of the hall and try asking politely.” Brianna pushed Billy away from her and onto the floor. Everyone gasped as he fell and stared at Brianna.

     “What were you thinking,’ I exclaimed as she just laughed at my question. “What?! Why are you laughing?!?!” I started to become furious.

     “I’m laughing because you are acting like you’re scared of him. You stood up to him last year and weren’t scared when you did. I know you felt powerful after that!” Her tone of voice became very serious as she looked into my blank expression. I looked at Billy who was lying on the ground unconscious. Man, she must’ve pushed him hard. Anyways, back to the subject at hand.

     “I only stood up to him because someone dared me to. I wasn’t scared when I did it; I was terrified. When I walked up to him I started to mumble because I didn’t want him to pound in my face! You and I are different. You’re different than everyone here! No one here is crazy enough to stand up to Billy or push him on the floor! And lastly...” I drifted off as I saw tears coming out of her eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just wanted to tell you the truth.”

     “So what you’re telling me is that you were too scared to stand up to Billy and tell him the truth but now you are confident about telling me the truth and standing up to me? Well, I can see who you are going against.” She grabbed her stuff and ran outside. I tried to text her and apologize but she never responded. I didn’t mean to make her cry but I just say what I want to say. Ok, that sounded better in my head. I was a huge jerk to her and now it was my turn to stand up for her. I grabbed my keys and drove over to Billy’s house. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right.

      When I arrived at his house I knocked on the door as his mother opened the door. She looked exactly like him; the only difference was that she was much sweeter.

     “Hi Mrs. Jean. My name is Neil and Billy said he would help me with my project.”

     “Oh, isn’t that sweet of him. Well, come on in. Billy is upstairs in his room.” She opened the door as I walked into their house. The walls were sky blue and there were flowers everywhere. As I walked up the stairs, I looked at the pictures on the wall as one picture caught my eye. It was a picture of Billy when he was 8-years old and he was holding Snuggles in his arms. I never seen him smile like that before; it was like I was looking at a whole different person. I got to the top of the staircase and opened the door to Billy’s room. I saw him on the bed but he wasn’t alone; Brianna was standing in front of him.

     “Brianna? What are you doing here?” I shut the door behind as I looked at Brianna and then at Billy and back at Brianna.

     “I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you were busy making girls cry,” her voice cracked as she said that. I knew she was still upset about me talking to her earlier and I understood why.

     “Look, I know what I did was wrong. If I was able to stand up to you without being scared, I shouldn’t be scared of Billy either. And that’s what I came to do right now; I was going to get Billy to stop messing with you. I wanted you to know that you’re not alone and I’m not scared of anything when I’m with you.” Brianna smiled as she reached her hand out for mine. She pulled me in and gave me a huge hug, but then I felt a third arm around my waist. Then I heard crying. Brianna and I looked at each other but neither of us was crying. It was Billy!! That big, tough, mean boy, who never laughed or cried, was hugging us; he was wailing his guts out as she took the breath out of our lungs.

       When he let go, he wiped the tears from his face and said, “I’m sorry. I know that I said some mean things lately and maybe ruined everyone’s school year but I didn’t have anything that I cared about to lose. Now I realize why I never had anything or anyone to care for; I was torturing myself by torturing others. No one wants to be friends with a bully and no one wants to reward a bully. You and Brianna have showed me that I need to stand up to myself no matter how scared I may be to see what others will think of me; scared of what may happen when I do. Please forgive me. I want to change and I want to be your friend if you’d let me.” Billy sat on his bed and started to cry again. Brianna sat next to him and placed her hand over his shoulder.

       “Stop crying big boy. You don’t have to be scared anymore. We are here for you and we will love to be your friends. Right Neil?” Brianna looked at me and motioned her head towards Billy.

       “Umm, no. He was a jerk and I’m not just going to let him get away with that! He is and always will be a...” She gave me a death glare before I could finish the sentence. Then I said, “He is and always will be a great friend.” Billy looked up at me and smiled. They got off of the bed as Brianna pulled me and Billy into a group hug.