It’s a very small thing, but I think it counts. I’m a middle school boy and this happened to me last year.

I was always unusually strong and tall for my age. But of course, fist-fighting was strictly forbidden and the teachers actually encouraged kids to tell them if people fought.

Anyways, I’m not very social and at my school, being social was the key thing to avoid bulling. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this in time and by the time I did, I had become the biggest target at my class. I wanted to fight them with force but I couldn’t since it would ruin my grades and my entire life for all I knew.

There was this one kid in class (I’m gonna call him H) who was constantly picking on me. H was very popular and had a gang of boys following him around. When I was minding my own business, he would come and do stuff like slapping my head or take something mine. He always returned it saying sorry but with amusement on his face.

I tolerated this for 6 months.

Then one day, H crossed the line. I enjoyed writing fanfics and usually brought my idea notebook to school. I had put it in my bag and gone for lunch. When I came back, I had found H reading my notebook and laughing with his friends. When I snatched it back, I was infuriated. I take my privacy seriously and this was crossing the line.

Remember what I said about me being strong? Well, This is what happened. I walked up to H with what must have been complete fury in my eyes because for a moment he froze, absolute fear in his eyes. Then he took off.

I must have been radiating something because when I turned to his gang, they backed away. I grabbed one of them and growled, “Get him here. NOW.”

They immediately complied and when they found him, I went up to him, grabbed his shirt and lifted him off his feet and pinned him against the wall.

I learned some army talk from my martial arts teacher (a former military drill Sargent) and talked to H in a threatening, yet menacing way like in the army. The look of complete terror in H’s eyes and him begging for forgiveness still lingers in my mind today and he hasn't touched me since.