I Lost My Header
I was a skinny, awkward kid in ninth grade and I had been picked on for most of my life up to that point. I was in gym class, and this little guy who had picked on me since 6th grade booted a soccer ball right at my face. He kicked it so hard that I started to cry. I was sure it was an accident, but my crying made him say, “Stop crying you baby, or I’ll punch you in the face”. That’s when I lost it—I just started pounding on him.
I kept hitting him until the teacher pulled me off. The teacher knew I got picked on a lot and saw that my face had a huge red mark where the ball had hit me. The teacher told the other kid to get up and stop being a baby. After that, I didn’t get picked on for a while and, eventually, filled out my scrawny little frame.