Despite it being only his second day of school, James had already met with one of his largest obstacles at school; Bullying. Today was a new day though, today he would overcome all odds. Today he would fight back. He had fashioned himself a costume for school and after getting out of bed, he decided it was now or never. As James put on his costume, he felt stronger than ever. He felt like he could do anything. Actually, he really didn’t feel any different. But today! Today would be different! As his mother greeted him coming down the stairs she looked to his father for advice. As his Dad jumped up to get a better look at what his son had taken from his story the night before, he realized that James had decided to accept the nickname a bit too much.
Wearing a pair of jeans with a pair of red underwear over them, a blue sweater with a zero marked on it and a red towel cape; James had fully embraced the nickname. “Son, I love you, but I don’t think William went as far as to dress up as the Green Ranger.” James crossed his arms and stared disapprovingly at his father. “Maybe not, but I searched Superman last night and he is a hero and he wears his underwear on the outside!” William looked to his wife and she just snickered as he tried to explain his way out of this one. “James, it was just a story, the point was to accept the nickname and adapt to it. Not necessarily become it. After all, your mother and I love you very much, not Super Zero.” James looked back and forth between them and decided that he should try this. “Nope, I’m going to school. This will work. I promise.”
James and his mother walked to the bus stop again, the fresh dew soaking their shoes. As they arrived, everyone was turning to see the kid dressed up as a superhero. James looked to his mom and smiled as the kids came over and talked to him. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all, she thought. Suddenly another parent approached her. “I hear your boy has been getting bullied already, my girls are in his class and they won’t stop talking about the bully.” The male parent stopped to judge her reaction and seeing nothing, continued. “Do you think it’s a good idea for him to go to school like that?” James’s Mother turned to him and smiled. “I’ll let him try it. He wants to do things his way, it either works or it doesn’t. What matters is he learns from the experience and moves past it.”
The bus ride to school proved rather eventful as everyone wanted to sit with the superhero kid. As James told a few kids about himself, he managed to start making some friends. Not bad for a second day! Once they arrived at school, James got off the bus and he had a crowd around him as kids asked him questions and wanted to know more about him. He found it all really strange, especially since the day before, no one even noticed a kid stealing his recess. As he made his way through the crowd he spotted the bully across the playground. He was already bullying the poor kid who was now sitting behind him in class. Not today though, it would stop today. James marched past everyone and defiantly stood between the bully and Alex and crossed his arms. “Stop.” The bully looked to his friends and couldn’t believe his eyes. “Super Zero got himself a costume. Still doesn’t make you super though. He turned and got a high five from one of his posse. He turned back around and Super Zero had helped Alex up and told him to get away. The bully clenched his fists and stared James right in the eye. “You want to start this huh? Because I will finish it.”
Alex ran from the growing crowd of children, feeling bad about leaving James in there to face off with the bully. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he bolted for the nearby teacher on duty, who just so happened to be Miss Delilah. “What is it Alex?” He pointed toward a crowd and she watched as the bully punched James in the face. Panicked, she rushed over and grabbed the bully by the arm. “You think you’re tough Ronald MacDonald? We shall see how tough you are when you’re already on detention with your parents coming.” She helped James to his feet, and was surprised he wasn’t crying. “You all right James?” She could tell he was fighting back tears, but he grinned despite it. “I’m ok.” As she escorted them both off, the small crowd of kids they left behind began chanting “Super Zero! Super Zero!” James knew he had already made an impression for the day and was pretty proud of himself. No wonder Superman was such a great guy, it felt good to do good!