[Alex's Trip]

Edit: To Ni'k:

You make it sound like such a struggle. If you were really as smart as you say you were, it would have been a piece of cake.

Maybe things have changed since you were in school, but all I do is be neutral. I can get along with these people. I hate them, but I manage. I talk to them, if I feel, for whatever reason, like I should, but I let them do the talking and go along with it. Once I've established some common interest (which I might fake), I keep the casual hello, the nod of acknowledgement in passing. As a result, no one bothers me for ignoring them while playing Su Doku on the bus, or listening to music, or just silently doing my homework. And it is because they know I'm not a threat to any bully, but I'm not target to them either.

You made yourself a target. I'd say because you wanted that attention, and now you flaunt your story for more. But who knows? No one can accurately analyze another by looking through one computer monitor and out another.