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"Yeah. It's better than the gameboy version, but I like both," he says. 

"I didn't like the last one very much, so I'm hoping this one doesn't suck." 

This is what we call, the light feint. You could be 100% agreeable with him, but then you put yourself on equal ground. Challenge his views and establish that you are your own person, and right off the bat, you begin making him open dialogue. Considering this is a common hobby, you can pretty much bullshit your way through. 

"Are you kidding?" he nearly exclaims. This motherfucker apparently really likes Mario. "The last one was amazing. If anything it was better than the new one." 

"I didn't really like the first few levels too much, and the graphics were cheesy." 

"Well, the graphics in this one are definitely better." 

"Hm. I'd like to check it out sometime. Hey, I'm Tom, by the way. What's your name?" 

He knows who you are. You know who he is. You share multiple classes. Right here, you're basically killing two birds with one stone. You're making it seem like he's completely off your radar, so that means that up until now, you haven't been paying attention to him being humiliated, but also, he's been so insignificant and invisible to you that you don't even know who he is. This gives him a fresh start at a first impression. This is key. He'll use everything he can to latch onto you and impress you if you let him, because up until now, he's been a complete loner. This is a very easy way to find out his likes, dislikes, passions, insecurities, et cetera. He's not expecting you to be a jerk to him right off the bat now, so his defenses are down. 

"I'm John... uh, I think we have a few classes together." 

"Cool. I'll catch you later, John." 

They're cliques, not clics.

Now is time to start using all the dirt on him you've picked up. Start spending less and less time with him. Start being cold. He's going to get neurotic as fuck and panic, because he thought you two were tight. Eventually he's going to single you out and ask what's going on. That's when you lay into him with the armor-piercing, emotionally damaging shit that you've been holding onto all this time during the personal chats. Make him feel like shit. Make him feel like it's his fault, and that you're tired of being around a person like him. When he gets all clingy and panicky, beat him up. Nothing major. Avoid the face and other exposed parts so that when he goes home later, he'll be too ashamed to tell him mom what happened. Anyway, it's going to totally catch him off guard. Even if he wasn't a coward, he might not have fought back, completely caught off guard. The combination is going to leave him speechless, more likely than not. 

So this is where you make the decision of whether or not you want to leave him broken, or pick up the pieces and finish the mold. 

If you want to keep him broken, just end it right there. Don't talk to him anymore, and make it clear with body language that if he comes near you again, he's going to get whooped. Talk mad shit about him to your friends. Every dirty detail you picked up, and add more later that are exaggerated. He'll be done for. He'll never trust anyone again, or at least not for a very long time. The confusion alone will drive him mad. He might try suicide, but more likely than not he'll be a fragile husk of his former self, which is about as broken as he can get without real, implicating trauma. 

If you want to build him back up, as soon as the fight is over, make it very clear that you're sick of the fact that he can't stand up for himself. Your friends have been mean to you and made fun of you for hanging out with a pussy. You're ashamed to be around him, and even though you like him, it's putting a major toll on you. Now, he's going to feel like shit, because just someone trying to be his friend is getting them picked on. Tell him, if you could just stand up for yourself, the torment would end. He's going to take the bait. Tell him the next person who gives him shit at school, he needs to attack. You might have to teach him a few little things about fighting, but people who've never fought before are a letter better off running on their instincts. They'll be more savage and scary that way. 

After he fights back, win or lose, let him know things are cool, and that you're proud of him. Have him join your circle of friends and make sure he doesn't pussy out anymore with bullies, even if it's people you know and like. They had it coming after all. 

So, in probably less than a month, you've taken a dorky nerd with no social skills, broken him down, and turned him into an acceptable friend/minion. He's going to consider you his best friend, maybe for life. The guy who made high school no longer living hell. You won't have a more loyal friend, or a more willing accomplice for pretty much life, as long as you keep contact up over the years. 

The seed has been planted. Over time, he's going to start trying to hang out with you more, and do simple things like wave in the hall, or after/before school. Unless you're the ring leader of your group of friends, it's a lot easier to break him and build him back up if he's singled out, one on one. Still spend time with your group, and make it clear that he's not a priority to spend time with, but give his leash a little slack. Eventually, you're going to either convince him to let you over to his house, or vice versa. Given the earlier interactions, his might be better. He'll be at ease, and can show off his games. 

When you get to his place and hang out, this is where the real work can rapidly begin. Use your established common ground as an anchor. Make sure it leads to other conversations, so you can learn about his personal life and background more. Check him out on social networks and find out the kinds of things he likes/dislikes, and how he thinks, via his messages and interactions. 

The bullying and friendlessness will eventually come up. This is where we get to begin to apply the pressure. Explain why by secondary criticism. Bring up the comics and playing games at school. Go after the clothes he wears, saying it makes him look poor and something his mom slapped together. Going after someone's taste in music might be a hard sell, because music and emotions are very strongly connected. It would probably be easier to introduce him to stuff you like so now he's established common ground with you. At this point, he's going to begin changing himself over time, usually decently fast. How he looks, what he does with his spare time, et cetera, and he'll think all these things will be his excuse to finally fit in. Hang out with you and your friends. Not so. 

John's frazzled. Chances are, he's been picked on before, but this was his first high school fight, and now his class mates think he's a coward. He starts getting picked on more. Other boys will make him flinch by fake hitting him, and the girls think it's funny how scared he gets from it. Their giggling only encourages his hormone-pumping peers. 

You've got your own friends, but his weakness irritates you. The more you see him bullied, the more you want to crush him yourself. He's a pathetic piece of shit, and the drama stirred up is starting to get old. One day he comes to school, you see him messing around with something in his backpack for a couple minutes. He's been playing a gameboy, and hiding it in fear of people trying to mess with him, or break it. He sees you coming and gets nervous. You want to do exactly what he's fearing most, but that's too easy, and you're too bored. Why bother getting in trouble by smacking around the whipping boy? You put on an easy grin and lightly ask, 

"Is that the new Mario?" He nods his head. You sit down next to him, and he relaxes a little bit. "I haven't played the new one on the console yet. Have you?" 

Right here, you're pacifying his fears, and establishing common ground, even if none exist. You're going in neutral with someone used to being treated with hostility. If you put on an inviting facade, he's going to be too paranoid to believe that you stumbled down the path as a curious, good Samaritan, unless he's that dumb. 

FireMeetsIce stated: source post

They're cliques, not clics.

Tell that to TNP, not me

LOL

The dam character limit forced me to break the post into multiple pieces 

John reminds me of myself.