You know what they say?
'Le silence face ? la violence est acceptation et complicit?.'
Silence in front of violence is a form of acceptance and you only help it more.
Got that?
If they bring their friends, do you think that STILL standing up for yourself will work? Maybe it'll impress them, if they think that the more they are can impress you, and you still answer back, they'll see it doesn't faze you.
It worked for me once. It WAS kinda stupid, but we were in class, and the people were saying something completely wrong, and I was the only one saying the opposite, and I knew I was right, and then the teacher came, listened for a while to us arguing, and finally said I was right.
I swear, the silence that followed was delicious.
In other words, knowing that you're better than them and standing up for it isn't wrong. If you're scared of being beat up for it, and thus don't speak up, then you're only aiding their totalitarian control.
I'm not a reject. Rather far from it. I get along pretty well with just about everyone. Guys, girls, but I hang around the smart gang, because I feel it's where I fit in better.
If one of the preppy people picked on one of them because they're so smart (and hell they are) --well, they wouldn't, because they know that being smart also means having a personality that goes with it--, I'd fight back. And if the principal got to me, heck, I'd defend my point way past detention.
They had no right, and if I get severely punished for expressing my point, I don't see why I should stay in the freakin' school. They can expell me all they want.
But I would hang on until the end. (And they would find themselves with well deserved bruises later on

).
So hang in there, show 'em who's boss! :evil: