Martin

There were only a few months left until James went to academy. The insults were bad initially after the "Y-fronts" incident, eventually evolving to a new knickname of "Y-sers". James didn't help himself though, the angrier he got, the funnier they found it.
His friend Martin helped him through it mostly, however, by showing James how to be a geek with confidence. Martin didn't care what people thought, in fact he would have been popular if he was less chubby and better looking.
James almost studied Martin, emulating his actions, slowly becoming more confident himself in the process.