a hard time - he loves to read, and he has a lazy eye (Ch.2).

When Rufus shows up, Kenny is relieved because he thinks that now the kids will now tease the "new kid" instead of him.  He is appalled when the teacher seats the boy next to him, because,

"when you (have) two people who (are) going to get teased a lot and they (are) close together people (don't) choose one of them to tease, they (pick) on both of them, and instead of picking on them the normal amount they (pick) on them twice as much".

Kenny is wrong in his calculations, however.  He and Rufus become good friends, and Kenny is dismayed when he realizes that the kids actually do start "leaving (him) alone and going right after Rufus" instead.  Rufus has two things wrong with him too - his "countrified" background and poverty, as evidenced by his clothes.  Kenny feels "real bad" about his new friend's situation, but nevertheless hurts Rufus's feelings deeply one day when he joins in the other kids' teasing.  With Momma's help, he apologizes to Rufus and makes things right, learning a valuable lesson about the nature of friendship (Ch.3).

The arrival of a new kid at school seems to be the answer to Kenny's prayers. The new kid—Rufus Fry—sticks out like a sore thumb with his gangling demeanor, his thick Southern accent, and his ragged clothes that he seems to wear all the time. All of a sudden, the high school kids have someone else they can pick on, and this takes a little of the heat off the perennially shy, awkward Kenny.

This may seem like a selfish attitude, but when you are being bullied as often as Kenny, anything that makes school life a little less unbearable is a welcome relief, even if it means that someone else is getting the same kind of treatment. The arrival of Rufus initially gives Kenny a bit of a confidence boost, allowing him to join in with picking on Rufus for always wearing the same clothes. But this is not who Kenny really is, and before long, he and Rufus are the best of pals. Rufus really is Kenny's savior—just not quite in the way he originally envisaged.

Before Rufus came along, Kenny had been the butt of the other kids jokes and taunts. When the new kid, Rufus, comes aboard, Kenny realizes he is a loner, as well. Kenny believes that Rufus will be his"saver" by taking the mean spirited attention away from Kenny, and having it directed at himself.

Initially, Kenny even participates in the jeers and taunts, but then discovers he does not care to be one of those kids and stops. Eventually, a friendship will occur between the two outcasts.

From his first introduction into the story, Kenny regards Rufus as his "personal saver," someone who will stop him being bullied because he was a figure that didn't fit in even more than himself. However, he is shocked in Chapter 3 when Rufus enters Kenny's class and has to sit next to him:

I couldn't believe it! I'd wanted my personal saver to be as far away from me as he could get. I knew when you had two people who were going to get teased a lot and they were close together people didn't choose one of them to tease, they picked on both of them, and instead of picking on them the normal amount they picked on them twice as much.

Thus Kenny is selfishly pleased to have Rufus in the same school as he thinks this will reduce the amount of bullying he receives, however his plans are in danger of going awry when Rufus is sat next to Kenny and thus the two are linked, ensuring that they will together be bullied more than Kenny was ever bullied by himself. This is why Kenny does not want to spend any time with Rufus.

Kenny has a tendency to get picked on himself, so when Rufus moves into his class from the South, Kenny's first instinct is to stay far away from him, thinking that the two of them together will surely attract even more negative attention. Soon, however, Kenny and Rufus become good friends thanks to some shared interests in playing with plastic dinosaurs, and Rufus comes to Kenny's house every night. Kenny's mother realizes that Rufus and his brother don't have enough to eat, so she casually slips extra sandwiches into Kenny's lunch each day for him to share.

Kenny and Rufus begin building a genuine friendship, and all is going well until Larry Dunn makes fun of Rufus's shabby clothing, noting that he and his brother wear the same two outfits every single day. Larry gets lots of laughter from his mean comments, and Kenny finds himself laughing along with the group. Rufus is devastated by Kenny's laughter, later telling him that he had considered Kenny his true friend until that moment.

Kenny obtains some advice from his wise mother and apologizes to Rufus, who allows Kenny another opportunity to rebuild their friendship.

Rufus just doesn't stand a chance when it comes to blending in at his new school. His thick accent and small selection of clothing make him a target of the other children. In chapter 3, Kenny and Rufus have become friends, though Kenny does not advertise this to his classmates.

One day on the bus, Larry Dunn comes up to Rufus and his little brother Cody and makes a derisive comment about how the brothers share their clothing. The whole bus starts laughing at this. Despite his better inclinations, Kenny starts laughing too. Immediately Kenny knows that he made a mistake and stifles his laughter.

After this incident, Kenny and Rufus's friendship starts to fray. Instead of spending so much time together, Rufus and Cody start avoiding Kenny. When Kenny tries to play with his friend, Rufus tells him that he thought Kenny was different and that he doesn't want to play with him anymore. Kenny is devastated by this and regrets his reaction on the bus more than ever. After several days without his friend, Kenny is feeling really bad. It takes an intervention by Momma to heal the schism between the two boys, but they eventually make up and resume their friendship.