Just be good enough friends with them.
Yes, depending on your outlook. You can ask the football boys can take care of the bullies and have them bothering YOU. This does not prevent the bullies from moving on. As of now, I have found four different ways to handle the bullies. The variety of choices are really amazing and the DEV has done a great job of giving variation. The interconnected choice are very evident in the early game but as you procede closer to the the edge of the current content, there are a lot of dangling threads. I look forward to future updates as the threads are woven into the fabric of the game. Good luck and enjoy the discovery!