Were nikkas really getting bullied past elementary school?
It depends. If you were a really quiet kid with little to no friends, you'd put yourself at risk of being bullied by the popular kids as you move on up throughout elementary, middle school, and high school. As kids, we all have built our reputations, personalities, etc throughout our school years, and it later shaped us in some ways as adults.
There are levels to bullying, it's not always the extreme examples like in movies and TV shows, some of it can be minimal and is nonphysical, as in clowning, making a mockery of someone for whatever reasons such as how they dress, talk, body issues, y'know being fat, musty, ugly, dirty, etc.
Other times it's physical, as in pushing, shoving, tripping them, and worst of all, beating up on them.