NintendoFanKimmy : Most of the classmates of mine aren't shy, and a lot of them literally talk to everyone else in the class but me. I raise my hand in class, I make jokes whenever I can (if they're good ), and when people talk to me, I always respond unless I have nothing to say.  Also, when there is somebody that I know in one of my classes, I talk a lot and I'm usually pretty happy when that happens. I've been proving I'm not a nobody, just not enough. It's going to be tough to talk to those people that might not be my true friends, but I'll try. One of the main problems is, I can never have a serious conversation with them. And even though I'm quite silly, I really want that to be able to happen frequently.

Another reason I have trust issues is that one time I got a friend who ditched me a year later, and similar things like that have happened several other times. One of my acquaintances did that, and now he's being friendly again, so I'm having trouble trusting him.
Honestly, if a couple of my friends just took more time for me instead of focusing on specific friends of theirs all the time, I wouldn't care about being more popular and/or having more friends. Some of them can't put more time in their life for me, and that's OK. But my other friends, as well as my acquaintances, can put more time in their life for me but they choose not to. However, I put so much time in my life for every one of them when I could.

Next week (which I consider to start on Sunday, unlike many others that consider it to start on Monday), I'm going to talk to everyone (or almost everyone) that I'm having the problems I mentioned with to make sure that them not hanging out much with me, unless we're really close to each other in the area we're in, isn't intentional. Also, I'll ask Audrey and the others (if I can) to try talking to me and hanging out with me more so it can feel more like a true friendship.

I was in your spot for years. I wasn't the most popular guy ever, and most people just ignored me. 

However, i deduced that i was only treated like that because i never TRIED to hang out. So i figured that's what i had to do. 

Only problem, me and vizzed were inseparable. I couldn't make any time to hang out. Until my "ban" back in April, that is. Then i had all the time in the world.

It was bumpy at first - people had a tough time excepting me. Eventually, though, they grew to like me and my odd personality. By June, i was one of the "cool" kids. I still am today.

In short, make your deviancy known, but don't flaunt it. People will respect you and like you. Make as much time as you need.

NintendoFanKimmy :

Boxia : I'm going to try harder and in ways I haven't tried before. For example, if I have no one to talk to, I'll say, "Can someone please talk to me since I have no one to talk to?"

Pac, I feel compelled to give you some advice because 20 years ago I felt the same way but had no one to ask for advice.

Most things in life are about sales in one way or another. This particular problem is comparable to door-to-door sales. Imagine that you are a door-to-door salesman that wants to sell widgets so he can make some money. (A widget is a generic make believe product.)

So, you get into your car and drive to the neighborhood where your potential customers are and park in front of the first row of houses. If you just sit in the car waiting for customers to notice and come over to ask you why you're parked there, it's likely that you'll sit there all day and all night without one person ever coming to the car. If you roll down your window and yell out the window at the houses, "Can
someone please talk to me, since I have no one to talk to.", maybe some
customers will look out the window or front door of their house. The
only problem is that there is a good chance that you will make them
nervous and they'll decide that they don't have a good feeling about
what's going on inside your car.You have to get out of the car and go talk to the customers if you want to ever make a sale.

Okay, so we've determined that you are going to have to approach the people if you want to achieve your goal. This will make a guy that's new to sales extremely nervous but just like anything in life, the more that you practice at something the better you get at it. When you approach each house where a customer lives, there might be viscous dogs blocking the door or windows boarded up on the house. If you don't feel comfortable knocking on these doors, you probably shouldn't because the people inside could be dangerous, rude or cruel. Only knock on doors that you think might be safe to knock on. (people that don't have a track record as bullies, etc.)

After you've knocked on the door or walked up to a person, you have to talk a good game and have a product that they might be interested in. This is "the pitch" and it's NEVER perfect on the first customer. Attitude is an important part. Be happy, smiling and confident. If you're sad, frowning and unsure then they will be a lot less likely to talk with you for very long. Start off with the basics. Hi or wassup, ask them they're name or tell them yours if that needs to be done. Talk about things you might have in common. Have you played that new game? Did you get the homework done for History class?

Sometimes you won't make a connection and it'll make you feel bad but that doesn't mean that you give up. There's a 1,001 houses on this block and it may take a while but eventually you'll hit the jackpot. Sales/life is frustrating at times but if you really want to make a sale you have to keep trying and trying until you find somebody that's buying

Above all remember, if you think you can't do this, then you can't but you're wrong. You can do this stuff, you just have to believe that you can. Hope this helps!

PacmanandMariofan : Yo, Pac, at least you have some real friends outside your family. I understand that it can be hard when you do not fit in. I myself am sort of an oddball. This is mostly because all the people that I have met that are around my age group are just so different from me. It's hard when you feel like everyone thinks that you are wierd because you don't watch this or that, you don't smoke, you're not foul, you're not mean or sarcastic. I have this at work all the time now. I work at a small retail store. A lot of times, all the others pretty much just congregate and talk together--away from me. Why? Because they know that I'm not like that. I do have a somewhat Christian buddy that I get along with pretty well there, but other than that, my only real friend is my mom.

FaithFighter : And God

thephantombrain : Yeah, I haven't been approaching people as much as I should have. So far a lot of the people I've known this year are immature and/or non-approachable people. For now, I'm just going to focus on trying harder to find out who my real friends are and trying harder to get to do things with all of my friends. When that all gets sorted out, everything else should be easier.

PacmanandMariofan : Very true indeed, but I was just talking about people.

Last week, I came out of my shell a bit and life in school is getting a lot better. I've been trying harder to show who I am, and it's making people talk to me more. Now I just have to start talking to others first and gaining interests and conversation topics to make everything I mentioned be improved.

PacmanandMariofan : Good to hear it. I mean, a lot about social interaction is simply what you think about yourself and how you carry yourself; one of my "friends" is an avid listener to electronica- another loves to talk about anime and dye her hair different colors- etc, etc. However, they don't let these things typify themselves as "unpopular" or an "oddball". They're still a part of the group, just members of the group with varied tastes. Honestly, it's not that big a deal. Your interests, while they do help in making a friend, aren't that important. Just relax, make some jokes, carry yourself well and you'll go far.

More people are talking to me now, and I'm more socially confident. In a week, my 2nd trimester of 9th grade will start, resulting in me having new people to talk to.

Local Mods : I'm ready to have this thread closed since I know what to do and I'm doing most of it.

That's great to hear man!

I'm closing this thread by request of the OP.