Alright guys, here we go.

I've been reading this subreddit off and on for about 4 months now. I've made tremendous leaps in my inner game by breaking negative thought patterns and trying to find the fun in everything. At this point, I think I have two main obstacles to climb.

1- I should probably start this by saying that I'm 18 and still in Highschool. I've been dating since I was 13 and was pretty successful up until about 16 when I got into an abusive relationship for a year. Seriously, while I think there are two sides to this story, that woman was the devil. Ever since the end of that relationship, I've had to rebuild myself. Since then I've noticed, or at least think this is what is is, that I have a defense mechanism that is telling me that no one is interesting, thus I don't have a reason to talk to them. I think this stems from me not wanting to face rejection, so my ego had to justify it. I'm not sure how to get over this. I used to be excited to meet everyone and get to know them. I know that everyone is wonderful in their own unique ways, but I can't seem to break out of my defense.

2- As I stated earlier in this post, I'm in highschool. I know that a lot of what I've read about game so far doesn't quite apply to people my age, but I've been able to use a lot of the inner game content effectively. Quick lays have been easy to get for me, but I haven't been able to make emotional connections to my classmates (male or female.) I guess I'm just wondering how you would recommend practicing game in a high school setting and what I can do to prepare myself for the years to come when I can start going to bars and social events.

I should also note that approach anxiety is pretty much non-existent for me. Working in retail kicked that out of me pretty quickly, which was nice.

Thanks for reading, any replies are greatly appreciated.