I'm a highschool girl and guys don't seem to be interested in me at all. I try to talk to them and they try to shrug me off. I never get approached, but when I approach a guy, again, I get shrugged off or it doesn't go anywhere. For a lot of girls it seems really easy to pick up a guy but I struggle just to get a guy to talk to me. I feel like most of it is my looks, because if I was pretty I would probably have a lot more guys after me, or at least someone.

I only get called pretty by girls if I every put myself down in front of them, but almost always it ends in some kind of backhanded remark like "you're not that ugly anways", "I know popular girls who are uglier than you, don't worry", "personality matters most", "maybe you can just hope to go through puberty?", etc. For the record, these are all nearly word-for-word things my friends have told me, and they're nice people.

By guys I get even less reassurance. My gay guy friend about half a year ago rated me the lowest out of our friend group and kind of implied I'm not the greatest looking (but has since then tried to tell me he doesn't remember and was probably jokign), while very recently my hetero platonic guy friend told me he doesn't think I'm ugly at all and says he hasn't heard any guy (or girl for that matter) call me ugly. The total 2-3 guys who have liked me in the past haven't been more than maybe a solid 4.5/10 maybe a 5.

I know I'm not the hottest girl ever obviously, but I don't really know where I stand under the rest of the umbrella of attraction. I'm just afriad that I'm really ugly and no guy would ever like me. By the way, I have been told that I have lower standards for guys, and I almost never seriously like a popular guy, so it's not like I'm just going after all the Zac Efrons of highschool.

In the past year or so, I've learned how to fix my hair so its parted not awkwardly, do my makeup (just the right amount and specific techniques for my face shape, eye shape, tones, etc)., I dress mostly nice in flattering clothes without overdoing it, and I got contacts.

I'm not fat, or at least I don't think so really. (I'm about 5'2 and a half and about 105 pounds and i have b-cups) I feel like I'm also doing a little better socially and less weird. I do talk to people and do extracurriculars. I just dont know what to do anymore. Do you have any advice or personal stories that relate to this?