I'm still in high school but I need help. I'm asian, living in the US. I'm 5' 9", not overweight or skinny but not really buff either. Until 6 months ago, I mostly just played computer games, violin, and piano. After reading Models I've started working out and I'm actually interested in a relationship now. I happen to know a lot of facts because I've read a lot of nonfiction. There's usually something interesting I can contribute to any discussion just drawing from my prior knowledge. I have many male friends so I'm well-connected and thankfully, I'm not seen as nerdy but rather just "smart". The problem is that just by being asian, wearing glasses, getting good grades and contributing to discussions during class people assume I study a bunch and that I'm a "genius". My friends seem to respect my judgement a lot and almost everyone I meet tells me I'm very smart. How I see it I just have a decent memory, that's it. But because everyone has this impression of me, I think a lot of times I seem very aloof and unrelatable. Despite this, there have been several girls in the past who showed interest in me but it was never mutual so I politely rejected them. ( Strangly enough, two of the girls that asked me for my number where complete opposites of me, into sports and very extroverted). I have a lot of respect from my peers, which is great I guess but it effectively creates this barrier between me and everyone else except my close friends. I want to seem more down-to-earth, but that's not the only problem. I can't bring myself to talk to people I'm not acquainted with, especially girls. It doesn't help that I barely have any opportunities either. The only time I can think of is during passing periods but the problem there is that everyone is hurrying to get to their next class so I don't want to be rude and try to start a conversation. And most of the time they are with their friends, which makes it difficult to have a 1 on 1 conversation anyway. Same case in the cafeteria. The idea of just walking up to someone eating lunch with their friends and hitting on them just doesn't appeal to me. Are these excuses? Maybe, but they're preventing me from making a move. Even when I have the opportunity, I'm afraid that because of the impression I give others, they'll assume they can't connect to me anyway. Of course, I'm also afraid of rejection, but there are also a whole host of other factors at play. I think that if someone were to get to know me I could probably relate to them. When people start conversations with me I enjoy talking to them very much, I just have trouble initating myself.

EDIT: I also don't use social media like snapchat because I think they're too distracting, but that could also provide some more opportunities.