gochiefs,
I'm sure you've heard this advice in some form over the course of the thread... but here it is.
I too used to be the way you are... thankfully, I was able to stand up, find some courage, and break out of my shell by the time I was a senior in high school... I've never made a better decision than the first time I took a chance and went to a party, even though I knew I would be uncomfortable there... life has been a lot better, and a lot more fun, since then.
Trust me, not everyone at parties like the one you passed up are as cool as they act or appear to be... inside, a lot of them are probably as nervous as you are... they just force themselves to ignore it. You can do it too... you just have to believe in yourself, and remember that life is too short to worry about whether people think you're a nerd.
Now, don't take the next part the wrong way, ok?
We had a heated discussion on the values/dangers of homeschooling a while back... if I remember correctly, your main argument there was that homeschooling was bad because they didn't get the social interaction needed to be useful members of society...
Think about that, you're doing the same thing you accused homeschoolers of... I'm not trying to rub anything in, I just thought that might help you find some motivation...
If I can have a healthy social life (that includes girls, parties, and alcohol) even though I was a lowly homeschooler, you can too!
