I was never one of the cool kids, but I was never bullied. Well, once I was, but it was pretty lame. When I was 11 or 12, some kids physically pushed me around because I was in an advanced class and they weren't. For some reason, I wasn't really scared, and I only got a scratch out of it. In high school, I found myself laughing along sometimes with "the cool kids" as they called some shy and unattractive kids unflattering names. I still feel bad about that many decades later.
I think the most important thing to remember is that it's okay if you misjudge someone's intentions, if that relationship doesn't matter in either the short run or long run. So if you respond positively and later learn you've been had, it's important to say, "Fuck it." Most of the people I've given a lot of time to just don't (and didn't) really matter. Fuck it if I didn't look cool. Fuck it if they didn't like me. The more you learn your own strengths and limitations the easier it is to say, "Fuck it."
Of course, that's easy for me to say. I'm old now, and you don't have to be cool when you're old. That's probably its only luxury.
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