Reply #1: I had just the opposite experience.

[no_hypocrisy]

I didn't fit in nicely into the cliques of Jocks/Cheerleaders, "druggies", Nobodies, the Brains, etc. I was proudly independent and there weren't too many like me in HS.

When I graduated, I fervently hoped that the social scene at college would not be a continuation of HS. I claimed my new life the first night of college. Small, independent, women's college. Nobody had an expectation of me other than what I presented and no expectation of me to change if I wanted friends. And we were a diverse group with almost nobody sharing a major. Maybe we became a clique in our right, I don't know.

Back to my original point: I didn't fit in, didn't have a great time in HS, but my strategy was to just wait it out. I preferred being alone as opposed to being someone I wasn't to please other people. Big difference between being alone and being lonely.