when i was in high school, and had much less social skills than i do now (i wasn't bad socially overall. i was just inconsistent, aka, really good at sometimes and horribly bad at others).
but i used to sit at the nerd table for a while. and after a while, most of the nerds were pretty rude and mean to me. they were insecure and tried to put me down whenever i tried to do or talk about something that wasn't video games. it was clear they were trapped in their fixed hole and didn't want anyone rising above them.
ironically, the jocks, the group of people who for many people were really mean, actually liked me. we are all acquaintances and thought i was cool. i just avoided them because i didn't have the self esteem to talk to them at the time. i felt i belonged at the table of kids (who were supposedly supposed to be nicer because of their lower social status) who weren't really all that nice.
in sophomore year, around the 2nd half, i actually made friends with the trouble makers and druggies because they were the most popular at the time and i got to sit at the table with them. yeah, i never touched drugs and thought they were stupid. but i felt like i was sheltered and innocent until i heard all the stories they were saying about relationships, sex, life, drugs, etc. yeah, they probably exaggerated, but i no longer was that kid who was oblivious to life.
i never hung out with the cool people though, i just sat with them, and they liked me as an aquaintance. i never pushed it further and wonder what would have happened if i had.
i'm just curious about how you were in high school socially.