Today, many people look back at their years in high school with pleasant nostalgia; they look back at the friends they made, the time they spent together, and all kinds of activities they took part in. However, that is not the universal high school experience, as for some people, it was a time spent mostly keeping to themselves.
Whether they loved it or hated it, the lonely kids, too, eventually graduated, leaving high school behind; in some cases, leaving their old ways behind, too. A member of the 'Ask Reddit' community recently got curious about how life turned out for the lonely kids from people's high schools, so they started a thread about it, where quite a few netizens went down memory lane. If you're curious about how life for the lonely kid in their school panned out, continue scrolling to find their stories on the list below.
#1
Oh my goodness, I’ve got a story for this!
There was a guy in a couple of my electives in secondary school, and I used to sit near him in home ec (he was the only boy). He was *extremely* quiet, very shy, and didn’t really talk to many people, but I used to chat with him before class. It was s**t talk, to tell you the truth, “did you do the homework?” “Are you ready for the exam?” “Is Ms (teacher name) in today?” Sometimes I’d go as far as asking about the weekend, but mostly I asked him really stupid, boring questions.
A few years later, I was in college and this guy had gotten BUFF! He had also gotten really confident in himself and approached me in a bar in a different city. I had to do a double take, I hardly recognised him!
We got to chatting and he told me that I was the only person who ever made an effort to chat with him. He said he was really depressed and shy, and he felt so lonely in secondary school, but he always looked forward to home ec because at least we’d have our little chats there.
Naturally, when he told me this, I burst into tears.
He seems really happy now! I wish I could say we’re married, but no, he’s got a girlfriend and I imagine she’s lovely if she’s anything like him! I still run into him when we go home for holidays and stuff, and our conversations have gotten much more long winded!
Image credits: TieYourTubesIdiot
#2
Smoked weed every day at school, failed exams, got a degree, Set up a business and is a multi millionaire.
Image credits: JampotScheme
#3
He got jacked out of absolutely nowhere and won a bunch of powerlifting competitions.
Image credits: SydvegasRaidroosters
#4
That's me, I came out and left the church I was raised in, got a girlfriend I love more than anything, and work in a hospital with pediatrics. Life is pretty good and I definitely don't miss sitting alone in the hallway eating lunch.
Image credits: Direwriter
#5
He became my boss. To be honest tho, I befriended him in high school and he's been one of my best friends ever since. A smart guy. He went from no self esteem to a team manager in the IT department we work in today. He got me a job. He is making waves and I know people from my class would have their minds blown if they saw him today. We also play in a band together, doing monthly live shows. He turned into a classy extrovert from a total quiet, bullied nerd in high school.
Image credits: Necessary_Ad_7601
#6
He’s married with no children.
He works as a economy professor at university and we meet 2-3 times in a year. Good guy.
Image credits: Lopsided_Exercise_28
#7
Well, I just googled him and he's a Georgetown law professor.
Image credits: kittenxkisscharm
#8
Shes a US Congresswoman lol.
Image credits: BurnCityThugz
#9
The person I always thought of as possibly lonely retained the same couple of friends for the past 13 years and they still seem to enjoy getting together and doing the things they did back then. Video games, anime, etc.
Image credits: waddlyturtledaze
#10
I am him. 32, moved in japan, have a low paying job but a nice loving girlfriend. I could be worse, could be better.
Image credits: Kenouk
#11
I'm doing great, thanks for asking. Got published, got married, produced a couple of albums, performed a lot, went around the world, saw Persepolis, bought a house in the country and retired.
Image credits: Imightbeafanofthis
#12
I had a lonely kid in my fitness class, freshman year of highschool in 2005ish. She was part of the intellectual friend group at my school, and none of her friends were in fitness class, so she would keep to herself every day. I had never spoken to her before, but she seemed approachable so one day I asked her if she liked good charlotte since my best friend and I were obsessed. Turned out she loved good charlotte and all other bands that my friend and I liked! I didn’t stop hanging out with her since that day. She ended up being valedictorian at our high school, graduated college with a full ride, and we’re still best friends, she is my kids god mother and she helps them with math now.
Image credits: ComplexRisk3919
#13
I’m in the Army with a job I like, married with two dogs. .
Image credits: ZwiththeBeard
#14
She had a mental breakdown and made a terroristic type threat towards a local festival that draws in thousands of people from all over.
The last I heard she was in a mental hospital.
Image credits: Brite_Butterfly
#15
Her parents got a conservatorship of her after keeping her hospitalized repeatedly in high school and tried to put her in the state hospital after years she finally got out of the conservatorship and her mental health was improved away from her family but she was already too medically disabled by that point to really live her life at all.
Image credits: Possible_Sea_2186
#16
I’m her, I’m 32 almost, late diagnosed autistic. Vibing but still lonely but with a dog so not entirely.
Image credits: candyscab
#17
He became a really overweight, but semi-popular newscaster on a popular news show here in Toronto.
Image credits: InviteTime1038
#18
He's a neurosurgeon now.
Image credits: mykarelocated
#19
She moved away & lived in several different countries. got married & divorced. made New York City her home, started college at 54 & now lives happily & quietly with a ginger cat
Image credits: Porkchop_Mummy
#20
She wrote a fantasy book and got it published. Don’t know anything else.
Image credits: Pinkrivrdolphn
#21
Right now, I'm sitting in my house in Sri Lanka with my son and husband. Got literally as far away from there as I could.
Image credits: EmmalouEsq
#22
During high school he got a job at the video rental counter inside the local grocery store (small town). He eventually got promoted to assistant manager of the video rental area. Then Netflix and streaming in general slowly destroyed his career. Now 20 years later he still works at the same grocery store but they shuffle him around to different areas and not letting him go since he’s been there so long. He still lives with his mother, did not go to any sort of college or trade school or pursued any sort of skill that would benefit him. He has no significant other, no children, no friends. He simply exists in the same state he was in during 2004.
Image credits: Ucw2thebone
#23
I was the lonely kid. Currently in psych ward.
Image credits: magischeblume
#24
Poured petrol over his brother and his brother girlfriend after an argument whilst they slept and set them alight. Brother and the family dog died, everyone else got out. He'll still be lonely in jail.
Image credits: acmaximus
#25
Decided I needed friends, so I started going to as many parties as I was able, and became surprisingly popular in my town despite my weirdness.
Spent all of my money doing that. But got me connections, a job I enjoy, and it’s so much easier for me to interact with others than it was in my teens and early twenties.
Image credits: CurlySphinx
#26
The kid I’m thinking of use to sit in the library and read during breaks. I was always in there because I was finishing up homework I forgot to do all the time and he super nice and would let me copy his math homework.
I feel bad in retrospect because I never invited him to sit with us at lunch but where I grew up there was somewhat of gender divide like unless a boy was your boyfriend or the boyfriend of one of your friends you didn’t really sit with boys unless they were gay. It’s was weird and stupid.
Anyways, he is married with kids and works computer animation. He even worked for Pixar for a while and then he got into claymation and I could be wrong about this but worked on ParaNorman but basically for that company. And he is a script doctor too.
I am not sure why none of the other guys at school wanted to be friend with him. I mean we had a lot of otver guys into anime, drawing, sci fi, etc. for the 90s. I had a whole convo with him about Gargoyles once. Which was nice because no one else in my friend group watched it.
But maybe he wasn’t lonely and I am projecting and he wanted to be on his own?
Image credits: KittensNCheeze4Life
#27
I'm the lonely kid, and I'm still all alone.
Anxiety, depression, addictions etc are getting worse year by year.
So basically my life is all downhill from the age of 13.
Tried asking for help, nobody (not even the health care system) cares about it.
So I guess I'll just keep going like this as long as my body and mind can take it.
Image credits: Low-Leek-9037
#28
I HAVE A GREAT STORY!!
There was a guy who went to the same elementary, middle, and high school with me. Kids were always making fun of him because he was skinny and deemed "weird" for liking obscure things like math and airplanes. Some of the popular kids claimed he sometimes would smell so he would always sit by himself. Throughout the years, I always made an effort to be kind to him as we were both in band. I played the flute and he played the saxophone. I always thought he was very kind and didn't deserve all the mean comments.
Well fast forward ten years, I'm friends with him on Facebook. Turns out, he got in shape and went to flight school after high school graduation. He became an airline and commercial pilot for a major Airline. I see him posting all the time about spending a weekend in a different country! He literally posted a picture of himself with a couple of buddies in Switzerland last week. Every time I see him post, I get so happy for him.
Image credits: LoverKat11
#29
I am haunted by that guy. In junior high I walked home with him once. We talked. He was elusive, but kind and attentive. I liked him but, in my 13 year old adhd brain, I never followed up on our budding friendship. He was found hung in a tree on the walk to school. It devastated me to think I could maybe had made a difference.
Later in life I found out about all the abuse he endured from his parents… so heartbreaking.
Image credits: glassbelonglukluk
#30
S smelled really bad and was really rude, the former because her parents didn’t care about her very much (she was adopted by a couple struggling with infertility who had their rainbow baby not long after) and the latter because she was on the spectrum. For context, I went to an expensive private high school where most of my classmates were the rich children of doctors, lawyers, and business owners, including her. I hung out with a group that you could loosely call the not-rich girls and we let this girl hang out with us a good chunk of the time, even though we didn’t like her, because she didn’t have anybody else. Sometimes even we couldn’t handle her, though, and in hindsight, I think it was just me and one other girl that kept S from being formally excommunicated from the group.
Now she’s married with two beautiful kids and a beautiful collection of exotic pets, mostly snakes, including an emerald tree boa, my personal favorite species. It always makes me happy to see her doing well!
Image credits: Dankestgoldenfries
#31
It was me, a bunch of people started a prank where they were going to tell everyone i was going to bring a gun to school. Everyone believed them, even after I was cleared by the cops and all the evidence came out. The principal told me it was best I didn't come back. It was senior year and I was 19 so no other highschool in the area would admit me to finish my diploma. I became an unemployed depressed drifter for 8 years then joined the Navy. Doing better now but it really threw my life plan out of whack, I was top of my class gradewise, and my clear path to college was destroyed right in front of my eyes and life became much more lonely for until I joined the Navy. Now I have a wife that's way too hot for me and kids that are smart and social butterflies.
#32
There was a guy in high school who everyone sort of ignored. he wasn’t bullied exactly, just… **invisible**. he never raised his hand, never joined any clubs, and always sat alone at lunch. i had a few classes with him, and once in a while, i’d partner with him when no one else would. i remember once in chemistry, we ended up talking about video games during a lab experiment. and he lit up talking about it, and it was probably the most i’d ever heard him say in one go. but after that, we mostly just went back to polite head nods in the hallways.
i recently stumbled across his profile on twitter and turns out, the “quiet kid” is now developing indie games with a small team and he’s been doing really well too!
what stuck with me, though, was this one post where he mentioned how just one person acknowledging your presence, even casually, can mean everything when you feel invisible. i can’t be sure if he was talking about me or someone else, but it made me realize how even the tiniest effort to connect with someone might stay with them in ways you never expect.
#33
He died in a wrong way crash a few years ago. He was the guy going the wrong way. On a highway he knew for 20 years. A lot of us think it was intentional.
#34
He met a girl at 16 years old, stayed with her until this very day, they moved to another country (France) they started from the bottom, he got a job as a manual laborer in construction, and she got a cleaning job, fast forward, they both have their own businesses now and a family of 3 kids, 4 dogs and a farmhouse in the countryside.
so thats the fast forwarded version of what happend to the quiet lonely person (me).
#35
I'm good. Things got better once I got out of the drama factory that is high school. I quickly realized that none of that s**t was going to matter once I was out of that place and charted my own course.
I've gone to a single reunion in the 30 years since, and the number of people from the "popular" crowd who are still living the *exact* same life they did 30 years ago astounds me. Like when I went to an alumni event and saw the same dude setting up the PA system that used to do it when I was in school (he was in the class behind me).
On the one hand, the familiarity of some of it was comforting. On the other, some people really do make high school their whole lives and never truly leave.
#36
Eventually married a wonderful man, have 3 wonderful kids, and 2 grandkids.
Hubby has his own business, I worked in health for over 45 years, and we've been around the world 3 times with the kids.
My neurodivergence meant I could not connect to others which made school very lonely for me.
#37
You rang?
I went to a community college, transferred to and graduated from a commuter 4-year school, traveled and bounced around in various jobs in my early twenties, joined Peace Corps and lived in West Africa in the middle of a small village in mountains and rainforests at 25, came back due to COVID, bounced around and traveled a bit, then joined the Air Force.
#38
Kid got gunned down in front of his mom. Basically buddy was being bullied to hell in back. What few friends he had tried to help but he made friends with the furries and emo kids and before it was “cool” it was basically the easiest group to bully with little to no consequence. Anyway one day guy had enough and his mom walked in on him about to put a round in his head when their neighbor heard her screaming he looked into a window and saw him holding a gun so he called the police. Long story short his mom was begging swat and the police to back off so her son would feel safe enough to out the gun down. According to her he was about to place the gun down when swat broke the door in and shot him on sight because it was still in his hand. She watched as he got riddled with bullets. I found out because I was crushing on one of his friends (she reminded me of Raven from teen titans at the time lol) and she told me everything. They hold a memorial service every year for him. Pretty wild.
#39
Ours was a lonely girl, and we have been trying to track her down actually. Last we heard she was homeless and a d**g addict. I really hope she’s doing better because she was a sweet girl, just very shy.
#40
He grew up to be a lonely man that tries to do the things society expects of him and be a good person, good husband and good father but all the while I just want it all to go away and leave me alone as none of it leaves me feeling happy, fulfilled, worthy or wanted.
#41
Haven’t heard from him in 8+ years. I know he made a couple attempts on his own life before. I just hope he’s doing okay now.
#42
That lonely kid was me. i'm still alone. less lonely, but only because i've learned to be ok being by myself all the time.
#43
That's me... I left everything in my f****d up country and moved to Spain with barely any money or studies beyond highschool.
#44
I had a couple of relationships but am alone again at 45. I kinda have a couple of friends.
#45
I became an accountant married an introvert and made the most precious child on earth. No longer lonely.
#46
I am the lonely kid hahaha and I’m now happily working and saving money for my solo trips next year.
#47
That was me. I was weird and emotionally maladjusted and it showed in my demeanor, appearance, and grades. I was convinced no one would love me, I’d never marry, and that I’d die broke and alone. I’m now in my 50s, a successful Realtor and respected in my field. I’ve been happily married for 28 years, and we have two grown children who love us. I serve on the board of a couple of boards of non profits I believe in the missions of (local PFLAG and Pride organization). Go figure. It definitely gets better.
#48
I was on the tennis team with a kid who I never quite figured out who his friends were. He was normal enough (i mean, he didn’t appear to be the WEIRD lonely kid) I just didn’t have any overlapping periods off with him or ever really see him aside from practice
He was the 2nd from our graduating class to die, testicular cancer around age of 28.
#49
I recently realized that the lonely high school kid was really broke. They became very popular in the community and even started a podcast about mental illness. It's amazing how far they've come.
