I don't really know how to start, but I really need advice. If this problem was left to my own devices I would probably close myself off.

I'm a bit of a loner. I love people and all but due social anxiety I'm bad at making friends. Since 6th grade I've hung out with people I don't really care for. Last year it narrowed off into one person, who I really don't care for but I'm not going to leave the herd and give up protection so I kept hanging out with her.

Near the end of last school year I meet a group of people who shared similar interests and were really fun to hang out with. They're all people I would be okay with to be around every day, which is saying something for someone who would much rather hide in a corner.

Unfortunately they're seniors and graduating this year. I have other people who I could join, like I did before, and have a protective herd, but they're all people who I despise being around. They're people with no respect, their family lives aren't good, they don't like the same things I do, etc.

I'm just really nervous as to what I am going to do next year. My school is small, everyone knows everyone somehow, so there's no way I could just join a club-which we don't have-and find a new group to survive my last two years of school.

To make it worse, my parents pay over $4K a year for me to go to school out of town, saying that it's the best school around and they want me to have a good education. The school isn't even that good, to me. The learning environment is horrible, a lot of teachers are uneducating, and the restrictions placed on us keep increasing.

Well first off, don't lose touch with those friends. Got internet? That was a rhetorical question; you do. Keep in touch through chat, or at least, email.

As for making friends in your school, just find people in your classes to talk to. Try to gauge right away if they're the sort of person you can deal with - but try not to be cynical about it. That's counterintuitive. You can't be scouting out people to talk to, but at the same time be judging them immediately to be people you can't stand. This is a mistake a lot of introverts make, which is all well and good for the sort of person who doesn't mind not talking to anyone.

I'm going to be honest - I have no idea how one makes friends. It's just something that happens naturally, if you leave yourself open to the idea. One way or another, you'll end up talking to someone for some reason, and it's up to you whether or not to let that be a transient moment.

Yeah. They're going to college relatively close too so I should be able to see them a good amount.

The hard part is, I know pretty much everyone in all my classes. My class has about 30 kids, at most, so we don't get awesome diversity every year when we switch classes. If someone isn't an annoying, loud, idiotic, or disrespectful person they hang around them.

Thank you for the help though. Gosh, I'm so scared. >.> Wish I could load up my horse and go to a boarding school, somewhere away from here.

A rough situation, I had to deal with this myself. Most of the people I spend my time with I really can't call "close friends." They're more of the people I elect to spend my time around as opposed to all the others in the general vicinity. Thereby, even though I suppose you already understand this, I'd advise to not expect to have a lifelong Disney bond with anyone there, but be open-minded.

Next, being a senior myself, I see most people change from year to year. Sometimes good people get worse and sometimes bad people get better, but a guarantee I CAN give is that next year not every person will be the same. I hated EVERYONE within three years of me for a very long time, mainly because unlike the majority of those I grew up with penis jokes became stupid before I turned 15. Give some of these people a chance next year, they really could surprise you.

Other than that, there's not much I can say. Keep your mind open and remember that people are hardly ever the people they show themselves to be at first and we've all got to deal with the hands we're dealt sometimes.