I have never had any good friends; I have only ever earned friendship through my looks. I have *never* befriended someone the same gender as me before. They were (and continue to stay) uninterested in me.
When I was six my teacher came to the conclusion that I was gifted. They wished to put me ahead a grade, but my mother said no, because she was afraid that I would become unpopular... I always lied to her and said that I was well-liked and was known for being a "tough" kid at school (and she always believed me), but I was actually very sensitive... They would make a game out of teasing me until I cried. Sometimes they would beat me up, too.
I have three sisters and two brothers... We all decided it was best to not associate ourselves with each other in class or during recess... They didn't want my unpopularity to rub off on them, so I only got to hang around with them at home.
My parents were always very overprotective and never let me leave the house on my own until I turned 14. I wasted a lot of time reading, writing and drawing. Still do. lol
My teen years were very awkward. I spent much of them crushing over a man who I eventually discovered was gay. I was very sick for much of it, and I never started making any friends at all until I got well again (as by then men began to notice that I was supposedly pretty).
I was told I was gifted again at 16; my guidance counselor asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I said I wanted to make video games. He asked me where the hell I would go to study something like that. I said I didn't know. He kicked me out of his office and never spoke to me again... My high school years were full of irritating moments like that... After Grade 9 I basically gave up on the whole thing... I'd usually go a day a week, do the entire week's work that day and spend the rest of it alone at home messing around with RPG Making programs, Photoshop and Microsoft Visual Studio.
After I got my diploma I fell in love with (and began to date) a man and began to work at an electronics store as a salesperson. I was not accustomed to being social, and they always put a lot of pressure on sales (with there being commission and all)... It was one of the most stressful times of my life, honestly. They put me in a store which was across the street from an old folk's home and fairly close to a nut house so we got weirdos all the time. They also had me working 60-hour weeks.
But... Yeah. After a year of that I burned out and decided to (finally) go to college to study computer animation. I screwed up all my chances of finding friends and my program was full of men (many of whom usually just talked about how much they wanted to **** me)... I gave up and isolated myself for another 8 months, only to come back home and realize that my parents were getting a divorce, my mother had developed schizophrenia, my older brother had gone back to doing/selling cocaine and had begun to abuse his girlfriend, and many, many other unfortunate things.
I did my best to fix things, but I couldn't... So, I decided to cut my losses and ask my boyfriend (we had been in a long-distance relationship for the duration of my first year of college) to move into an apartment with me closer to the college I was attending; he said no at first, but a few weeks later he very suddenly changed my mind. Assuming that I was going to live with and likely marry this man once I graduated, I accepted the offer.
So, at the end of the summer we moved into a nice place together. He demanded we buy a cat. I agreed. She was my only friend for quite some time.
The week after we moved in together his parents told me that he was only living with me because they had kicked him out. They told me he didn't love me. I knew things would only get rougher from there... And they did, as he immediately began to deploy ambient/stealth abuse tactics against me; luckily, I am very well-read when it comes to things having to do with psychology, so of course I knew what was going on... But, it's hard to like yourself when the only person who usually actually talks to you is constantly attempting to undermine your feelings of self-worth...
On my birthday (last year basically) my mother disappeared after having a short fling with my dad. We didn't find her for two weeks... Ended up her sister hid her in her apartment to "save her from your Dad." She talked like something out of a self-help book. She always dates abusive people. I hate her.
Anyway, after that time my Dad had a mental breakdown, and then was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He lived, luckily, but his mental anguish would last for quite some time after this, as my mother would haphazardly decide and then un-decide to stay with him (while talking about how the FBI had bugged her car and other bizarre things).
I tried to stay strong, but my loneliness built up until it became beyond unbearable... One day a boy from my class asked me to go to a museum with him. I told him I couldn't because I was seeing someone; I knew it would just end with me getting my hopes up over possibly finally having an actual friend only for my dream to be dashed because he decides he wants to ****... But he promised me it wouldn't end that way... So I said yes.
And of course we would hang out more and more often.
It always hung in the back of my mind that once the school year ended I could possibly move out of that apartment and pursue something with him (as the lease would be over, and it's not like I really wanted to be with that guy anyway), but I never once flirted with him. I treated him exactly like I treat everyone else.
I didn't tell him about anything that was actually going on in my life.
And of course he would eventually tell me that he wanted to kill himself.
It was all too much for me.
He told me he loved me.
That he knew I could help him.
That he didn't believe any girl could ever possibly want him.
I refused his advances and went home.
He would continue to stalk me for two months before I finally started telling other people in the class of what was going on; once I did he tried to tell people that he did some of my schoolwork for me. I grew frightened of what he could do. I didn't want to fight him. He was more popular than me. The world was teaming up against me. I only wanted to make him not want to die.
So, when he apologized at the start of the following semester, I accepted it, but only under the condition that he never speak to me again.
He accepted.
My fourth semester of college started darkly; I started most of my assignments two months too late. I could never sleep. I still can't. To this day my nights are filled with violent, powerful nightmares. My boyfriend's abuse had escalated to the point where he was beginning to harass the cat (by throwing her across the room, but onto soft furniture such as beds or sofas, and then laughing and talking about how he hopes it hurts her and stuff. I am very lucky that he never hit me, in retrospect). I began to stand up for myself very strongly in response.
Then he kicked me out. I had nowhere to go. Going home would mean ending my studies. I decided I would sooner be homeless.
After a few days of that my stalker classmate found out and took me in. We started going out. I gave up on everything and began to focus all of my attention on my work...
Things were a blur for the remainder of the semester. I hardly ever slept. I lost track of time. Days felt like seconds. It was crazy, but in the end I finished what I set out to do... And for that final night, when it was me and him and two other kids from our program playing Wii Sports... Things felt like they were going to be okay.
Once I finished I moved in with my mother and isolated myself for another four months. My mother continued to do weird things all the time. It was impossible to make sense of what she was saying half the time. My younger brother (who shares many, many personality traits with me) was also there, so it wasn't all bad. I left that poor little cat there with him when I left; he needs her more than I do right now.
Anyway, this new program started quite badly, as 1) I hadn't spoken to a normal person (besides my brother) in four months, and 2) the stalker/boyfriend guy told me he didn't believe in me, then left my team (we were supposed to be working together for our new assignment; me working alone leaves me at a large disadvantage. Still, I saw it coming from a mile away. Just another case of some retard being shocked when *gasp* people aren't perfect and *double gasp* they may not be able to fix all of your problems! Holy ****, I am shocked and appalled, aren't you?).
I now spend most of my time working alone. I have no friends, although my professors are all very kind to me. I assume they know what's going on in my life because otherwise they probably would have gotten sick of me by now like most other people. lol
At the start of this semester I spoke to a psychologist about everything that had happened. Apparently I suffer from overexcitabilities, depression and social anxiety. The last two are caused by the fact that I perceive myself as an outsider who has never belonged anywhere ever.
I mostly hide my feelings because I feel very strongly about things like this, but every once and awhile I can't help but let them out a little (especially when I don't sleep for a few days lol); I doubt I'll come back, but I really hope this helps the op.
So... Yeah. That was my childhood in a nutshell. I turned 21 three days ago, so I suppose it's over. lol
I'm sorry this post is so long.