How to talk to people

Dear Website,

I’m kind of using this as a personal diary at this point. So there’s this guy in my gym class that I find at least a little bit attractive, so with that being said, I obviously want to talk to him. I’ve been stalling for a long time because talking to guys makes me nervous (I was bullied for a long time by guys in particular, so that has had a long-term affect on me). So I finally talked to him today, and he was really not into it, obviously. My friends said that I was being really awkward, so that’s why he wasn’t interested. I hate that men make me so nervous. I would love to know the ways you guys get over things that make you nervous. I’m kind of embarrassed to be telling this story here, but he isn’t going to see it, so it doesn’t really matter all that much. I’m not going to be here next year, so dating isn’t really an option, but I still need to learn more social skills. Anyway, any and all advice would be appreciated.