That was the worst it got, but I dealt with a good amount of similar shit when I was in high school. For years afterward, whenever I saw someone coming toward me in a hallway, I’d instinctively put distance between us so I wouldn’t be in arm’s reach when they passed.

Some other behaviors I learned during that time in my life:

• Sharing your interests is a waste of time. Don’t talk about yourself. It gives people weapons to use against you.
• Don’t look too obviously happy - don’t smile too broadly or laugh, because it’ll give someone an opening to ridicule you.
• Socializing with others is high risk and low reward. Even if you do well, it’s just kind of tolerable, and if you fuck up even a little, the other person will use it as license for years to hurt you at every opportunity.
• You’re only really safe when you’re alone or with very close friends. You must carefully monitor your every word, gesture, and action around people you don’t know well.