I was a shy introvert who did the most to have friends but I ended up being laughed at for being (what they considered) "fat". (which in hindsight I've always had a bigger body type rather than a lot of fat, but kids don't really see the difference anyway)
But then I got into rugby and it took me I think 3-4 years to build confidence back. It was never about the toughness of the sport, but more about letting go and focusing on something to take my mind out of the bullying. I got fitter and found a nice sense of fraternity with the boys in my team. We made a good team and still play together sometimes.
It made things easier then. In High school, I was in the 'boys club', but not a brat. I became easy going and got along with all types of people, the outcasts, the nerds, the popular ones, the girls etc I became students' president too, left for the UK at 16 and made many friends there (and met my husband years later in Scotland
)
And it helped with being bisexual in high school too because I got along with everyone. I didn't feel too much of an outcast for liking the same gender as mine unlike what unfortunately many queer people feel like today. I got lucky tbh.