If that's true, then there's not much hope for me in my current area. If people view me as unlikable whether they originally did or because I think I'm unlikable, they're not going to change their minds even if I were to somehow gain a ton of self-esteem.

You know, even though I've always been shy, I did try pretty hard to make friends when I first got to the city the university I attend is in. But the first person I tried to connect with (and maybe it's my fault for having a crush on him) just utterly destroyed me. Others have used me. I just can't tell what their motives are until it's too late and usually I can't tell if someone is using me until it's too late. I have no idea how to build trust to even begin a friendship. If I pursue someone I've experienced very brutal rejection and if I let someone pursue me, they solely want to use me. And so I have no idea how to even approach making friends. How do I know I can trust the person? It would take years of proving they're trustworthy for me to trust them, but even then...