Why did boys at school think I was "so ugly" but now I'm a little older, guys don't?

Anonymous
All the way through school, pretty much from the ages of 11-15 the boys at school were very horrible to me. I always used to be seen as one of the ugly girls so they'd be really mean to me, it upset me a lot and left me thinking I must just be an ugly girl.

Thing is though, I'm 18 now, and I get a lot more attention from guys. Even a couple that were mean to me from school have shown me interest. My boyfriend is 23 and he's really attractive. I've had guys my age come up to me in the street, and people say how I'm really pretty and always have been.

It also seems like slightly older men, early twenties, appreciate me more? They're the ones that I like because they seem to value me as a person and the way I look, often thinking I'm "sexy". My boyfriend said he was surprised I liked him back because of "the way I am", even though I think he's gorgeous 😳. We've been together for 6 months.

So how come those people in school treated me like I was SO disgusting? They were just horrible. Even the girls would laugh behind my back and make fun of the way I looked.

I don't think I look that much different now, apart from the fact I wear much better makeup and know how to do it properly, I make my hair look nice and I wear good clothes now. I try to groom myself better, but it's not like I was a mess in school.
i know it's personality too, but I'm just talking about this because it confused me and made me feel really shitty in school, and my personality hasn't changed.

So why was it like this?
Why did boys at school think I was "so ugly" but now I'm a little older, guys don't?
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