How to be less quiet and awkward around a group of people?
Im not great at holding my own in group settings, even if the people I'm talking to are being open to me. I’m fine with the one-on-one, but in groups Im really lost around people I don't know.
In my AP Bio class, I sit with two guys who are already friends with eachother. I got placed at their table because I missed the day we chose seats. They were cool, and at first I made small talk and kept eye contact. Then I got sick and missed about a week and a half, and when I came back everything felt awkward so I kind of shut down.
Recently we had a big group project (our table group and another table group) building a model, and I didn’t contribute much socially or verbally. I don’t want to be the quiet group partner who doesn't contribute much but im worried I'll come off as annoying or weird if I just start talking, and like asserting myself into the tasks and stuff.
Should I just start talking again like nothing happened, or would they think I'm being weird? Have you ever had something similar happen? Any tips would be really helpful rn #relationships source