Intimidation 101.

I don't have a date to senior ball.
I guess I'm not going; the dance is next weekend.
I really couldn't care less about the actual dance, but I'd like to be with my senior class at an event like this one last time. It's going to be at Sundance, and I'm the only one of the Friendship that hasn't been asked.

My mom's been bugging me about not being "socially approachable." The other day, she was talking to the mother of a guy I know from school, who had suggested to her son that he should ask me to senior ball. Apparently, he told her that I was "way too intimidating," driving my mom to tell me in exasperation to "just act dumb once in a while" so people will ask me out.
Yeah, right.

But...intimidating?
What does that mean?
I mean, if it means I have power, I guess I'll take it as a compliment, but I've never thought of myself that way. Gorgeous people, eloquent speakers and perpetual centers of attention are intimidating, and I am definitely nothing like that. I'm certainly not easily intimidated myself, but I've never been the type to command fear. I like control; maybe that's where this comes from. People usually defer to me in groups, and I can't pretend that isn't nice. I'm really not the distanced, intimidating type, though. I'm a blonde who likes to wear dresses and high heels, and I smile and talk to the people around me in class. I'm not the gregarious, funny center of attention, but I don't sit passively in the back, either.

I really don't understand why someone would say that.
Half of me is pleasantly surprised; the other half is sad and shocked.