So I (18M) have started college and live about 12 miles from my campus, so I commute by public transportation, which really takes away a good portion of my free time, I have extreme social anxiety but I believe I'm high functioning enough and can mask it to some extent, so I've actually made some acquaintances. Through small talk I realize this guy lived close to me, so I did what I believe everyone in my situation would've done: I asked for a ride home, and then we made a sort of agreement in which i would pay a certain amount for the carpooling.
The problem actually comes here: I am extremely socially awkward in one to one conversations, especially with people I don't have a lot in common (for context that colleague is like a "jock" type, and after tackling the "baseline" conversation points, i don't have much to say anymore. I hate not being able to pick up and continue with some conversation, so it always ends with "Oh yeah" "Its tough" "For real". It shouldnt be such a big deal but this shit is actually eating me alive, to the extent which I think about it every time I go to college and have random intrusive thoughts about it throughout the day
We made a deal so I dont think he might be umconfortable with the situation, but Im afraid my awkwardness could change that (I kinda have an impostor syndrome situation with friends and such). I have started taking SSRIs recently so I hope that helps, but Im afraid I need to find some sort of common ground between me and him to make it less awkward, I really dont wanna back down because I believe that would go against my goal of attaining better social skills.
Has someone ever been in this sort of situation? Any advice could help.