I always compare myself to the way I used to be?

This might be long. So when I was younger in middle school (I know middle school sucked but are with me), I used to be a lot louder and extroverted. I never cared what people thought, I was confident in myself, and I was really good at connecting with people. It seemed like everybody could trust me and most people in the hallway would greet me and overall be happy to see me. I was described as a people person and I had a lot of friends (including a girlfriend) and people saw me as a generally happy guy! Now I'm a junior in high school, and I miss the way I used to be back then. I know I shouldn't compare myself to my middle school self since people generalize it as a weird time, but it seemed like I was happier. Right now I do have friends and I still socialize, but i don't want to look back and think that middle school was the peak of my social career... is there something I'm missing?