First off, it’s OK. We all make mistakes and misrepresent our feelings sometimes, which can affect others in ways we don’t intend. The particular social accident you describe is also quite common. I promise she will quickly recover from the inadvertent rejection.

My answer is: practice. 8-9 years is a long time to be out of practice at anything of this sort.

There are a variety of ways to actively pursue that practice, some more creative than others, but the most natural way is simply to invite interaction with others in general such as, apparently, drawing on a bench at the park :)

Is “trolly” pronounced like troll-ee or like trolley? Because I do have some trolley opinions.

But also, thank you for the candid (if defensive) admission and insider’s perspective. That took guts, given what social capital you must know it will cost.