Washington, Feb 26 : High School Musical hero Zac Efron, who plays a cool star onscreen, wasn't a real-life heartthrob growing up.

"I was average," People quoted him, as admitting in the April issue of Family Circle.

"I had a lot of friends but I was not in that ultracool circle. I was a bit of a class clown. I guess to get through the tedium of the quadratic formula, I thought everyone was fair game," he added.

The star adds that he and his brother "were brawlers and I would always get grounded. If I had big plans with friends for the weekend - camping or boating or surfing at the beach - I wasn't allowed to go."

But 21-year-old has made peace with mom and dad, and is very thankful for it since "between self-discovery and the social hierarchy, high school can be the most confusing time of your life," he says. (ANI)