I think I'm in love with a girl I mercilessly ridiculed years ago
That's interesting. Why are you in love with her?
I think she's more intelligent and prettier than me. We also have similar interests.
It's okay to care for people. But you should apologize to her if you ridiculed her before. That kind of harmful behavior might still have an impact on her, and you need to make amends before being friends.
Yeah, it would be alright to be friends.
You should take the harm you might have caused to her seriously. If you don't, it will seem like you have feelings for her superficially, but that you don't actually respect or care about her as a person.