Toxic Friends: My Experience

Toxic Friends: My Experience By: Ella Meert Enough people in this world have had toxic friends, toxic friends are what people consider “friends” even though these people comment about you and who you are, making you feel alone.

According to statistical data, 80 percent of people have had female toxic friends. And 84 percent of people have had a toxic friendship. These statistics are way too high and nobody alerts this issue, and that is what I am supposed to do.

At one of my old schools when I was younger ( I was in year 4/ grade 5), there were these popular girls, the girls that every boy would have a crush on, the famous girls, something so many other girls wanted including me. I was put in a class with a majority of those girls. I wasn’t very popular etc. but I felt vulnerable and I wanted some friends so I took my shot and spoke to the popular girls, they invited me over to sit with them and from then on we became friends. They weren’t always very kind but I thought, this is normal and it shouldn’t bother me. I heard stories about them body-shaming me, calling me ugly, it wasn’t fair and nobody deserves that feeling of not feeling good enough, but I had no other friends. I held it through the years, I remember this one time I got announced head girl of my primary school, I was so proud of myself and happy, I sat back down and they didn’t even congratulate me, they just ignored my presence. I felt horrible, I felt alone and I felt like whatever I did to prove myself worthy wasn’t good enough. I started using makeup and I started exercising to look BETTER. The number of times I wanted to yell at them to stop, but I couldn’t, they would use everything I say against me. There was this time I made plans with one of the girls to go to the movies, I bothered my mom begging for days to go and she finally agreed, the last hour of the school day before we

went to the movies, my “friend” decided to go with someone else, her other best friend, so I wasn’t going with them, I remember saying “its fine, you can go, have fun” to the girls mum, that girl told her mum “mum we changed plans, look she says it’s fine” I remember almost crying and I didn’t want to go, I did end up going but I won’t forget that day, it broke my heart.

To this day, it hurts to think about it, I have great friends now but I have some anxiety about some things with my friendships. The point I am trying to let come across is DON’T BECOME FRIENDS WITH THE POPULAR GIRLS. They hurt you, and it sticks with you for life.