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“Look, I don’t care what you and your girlfriend get up to. That’s your business. But can you just ask her to back off me at school. That’s all I want. I don’t need to have your relationship rubbed in my face every day.”
Oliver shakes his head with a sigh. “Maybe I should go.”
I nod. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”
“I really am sorry.”
“Me too.”
I stare at the ground as he picks up his bag and leaves. Sarah’s won. She’s completely brainwashed my best friend.Ex-best friend.
Why the End of a Friendship Can Be Worse Than a Breakup
By Hannah Robinson
Being a teenager can be crazy hard, and most of the time you get through the tough times with the help of your friends. But what happens when the tough times are caused by someone you thought was a friend?
Everyone makes mistakes. There’s not one human being on the planet who is perfect. And with imperfection comes misunderstandings and hurt feelings. How do we deal with that as teenagers? We react. We give the silent treatment, or we get mad and say things we might regret later. In the age of technology and social media, we might even post things on public forums that hurt our friends in the heat of the moment.
If you break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, there are heaps of angsty breakup songs, television shows and movies you can turn to that depict ways to deal with a broken heart, but what about when you break up with a friend? We tend to just turn our backs, push the feelings aside and not deal with them because it’s too hard, we don’t know what to say, or we feel like we don’t have anyone to talk to about it. But the feelings of a lost friendship aren’t any less valid than those of a romantic breakup.
Letting go of a friend can be difficult because you are saying goodbye to the memories of all the worries and dreams that you shared with that person. It makes you vulnerable because you don’t know if you can trust them to keep your secrets for you anymore.
People grow apart, that’s just a fact of life. Some friends come into your life for a reason, whilst others are only there for a season. Neither is more important than the other. Learn from everyone who comes into your life, and don’t hold on to those who seek to leave. Take time to grieve the loss, then move on to find the people who will bring out the best in you.
Always remember, as Winnie the Pooh once said, “A friend is someone who helps you up when you’re down, and if they can’t, they lay down beside you and listen.” Seek out these people and hold on to them. They’re the ones worth fighting for.
19
The end of March sucks. Eight weeks into my final year of high school and I’m a walking, talking zombie. For two weeks Hannah and I have been avoiding each other, and Sarah’s been hard to get a hold of. I wonder if it’s because of what did - or didn’t - go down between us at the North Heights party. I can’t even talk to any of my mates about it because I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone at school about us. She doesn’t want Joel finding out. She doesn’t want to hurt him. I get it. I just wish I hadn’t hurt Hannah.
I’ve tried to call Hannah a couple of times, but she’s not answering my calls, and her text messages have been one or two-word responses. I went past her house on Tuesday after school, but she’d stayed late at school to get the first edition of the school magazine ready for print. I miss her. I’m still seeing her face every night before I fall asleep. The nightmares are getting worse with us fighting about Sarah right before the accident happens.
The lack of sleep is really starting to affect me. My concentration in class is even worse, and I’m slow and sloppy on the football field. Training has started for our school team and to make matters worse, Joel’s on the team with me and it’s impossible to avoid him as he plays forward and I’m a defender, so every drill we’re pretty much pitted against each other. We’ll be playing against all the top schools in the state that produce a lot of professional AFL players; coming up against the best of the best. Which is why my teammates are getting frustrated with me as I fumble the footy again.
“C’mon Oli,” Macca calls out. “What’s goin’ on with you, man?”
I shake my head, wiping the sweat from my brow. My reactions are slow and despite all my early morning runs, I’m out of breath. The doctor increased my dosage of anti-anxiety meds to try and help with sleep, but it’s not working. I just feel foggier than before.How the hell do I fix this?
Joel nudges me, ruffling my hair with a grin. “You’re making us all look good.”
Shaking my head to clear it, I run over to the sidelines to grab a drink. Mr Page claps me on the back. “What’s going on out there, Oliver?”
I shrug.
My teacher narrows his eyes. “Listen…” He pauses, clearing his throat. “If you need to talk, my door is always open.”
“I’m fine.” I throw my drink bottle on the ground and run back onto the field to join in the drill.
I line up against Joel and watch as Macca kicks the ball towards us. We jostle for position, but Joel easily manages to push me off the mark and I growl in frustration as he marks the ball. I curse under my breath as his perfect drop punt soars into Raph’s outstretched arms.
“You’re making this too easy, Johnson,” Joel says, bumping my shoulder with his as he lines back up against me.
I just grunt, watching intently as the ball moves its way through the drill. A couple of minutes later, we’re jostling for position again. Again, Joel takes an easy mark.
“Where’s your game, man?” He chuckles. “Your skills are as pathetic as your dating life at the moment.”
“What did you say?” I spit out, getting up in his face. I’m breathing heavily, tempted to rub it in his face that I’m hooking up with his ex, but before I can say anything, he takes a step back.
