Toxic Friend

(Note: This is my first story of any kind so if you read it thank you!)

The start of 7th grade I met her. A new stranger to look at in the hall? The quiet girl who I'd ask for a pencil? Or a friend, an unexpected one?  She was short, blonde hair, good style, and cheerful. We shared the fact that we disliked our science teacher, who was always rude. And a friendship blossomed. It was a big, bright  daisy. We facetimed a little at the start and played games on snapchat. Then it turned into facetiming almost everyday and played games like Roblox, Minecraft, or Among us. Things started to get rocky from there. In the middle of our friendship I learned she was a bit of a "prankster". She had made a bunch of alternative accounts to prank me. The first time was on Tik tok where we had a little Tik Tok group where people showed their talents and if it was good we'd give the password to post. Well one time, she had pretended to be a little girl who had a "talent" for drawing. It wasn't that good so I politely declined her application. But this "little girl" named Bella did not accept that and made a big fuss about it. It was a weird but innocent prank. In the end I found out because she had accidentally shown the drawings and we giggled a bit about it.
    3 months till the end. I had reconnected with an old friend, Rachel. Since our missing time together she had gotten into things that I also liked and we had much in common. I talked to Rachel more than I did to her, trying to catch up with each other. Days went by laughing, telling stories, and showing each other the adventures we had. Over those days, I suppose she had got impatient waiting for me to text her. I admit, I wasn't talking as much as I did before but it was for a reason, of course. She had sent me a message saying how I didn't want to be friends with her because I was "ignoring" her and I chose Rachel over her. None of that was true, I wasn't choosing anyone and I never said I didn't want to be friends with her. I had called Rachel not knowing what to do, Rachel said that it's all silly and she is playing a victim. I agree that it was very silly but I did want to agree and say that she was playing a victim. I had high expectations for her, she wasn't making it, so I lowered and lowered the expectations till I was feeling miserable and there wasn't much laughter.  She started to exceed my newer expectations. So it grew, our bond grew from a vine on the house to a metal chain holding a heavy object. I didn't want to let her go even though she had wronged me once, I didn't think it was a big deal at the time.
      Cut to 1 month ago. We had learned that we are both a part of the LGBTQ+ community. We were both bisexual I didn't have any romantic feelings for her but things were different for her. She had a small crush on me. I again politely declined saying I didn't feel the same. We stopped talking for a few days contradicting the awkwardness. I had said hello a few days later and everything was fine. 3 weeks before the end... We were playing an game of Among Us when a person named "123" joined the game. Me and 123 quickly became friends sharing our love for the game. We added each other on Facebook talking for a little bit about tips and tricks on the game and inviting each other for a few rounds. Things got weird when a week later the girl, Max. Was acting strange, sending a collision of numbers and letters spamming me. I got weirded out but proceeded to ask her if everything is ok. She didn't respond but only sent numbers and letters again in the spamming format. Eventually she talked normally but it was yet still strange and weird. She had screenshotted photos of my relatives Instagram pages and sent them to me acting all weird saying "I know where you are, '' at that point I knew I should've stopped messaging this person but I needed to know who she was. I was scared, scared to the point where I was shaking and tearing up. I had called the blonde haired girl and told her how I was feeling. Still texting Max I had to use the bathroom so I hung up the phone, still bringing it with me to the bathroom. I sat in the bathroom for what felt like hours.I got up when I had finally had enough. So I told her and Rachel I was going to call the police. Rachel supported my choice seeing how scared I was. While she asked me questions like '' Wait but what if she is just a child?" I dismissed knowing what I was going to do. I hung up the phone with the police, crying after the call. I had saw that she I had sent a bunch of text messages saying things like "I'M SORRY IT WAS ME" ,"I'M SUCH AN AWFUL PERSON" and " I UNDERSTAND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME" I called her immediately angry and disappointed. She didn't talk nor show her face; it was a black muted screen. While I sat there with a puffy, red face looking directly at the camera. She texted me saying sorry and that it went too far. I dropped the phone onto the bed and sat on the floor crying harder than I have ever cried before. I yelled 'I WAS SCARED FOR MY LIFE AND YOU KNEW THAT!" still a black muted screen. "YOU JUST FIGURED OUT THAT IT WAS TOO FAR WHEN I THREATENED TO CALL THE POLICE!" still nothing... "I WAS SCARED FOR MY FAMILY'S LIVES!" I sat there sobbing in a little ball on the floor. I couldn't think, I couldn't have known what was going through her mind. All I knew was that I didn't want to talk to her, so I quickly hung up the phone and called Rachel. I told her everything she said to not be friends with her, I understood why, but I didn't listen. A few hours later I unblocked her and texted her saying hello. Nothing changed. I didn't do anything. Deep down I regretted picking up the phone and texting her but it was too late. It was sent, we called, we played games, and repeated... Thinking about it now I wish I could punch myself thinking about how stupid I was. Why did I do that? Why? Why? Why? Why? Thankful my mom found out, I don't think I truly realize how free I feel being declawed from a toxic, manipulating friend. I was silly, but I promised myself that I would not do such harm to myself anymore. That big, bright daisy slowly wilted till it was a dried corpse. Thank you mother. Thank you Rachel. Thank you to everyone that helped.
                                                        By,
                                                        KR