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“As your last year comes closer and closer to an end, you’re going to see people lash out. You’re going to see people you thought were your friends turn on you, and you’re going to notice people you thought you knew act out in an utterly bizarre way. This is normal.”

It was true, I knew it was. I could see it, even in myself, the changes taking place. People are preparing to leave, and that’s scary. For the athlete playing his last game and the AP Honors student finishing her last final, their roles in their new schools are about to change from what they are now; that’s intimidating when you’ve known who you are and who you were supposed to be for the past twelve years.

By the end of eleventh grade, I thought I knew how my senior year was going to play out. I had avoided scheduling tons of hard classes, knew what friends I was going to eat lunch with, and had the freedom to drive to any afterschool activity my heart desired. But then I changed, and my friends and acquaintances changed, and there, there went all of my planning.

The summer between my junior and senior year went along swimmingly: the same group of friends doing the same thing. It was fun and familiar and filled with great times. But then August/September rolled around, and I turn into an anxious mess of school assignments, tennis practice, and pressure to spend all of my free time with my friends like always.

I didn’t know it, but there was a change taking over deep within me for my last year of high school. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy my time with my friends or partaking in school extracurriculars, but it was all too much. I had done it in years past because I felt guilty. I didn’t want to let my friends down or short myself on the full high school experience, but I am a h o m e b o d y. I like staying home and relaxing out in my yard while the sun streams down around me. I like the comfort my living room provides while I watch my favorite murder mystery shows and play with my pets. For years I was guilted in to doing things I didn’t want to do, and by senior year, I was sick of it.

I made this change, and subsequently my life followed. Friends that asked me to go out constantly were turned down, time and time again, because that just wasn’t what I enjoyed doing. I cut out people in my life that I thought would be with me forever; even if it was hard to swallow at first, I felt better in the long run for dismissing their negativity from my life. I grew closer to people I never imagined I could, and I’ve never been happier or felt more accepted, never felt the ability to trust so feely my small, select group of friends. I like to think others are making these positive changes as well, but i have my doubts.

For those who have liked their familiar role in our class of 2016, I regret to inform you that these roles were not meant to last forever. You may have been special in high school, where you excelled in something and no one else could come close to catching you, but the time has come where you’re joining a group of students who are all just as smart, athletic, creative, or hardworking as you are now. The time has come, yet again, for you to find something that sets you apart.

I get it, I get that you want to hold on as tightly as possible to the familiar and everything you’ve grown to love throughout these years. It’s okay to be nervous about change. What isn’t okay is lashing out at your friends in response to your fear.

It’s that time of the year, the end, when seniors everywhere are realizing they don’t have to put up with their toxic friends, especially if they aren’t going to be seeing them in a few short months. By all means, I am not implying a scared friend is a toxic friend. What I am saying is if this friend has been causing unhealthy stress in your life for any amount of time, AND THEN they decided to take out their fears on you, you have an absolute right to put an end to that relationship; because what’s the point of keeping them around any longer?

There are two ways of going about this. One, you can be mature. You can tell your friend the problem(s) and what led up to them, preferably with a neutral party, and, if you’re both interested, work to fix these problems. Or two, you can spend your last days in high school as a stereotypical, petty child (further adding to high school, teenager, and millennial stereotypes) and cause a lot of pointless drama.

I’ve seen and known firsthand the pain losing a friend, even a toxic one, can bring. Friendships are a relationship, nonetheless; no one would tell you to stay in an abusive relationship with a significant other, and so what’s the difference with an abusive friend? It’s hard, just like any other unfair relationship, to leave because that’s all you’ve known for, most likely, years, but it. is. good. Once they’re gone you realize the stress they contributed to your life. Pointless drama is for pointless people, whom I assure you, you are not.