Leaves crunch beneath our feet as Briah keeps blabbering on about her life; crushes, exes, and other friends. I ball up my fist and wrap my arms around my chest, trying to keep myself warm from the cold winter air. I followed Birah to our spot in the hammocks, and I hesitantly got in our shared one. It's always been this way since we were five, now we're sixteen but still have the same traditions.

"Can you believe that Brad tried to share our break-up texts with all the jocks? He's a jerk and a *****,"

I winced. She knows I don't like cussing. For me, it's just unnecessary, I don't see the use of them, except to make people feel bad about themselves when someone cusses them out. Brad was really just a nice guy, and he was misunderstood, but Briah refuses to accept that. It was a mistake, she should get over it. But of course...she won't listen. 

"He's making me feel so stressed and crazy, it's like I'm losing my mind. If he accepts my offer to date him, he should care about me, and treat me like a queen, instead I'm an after-thought,"

"He didn't want to date you," I mumbled under my breath.

"Huh?" Briah asked as she turned to me.

Uh-oh. "He didn't want to date you, it was peer pressure that forced him to, is that not obvious?" I spit out.

"No, it wasn't. He dated me because he liked me, Anna," Briah rolled her eyes.

I bit my lip. I should just stay silent now, nothing was ever going to change. Briah would always forget that I actually have a life, and an opinion...she's not the main character.

Nothing would change unless I changed it.

"So yeah, I'm going to the mall with Jenny on Saturday and we're going shopping, so I look gorgeous, and that Brad will want me back,"

"Briah?"

"Hmm?" she asked while checking her nails and running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm hurt."

"How so?" she still hasn't looked at me.

"You did it."

That caught her attention.

"Excuse me?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I want to be heard?"

She stayed silent. Good. It's my turn to talk.

"Whenever we talk, it's about you, always. It's never, 'How are you, Anna?' or 'You look sad, what's up, Anna?' it's always 'Briah, Briah, Briah,'. Not only you have bad days, or good days, I do too. It's called life, but you're too involved in yourself to pay attention."

I could feel tears running down my face now, this escalated too quickly. I didn't want it to go like this. Briah looked shocked, her jaw hanging open. I continued, my voice wavering as I cried.

"I’ve also asked you to stop cussing, and you said you’d try to, but it just got worse ever since you dated Brad. You cuss him out, and then act like the victim all week and don't pay attention to me. And whenever I tell you about myself, it’s always 'ok' and then back to you. I know I’m the ‘therapist friend’ but it doesn’t hurt to ask how I’ve been doing."

We were both crying now. The winter air was burning my eyes, and the tear streaks on my face felt like fire. Briah clasped her hands over her mouth, but I wasn't finished.

"I want to share my life with you, I don’t want to be the shoulder you cry on and then be tossed aside so you can go hang out with your other friends. I want to be your friend, not a piece of trash that doesn’t matter to you anymore. I just feel like I’m not important to you anymore and it’s making me feel...alone. You’re judgemental and it hurts me in a way that makes me feel even more abandoned."

My crying got even worse when I'm gasping for breath. Briah stared at me in shock. We sat there for what felt like hours before Briah sighed, got up, and walked away.

I guess that's the end of our friendship.