Everybody has experienced those kinds of energy-draining, soul-sucking friendships that you just can’t help but cling onto; cutting off a friendship is truly one of the most difficult things in life. You form a bond with someone, and you naively believe that this friendship will eventually blossom into something beautiful and eternal. You trust in that person with your whole heart, and expect them to support you when life obstacles knock you down. But the next thing you know, all the love, all the trust, all the energy spent into this friendship suddenly blows up in your face.

Everything was a lie.

I’ve been there too. Living through my senior year of high school was hell. It was the year of betrayal, of lies, of toxicity. Every day was an uphill battle that I never seemed to gain any ground in, and, looking back, my biggest regret was not standing up for my own happiness and cutting out unhealthy friendships from my life. Maybe, just maybe, the battle could have turned into a victory.

1. Feeling jealous

Whether you’re constantly jealous of them or their constantly envious of you, jealously is undoubtedly an ugly emotion to have in any friendship. Of course, being jealous of another person is a perfectly normal feeling to have, but constantly feeling like what you have is not as good as the other person is an extremely unhealthy emotion that could manifest into hatred.

2. Feeling drained

Does this person seem to take the energy out of you after hanging out? Are they constantly involving you or others in drama, and you just can’t seem to get away from the craziness that is your friendship? Being able to hang out with a friend should be a relaxing and uplifting opportunity, not a draining, tiring one. Any type of friendship that makes you feel worthless or unsupported isn’t a type of friendship you want to remain in.

3. Feeling betrayed

Perhaps they blabbered to someone about the secret you told them in private. Perhaps they ditched you for their own personal gains. Perhaps they lied to you when you only expected the truth from them. Either way, you feel like you just got slapped in the face.

4. Feeling ignored

Communication is arguably the most important aspect of a friendship. Being able to communicate effectively with a friend means being able to share secrets, tell personal stories, and even joke around about the silliest of situations. But every time you try to have a conversation with them, it’s like talking to an unresponsive brick wall. From every discussion you try to have with them, you don’t seem to gain anything from it.