You Know Who You Are,

Since neither of you have had the courage to talk to me directly to hear what I have to say, I thought I would put my thoughts somewhere where you can find them with ease: the Internet. You have apologized to nearly everyone else, even though they were not as deeply affected by your carelessness as I was. Jesus Christ, you both texted my boyfriend to apologize before you thought of me.

However, I must admit that I was impressed by what you did. Your April Fool’s prank required immense amounts of planning, coordination, deviance, manipulation, and a complete disregard for others that I have frankly never seen before. Congratulations on redefining what it means to be selfish, oblivious, and generally terrible. I, along with everyone else who doesn't really want to talk to either of you anymore, applaud you.

Both of you seemed so shocked at my reaction to your joke. When I started crying, you both looked at me dumbfoundedly, as if I should have had another reaction to being told that I had been lied to and ruthlessly manipulated for a week. In that moment, I should not have been the one that felt ashamed. You had both been pretending to use me for advice, information, care, and support, and why? Whatever motive you could present to me now pales in comparison to the consequences of your actions.

Friend A: I think I am most disappointed in you. I interpreted your need for advice and counsel as you finally opening up to me, since you are typically so emotionally closed off. I felt assured that I was a friend that you valued, but I was wrong. Instead, my stress, worry, and anxiety over your feelings was a form of amusement for you. I could forgive you, but that would require you actually speaking to me first.

Friend B: I’m pretty sure we both know that you and I were never close. Yet, I thought you needed me, and I was starting to think that maybe I had been too harsh with you in the past. Maybe I had never understood you before, but now we could be better friends, because you really seemed to care about what I had to say. At one point, you said you needed my advice because the situation you were pretending to be in so closely resembled my own romantic relationship. Did mocking my relationship and personal feelings bring you joy, or were you too blind to think I would not be upset? All you did through your manipulation was reaffirm what I already knew about you.

I am most devastated because both of you had the audacity to take one of my strengths and turn it into a weakness. You targeted me because you knew I would listen to both of you and make you a priority in my own life. You only had the capability to hurt me so because you both knew I cared about you. You took advantage of my empathy and used it to hurt me, and that takes a special strain of malice.

I will never stop caring or being what you perceive as too involved in people’s personal lives because of what you have done. You have simply taught me that some people just do not deserve my compassion.