The fact I even had to write that title is appalling. I'm struggling to find the words to express how angry, disgusted, and hurt I am about my current situation. For this article, I will be referring to my "friend" as Jon, as I do not want to use his real name and then have him accuse me of slandering, even though this story is true.
Our friendship began three years ago when we both began a job at the same company. What began as small conversations bloomed into a close relationship that I thought would last forever. I could sense throughout the years that he was two-faced to most of his "friends," but I always thought he was genuine to me. Unbeknownst to me until today, I was a fool to give him my trust.
He was there for me whenever I had issues at work. He was there for me when I was stressed and needed a night out to unwind. He was there for me when I was struggling with my sexuality. He was there for me when I finally came out. Through it all, I thought I could count on him.
The beginning of the demise of our friendship started months ago before I even knew he was involved in an issue I was having at the time. I had received a message from a random man informing me that someone was using my pictures on a dating site called MeetMe that I had never heard of. This person used the name Melissa which I found odd considering my mom's name is Melissa. I was upset but figured there was nothing I could do but try and get the profile taken down. I thanked the man who messaged me and asked him to report the profile. That was the end of it.
Fast forward to a few months ago when I got a call from Jon. He told me that there was a profile using my pictures again, this time on Tinder. He wanted to confirm it wasn't me since this person was requesting to hook up with everyone they matched with. He thought that I wouldn't be the type to act in such a repulsive way. I confirmed that it wasn't me once again, and asked for the profile to be reported. And once again, which I found strange, was the profile was under the name Melissa. I was growing frustrated at this point, this person had used my pictures for two dating sites at this point. Both accounts had been reported, so I thought that, finally, I could put that issue behind me.
Fast forward once again to three hours ago. The past few days I had numerous random men request to follow me on Instagram. I thought it was strange, but didn't give it another thought. It wasn't uncommon for me to get requests from random people. Today, one of those men messaged me. I also get several random messages from men trying to talk to me, give me weird comments, try to ask me out, etc. I was confused to see that the message read: "So are you on MeetMe or is someone else using your pictures?" I was sick of this person using my pictures on dating sites trying to catfish people by staging to be me. This person was now giving out my Instagram, hence all the random followers I had been getting.
I was growing increasingly frustrated. This was the third time this person had used my pictures on dating sites and was now giving out my social media profiles. And what made me even angrier, was that this time I had a girlfriend, and this person creating dating profiles with my pictures could make me look like a cheater. Now I was furious. I responded that someone else was using my pictures and that I had a girlfriend, mentioning that this wasn't the first time that this has happened.
His next message stopped me in my tracts. He stated: "Um well a gay guy named Jon is doing it. He's saying you're his best friend and that he's gay." The random man said what Jon was trying to do was make a "deal" these men that they could hook up with me, only as long as they hooked up with him first. I was skeptical at first, wondering if this was just someone who had an issue with Jon and was trying to do something to gain revenge of some sort; especially since Jon knows I'm gay and have a girlfriend who I love more than words can express.
Then he sent me a screenshot of the profile. All of the things listed in the about me were things only a close friend would know. The icons said athletic, bookworm, LGBT, Netflixer, tatted up, and that I was tan with blue eyes. The picture he used for the profile was a picture of me and my girlfriend, a picture I sent him and a picture on my Instagram that was set to private. And, you guessed it, the name used was Melissa. Three times in a row the same name was used and was also the same name as the profile that Jon had told me about. And to top it all off, the man sent me a picture of the Snapchat that he was told to add from the fake profile. It was Jon's.
I don't have the words to express the hurt and anger I feel. The man told me as soon as he screenshotted the profile to send to me, Jon had deleted him. Right after, Jon posted to Facebook saying that his Snapchat had been hacked. A very convenient time to post that after this man screenshotted the profile. I know this could be a coincidence, but when you look at everything else that had happened I don't know how you could deny it was him.
I confronted Jon. If you know me, you know I'm not the type to back down when someone screws me over. Jon's response? "Ouch, I'm honestly super hurt that you would believe that shit." After knowing him three years I knew that he would never admit what he had done and that he would try to manipulate me into feeling bad that I would ever think that he would do something like that. I know he'll never admit it, no matter how much evidence I have against him.
I know he did this, how could I not? If you look at one piece of evidence, sure it could seem like it was someone else. But everything is stacked against him, and I have no doubt in my mind he used me for personal gain and didn't care about the consequences that would befall on me.
I have since blocked him on everything. After I confronted him and said what I had to say, I stopped responding. I will never talk to him again. What he did is beyond repulsive, and beyond forgiveness. I am thankful for the man that messaged me and helped me discover that the man I thought was my best friend, was never my friend at all.
