Dear Manipulative Person in My Life,

Let me start off by saying that I have a hard time saying the word "no."

Let me back up that statement by saying that when I try to say "no," I feel like I've just let you down. I seem to carry a sort of "people-pleaser" trait inside of me everywhere I go.

But in all reality, do you know that you're a manipulator? Are you aware of the fact that you can easily control me because I am weaker than you? Do you know I am naive and young and ridiculously desperate for the newness of friendship? Of course you know all of this. Why else would you ask me to do all of the things that nobody else would ever say yes to doing? You know I can't say no, and you use it against me.

I am a lot of things, pal. I am a push-over and sometimes spineless, as well as weak. But you know what I am not? I am not a last resort. I am not someone you can call just when you need to feel better about yourself, because you know that I can't do anything that would qualify as being against you. And I am absolutely not your personal punching bag. I don't cause your problems, I don't take care of your problems.

I was there for you for so long. I spent months trying to put back together your broken pieces that you tried to keep invisible. I always see what you're dealing with behind the scenes, even if you always cover it up with a rude joke or sarcastic comment. I have cried because I tried to feel the pain you feel. I have spent hours of my days trying to keep up to date with you and see how you are doing, even when I know it will all backfire.

I can never tell what attitude you're going to have when you invite me to hang out, and you know I still come over because I can't say no. I can never understand why you treat me differently than you treat your other "friends." But now it's all plainly clear to me. You know all of my wires and all of my gears, and you know that if you call me when I'm upset, it's easy to make me feel like I owe you something for being so "caring." You make me feel like you are the only one who will ever care, which makes me even more dependent on you.

My friends wonder why I still hang around you when I've made countless promises to keep away. I've tried cutting you off in a thousand different ways, from screening your phone calls, to avoiding all of the places I know you go to. No matter how far of a distance I try to keep you at, I somehow manage to always wind up back in your life, and you back in mine.

You don't care how weak I am, and you don't care how it all makes me feel.

You care about your ego, and you care about yourself.

It's always been that way. I've said this a thousand times before, and it probably won't work any differently this time, but I don't want to be apart of your daily routine anymore.

I'm not a "guilt-tripping" phone call, and though it took me this long to realize, I am not the one who was meant to make you a better person.

NOT Yours Truly,

The Person You'll Wish You Had Treated Better.