Dear Prudence,
Low-stakes question, here. I’m a teenager (14F), and I know that friendships tend to change while we’re in high school. I get it, but I’m not sure if anyone really told me what to do if it happened to me. I have two “main” friends at the moment. We became a “group” near the middle of last year, and it was nice. They were good friends, and I could tell them anything. Then, sometime late last year, it went…wrong. It felt like, instead of being just three friends, I became the third wheel. They have banter, play favorites, talk about me behind my back, and side against me all the time. Now, I’m scared of saying things, because I think that they’ll think I’m stupid, and I’ve started to grind my teeth in my sleep. How do I detach myself from them (without negative fallout) stop worrying about what they think of me, and start living my best life?
—Not the Spare Tire