01 Aug 2008, 2:33 pm

If your best friend constantly manipulates you, then it's time to look for another friend. It's not healthy to be in a relationship like that. I was hurt numerous times by people like that and I have become a recluse for 20 years. It's not until last year that I have opened up to a friend that I met online and I just got back from visiting her and her family in Long Beach and I went to an Anime Expo. Good friends are really hard to find. It's even harder to find friends that you can trust outside of our comfort zones.

Since then, I have learned that branching out is not only healthy, it's also risky. Finding friends outside of the city or town that you live in isn't always easy. I was lucky.

What you can do to protect yourself from getting hurt is to tell your friend straight up and honestly that you don't appreciate her mainpulating you. If she tells you that she's no longer going to be your friend, then it's time to break those ties and move on. I know it's easier said than done, and trust me, I have been there and done that.

I hope that you can learn that not all people are like her and don't shut yourself off from making new friends and never settle for just anyone. Friends are like lovers. You open your heart to them and they see you for who you are.