What is a friend? According to Merriam-Webster.com, the definition of a friend is one attached to another by affection or esteem. According to high school, the definition of a friend is someone who is nice to you for a short period of time, and then stabs you in the back and you come to find out they weren’t your friend, they were just using you. So how do you get through high school with those “friends”? There are just a few codes you will need to know to make it out alive. And yes these tips are coming from a professional…a victim of high school.

So your first step is, trust at your own risk. Believe me its great to open up and vent to people who could be in your same situation, but you have to know when enough is enough. You can’t tell them stuff you wouldn’t want certain people knowing. Don’t take this wrong, talk to people. If you don’t, you will be considered “weird”. Just simply don’t say things you wouldn’t want people using against you.

Step 2 is, being a good listener. Let your “friend” vent to you. You may not care an ounce about what they are saying, but do your best to show interest. You do this by occasionally nodding and saying “uh huh” and the best thing to do is ask questions knowing the answer. What I mean by this is when they say “I broke up with Johnny for John and while I was dating John I kissed Johnny and I realized I still have feelings for Johnny so I’m trying to decide who I want…” you say “PAUSE! So your saying you still have feelings for Johnny!?” Believe me they feed off of that stuff!

Now step 3 is, keep quiet. If they don’t ask…you don’t tell! That’s them trying to get you to vent without being pushed into it. They are secretly dying to know! Make them work for it. But if they ask you something you don’t want to tell just keep quiet and change the subject. Leave them wondering.

Step 4 attractions to the opposite sex. Usually they will tell you who they like, but if for some reason they don’t, don’t be afraid to ask! Its just good knowledge. Now if they ask you who you like…DO NOT TELL! They will take matters into their own hands and potentially ruin every chance you ever had with that person! Simply say “no one right now”. Warning! They may say something like “come on! You have to like someone!?” Don’t panic…just say something like “I just wanna have fun. I don’t want a relationship.”

Ok so your human and you make mistakes. Don’t panic if you don’t follow one of the steps. They may use whatever you did wrong against you, but if you followed the rest of the steps, you will realize that you have tons of dirt on them! If they want to play, you can play back! If they tell one of your secrets…you know theirs! Just do whatever they did to you back to them. Karma.

So this is how high school “friends” are. They are competitive little gossip queens! Now, not all of the high school “friends” are like this. Majority of them are, but you may come across a life long friend somewhere down the road! Now this is where my tips stop because I have yet to come across that life long friend.