Oh the woes of being a high school student. There are fewer things pettier and more devastating to a teenager than getting dumped by their best friend. Whether you two just “drifted apart” or you flat out got the shaft, getting dumped is rough. For those of you who have been ditched and now feel as though the world is becoming one big, dark place where things go to die: fear not, melodramatic teens! This is not the end of the world, in fact far from it. The best way to think of this is not as a time of suffering from social leprosy, but as a character building time in your life.
The beauty of being a high school student is that (not to belittle the awfulness of being a dumpee) because your life is subject to whims and roller coaster ride-like mood changes, chances are that your attention span will impair your ability to feel depressed for more than a few days (a little more than a week, tops) before you get sick and tired of being miserable. So what’s a teen to do when faced with the daunting prospect of living without their most dearly beloved compadre? Well it’s important that you set about making new friends, after reevaluating what you want out of a friend of course. It is very likely that the group of friends you go into high school with and the group you graduate with will be pretty different, and for good reason. An intrinsic part of high school is meeting the strange people you will be able to call friends, the people who you can share those really random interests and past times with, and transversely find out more about who you are.
Better yet, call up the old friends you may have neglected whilst getting caught up in what you deemed entirely more pressing BFFL business (and why not? It’s not like you’ve got that to worry about anymore) and get together for a hang out. They’ll appreciate the call, and so will your social life. Sitting at home and spending your weekend ruminating on where it all went wrong will help absolutely no one, never mind the fact that moping in a vat of self-pity for prolonged periods of time is a complete exercise in stupidity.
If getting with a new group of people is something you’re simply not ready for, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to waste away until you’re ready to get back in the social scene. Even without a sidekick, carpe diem! The world is a great huge place just asking to be explored. So get back to writing that novel, shell out some cash to start playing on that Les Paul guitar you used to dream at night about, or finally start training for that marathon, because nothing helps take your mind away from how awful life is like an involved, time consuming past-time (not to mention the total endorphin rush being productive gets you). Take some time for yourself and do something completely self-indulgent, you deserve it. In times of need, its okay be a little self-involved, especially after something as gut wrenching as getting dumped.
Ultimately the best thing you can do for yourself is deal and move on past this little speed bump in your life. Let bygones be bygones—hell, you’re better off just forgetting about the bygones entirely, it’s not like they ever served any real purpose anyways. There’s nothing more toxic to and unbecoming of a young adult than harbored resentment. It’s your ability to weather the tough times that will ultimately decide what kind of person you (vengeful psychopath or benevolent angel, your pick) will be when you graduate high school, and by then, I promise there are only a few tragedies that won’t seem utterly laughable once you get off the tumultuous ride that is high school and all it’s silliness, and getting dumped is not one of them.