Dealing With the Dreaded Friendship Triangle

At some time or another, you’ll surely have to deal with the discomfort of “the friendship triangle.” Put three girls together and, well, it almost always spells triple t-r-o-u-b-l-e! Here, we take a brutally honest look at this friendship dynamic.

You’re the odd girl out
You’re the one being excluded? Bummer. It never feels good when you think you’re gonna have a good time with the girls and then find yourself tossed aside like a spare wheel. So ya know what? It’s this simple: Remove yourself from the situation. Call a parent to pick you up, go to another room, put on your ear buds -- whatever you’ve gotta do to ignore these meanies.

You’re not having fun, right? So why stick around and endure any more of their bad behavior? You could try to hang out with these two again another time, but if they continue to treat you like an outsider, it’s time to ice them out until they’re ready to play nice (if they ever are!).

You’re the instigator
OK, be honest: Are you the leader in this three-ring circus? Are you influencing one friend to oust the other? If so, stop that right now. Fact is you might think you’re in charge, but you’re actually completely out of control because you don’t even recognize what’s really going on -- which is that you are jealous.

Yep, we said it. You feel threatened, and so you’re turning your insecurities around on someone else. But you’d better rethink your actions. You see, the thing about friendship triangles is that they’re ever-shifting. It could all change tomorrow when it’s your turn to be the odd girl out (see above).

You’re stuck in the middle
So you’re good friends with both of these girls, but they’re just not hitting it off. First of all, do not let the instigator (above) influence you into ganging up on your other friend. It’s just wrong. You chose to be friends with both girls, so don’t be put in a position where you’re expected to pick sides.

Look, it is not your job to be the mediator -- so don’t even try. If these two refuse to get along, the advice here is similar to that we gave for the odd girl out: Walk away. Then hang out with Friend A and Friend B on separate days -- and refuse to get sucked into their drama!