Change ... it isn't always for the better

I have this friend who really isn't much of a friend any more.

I felt bad about it for awhile, until I realized I really didn't like him any more. Not the "like" of a 13-year-old girl, mind you ... nothing remotely romantic here. He'd just changed, and he's no longer someone I want to spend time with.

This particular friend thinks that, depending on the circumstances of the day, it's okay to cut in line. To basically step in front of 30 or so other people and put himself first. I confronted him; he told me I was wrong. He apologized, but only as a way to open up the conversation again.

Then he called me a bully. He told me people are afraid to call me out when I do things wrong. He should meet my sisters. Hell, he should meet most of my true friends.

Which got me to thinking ... first of all, he doesn't really know me. Second, he's just not the kind of person I like to spend my time with. I don't feel any particular animosity toward him, I just don't want to be in his toxic presence.

I worry, because I know he talks to other people I know. But my friends know better. The people who know me are above this seventh-grade bullshit. So I'm at peace, because I've grown beyond friendship with this person. And there's something quite freeing about that.