If the person always sits near you at lunch, try moving all of your friends to a different lunch table far away from your usual spot, so the person has a hard time finding you. If you and your friends always go to the same place for dinner on Friday nights, pick a place across town and don’t mention the change to the person. If the person always follows you around the halls, change your routine for getting to class.
If the person is just really annoying and you don’t have the heart to say it, just say that you’re not enjoying the friendship, that the friendship is harmful for you, or that you’d just like to spend some time apart from the person — permanently. If there’s a more concrete reason, like the person makes you feel bad about yourself, the person always talks about himself and doesn’t listen to anyone, or the person is even outright mean to you, then you can tell the person this. If you don’t want to be honest, that’s fine too, if you think it’ll just cause major conflict. Tell the person you don’t have time for friends, that you’re going through a hard time and want to be alone, or that you just want to focus on your studies.
Keep it short. Don’t give the person a lot of time to react. Maintain eye contact. Show the person that you really mean it.
If the person finds new friends, he’ll forget about you in no time at all.
Sometimes, cutting ties is necessary for personal growth. [5] X Expert Source Rebecca Tenzer, MAT, MA, LCSW, CCTP, CGCS, CCATP, CCFPClinical Therapist & Adjunct Professor Expert Interview. 19 August 2020.
Use the words “me” and “I” as often as possible, and cut the person off any time he mentions himself. When the person talks about himself, just look confused, like you can’t possibly understand what it has to do with you.
This should make the person avoid you in no time at all.
