Difficulties with Friends (Advice?)

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Socializing is definitely not an easy task for me. I have three friends, although only two of them are really friends, if that makes sense. The other, Bri, I have been having difficulties with lately. We were friends because we were both loners on the first day of middle school (she just moved here, and I had no friends). But it's draining to be with her now. She loves girl talk and gossip, and always wants to share secrets and such, while I am very uncomfortable with this and tend to push her away and almost ignore her because I don't really know how to tell her that it makes me uncomfortable. We really have no common interests, which is also difficult, because I usually base my conversations around my interests. She has become very popular, and I don't like socializing with more than one or two people, not to mention her friends don't like me at all. I even get jealous that she has other friends and won't spend as much time with me. I know that's pretty childish, but I just can't help it. I also tend to hold small things against her, small things other people wouldn't really care about, but they make me angry with her. Then she's confused as to why I'm angry, which makes me even more irritated because I think she should know and I hate to be misunderstood, and then she's angry because I'm angry and it becomes a huge mess. There's never a fight, and we usually sort of come back to each other after a few days away from each other, but it's just not the same as it was at the beginning of middle school.

I always enjoy my other two friends though. One was an outcast, ignored all through elementary school and teased behind her back for being too 'boyish', and was a behavior problem. She's been in and out of foster homes and now lives with her dad. The other, who only ever had one or two friends, has had a major Pokemon obsession since the age of 5 and sometimes talks in different voices for no reason and makes random hand movements. I couldn't ask for better friends

I guess why I posted this was for suggestions on what I should do about Bri; should I just stop being friends, try to fix it, what? She was the first real friend I ever had, but I just don't know if I can do it anymore. Also, how do you guys fare with friends and/or socializing? How do you deal with these things?

Maybe I sound a bit negative but friendships are transitory, the do not last forever.

I have some friends from earlier days, that drifted another way... I still visit them occasional, call them, mail them; but not often. When I visit them it is okay, but our common ground is really small now. I do not consider them real friends any more, but more like good acquaintances.

Maybe it is a bit similar to your situation. You had a good common ground and had a good friendship. Now your common ground is almost gone and it could be time to cut down on the visits. Making a goodbye would be too dramatic and is not useful; people understand (at least that is what I hear from others). Keep your relationship decent and nice, that can be useful in the future.

Later I gained new friends, that more fit my profile at the time.

What you said about the common ground being almost gone describes the situation quite well. Maybe keeping her as a 'good acquaintance' would be better for the both of us; we wouldn't be as close, but we'd be on good terms, as opposed to trying desperately to fix it and ending up just hating each other. I must say I'm a little sad that we aren't good friends anymore, considering she was the first good one I had, but maybe it's all for the best.

Some friends I am still missing. However new people are coming, some new people you would not expect. I got fewer friends than before, but it feels better.

Yes. Thank you for the advice, it definitely helped

middle school is seriously the worst part of anyones life, it sure was for me. i had so much trouble making friends then cuz i guess people thought i wasnt cool enough to hangout with them. a couple years ago i started to get alot of friends but alot of them didnt treat me very well, i have never had a girlfriend either, and keep in mind im a decent looking guy, facially and bodily, but still no luck. but luckily i graduated high school last month and life should be getting better for me and it should for u in a few years

The friends you have sound so great!

As for Bri, I've had the exact same problem with one of my friends. Her name is Kim. While we were younger we used to get along really well with a third person, but then she got really popular and made all these other friends who, although I could have, I didn't have the confidence to join in with. I lashed out at her a little bit and she didn't understand why (I was jealous), then sometimes I'd just ignore her which also made her upset.
One day she basically marched on me with all her popular friends who were like "Why are you ignoring Kim? Why are you being mean to Kim?" and being an AS I completely freaked and shut down.

We're still kind of friends today, but we're more like close acquaintances. As I watch her and speak with her today it makes me sad to see how superficial she's becoming. The last three times I've spoken with her, the first thing she's mentioned is something about clothes, shopping, wardrobes.... Clothes. When we were together with our third friend, we were all about camping and swimming and movie making. Although she's a great person whose really nice, I worry that she's becoming an out-of-control shop-a-holic.

I suppose what I'm getting at is: Let go of the people who wear you out and don't have similar interests to you. Now although I don't have any close friends, I hang out with a bunch of anime nerds and gamers. So all is well. I think you'll find as more people come to your school, every now and again you'll find someone with the same interests as you and your two good friends who can join in.

Thanks for the input, simwicky. It seems our situations were identical, except Bri has never marched in on me with all her friends (thank God). Yeah, we've been drifting little by little, and she has become much more superficial as of late. We can barely talk anymore because of a huge difference of interest, and she's tolerating my interests less and less. That's another reason I chose my two friends; we're big into anime and gaming, however whenever I bring it up around Bri, she scoffs, and then she'll go on about the latest song/fashion/whatever. My patience for hearing about that stuff is also running thin. I'm also tired of being her partner for schoolwork, because she just copies me all the time. Granted, we can still get along somewhat, but I don't think it'll go back to the way it was. I've met NT girls who have friends that have almost no common interests, but I could never pull that off. I read somewhere that girls base friendships around intimacy over interests, which is uncomfortable for me, because I don't like to get too close to others. Anyway, I guess those are some other reasons this friendship isn't really working. Thanks again, and sorry for all this rambling!