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  • The Zikoko Guide To Starting a Conversation With a Girl

    The first rule of engagement when conversing with anyone is courtesy. However, with ladies, basic courtesy might do little to nothing to move the exchange from point A to B. If you’re looking to make a new female bestie, here are tips that can help you start a conversation with a girl. 

    Let’s get into them.

    how to start a conversation with a girl

    Starting a Conversation With a Girl Online

    There are lots of unhinged folks on social media, so if she’s ignoring your texts or not into the convo, your approach is probably wrong. Here’s how you can fix that

    Keep a public profile

    Seriously? Your page is private, no display picture,  and you have no posts on your feed? It’s giving catfish and you need to fix up.

    Introduce yourself

    Even if you have a public profile with photos and bits of information about you, it shouldn’t take the place of talking a little about yourself. What you like or hate, countries you’ve been…No better way to discover shared interests to bond over. 

    Text like a sane human

    “Wodup, WYD?, Xup, Am, Good PM.” 

    You’ll probably get blocked if you use any of these lines before you get a chance to prove that you have sense. 

    Be genuine

    Why are you in her DMs? Be sincere from the beginning. This can go a long way in setting the tone of your potential friendship.

    Ask open-ended questions

    Don’t be the regular-shmegular who asks “Yes and No” type questions and gets pissed off when you get “Yes and No” responses.

    Listen and respond

    Wait, she shares a lengthy ass narration of an experience and you don’t have follow up questions to show you genuinely followed the convo? You are not ready and she’s probably better off not being your friend. 

    Be generous with compliments 

    Everyone likes compliments. Tell her what you like and why you like it. But hey, she’ll probably catch you faster than you can say sorry if you’re whining her. 

    But skip the endearments

    No, she’s not your baby and she’s not your “dear”. Don’t do it.

    Avoid asking to meet up

    You’ve barely texted for 24 hours and you’re asking to meet up because “I’m more lively in person”. 

    Starting a Conversation With a Girl Physically

    So you’ve run into this girl, and you want them in your corner. Here’s how to bag that first conversation and turn it into a potential friendship or relationship.

    Be confident

    Yes, we know you want her in your corner but it’s not enough reason to lose your composure. During your first encounter, maintain eye contact as much as you can.

    Look the part

    It takes a lot of work to change the narrative if you make the wrong first impression. If your outfit is giving “Who be Kwasogbu?”,  it’s probably best to postpone that first conversation to another time.

    Give a genuine compliment

    Complimenting a stranger is probably the easiest way to get their attention. Once you tell her how nice her hair or makeup is, follow the next tip.

    Introduce yourself

    Don’t be that person who goes for “Babes. My dear” simply because you failed to ask for her name from the start, or worse still, forgot. A nice intro is never out of fashion.

    Listen actively

    Remember, this is a face-to-face interaction and the shitty network won’t work. If your new girly is giving you the tea, you better pay attention and take notes.

    Minimal physical touch

    Remember, she doesn’t know you from jack. Don’t invade her personal space by touching her hair all because “I love this hairstyle”, or any other body parts. Keep your hands to yourself.

    Don’t get too personal

    Be careful not to overshare just to appear like an open book or get them to also give you details about their lives. There will be time for that later.

    Know when to leave

    Understand that some people are socially awkward and you might need more than one random convo to interest them. If they don’t want to push the interaction further, please take the cue and leave.

    The biggest women-only festival in Lagos is BACK.
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    Enjoyed this piece on how to start a conversation with a girl? Read this next: How To Chat Like A Nigerian Man

    Adeyinka Odutuyo

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  • We’re Tired of Hearing These Myths About Women-Only Parties and Party-Loving Girlies

    In a perfect world, everyone (read as “men”) minds the business that pays them and, most importantly, stays out of women’s business. 

    But we’re not in a perfect world, and that’s why — in big 2024 — we still have to debunk misconceptions about girls who love to party and attend women-only parties.

    Women-only parties = Queer orgies

    Someone woke up and decided that women-only parties are just an excuse for the queer community to meet and organise elaborate genital meet-and-greets, and incels decided to run with it. Someone needs to get everyone who believes this a role in Nollywood because the imagination choke. Sorry that women having fun by themselves is such a foreign concept to some of you.

    It’s all double standards

    Once men hear something like HERtitude is dedicated to women alone, they start crying about discrimination and asking, “Why can’t you do the same for only men?” My brothers in the Lord, is there anything stopping you from doing your own?

    They don’t really like each other

    People will really see babes do as much as follow each other to the toilet at parties and believe they’re just scheming about how to collect each other’s boyfriends. Again, I’m so sorry that female friendships feel like a myth to some of you. Women actually enjoy each other’s company.

    They just want to misbehave

    Some people still think women only come together to get wasted and engage in catfights. No, we come to have fun and be comfortable in our own skin without apology. If we shout occasionally to show our excitement, so be it.

    Someone has to be bankrolling her

    How else are women expected to find the money to have a good time? It’s not like they can have jobs or excel at business.

    They’re actually doing hook-up

    In summary, any girl who loves going to parties is using style to find a “client”. Make it make sense.

    HERtitude can’t be fun without men

    All the pictures and videos showing babes having the time of their lives were all a giant plot to hide the emptiness we felt because the other gender wasn’t there to ogle us.

    Well, HERtitude is back, and we’ll gather all the hot babes to do it all over again and have the most amazing time while at it. Have you gotten a ticket yet? You should do so right now.

    NEXT READ: The Only Hot Babe Playbook You Need in This Sapafied 2024

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    Tife Oni

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  • “She Paid for My Therapy” — 7 Nigerian Women on the Most Thoughtful Gift They’ve Received From Friends

    I don’t know who concluded that all women do is backbite and gossip about each other, but genuine female friendships can be the sweetest relationships ever. I asked seven Nigerian women to share the most thoughtful gift they’ve received from a female friend, and their responses were so sweet.

    Image designed by Freepik

    Amara, 27

    I launched my online business in 2023, and my best friend made sure she was the first person to patronise me. She bought something worth ₦50k and paid ₦100k for it. I cried so much. She was planning for her mother’s burial at the time and shouldn’t have been in a position to even offer emotional support, talk more of financial. But that’s just who she is. I’m so grateful for her.

    Tobi, 26

    I’d only known my closest friend for six months when I got married in 2022. But this babe went all out for me. She wasn’t the chief bridesmaid (my sister was), but she organised a surprise bridal shower, came to stay with me three days prior so I wouldn’t stress, got me a blender as a wedding gift and even distributed souvenirs at the wedding reception. We’ve been friends for two years now, and she’s still the same caring human being. We’ve even passed friendship. We’re sisters now.

    Jola*, 30

    I was in an emotionally abusive relationship for two years, and my childhood friend never hid her disapproval. But she always welcomed me with open arms when I’d come crying about yet another thing my ex had said or done to me. Sometimes, he’d block me everywhere for a couple of days then come back to beg me.

    When the last incident left me crying for three days, my friend paid for a therapist appointment and took me there without telling me where we were going. I got back with my ex a few days later, but I saw the therapist for about two months, and the appointments eventually gave me the morale to end the relationship for good. I have my friend to thank for that.

    Debbie, 24

    I was travelling from Abuja to Lagos in 2022, but our bus kept having issues on the road. It stopped again around Ogun state at 1 a.m., and the driver was suggesting we’d have to sleep there so he could call a mechanic in the morning. I’d been keeping my friend (who lived in Ogun) updated about my movement, and when she heard that, she convinced her dad to come pick me up. When I got to her house, she had a meal waiting for me. It wasn’t exactly a material gift, but she probably saved my life that night. What gift tops that?

    Detola*, 25

    My two closest friends and I have a tradition of surprising each other for our birthdays. When one person is celebrating, the other two gather money and plan the surprise. 

    I was really broke in 2023 and couldn’t contribute to one of the birthdays. My other friend took it up without issues. She got a bracelet and had it engraved to say it came from both of us. Our other friend never even knew what happened.

    RELATED: 10 Ways to Make Sure You Never Receive a Bad Birthday Gift

    Joy, 20

    When I broke my juicer, I nearly lost my mind because juicing was the one thing I constantly did for my late dad when he was ill. I told my friend how my family thought I was overreacting over such a small thing, and she didn’t say much. Only for her to show up at my house the next week with a new juicer. I cried.

    Chisom, 35

    Pregnancy and childbirth did a number on me. I had my baby in 2017 and was so depressed after. To make it worse, I started losing my hair. It felt like the whole world was against me. I felt ugly, bloated and tired, and I told my best friend about it. The next time she came to see me, she brought a pair of scissors and a brand-new wig. She hyped me up to cut off my whole hair and start afresh. In her words, I had nothing to lose. I could own my bald head or wear a wig and look good either way because I had the face to pull it off. I’m not sure why, but it greatly improved my confidence. I felt seen.

    *Some names have been changed for anonymity.

    NEXT, READ: 7 Nigerian Women Share The Worst Thing A Friend Has Done To Them

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    Tife Oni

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  • I’m the Odd One in My Friend Group, and It’s Lonely

    This is Charis*’ story, as told to Boluwatife

    Image source: nappy via pexels

    I’m an extrovert who doesn’t know how to keep friends. I know what you’re thinking: How’s that even possible? I don’t know either. All I know is I can walk into a room and vibe with everyone there, but it never goes past that. I’m terrible at keeping that “vibe” long enough to form an actual friendship.

    I’ve always been like this. My social nature means I stand out among my mates, and people tend to flock to me, even during my secondary school days. But then, when they come around, I engage them for a while, lose interest and move to the next thing or person that catches my eye. 

    In university, I just had acquaintances. We called each other friends but never talked about the important things. I couldn’t just call them in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, tell them how I was crushing on one guy, or share my worries about my mum’s health. And it wasn’t really their fault. I just didn’t know how to put my energy into being close to people like that. 

    So when I got into my friend group in 2019, I couldn’t believe my luck. I met Rachael* during NYSC orientation at the Iseyin camp. She’d noticed I always got food in mammy market, walked up to me one day and went, “Are you related to Dangote?” I was still trying to understand the question when she laughed and explained why she said so. We became pretty close, and even when I started to withdraw, she’d come to my bed and talk to me. 

    Just before the end of camp, my mum passed away, finally succumbing to her long-term heart issues, so I had to leave camp early and return home to Lagos. Rachael kept in touch and even came down to Lagos a week before the burial to be with me. That’s when I officially became part of her friend group. She got her three other friends to call to sympathise with me and made sure they also came for the burial. I hit it off with them, and before I knew it, they’d added me to their WhatsApp friend group.

    Our friendship has lasted almost four years now because they put a lot into ensuring we all communicate on WhatsApp and even go on the odd girls’ trip. But I feel like the odd one out. Rachael and our other friends have known each other since university. I can just open our WhatsApp chat now and find 30+ messages of them sharing inside jokes or talking about someone I’ve never heard of. 

    They even like the same things. Anytime we plan a hangout, it’s almost always at someplace I don’t like because, by the time the others vote, I’m the only one with a different opinion. Let’s not even talk about how I’m a literal odd number. Before I joined, they were four in the group; I became number five. I sometimes feel like the third (or fifth) wheel, watching the others all perfectly paired up. They have this connection even outside our group activities, while the group is the primary thing I have in common with the four of them. It’s hard for me to just pick up the phone to call one of them and talk for hours. 

    Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice people, but I sometimes feel like I’m outside the group looking in. A perfect example is how, during Moyin*’s — one of our friends — wedding in 2021, Rachael would casually mention on the bridesmaids group chat that she’d discussed with Dara* when she slept over at her place the previous night, and they thought we needed to reconsider one thing or the other about our outfits. Like, aren’t we all in the same group for that purpose? What are these separate conversations about?

    Even their parents know each other. It’s not strange to hear that Moyin’s mum called Rachael on her birthday, or that Dara’s mum sent fish to Moyin. But just three months ago, I had to travel to Abuja for work. Moyin’s mum lives in Abuja, so the day before I travelled, I asked Moyin to tell her mum I’d like to stay over at their place. I was told the house was full and that their dad didn’t like impromptu visits. I understood, but I wondered, what if it was Dara who needed a place to stay? Wouldn’t they have found a way to help? I felt hurt, but I know Moyin would’ve helped if it was her house I needed to stay in.

    I’ve never told them how I feel because I don’t want to cause unnecessary drama. I know I can do a long group call just to rant, but I think I have to come to terms with the fact that they’ll always be closer to each other than me. They have common experiences I may never be able to relate to, but I guess that’s okay. 

    This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to real female friendships. I don’t have a best friend, but at least, I have people who look out for me, and that’s better than nothing.

    *Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

    NEXT READ: I’m the Side Chick That Got the Man

    Tife Oni

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  • All the Ways Friendship Breakups Are Worse Than Romantic Ones

    Friendship breakups hurt like hell, especially when you didn’t see it coming. But breaking up with your best girl? That’s worse than chopping romantic breakfast, and here’s why.

    No one to share your hurt feelings with

    At least after a romantic breakup, you can cry to your bestie, and both of you can shit-talk your ex in one accord. But when you break up with your bestie, who do you cry or complain to?

    Or even stupid gist

    Some days, you’re too tired to make sense. All you want to do is share memes or rubbish one-liners only your bestie would relate with. Is it an ordinary friend or crush you want to do that one with?

    They know all your secrets

    If they’re petty, they can decide to start washing all your dirty linen in public. Even if they aren’t, imagine someone you aren’t on good terms with knowing weird stuff about you. Like how you think semo is elite. Eww.

    You’re too old to start looking for another bestie

    Is there even a talking stage for best-friendship? Do you just do trial and error to find someone else worthy of the “bestie” status? So many questions.

    Or you could attend HERtitude 2023, our festival for the girlies, party with other hot babes, and make new friends with our speed friendship sessions.

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    You lose a personal photographer

    Everyone knows female friends are pros at catching all your great angles. If they’re no longer around to do it, who will? Your boyfriend? LMAO, please.

    No one to gas you up on social media

    Who’d rush to your IG and drop fire emojis under all your new pictures as if they didn’t help you choose the picture to post in the first place? It doesn’t matter that you have a boo. Boo’s comments don’t count.

    You have to break up with their parents too

    You mean I can’t go to Mummy Steph’s house to eat firewood jollof again? That’s even the most painful part.

    NEXT READ: Every Girl Is at Least One of These 10 People When Seeking Advice

    GET YOUR TIX HERE

    Tife Oni

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  • 8 Types of Female Friends That Always Ask for Advice

    If you have female friends that ask for your advice, you’ll definitely recognise at least one of these nine girls. You may even be one of them. We’re all guilty, just catch your sub. 

    1.  The coconut head

    This girl? Problematic should be her middle name. She’ll come to your house to vent, cry and nod her head to all the wisdom you offer. Five minutes later, she’s doing the exact opposite. Time and time again you’ve asked yourself why you keep bothering yourself, but what can you do? Her chaotic behaviour is all the K-drama you need.

    2. The once bitten never shy

    She calls by 1 a.m. to complain about the same thing over and over again. It would be better if the problems were different, but it’s not. The sad part? You don’t have any other choice than to listen to her. Pele babe.

    3. The unfortunate girl

    Things never work out for this friend. There’s no advice that you give her that works out as planned. All you can do is commit her to God. There’s nothing you can do for her again. You’ve tried.

    4. The girl with audacity

    This is the girl you need to stop wasting your energy on. Not because she doesn’t listen to you, but because she calls right in the middle of doing everything you told her not to. 

    5. Always in deep shit

    Her issues are bigger than life and you never know what to say when she starts ranting. This is the friend that needs more therapy than she cares to admit. But until then, you’ll be dealing with issues you can’t solve.

    6. The ITK

    She’s the one with all the issues and all the answers to them. This babe is the patient that self-diagnoses herself on Google before seeing the doctor. She comes with an issue but you won’t even get halfway through before she’s off. Don’t worry, she’ll be back.

    7. The liar

    Context is her problem in life. She’ll never give the full gist and expects you to magically solve the problem. It’s either she’s leaving out the parts that make her look bad, or the parts she knows you’d call her out for bullshit. Girl, nobody will beat you, speak your truth. We’ll forgive you for the sneaky link.

     8. The girl that never has any issues in the first place

    She doesn’t exist, but let’s pretend like she does

    Ortega

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  • 7 Nigerian Women Share The Worst Thing A Friend Has Done To Them

    Friendships can be tricky. Sometimes, friends hurt each other and it’s hard to get past that. In this article, we asked seven Nigerian women to share the worst thing a friend has done to them. 

    The Worst Thing A Friend Has Done

    Ibinabo, 24

    I had this roommate when I was doing my diploma in Ibadan. I was a new student but somehow I got close to her. In our class, there was a guy that liked me. She knew but she didn’t tell me because she had a crush on him. One time I fell sick and had to go to the hospital. She offered to make me food when I returned. I ate and slept off. When I woke up, there was a sharp pain in my belly and I started throwing up. I had to go back to the hospital because it became bloody. 

    At the hospital, they said that I had ingested poison and if I hadn’t come in sooner, I would have died. When I got better, I confronted her. She said I betrayed her by taking her boyfriend away from her. I wasn’t even dating him and neither was she. I was so scared. I had to leave that room. If people weren’t there the day I started throwing up, she would have left me there to die. 

    Oyin, 20

    My best friend and girlfriend at the time outed me out to a classmate of ours that she had a crush on. She told him I blackmailed her into becoming a lesbian like me. He wanted to save her from me so he beat me until I passed out and I still got suspended because of it. I was only 15. 

    Nneka, 24

    I had a close friend who I spent a lot of time with. When she was broke, I would share my money with her. We would eat together and whatever I was buying for myself, I would buy for her. After a while, she started earning money but she left me for some other friends. They went clubbing and afterwards, they went shopping. 

    The worst part was that she didn’t even inform me. I saw pictures and videos on social media. I was hurt but I didn’t say anything to her. 

    Arinola, 25 

    In my NYSC year, I met two guys that were friends with someone else I knew and we all started hanging out. One of them lived in the city I was serving in. We did everything together. He had a car so we would drive around the city together. He was also doing his NSYC but he grew up in Ibadan so hanging with him was fun. 

    Towards the end of service, we all had a sleepover with our mutual friend, Tunde*. He had been talking so much about how much of a great masseuse he was so we had agreed that, during the sleepover, we would rate his skills. At the sleepover, I was a bit buzzed while this guy was giving me a massage and then suddenly his hands were in my vagina. I panicked — I felt my entire body freeze. The worst part for me was when I woke up, I pretended like nothing happened until later that day when a mutual friend of ours said he had done the same to her. 

    Ivie, 24

    In SS2, my best friend at the time spread a rumour about me. She said I had been sleeping with a senior. She said it started as a joke but it ruined my reputation at school so much so that I had to change schools for my final year. She tried to take it back but it was already stuck in everyone’s mind. 

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    Bisola, 20

    Early this year, I was sexually harassed by a man. I told two of my friends who were also friends with him about it. One of them said she has to be neutral about the issue and so she couldn’t pick sides. I was hurt, especially because I was receiving support from women and men who I had never spoken to before. I expected that my female friends would have my back. I didn’t even know their friendship with the guy was that deep. Even after he admitted doing it, they still wanted to be neutral.

    Omosi, 25

    The worst thing a friend has done to me is ghosting me. We had been friends for about four years. We were part of a group of four friends who lived in the same apartment. We did everything together through our university years and we always joked about how we would always be friends. Shortly after university, one of our friends started dating this guy and it seemed like he asked her to change certain parts of herself like how she dresses, where she goes, etc. I was worried so I told her about it and I think this made her withdraw from me because when she got engaged to him, she told everyone else but me. She also did not invite me to any of the ceremonies. She just stopped talking to me. Within a year, she moved out of Nigeria and I haven’t heard from her since then. The whole thing stings me whenever I think about it. 

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    Mariam Sule

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  • 7 Nigerian Women Talk About Being Jealous Of Their Friends

    Jealousy is a feeling of bitterness or resentment as a result of someone having something you desire. Like other human feelings, jealousy is also a part of interpersonal relationships. In this article, we asked eight Nigerian women to share what it felt like to be jealous of their friends and what they did about it. 

    Sheila, 20

    I have known my best friend since I was 17  and sometime last year, I felt jealous of her. It was as if she was happy and blooming in her life while mine was going badly. I had just suffered a terrible breakup, and at the same time, she got into a relationship with someone that loves her wholeheartedly. It hurt even more because of their public display of affection. I also lost my job around that time, and my best friend got a job that paid five times more than my old job paid. I was just in a corner of my mind wishing everything was happening to me too. 

    When I couldn’t keep it in anymore, I told her. I didn’t want to cross the line and start resenting her. At some point, it almost affected our relationship because I withdrew into myself. I wouldn’t call her, and I’d give flimsy excuses when she tried to reach me.  But I couldn’t stay away for long because she’s my best friend and not just any other person. I told her how I felt and comforted me. I was surprised at how well she handled it and felt so relieved because I don’t think I’d have reacted the same way. After I apologised, our friendship became better because we opened up more to each other. We are still best friends till today.

    Demola, 21 

    I didn’t have a lot of female friendships growing up, so I didn’t know how to navigate them. It was when I got in university, I started having small groups of female friends. I have always been drawn to outgoing and attractive people and when I realised people would befriend me to access them, it hurt. I couldn’t help but envy them. I had a particular friend who was also my roommate. Visitors would bring gifts and MONEY to our room. I need to emphasise on the money. I was a broke student who got ₦10k a month as allowance and here was someone getting ₦15k because someone liked her skin. HER SKIN.

    I think it affected my perception of her. I started turning her into a villain in my head to rationalise the way I felt. I called her shallow and materialistic. I called her some ableist slurs too. Some of these things I said to her face, some I didn’t. Eventually, I stopped hanging out with her. I didn’t think it was right to still be friends with someone when I felt that way about them. I tried to reach out to her recently, but it hasn’t been the same. We still talk and send stickers to each other, but it’s not the way it used to be between us. 

    Audra, 26

    I was jealous of my best friend after we finished NYSC. We were both job hunting, and it took longer than we expected. One day, I sent her the link to a job that we both applied to and she ended up getting it. That made me jealous. What did they see in her that they didn’t see in me? I never said anything to her about it. I just dealt with the feelings on my own until I found something.

    Anita, 21

    I am part of a group of five friends. We are all in our final year of university, same department and everything. Some of us are closer to others than some are but we still move about together. This final year opened our eyes to the jealousy some of us were feeling towards others. One person was jealous of another because a lot of guys were always on her matter. Another one was jealous because the other person is thick and she is slim.

    I am more of the bookish type. I realised that when I do better than them, they’re not so happy but when they do well, they’re happy. Not solely because they did well, but because they did better than me, who is supposedly the nerd. Sometimes I get upset when I introduce a male friend to the group and he starts getting closer to another one of them. I have learnt that jealousy is normal in friendships, but it’s what one does with it that matters. Do I go behind the other person and do evil or I wish the other person well and learn to live with the fact that someone will have something I want and that’s fine.

    Ewatomi, 24

    In my diploma days, I had a friend I did everything with. But when we switched to a degree programme, she met new friends and I was left behind. I felt alone and jealous of her closeness with others. I won’t lie; sometimes I cried about it. It took me months to move on. I didn’t do anything because I had to be okay with the fact that she was happy even if it wasn’t with me. Although, our relationship was never the same. I couldn’t treat her the same way I did when it was just two of us. 

    Amaju, 31

    When I was still in university, I had a friend I was very close to. She knew my family and I knew hers. We were in the same department, same hostel, same everything. At that time, I didn’t see how I felt about her as jealousy. I thought it was more of a competition because of our strong personalities. We had similar tastes in everything. The only difference to me was that she always had it before I did. I noticed that I would intentionally not tell her if I was buying a new phone or getting a new laptop or moving to a more expensive hostel because I just wanted to feel like I won.

    It affected our friendship a lot because there was no trust. I did not feel like she genuinely liked me and that made me feel bad about myself. We grew apart because there was a lot of backstabbing. I feel like I did myself a disservice cause I approached her and tried to make things work between us, but I guess the friendship had lasted its course. I think now that I may have misread her actions towards me as being jealous, hence reciprocated with bad behaviour. I take full responsibility cause my insecurity had the best of me. 

    Alex, 29

    In 2020, three of my closest friends were making progress in their lives; career, love life, etc. It was weird because on one hand, I was happy for them but I also started to get depressed because it felt like I just gagged the whole year away. The worst part was not being able to talk to them about it because I didn’t know how to express how I was feeling without them thinking I didn’t want the best for them. I didn’t do anything rash, but I had to sit with the discontent for quite awhile. Even when they noticed and tried to help, I couldn’t be honest with them. I was afraid that it meant I didn’t love my friends. 

    Thankfully, another friend said something to me I’ll never forget: “We are constantly subconsciously comparing ourselves to the closest people in our lives”. That helped me feel like less of an evil person, which was the thing compounding my sadness. I learned that jealousy is a perfectly fine human emotion, and it’s how you deal with it that matters. I was finally able to share it with them and they were quite understanding. We are cool now.


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