Students give opinions on mates having opposite sex friends

Some say friendship should be the start of a relationship because you communicate and understand each other better.

But, falling for a friend can sometimes ruin a friendship.

Senior Jenna Tietema said she was put in a situation where two of her closest friends ending up falling for each other leaving a wreck of emotions and feelings for her to be caught in between.

The Grand Rapids senior said  in high school there was a group of five close friends that would hang out together all the time.

“We started all noticing that the two would hang out alone more frequently and the rest was downhill from there,” Tietema said.

Tietema said a good way to spot that friends are starting to like each other on a different level is seeing how they react to other potential lovers being interested in them.

“She got so conscious of other girls flirting with him and I could tell she was jealous. Then they were apart on spring break and realized they wanted to be together,” Tietema said.

Tietema said she got caught up in the relationship drama when things went sour.

“Since I was friends with both of them they would come to me for advice about each other. Constant calls and texts got so annoying because it was unfair to me and put a huge damper on the friendship,” Tietema said.  “I felt like I had to choose, it was just awkward.”

Not all relationship and friendship drama is solely the problem of falling for each other.

Senior Kara Kinsman said her boyfriend of over two years has a girl best friend that drives her nuts.

The Sterling Heights native said the two used to have a thing and have been friends since they were little.

“She is always texting him and wanting to hang out,” Kinsman said. “She calls him little pet names like ‘babe’ and says ‘love you,’ I hate it.”

Kinsman said she hasn’t expressed to the girl or her boyfriend that it annoys her because she just tries to be friendly and ignore it. She said she avoids having a guy best friend because she knows how much it bothers her that her boyfriend has a girl best friend.

“I think it’s crossing the line and inappropriate to act that way to someone else’s boyfriend or girlfriend,” Kinsman said.

On the other end of the spectrum, sophomore Connor Bardo said he thinks it is perfectly acceptable to have a best friend of the opposite sex.

The Royal Oak native said his best female friend is his best male friend’s girlfriend.

Bardo said his friend trusts him around her because they have been friends almost their entire lives. He said he thinks all boys should have a close girl friend.

“We just stay in the friend zone and I can talk to her about anything. I don’t think it’d be any different if they broke up,” Bardo said.