There’s nothing like the bond between two best friends. They support each other, laugh with one another, cry with each other and will drop anything to be there for the other in a heartbeat. Well, if they’re really best friends, that is.
One teen recently shared a video on TikTok detailing how he found out some world shattering news about his best friend. After a decade of friendship, he discovered that his bestie was acting all along. Below, you’ll find the full story that Lawson Spolansky posted, as well as some of the replies from invested readers.
This teen believed that he had kept the same best friend for a decade
Image credits: Marcus Wallis (not the actual photo)
Until he found out that the friendship was built on a lie all along
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"How I found out my entire decade relationship was a lie. So in 2012, at the beginning, I was having many social and behavioral issues, like, I just didn't want to go to school. I was five at the time. So like, I was just having so many issues. I think I threw a plastic chair at the teacher. I was not good. One day, after they sent me home from school early for throwing pencils at the teacher, I remember my aunt came to my house. And she was like, 'You need to become a better man.' Mind you, I'm only five years old, so whatever. "
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"And then anyway, like three days later, I'm at the playground. I'd always wanted to do monkey bars, I’d never built up the courage, but one day I finally did. And so one day I did the monkey bars at the playground, at the temple at the playground in New York City. And I fall. I remember the pain to this day. I mean, my knee was scraped and gashing, it was not good. Anyway, my caregiver, my nanny who was looking after me at the time, was using the public restrooms in the parks. So I was just there screaming and wailing and it was not good by any means. And all of a sudden I see this little blonde boy come marching over. And I’d never met this kid. I'm screaming, and wailing, and he mocks me.
He mocked me and then his mom came over - blonde, skinny, probably could pass for a Hungarian model, you know, just, I don't know. I could have sworn she had the whole hospital with her in her purse. She had the bandages, the creams. She had one of those finger splint things, I don't know what they're called. And anyway, she fixes me up, my nanny comes out of the public restroom and notices what happened, you know, I'm all taken care of. And then the little blonde boy took my hand, led my way to his area because he had, like, an area of the park that I guess he was in normally. And he showed me his castle made of sticks. And I was surprised. I mean, the architecture on this little thing that he was building was ridiculous.
So anyway, that probably happened in July of 2012. And so that September of 2012, guess who I see at my school, that same kid, he actually was in my class sitting right next to me. So I don't know, that was pretty interesting. And then we developed a more robust and strong friendship. You know, I started going to his house, he started going into my house, it was a very strong friendship. And then I felt very comfortable and started doing a lot better at school."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"Okay, so take note of that. And then a couple of years later, in March 2018, he came to me saying that he had some birthday money, about $16,000, and that he wanted to take me to Paris, Spain, and then round that trip up with Universal in California. I'm aghast. I'm like, this is ridiculous. Then he tells me, 'okay, you might want to take a notepad or, you know, an iPad and just write a list, a packing list.' So I do that.
And then the next day after this, I go to school, and I have my list with me. I wrote on a piece of paper because my mom wouldn’t let me bring my pad to school, which is whatever. And I say, 'Okay, I have this thing.' And he's like, 'Well, actually, I don't think we can go.' He said, 'Yeah, I think we have to postpone it,' he said that he was sick and that he thought that he had pneumonia. And that he had to go to tennis camp. And he was throwing out all these weird excuses, like that his mom was starting to work at an art gallery. He was throwing out anything he could and so I was like, whatever."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"That same night, I went to my dad, I told him everything that happened, the disappointment of going on a trip with my friend. And he said, 'You know, these things happen, you know, life throws these curveballs at us.' So I said okay, whatever. The very next day, like 24 hours after, school happens, I go back home. So the very next day, my dad is sitting at the same spot he was the day before when he told me these things happen. And he shows me an Instagram photo. Dexter, his mom, and my aunt. I said, 'What the [hell] is this?' Why are my best friend, his mom, and my aunt Jakka in an Instagram photo in what seemed to be Hollywood, because there was a Hollywood sign? And Dad said, 'oh, there must have been a miscommunication, you know, maybe there was a mixup.' I said, no, this is not right. I automatically immediately call Dexter, my friend, what the [hell] is going on? He said, “Oh, no, there was a miscommunication.'
Literally, directly quoting my dad. And then I asked, I kept the phone and I'm like, this is ridiculous. I asked my dad, what is Aunt Jakka doing there? And apparently, he found out through some weird source that there was an extra ticket which I told him was supposed to be mine. And he just said, Okay, he threw it off. And that it was cheaper for her because she was buying a house in California and she had to check it out. It's just cheaper for her to go over there. So then I call Aunt Jakka. I said, what is that? She says, 'Oh, sweetie, don't worry about it. I'm just buying a new house.' So anyway, fast forward to August of 2021. My then-boyfriend was a pool boy for Dexter's mother. He was a pool boy for the mother of my still best friend. And they were talking, but he was doing his job, the pool boy stuff. And the door is open when Dexter and his mother are talking. And, in 2012, when I was going on my crazy, you know, misbehaving streak, my aunt had hired this kid, and well, yeah, he hired the mom."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"And that mom made sure the kid was my best friend. In fact, his mom was his manager, like the manager wasn't even his mom, apparently, from what he heard. I never met the mom. The manager was a true and tried manager. My aunt was the best friend of Dexter's real mom and the manager was hired, apparently, my aunt, of this production company. And when they went to Hollywood, they went to go scouting out for Dexter's real big role, because apparently my role was an interactive media role. So Dexter was actually paid to be my friend."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"And I never met this kid's mother. And so I called up my aunt and I said, 'What is this?' And she confirmed everything. I also need to add that my therapist was actually the sister of Dexter's manager. Again, I never met the mom, but the person that was supposed to look like the mom, like the manager, which I found out through Instagram, you know, so simple, I could have seen this. And that kind of just breaks my heart. And then I call up Dexter and I say, 'Is this real?' He confirmed that and I say 'What the [hell].' So now I'm left broken, severe amount of trust issues. And I feel like I never really went anywhere."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
"I mean, I never went to Paris, whatever. And I thought I had a real friend. But when you find out this friend was actually paid for you. And then he kind of helped me break up with my boyfriend by saying that I should only focus on myself and that this guy had been cheating on me. But then I spoke to two guys that he said were cheating on me that my boyfriend had cheated on me with. And apparently, that never happened. So, Dexter, what the [hell] are you thinking? And Aunt Jakka, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you. That's pretty awful. I don't know who hires somebody to be your best friend even when you're struggling. So like, I've never really experienced a true friendship. But thank you. I don't know what to do now. But I thought that it'd be interesting to share. Almost a decade. So, 2012 to 2021. I don't know, whatever."
Image credits: Lawson Spolansky
You can hear Lawson tell the full story right here
Friendships are essential to our health
Making friends can be challenging at any age. Whether you’re in kindergarten or moving to a new city at 35, it can be nerve-wracking to approach someone new. What if they don’t like me? What if they already have enough friends? And even if someone approaches you first, it can be difficult to find others who you truly feel comfortable around and can bond with. So when you find a great friend, hold on tight and nurture that relationship!
According to Verywell Mind, friendships are good for our physical health, encourage healthy behaviors, provide emotional support, help build our confidence, help us manage stress and push us to be the best versions of ourselves. Social isolation has been found to be linked to health issues such as high blood pressure, substance abuse, heart disease and even cancer. So we don’t just want friends; we need them!
There’s no question that friends are beneficial to our mental health, as we can relax and unwind with them, and they can be there as a shoulder to cry on when we need support. But friends can also push us outside of our comfort zones and motivate us to try new things. Going to rock climbing class or taking a culinary course might be intimidating, but you’ll feel much safer going with a friend.
Image credits: Felix Rostig (not the actual photo)
But ending a friendship can be just as painful as ending a romantic relationship
When it comes to strengthening friendships, BetterUp recommends making sure you’re a good listener and that you make an effort to stay positive while around your friends. Be consistent with your communication, so they don’t feel forgotten or neglected, and bond by being open and vulnerable with them. Show your friends that you’re reliable and can be trusted, and make time for them whenever you can.
But no matter how much effort you’re putting into a friendship, you’ll only reap the benefits of having great friends if the other person wants to maintain a relationship as well. Just like romantic relationships, friendships won’t work when only one person is trying, and it can be incredibly painful to find out that someone you considered a friend never had your best interest at heart.
Friend breakups can sometimes hurt even more than actual breakups because strong friendships often involve lots of vulnerability, Time explains. You might have shared all of your secrets with this person and been with them during the best and worst moments of your life. You may have a decade’s worth of photos of them and had countless new experiences together. Yet when it ends, it can be more challenging to receive closure because both parties might not be able to articulate what exactly went wrong.
Realizing a friendship was fake can take a huge toll on an individual
It can be even more devastating when you find out that a friendship was fake all along. Just like in Lawson’s situation, it can turn your world upside down to realize that someone you loved so much never cared about you at all. Verywell Mind explains that fake friends can take a huge toll on us emotionally.
Upon learning that a friendship was based on a lie or was simply a ruse all along, you might feel disappointed, betrayed, angry and hurt. This can cause a person to start doubting themselves and lower their self-esteem. They might question who would want to be their friend in the first place or wonder what’s wrong with them for being unable to find a real, true friend. This experience can be traumatic, and it can cause a person to be cynical about friendships in the future.
We all need friends that we can rely on, and it’s understandable for parents to be concerned about their kids if they’re having trouble making friends. But hiring an actor to hang out with your child is not the way to solve this situation. It can ruin relationships and cause severe trust issues, as Lawson mentioned in his video. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation down below, pandas. Then, we recommend checking out another Bored Panda article discussing friendship.
Image credits: Zhivko Minkov (not the actual photo)
Shocked viewers shared their reactions online
