I (18F) am in a friend group of 3 girls, Haley (18F) and Ellen (18F). We have been best friends with Haley for 7 years, while I and Ellen have been friends our whole lives, and we all remained close even when Ellen moved schools. Recently, Haley began avoiding me and Ellen using the excuse she's "too busy with work" while consistently hanging out with her other friend group she met at work. Ellen and I were initially happy for Haley as we are all introverted and don't have many other friends. However, I have begun to notice Haley's distance from us, as she rarely held conversations with us over text and would make excuses as to why she couldn't hang out with us. Ellen and I were upset by this after months of Ellen not seeing Haley, and I only interacted with Haley in school due to not having anyone else to talk to. I almost hit my breaking point as one day Haley joked that if we didn't have to go to school together, she wouldn't talk to me. This stung, as I began to feel she only spoke to me out of convenience, but hearing it from her made my worries reality. The next day, Ellen and I went on a day trip (which Haley backed out of), where I voiced my concerns over Haley's behavior. Ellen voiced that she had noticed this also, as Haley never made attempts to reach out or make arrangements for us to hang out, while I and Ellen always offered for Haley to come out with us. Eventually, we began to dislike Haley for being dishonest and absent, leading to me rethinking if I should just let Haley go for my own sanity. This weekend I confronted Haley over text and asked her why she was avoiding Ellen and me in favour of her new friends. I made it clear I wasn't asking to be critical; I simply wanted an explanation. Haley stated, "I feel like an outsider sometimes and that I am in the way of you and Ellen, so in the end I just didn't want to bother you two and removed myself." While I understand this issue is common amongst trios, this is simply not the case in our group. When all of us hang out, I watch Ellen and Haley interact more than I do with either of them, and sometimes even I get jealous of how well they get along. I interact with Haley every day in school 5 times a week, and we used to joke that our humour was very compatible, as Haley and I often bicker over small things and smack each other randomly to mess around, while Ellen's humour is more sarcasm, which I and Haley join in on too. Haley and Ellen often relate over girly topics such as makeup and fashion, which I often stay out of as I am more of a tomboy. Overall, we all interact equally and each have our own unique topic to relate on with each other, which is why I am incredibly confused as to how Haley feels like an outsider. I have begun to speculate if Haley is using this reasoning as an excuse to play the victim, as Haley is the kind of person who cannot stand if a person doesn't like her and feels the need to please everyone. She sincerely apologized last night and offered to get time off work to come with us on a day trip, which Haley suggested in the first place but backed out of as she said she was too busy. Ellen has forgiven Haley, but I'm still questioning if Haley is telling the truth as she is often two-faced, which I noticed when she was outing her boyfriend's personal issues and intimate moments with her to his friend group which is the one she is currently in stating he was "creepy and icky," but when interacting with him, she would act sickly sweet as if she didn't just shame her boyfriend to his only friends. I have encouraged her to break up with him several times to spare his feelings; however, she states she "doesnt want him to hate her." I can't shake the feeling that the high-pitched, soft voice she does and the constant people pleasing are just an act to hide her hidden malicious side. AITAH?