As much as I try to pretend I don't care...

I'm going to leave the above sentence unfinished. It seems more appropriate that way!

I've had a good, unproductive sort of a day. I made cupcakes... the same Black Forest ones, but more substantial in size this time. And I added a little bit of edible glitter so it looks like a fairy has kissed them.

So that was a nice distraction from the observation that a friend made this evening about how I attract a particularly hideous breed of men. It's not that they're rude or insensitive or whatever while I'm dating them- not in the slightest- it's after we've called it a day when they seem to grow horns. Maybe it's because they're secretly unhappy; maybe it's because they've stopped trying to impress- either way, what starts out as "let's be friends" inevitably ends up with me feeling that I've done all I can before realising that they no longer even go to the effort of replying to my texts.

Is that normal?

Is there an unwritten rule that says that breakups have to be like that?

Because, to me, these are the people I have been really close to. I have shared good times and memories with them and, due to that, I really value their friendship. Or I would if they would allow me to be their friend. It hurts that they so easily reject my friendship, but maybe it's because they themselves feel that I've rejected them in some way. I guess it's the horrors of being a YSA. We are all looking for that perfect marriage partner, so there is a lot at stake, and it feels like the end of the world when things don't go to plan.

But friends are important, no matter what!!!