I have bed bugs and I fear it may ruin my social life, what do I do?

Advice

I am 13F and it has hit summer break for me, I have a main friend group of about 5 people, but I really only hang outside of school with 2 (whom are my best friend and crush). A couple days into my summer break I got a few bites, me and my household came to the conclusion that we have bedbugs (not to mention I saw a couple on my bed). I’d like to mention that we won’t be getting an exterminator until maybe some weeks or a month. My best friend (who we’ll call Tina) and I hang out sometimes, but a lot of the time I deny when she asks because I don’t like to go out very often (which she really doesn’t like about me), and I try to hang out with her more to make her happy AND because I do always enjoy when we hang out. BUT now I can’t because the last thing I want is to give her bed bugs, and I don’t want to tell her either because it is so likely that the word will get out and I don’t want people to think I’m ‘gross’. So I fear she might get upset with me if I don’t hang out for a while and she won’t be understanding about it because I will not be telling her I have bed bugs. As for my crush (who we’ll call Regina), we don’t hang out too often but we have been recently talking a bit more and wants to hang out, but I can’t because of not wanting to give her bed bugs and I won’t tell her I have them. I feel like my chance with her is slipping away. This is the first time I have ever been inclined to ask for help on Reddit, I appreciate any advice you give since I don’t know how to keep my social life together.

Posted Jun 11, 2026, 10:30 PM UTC

26
Loading comments…