Uh, oopsie

You know, you are probably right insofar as beginning to see a difference between the maturity levels between yourself and your friend.

At the stage you are at (age-wise), you are most likely to make leaps and bounds ahead of certains friends. Not everyone matures at the same rate. If you are seeing a difference, then there probably is one. And this is one more difficulty you are going to face, more and more, now.

Of course you will grow out of some friendships - that's normal! (Uh, I just got stuck on the wrong issue in my initial post - my own...)

It is difficult to leave a friendship behind, but unfortunately, sometimes it has to be that way.

The best thing to do then, would be to let her go as gently as possible. The truth works! You are growing/going in another direction, and it is time for you to move on. Then do so. Do not allow her to have false hope of any kind, because she will continue to hold onto this.

I would not get into any deep explanations as to why, because, well, you will just end up in another scrap. Actually, she probably will freak out anyway, but if you can stick to the BASIC facts and try to remain calm and kind, hopefully, you will get out of there fairly unscathed...

It may take awhile for her to understand, or she may never understand, but if you are honest with her about the fact that you are becoming a different person, she will eventually accept it. If you choose to BS her (which I don't believe you want to), both of you will continue to feel guilt and shame about how the friendship ended. The truth works for BOTH of you - it sets you free without lingering feelings of guilt and shame and it helps her to process the reality of what is happening without being bogged down with the feeling of being lied to or manipulated in some way.

I hope everything goes well for you!

A whole year (huh) can actually make a big difference...