r/Serious

I just need to vent because this whole internship has turned into one long headache.
I'm a 20M doing a summer internship with a friend (22F) at a "prestigious" university. Ironically, the only prestigious thing about it is the name. The facilities are awful, the lab barely has basic supplies, and the whole experience has been disappointing.
The worst part, though, has been dealing with my friend.
She was actually the one who convinced both me and my parents to come here. I'm an only child, had never stayed away from home for over a month, and my parents were hesitant. She kept insisting it'd be a great opportunity.
When we arrived, the hostel was terrible. I couldn't even stay there after the first night because there was no mattress, no AC, dirty washrooms, and it was just miserable. I moved into a guest house farther away.
Since autos were expensive, we BOTH decided to rent a scooter together and split everything 50/50. I paid the full amount upfront because she said she'd pay me back once her parents sent her money.
Fast forward to now: there's only about a week left before we return the scooter and she still hasn't paid me. This isn't even new. She constantly borrows money and I have to remind her over and over before she returns it. One time it took SIX MONTHS.
Money isn't even my only issue with her.
She constantly curses at me, throws my stuff around, makes rude comments, and then says she's "just joking." I've ignored it for weeks because arguing over every little thing is exhausting.
Yesterday she showed me a reel with an overweight woman. I jokingly said, "You're not much different."
Apparently THAT crossed the line.
She grabbed my drink, demanded an apology, and suddenly acted like I was the worst person alive for fat-shaming her. Meanwhile she regularly insults me, calls me names, and even makes fun of my appearance.
When I didn't react the way she wanted, she started making comments about my legs, saying they looked twisted and calling me disabled. It was obvious she wasn't joking anymore—she wanted to hurt me. And then started with her drama of You are here because of me- you could get an internship anywhere; firstly I was getting an internship in my home city only and you also didn’t get the internship on my own calibre, you had a reference, they didn’t even look at your CGPA because if they did you wouldn’t be here…
After that I just quietly asked, again, when she was planning to return my money.
She ignored me twice.
The third time she said, "I'll return it when I feel like it. What are you going to do?"
That was it.
I completely lost my patience. I asked why she agreed to split the cost if she couldn't pay for it. She started yelling that she's "worth more than me" and that I shouldn't show attitude just because I paid for the scooter.
Then she called her parents.
Here's the part that really blows my mind.
Instead of simply paying the money their daughter owes me, they spent half an hour questioning ME. Why didn't I ask THEIR permission before renting a scooter? Why didn't I have THEIR phone number? Why didn't I inform THEM? They even suggested that since I wanted the scooter more, maybe she shouldn't have to pay half. They even said that we don’t allow her to do this much because she would get spoiled and rn I’m the one spoiling her by getting a scooter. You are here to study not for hanging out or sightseeing…
Excuse me... she's 22 years old.
If the roles were reversed and I owed someone money, my parents would've paid the person first and dealt with me later. Somehow I ended up feeling like I was the one who'd done something wrong.
To make things even better, I apologized afterward for the fat joke because I realized it genuinely hurt her. I admitted I shouldn't have said it, but the text didn’t reach her. Either she blocked me or her data is off. She didn’t even come to the lab today, so I haven’t got the chance to talk to her face to face but I’m sure she would be just ignoring me.
Meanwhile I still haven't gotten my money.
I'm just tired. Tired of lending money.
Tired of being the one expected to stay calm.
Tired of someone who dishes out insults every day but can't take one back.
And I'm especially tired of somehow becoming the villain because I asked for MY OWN MONEY.
This internship can't end soon enough.