I'm Having Stalker Problems

I've had this friend since second grade and I always used to hang out with her, because I considered her one my only friends in grade school. Now, in middle school and going into high school I've noticed that we don't exactly have the best friendship and I've been beginning to get closer to other people and expand my group of friends. The only problem is that my "grade school friend" is getting really controlling, rude, and downright annoying. As of now I'm sort of considering her as a stalker, considering she's followed me to the restroom before, she constantly wants to know what I'm doing and where I am, and when I am sort of forced into a conversation with her she won't let me end the conversation or exit the situation, and when I try to she follows me. I've had to get her number blocked on my phone and she even tries to control who my friends are and what I do. When I do something that she doesn't approve of- AKA talking or being friends with a person she doesn't like, taking classes or extracurriculars that she doesn't like, or just doing everyday things that she doesn't approve of- she then becomes rude and begins insulting me and my friends, right in front of me. She's also joined some of my extracurriculars and the groups that I'm in- that I know that she doesn't like or care for- just because she wants to be closer to me and with me more. It's come to the point where I'm uncomfortable every time I have a class with her because she is constantly staring at me, approaching me, and following me.

I still acknowledge that we used to be friends, so I don't want to hurt her feelings or ignore her, even though I've sometimes tried. But is there any ways that I can get her to stop being so intense and following me all the time, without actually hurting her feelings or yelling at her? How do you deal with a stalker in general? I need some help here :icon_sad:

 

Well, my point is that she's not just following me or wanting to be around me because she's looking for friends or is having trouble with middle school life; we're eighth graders now and we've been doing this for almost three years and on top of that both of us have made new friends. What is really getting to me is that she doesn't give me any space and she acts as if she's the only one that can be my friend. She has to know practically everything about me too, even the trivial things like when I'm going to the bathroom, why I was late for lunch, who am I talking to, what all my classes are, what my extracurriculars are, what I'm doing everyday, what I'm eating, what I'm planning on doing in the future, what plans I have, how my relationship with my family is, why I've been going to the counselors, etc., and it goes on and on. Some of those things she doesn't even have a right to know about because it's absolutely personal, but when I don't tell her something or I go somewhere without her permission is seems like she gets incredibly angry with me because I didn't listen to her or something. I try to politely tell her that she doesn't have control over everything I do in my life and some things are just personal and I don't feel comfortable talking to her about, but that seems to get her even madder. She's never raised a finger to me or been violent and I'm not afraid of her, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she one day hit me after one of her "days" where she's more controlling than normal. Let's just say the thought has arisen more than once.

As for when I am forced into conversations with her I am normally able to talk to her nicely for a while, but when I try to exclude myself from the conversation (either when I'm getting more uncomfortable or when I actually have to get somewhere) she won't let me go. I even tell her that I need to be somewhere and she still just keeps talking to me and questioning me and I don't want to feel rude myself so I keep going with the conversation. When I use the excuse "I have to go to the bathroom" it hardly works anymore, because she follows me into the restroom (which I have to admit is very weird for me). In the end conversations with her are turning very uncomfortable for me because of the above reasons and also because she just asks me so many questions. All of our conversations besides the occasional "Hi" is me answering her questions and then her criticizing me or my friends and then getting very rude with her reactions. It annoys me, doesn't really make me feel good, and then it seems like the conversation just won't end. I try to be nice to her and invite her to things, but most of my friends don't like her, so I walk around and talk to her or hang out with her every so often so she doesn't feel bad, but then the next day she just comes at me harder, with the following and the staring and the uncomfortable conversations. And when I do say that she is being rude or that something is getting sort of weird for me she normally doesn't listen and continues on doing what she was doing. One time I was able to get her to back off when I was talking to some of my archery friends (a sport which she has said in the past that she dislikes a lot), but afterwards it was like she threw a fit because I "ignored" her. I treat her like I would want to be treated- with respect and niceness- but sometimes it feels like I'm about to explode at her, when I really don't want to.