How should I reply to this text?

[JaysusWept]

Namechanged as I've told my work colleague already about this and I know she lurks on here. (She was absolutely no help - she's probably still laughing about it...)

Background is that I've been single for a couple of years after discovering he was cheating. I have an 8 year old DD.
I am friends with a small group who I have known for a few years - met through kids at nursery/starting school, etc. We do playdates, dinners, drinks out, whatsapp group which is used constantly, helping each other out, etc. We are close and I value all of their friendships.
For the past few weeks I have felt that one of the group, who I shall refer to as C, has been a bit 'off' with me. Nothing I can really put my finger on - I don't always do the drop off and pick ups at school for my DD, but when I have and I've seen C she hasn't chatted with me like she usually would, and 2 weeks ago 4 of us went out for drinks and I felt that there was a bit of an atmosphere when I was talking to her, although she was polite enough. There are people that I am closer to in the group but C and I have always been very friendly and have done many things with just the 2 of us.

Yesterday, I picked up my DD from school and C's husband was there to pick up their DD. The 4 of us walked back together and we stopped outside C's house to finish our chat briefly, before I carried on up the street. C came to the door but didn't come over although she did wave.

At 4pm I received a text from C which read "Doing her usual, all over XXXXX (her husband's name) and doing that stupid fucking laugh of hers" with a couple of angry emoticons.
I replied back "?" and she immediately sent back "Ooops, sorry! That was meant for L (mutual friend in group, but who is very close to C), talking about someone at work! Sorry, just delete!"
I didn't reply to that and almost straight after I received a text from L asking if I was up for a night out next weekend.

C was talking about me, wasn't she? L also wouldn't usually text me about a night out as it would be sent through the whatsapp chat.
I didn't do the drop off this morning, but C has text me (not in whatsapp group) to ask if I fancy going over to hers tomorrow after school with DD.
I'm not sure how best to respond.
Am I being paranoid in thinking that text was about me?

For the record, I don't know C's husband particularly well. I've chatted with him at group things we've attended and a few times we've walked home together if we've done school pick ups as I've got to pass their house on my way home. I am not attracted to him, and nothing untoward has ever happened or would happen, although I may very well have a stupid fucking laugh!

Any advice? I actually feel really fucking weirded out by this.

They’ll just find an excuse as to why the messages can’t be retrieved...it’s never ending once you engage with someone like this. The drama is everything - she’s enjoying it

I AM the victim you fucking weapon. I’m the victim of your bitching, false accusations and outright lies. You got caught out and concocted this whole bullshit backstory so you’d look less like the nasty prick you are, when you fucked up and sent the text bitching about me, to me.
Tough fucking shit

Now fuck off.

😂😂😂 Brilliant!

To posters saying involve her husband. The husband will be well aware of her batshit behaviour and will be well used to defending Jackanory tales. Their poor kid(s).

To posters saying involve her husband. The husband will be well aware of her batshit behaviour and will be well used to defending Jackanory tales. Their poor kid(s).

D'you think he will even be aware... it's all so embarrassing, for Him included..

She's fucked with the wrong girl and she knows it

She's a Prick

She a loon

This is so childish .

OP walk away . I wouldn’t have the time to waste on this school ground bull shit .

Tell her to go into her husbands Facebook account, go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, scroll down to Your Facebook Information and choose Download your Information. Tell her to select Messages. Make sure it is HTML in the format section and then create file. It will take a while but she will get notified when it's ready to download. It will be all of the messenger conversations, deleted or not, from everyone he has chatted to. Let him provide the proof for her to provide!

Oh, and if they say they can't then that's bullshit as it's something that is used for evidence and can't be edited.

Unfortunately bullshit is their currency. It is evidence - but this is in still in the playground not a court. Don’t engage with c. The problem with this kind of abuse is that you can’t win. Slander is out of reach for most of us as bringing a case costs thousands. You have the option of harrasment if it continues.
Most of all right now you need to know your friends believe you. That’s what I’d be making sure of right now.

She is the one making accusations it's on her to find the proof! The op going round demanding she download messages and adding to all the whole drama only fuels the new narrative of the op making trouble for C.

Sit back op do nothing apart from correct the lies if they are brought to your attention and watch C do the rest! People who do things like this always end up in a mess of their own making!

Would be awesome if one of the other women told her husband what she’s up to. Bet she’d backtrack pretty damn fast then!!!

Itswinetime is right - if you start demanding that she downloads messages I think you’ll find you’ll be accused of blowing it out of proportion and that she’s quite happy to leave it all in the past now.....
But please get reassurances from the others in the group - if they can’t give them then you know where you stand

Stay as far away as possible from this nutjob. What the actual fuck

I wouldn’t demand the messages be restored. I’d just say there are plenty of ways to restore deleted messages, and obviously if C won’t do that, it’s because those messages don’t exist.

Are you sure there wasn't a typo in your post?

Surely you meant to say that they're 13 years old, not 30!! Lol

You're better off without them; I guess some people never grow up! I hope you can at least salvage things with the rest of the group.

Reading this is a bit like listening to my teen telling me about all the fall outs in their class, etc. I'm always telling her to disengage and stay out of it, which she does, but there always seems to be some drama going on.
No wonder you've had enough, just listening to it drives me mad, let alone living it like you are!

Just in case this lunatic decides to try and create some fake messenger posts/screenshots to "prove" her lies, I would change my icon photo ASAP and put its settings to friends only. That way, should she try and photoshop something, the fact it shows the new icon pic from after this all started will be proof enough that they're fakes. Or better yet, if she realises the picture has changed, it may stop her from doing it in the first place.

Also, it's been my experience that even if I delete a message, it still shows in the recipients' messenger. So even if C's husband managed to remove the (non existent) messages from his end, they'd still show in your messenger, yet they're not there, so ergo do not exist.

Maoyour Facebook completely private. Only friends can see it.

*Make

As has been suggested I think you should politely decline any social invitations and disengage from them for a while. Things may move on in a way that means you keep them as social acquaintances, but you know not to trust them as friends for the time being. And next time you see C, please make sure you laugh at something really, really loudly

Oh Jaysus this all must be very hurtful. As much as you are wonderfully rising above such nastiness, this sort of behaviour can leave the victim vulnerable and in a Catch-22 position: damned if you do protest your innocence (she protests too much sort of reaction) and damned if you don’t (no smoke w/o fire sort of thing).

But I think you’re absolutely right to ride it out and try to laugh at it.

I’d say her husband is having an affair and she’s projecting her anger on the easiest available target.

Chin up - you’re dealing with this wonderfully.

Oh my lord. Can’t believe this has escalated from a “whoops not for you sorry” huge blunder on her part to this. Would she just have breathed a sigh of relief, had you accepted her “error” and gone for coffee and pretended nothing happened? Instead of confessing she’s been nasty, she’s digging a huge hole. It’s plain bizarre and her texts to you are nasty. Hope you manage to maintain some of the other friendships if they’re nice women. C sounds insane. You’ve been very strong in this. I’d have been in bits. Friendship groups can unravel fast and it’s so upsetting

Would it be do able to bin the lot of them?

Yeah, I wouldn't bother asking her to retrieve the messages.

She's told others that you've been flirty with her husband & invited him around.

If others believe it then they aren't friends either.

At this point it's clear the friendship is over. The woman is bonkers. If she contacts you again my response would be 'produce the messages or leave me alone. You know and I know that this never happened. You could have just apologised for your text blunder without creating this huge fabrication. Our friendship is over but I would ask you to stop spreading these lies.'

I understand why many people have said to be the bigger person and not respond but I wonder how many of us could truthfully sit back and let someone create such a web of lies. There's a lot to be said for dignified silence but there does come a time when you have to defend yourself too.

Unless she can produce this messages, she’s got nothing.