i need help, how to break up with a friend Options

[timeflies51]

okay, this might sound kind of harsh, but there really is no other way to put it.

over the summer one tiny AIM conversation turned into something huge. a girl, let's call her "leah", told me about a guy she liked. we weren't really friends, more or less we were acquainted. i casually mentioned that i had liked the same guy last year, and from that moment she hasn't left me alone.

she stuck to me like flypaper. she began IMing me frequently, while before she barely IMed me at all. she dug for information about the guy, and once school started she began to hang off of me.

i smiled and went along with this for a while, but now i don't know how much more i can take. and this isn't just me alone - this is a group of people, preferably our lunch table.

to put it bluntly, "leah" is A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G. she rambles and rambles and rambles and, well, you get the idea. everything she talked about used to be about her crush. luckily, after our many comments on how we'd really rather not hear about him, she's keep quiet, but still hinting towards him from time-to-time. (the whole situation between her and her crush is a completely different matter that i'm sure you'd rather not hear about.)

now she rambles about pointless things, and most importantly, her family life. now, her family life: it's horrible. it really is. and i'm not saying we all don't have some pity for her, we do, but she talks about her family life TOO MUCH and TOO OPENLY. she'll talk about it as though it is nothing, just another little subject to ramble about. i don't even know if her family is aware that's she's telling people about these things (includes money problems, sicknesses, suicides, etc). not to mention that we don't want to hear about it, mostly because it's too depressing.

the people at our lunch table, and even other people she rambles to, are sick of her. for example, every time she walks away one guy is like, "thank goodness! she's finally gone!"

okay, so! getting to the point, i honestly and completely have no desire to continue this "friendship" with her. the thing is, we've all talked to her and hinted that we really would rather her, well, leave us alone, but she doesn't get it. she isn't taking the hint.

we all have enough heart to respect her feelings, and we don't want to break away from her with being extremely harsh. (SHE DOES HAVE OTHER FRIENDS TO FALL BACK ON.) i know there isn't much of a way to do it otherwise, but-

I NEED ADVICE!

(wow, that was a lot longer than anticipated.)

EDIT:

I do not consider her to be my friend, but she considers me to be hers. I said "friend" because I didn't really know how to put it any other way.

And I've told her she's annoying, and while she is mad for that moment, the next day she acts like nothing happened.