The people who were there before the glow-up deserve the front row after it.

Whoever was around before anything worked has information nobody else has, which is that they liked you without a reason to. When things change, new people arrive with interest attached to the new situation, and it is genuinely hard to tell the difference in the moment. The earlier group is the control test you already ran. Losing them is the classic mistake and it never looks like a decision at the time.

Call the friend from before this week. Keep the standing thing you have always done, even when the calendar starts arguing with it.