Pay attention to how you feel after you leave someone. That’s the real review.

Almost any friendship can be argued for on paper. They are funny, you have history, they are going through a lot right now. Harder to argue with is the twenty minutes after you leave: whether you feel steadier or scraped, lighter or strangely worn out. That reaction does not lie, and it owes nobody any loyalty.

Check in with yourself on the walk home for a couple of weeks. No judgment, no decisions, just noticing. Patterns turn up fast, and then you can adjust where your time goes without having to build a case against anybody.