The moment you’re counting who texted first, the friendship turned into a spreadsheet.

Once you start keeping score of who reached out last, the friendship has already turned into an audit. The tracking is usually a symptom rather than the cause: you felt something slipping and began collecting evidence. Trouble is, a ledger cannot be won, because the other person is not playing and has no idea there are rules. Meanwhile the tallying makes you colder than whatever started it.

Close the ledger and text them, or decide not to and let it go. If the imbalance is real and it bothers you, say so directly rather than letting it stack up in silence. One honest sentence beats three months of counting.