Say yes to the invite from the classmate you barely know. Half of all good friendships start with “I guess I’ll go.”

Closeness is mostly a byproduct of repeated proximity, and proximity requires accepting invitations before you are sure you want to. The people who matter to you now were once strangers you had no particular reason to spend an evening with. Enthusiasm is not a prerequisite; attendance is.

Take the next low stakes invitation even if you feel lukewarm, and give it one full hour before deciding anything. Loneliness is not a fault you need to fix, and one evening will not solve it. It just widens the set of people who might become familiar.