Shoes that pinch aren’t bad shoes. You just grew. Same goes for some friendships.

A thing can stop fitting without anyone having done wrong. People change at different rates, and a friendship built around who you both were at fifteen can simply run out of room. Calling that a betrayal makes it heavier than it is, when often it is only arithmetic and time.

If a friendship has gone quiet, let yourself consider that it may have completed rather than failed. You can still be warm to someone you no longer see weekly. And if you want it back, ask for something small and specific instead of waiting for it to resume on its own.