Getting left out of the plan hurts. It doesn’t mean you’re unlikeable. Sometimes it just means the plan was small.

Plans get made in corridors, in cars, in the space between two people, and they stay whatever size they started at. Four tickets, one sofa, somebody’s mom driving. Being outside one of those is usually arithmetic rather than a judgement on you, though it rarely feels that way at the time.

Give yourself a day to be stung before deciding anything. Then, if you want to be inside more plans, be the one who starts them, since whoever sends the first message is never left out of their own idea. Ask directly next time instead of waiting for an invitation to arrive.