“I don’t really want to go” is kinder than three fake maybes.

A maybe that is really a no takes up space in someone’s plans. They hold the seat, they text again, they rearrange around your perhaps, and the eventual silence tells them anyway, later and with more waste. Declining sounds harsher in your head than it feels to them. What actually bruises is being strung along politely.

Next time you know the answer, give it within a day, in one sentence and without inventing a reason. People hear a clean no, say fine, and ask you again next time, which is the part the fake maybe costs you. Save your yes for things you will turn up to.