We form an assembly line from the table to the microwave, with Kiara handing each plate of food to me and me handing it off to Val so she can reheat it. As I wait for the food to warm up, I recall how baffled I’d been when, just a week after the three of us had met for the first time at the company mixer, Kiara and Val told me that they were dating. By the end of that same month, Kiara had posted on socials that she was looking for someone to sublease her room in her apartment so she could go live with Val, her new girlfriend.

I thought it was my friends being their usual, spontaneous selves. I didn’t realize there was a whole stereotype behind it. Celeste and I jumped over all that by being roommates to begin with. For better or worse.

“The U-Haul thing…” I say when we sit back down at the table with our now hot plates of food. “It worked for you guys, but Celeste and I are different. Not only did we start out as roommates, but she still ended up leaving me in the end.”

Kiara squeezes my hand, and Val frowns.

“Maybe you need to establish firmer boundaries with her then,” Val says, a protective edge in her voice. “So something like that doesn’t happen again.”

“Yup,” I reply. “I think that’s what I have to do, too.”

I feel like I’ve brought everyone’s mood down, because after we finish eating, my friends and I just sit there for a few awkward minutes.

Finally, I say, “You know what? We should go out tonight. Not to a bar like last time but, like, actual clubbing. It’s a Saturday! I won’t drink this time around, though. Since I need to take a break after last night.”

My friends stare at me with expressions that say, Are you for real? Although Kiara, Val, and I went out a couple times when we first all became friends, we eventually stopped going out together as a group. I’m kind of to blame, since initially, it was because I was too busy doing other stuff with James. But then, as we reached our late twenties, Val and I stopped going to clubs altogether, opting for more chill activities, instead. Kiara sometimes still went out, but with her other friends.

“Gemma,” Val says. “I don’t know if you realize this, but we’re all turning thirty next year.”

Kiara holds up a hand. “For the record, I still occasionally go clubbing and see people older than us out and having fun all the time. But Gemma, baby, are you sure? No offense, but when’s the last time you even stepped into a club?”

My face turns red. Honestly, I don’t even want to do the math.