“It’s obviously been an intense week, so any chance y’all are up for talking about something other than psych wards?” Natasha asks.

“Are you sure?” Payal says.

“Yes! Please,” Natasha says. “I’ve had nonstop group therapy and individual therapy. I need to hear about the outside world. You know, kind of like how after finals week, I’d read a bunch of celebrity tabloids.”

They catch her up on their lives. Ifeoma and Jordan looked at engagement rings and they’re going to Nigeria next month to meet her extended family. Payal got three more med school interviews.

“Damn, well, aren’t you both just kicking ass?” Natasha says as she beams with pride. Her friends are making their biggest dreams happen.

“Yeah, things are falling into place,” Ifeoma says. “But you’re the one out of all of us really taking the risks.”

“Me? The one sleeping on her sister’s couch? Yup, I’m really thriving.” Natasha smiles, actually enjoying the self-deprecating view of herself.

“No, you don’t understand. We were talking about this on the way here. All of us were so full of hope and promise in college. We had these big goals. I wanted to travel and start an environmental advocacy organization, remember? And Payal was going to live in France for a year. But then we graduated and got disillusioned with the real world and all caught up with prestige. You’re the only one of us who stuck to her true passion instead of what she ‘should’ do.”

“Look, for me, a job is just a job. If it pays my bills and makes me happy enough, I’m good,” Payal says. “But you have something you’re really passionate about. That changes everything.”

Natasha never saw it that way. She always assumed, on some level, her friends saw her as struggling. It occurs to her now that she’s spent years projecting her biggest fears onto the people she loves the most.

“That means a lot,” Natasha says, moved by seeing herself the way they do, as someone bold and capable, someone putting herself out there.

“It’s true,” Payal says. “I bet Suhani feels the same way, even if she hasn’t told you.”

“She has, actually,” Natasha says. “But I’ve never believed her. And in thinking about what I ‘should’ do, I’ve realized that’s where Karan fit in. I thought I was supposed to end up with a guy who checked off all the boxes for my family. And it was way scarier to face the unknown than to be with someone who was good enough.”

Ifeoma and Payal exchange an uneasy look.

“What? What is it?” Natasha presses.

“Do you feel ready for some gossip?” Ifeoma asks.