It started quietly. No big fight. No dramatic goodbye. Just longer pauses between replies, fewer plans made, fewer laughs that felt the same.

I noticed it in the small things first. Group chats that used to buzz all night now stayed silent. Friends who once knew everything about my day answered with “lol” or “that’s crazy.” When I walked the halls at school, it felt like everyone was moving forward while I was standing still, smiling so no one would ask what was wrong.

I kept asking myself what I did wrong. Was I too much? Too quiet? Too broken? I replayed conversations in my head, looking for the moment I pushed them away without realizing it.

But graduation was getting closer. Caps and gowns. College talk. Jobs, cities, futures that didn’t include the same lunch table or the same locker-lined hallway. Everyone was already halfway gone, even if they were still standing right next to me.

What hurt more was that even my online friends felt farther away. These were people who met me in the middle of the night, who knew my thoughts before I said them out loud. Now their replies came hours later. Sometimes days. Sometimes not at all. It made the world feel smaller and quieter, like I was slowly fading from everyone’s screen.

Some nights I wondered if this was just how growing up worked if people don’t leave because they stop caring, but because life pulls them in different directions. Maybe it wasn’t rejection. Maybe it was transition. That word felt softer, less cruel.

Still, knowing that didn’t make the ache disappear.

I’m learning that endings don’t always slam the door. Sometimes they just drift. And maybe the distance doesn’t mean I’m forgettable. Maybe it means I’m standing on the edge of something new too, even if I’m scared and lonely right now.

I hope the people I’m losing remember me kindly. And I hope I remember myself still worthy of connection, still deserving of friends who choose me, even in the next chapter.

Because maybe this isn’t everyone leaving.

Maybe this is just the moment before I find where I belong next.

Question

It started quietly. No big fight. No dramatic goodbye. Just longer pauses between replies, fewer plans made, fewer laughs that felt the same.

I noticed it in the small things first. Group chats that used to buzz all night now stayed silent. Friends who once knew everything about my day answered with “lol” or “that’s crazy.” When I walked the halls at school, it felt like everyone was moving forward while I was standing still, smiling so no one would ask what was wrong.

I kept asking myself what I did wrong. Was I too much? Too quiet? Too broken? I replayed conversations in my head, looking for the moment I pushed them away without realizing it.

But graduation was getting closer. Caps and gowns. College talk. Jobs, cities, futures that didn’t include the same lunch table or the same locker-lined hallway. Everyone was already halfway gone, even if they were still standing right next to me.

What hurt more was that even my online friends felt farther away. These were people who met me in the middle of the night, who knew my thoughts before I said them out loud. Now their replies came hours later. Sometimes days. Sometimes not at all. It made the world feel smaller and quieter, like I was slowly fading from everyone’s screen.

Some nights I wondered if this was just how growing up worked if people don’t leave because they stop caring, but because life pulls them in different directions. Maybe it wasn’t rejection. Maybe it was transition. That word felt softer, less cruel.

Still, knowing that didn’t make the ache disappear.

I’m learning that endings don’t always slam the door. Sometimes they just drift. And maybe the distance doesn’t mean I’m forgettable. Maybe it means I’m standing on the edge of something new too, even if I’m scared and lonely right now.

I hope the people I’m losing remember me kindly. And I hope I remember myself still worthy of connection, still deserving of friends who choose me, even in the next chapter.

Because maybe this isn’t everyone leaving.

Maybe this is just the moment before I find where I belong next.

tax · Answer

Endings are not always the END. Many times they are the beginning of a new chapter in life. Good luck and wishing you all the best

unknownnnnnn · Answer

@tax wrote:

Endings are not always the END. Many times they are the beginning of a new chapter in life. Good luck and wishing you all the best

thank youu.

tax · Answer

@unknownnnnnn wrote:

@tax wrote:

Endings are not always the END. Many times they are the beginning of a new chapter in life. Good luck and wishing you all the best

thank youu.

Ofc no problem

SaltySuga · Answer

People leave and people come. Just take pleasure everyday in becoming who you need to be to meet the people that are meant for you, dont stunt yourself just because you dont have the right people right now, life goes on

tax · Answer

@saltysuga wrote:

People leave and people come. Just take pleasure everyday in becoming who you need to be to meet the people that are meant for you, dont stunt yourself just because you dont have the right people right now, life goes on

For sure, just as how life keeps moving we need to keep doing the same thing

SaltySuga · Answer

@tax wrote:

@saltysuga wrote:

People leave and people come. Just take pleasure everyday in becoming who you need to be to meet the people that are meant for you, dont stunt yourself just because you dont have the right people right now, life goes on

For sure, just as how life keeps moving we need to keep doing the same thing

Indeed