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I asked four former friends why we stopped speaking (2023)

On a warm July evening, I dove into bed and grabbed my phone, giddy and anxious. As I scrolled through TikTok, attempting to calm my nerves, a Google Calendar notification flashed on the screen: “VIDEO CALL WITH SIMONE.” Before I could swipe the reminder away, Simone FaceTimed me.

Concrete ones—not those generic suggestions that I “put myself out there” or “just give it time.” Everyone around me had managed to hold on to friends throughout their lives; everyone seemed to be on girls’ trips and boozy brunches; seemed to have a tribe of confidants ready to drop everything for them. I despised him when we were young—during one squabble, I was so consumed with fury that I took our shared Game Boy Advance and threw it down the stairs, destroying it—but, peppered throughout my memories of us going toe-to-toe are flashes of roaring laughter. That wasn’t only because we were two of the handful of Black women participating in the Greek process; Dominique was also fabulous and accessible, she was effortlessly warm and hilarious, and she had a glow that reminded you not to take life too seriously.

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