I remember standing outside that restaurant for a moment longer than necessary, staring at the glowing sign and smoothing my shirt as if it could calm the knot in my stomach. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to be there\u2014it was that I had already explained my situation clearly. I had told her I couldn\u2019t afford a big night out. I had said it plainly, without embarrassment, trusting that honesty would be enough. She had laughed it off, insisting it wouldn\u2019t be a big deal, that we\u2019d \u201cfigure it out.\u201d I chose to believe her because that\u2019s what you do with friends\u2014you give them the benefit of the doubt. Still, something about the way she brushed past my concern stayed with me as I walked inside, like a quiet warning I wasn\u2019t sure how to interpret yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I remember standing outside that restaurant for a moment longer than necessary, staring at the glowing sign and smoothing my shirt as if it could calm the knot in my stomach. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to be there\u2014it was that I had already explained my situation clearly. I had told her I couldn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n