Even after my breakdown, when I had let go of everything else I was sure about, I held on to my belief in how our friendship worked, assuming I knew everything we could offer each other. This supposed knowledge was ultimately the thing that drove a wedge between us—invisibly at first, then with an awkward and increasingly painful obviousness. After being together through the pandemic—she was one of the few people in my pod—I felt wearily afraid that we knew each other so well that it was the end of knowing.
