It was one of those half-sunny afternoons, and Clairo had invited you to hang out with her and a couple of her oldest friends — Claud and Josh. You’d heard about them plenty before, little stories she’d tell with that soft smile, the kind reserved for people who knew her before everything blew up.

You were all sitting on a blanket at the park, Claud sipping from an iced drink and scrolling through their phone, Josh cracking some inside joke you didn’t quite get. Claire laughed, of course she did — she always laughed when Josh got going. But then her eyes darted to you, checking in like she always did.

You smiled, trying to seem like you were in on it, but truthfully? You felt a little out of place. Like an extra in a scene that had been written long before you ever entered the picture.

Claud didn’t say much to you. They nodded politely when you joined, but there was something tight about the smile. Josh was friendly, sure, but there was a certain tone to his jokes — like he was reminding everyone he knew her first.

You didn’t blame them, not really. Claire was special. Easy to love. And maybe to them, you were just this quiet presence who suddenly got so much of her time.

At one point, when she was talking with Josh a few feet away, Claud leaned over and asked, not unkindly, “You two serious?”

You nodded, a little unsure. “Yeah. I think so.”

Claud didn’t reply at first. Then they just said, “thats what they all say...but then they end up hurting her at the end.”

And then Claire came back, dropped beside you, resting her head lightly on your shoulder like it was nothing. But to you, it felt like everything. Like her way of saying: I see you. You belong here.