the narrative that you get less friends as an adult compared to being a teen/a kid is so weird because i don't think i've ever had as many friends as i do as an adult than when i was in grade school. and i mean genuine, genuine friends that i can have meaningful conversations w and share a meal w.
community is so fucking real when you're not confined to being at school or home and are like a more developed person. i felt so isolated as a kid bc i was undiagnosed neurodivergent and chronically ill. i was bullied by "friends" so much that by high school i fucked w very few people. i still talk to one person from that time, everyone else is from college/post-college. i have so many friends i don't have to mask around or feel unsafe w it's crazy