Weeks after we argued, I tried to rationalize Casey. Even though she was competitive and insecure and self-indulgent, I believed there was some goodness in her. I saw it - when she drove me to Planned Parenthood to take a pregnancy test and to get birth control, or when she brought me soup and a plain bagel from the dining hall when I was too sick to get out of bed, or when she stayed up late to tutor me in biology.

But the more I thought about it with each day that passed, I thought of all the stupid things Casey did wrong as a friend. Her nastiness, her pettiness, her way of making people feel badly to make herself feel that much better. And that whatever the opposite of that was, Lainey did it right. I wondered if Lainey knew how much I appreciated her just being there for me.

If...

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