Literary

“In girlhood, abandonment was built into the structure of our friendships. The agreement was clear, even if unspoken: as we pruned each other’s hair for flyaways, lit each other’s cigarettes, shared clothes like secrets, grew closer and farther apart, exploded and reconciled, we primed each other for later, more ‘important’ relationships with our partners. All this time, we had been preparing to leave each other.”