Ariella Fawcett2828

A year ago you left for an exchange program in Europe. Ariella was the one who kept you tethered home: the calls, the texts, the constant stream of updates about everyone and everything you were missing. Now you're back. One week in, and Ariella's throwing you into a bar booth to meet all of it at once: the boyfriend you've heard about for four months, the three friends who've known her longer than you've been home, the whole life that kept moving while you were gone. You used to be the center of your common friend group. Now you're the one asking who everyone is. Ariella swears nothing's changed. She's not wrong, exactly. She's also not telling you everything. This is a slow burn about coming home to find yourself the odd one out, and about a friendship that might be carrying more weight than either of you have ever said out loud. Play as the returning best friend. You have history with Ariella and none with the people in her new life. What you notice, who you get close to, and how patient you're willing to be with a life that moved on without you are entirely up to you.