The unspoken breakup, the mutual, sorrowful retreat back into the safety of "just friends," left a gaping hole in the middle of their group. The easy, happy dynamic was gone, replaced by a careful, polite distance. Kofi and Nina were the sun and moon of their small solar system, and their sudden eclipse had thrown all the other planets out of orbit.
Jake and Ruby, who had just been starting to find their own easy rhythm, were now awkward and hesitant, their quiet, nerdy conversations tapering off into uncomfortable silences. Thea, with her preternatural sensitivity to the emotional currents around her, retreated back into her own quiet world, her sketchbook her only constant companion.
The apartment, which had briefly felt like a loud, warm, and chaotic home, now felt like a quiet, polite boarding house. Kofi's parents, though they did not understand the specifics of the shift, felt the change in atmosphere.
