I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so," I said and unbuckled my seatbelt.

Cayden and I exited the car and shut our doors. Cayden reached out and took my hand in hers, gently squeezing it to remind me that I was there.

"This will be great," Cayden said, her voice low and in my ear. I smiled a little bit at her, trying to ignore the anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The restaurant was beautiful and expensive looking, the kind of place that had twinkling lights everywhere and a dim interior. There was a stunning bar and plants tastefully hung around.

"Oh, there they are!" Cayden said, grinning. She walked us toward the table, pulling me along with her. I tried to meet her pace so I wouldn't stumble.

"Cayden! Hi!" a girl said, smiling and waving. She stood up and pulled Cayden in for a brief hug. A few other people around the table—three other people, two guys and one girl—also stood up and greeted us.

"Hi, guys," Cayden greeted them, smiling. "This is Vina."

"It's so nice to meet you!" one of the girls said and everyone else around echoed, offering hugs and small waves. It was a strong promising start, which made me feel even better. Maybe this really wouldn't be so bad.

We settled into our seats around a huge table, the six of us put three and three. Cayden was sat across the table from me, which I understood but I also wished she was next to me so I could casually hold her hand. I liked to think that I was good with meeting new people, but I had basically the same friends for all of college. If I wasn't out drinking, I could be more reserved just naturally.

And it was also hard when I was meeting the friends of my significant other. I hadn't done that other than meeting Sebastian's friends, and that had basically gotten me isolated from my own because they'd all picked him. Even the people who'd chosen me first went his way, which had really hurt. It didn't feel that promising going into a situation where everyone was already Cayden's friend—and only her friend.

My stomach felt like it was on a spin cycle in a washing machine. Not only were these all Cayden's friends here but they were also all going to be Cayden's friends back home. There was no way Jade or Jaci were going to want to see me. I obviously didn't have Sebastian or any of the guys he hung out with. It was just Cayden—and Griffin. That was my friend group.

That's even if Griffin still wanted to hang out when I got back to the city. It felt so touch and go with him sometimes, like I was worried he was going to disappear at any second.

"So, Vina, what do you study?" one of the girls asked.

We launched into a getting-to-know-you conversation, everyone chatting about their majors and colleges. It seemed like everyone Cayden knew had all gone to the same college and had known each other forever. They'd stayed local and didn't mind it at all, really liking being close to family.

"Cayden just hops around everywhere. It didn't surprise us that she picked a place where neither of her homes were," a guy I had learned was named Asher said.

"Yeah, yeah." Cayden laughed.

"So how did you guys meet?" One of the girls, Mia, asked.

Cayden and I looked at each other, realizing this was the first time we'd really been asked that question before. This was our first time really in a space where someone had needed to ask us that question—otherwise, our friends weren't allowed to know.

"Through friends," Cayden offered, which was true, even if it was a little bit roundabout. We couldn't exactly tell everyone that I'd been dating Sebastian and Cayden kind of swept in and took over when Sebastian got physical with me. Whenever I thought about it like that, I realized how it seemed like Cayden and I should've never worked to begin with.

"Cute!" Mia said. "Well, I hope you're liking Miami so far."

"It's definitely different from where I'm from," I said.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"No, not other than the trips to Disney we'd take," I said.

Asher wrinkled his nose a little bit, "Not Orlando."

"Different from Miami, for sure."

"Miami is different from the rest of Florida," Jazzy, the other girl at the table, said and everyone around the table nodded in agreement. "Do you remember that one guy we met who tried to argue that Jacksonville had better bars?"

"Oh my god, yes," Mia said and started laughing.

From there, they all launched into exchanging stories of people they'd met and nights out. Some of them shared stories from college, but sometimes they would just talk about memories with Cayden, which then involved everyone at the table other than me.

I knew that was part of friendship and I loved learning new things about Cayden, but I also couldn't help but be thrown. It was rare for me to end up in a situation where I had nothing to contribute, or felt completely out of the loop. After a while, it seemed like even Cayden was so deep in the conversation that she barely remembered I was there, which was hard. I knew it wasn't intentional—deep down in my chest, I knew she was not trying to hurt me.

But it really set something off that reminded me so much of Sebastian. The isolation, the grasping at straws, the wishing I would feel seen and relevant. I suddenly just felt like a hanger-on, someone who'd been invited but wasn't actually wanted.

I tried to keep up with the conversation, but it was hard. I didn't understand their inside jokes or what anything they were saying meant. I couldn't hop in at any point because none of their experiences were universal—the stories were just connected to something they'd all done together as a group.

Cayden looked at me from across the table, our eyes suddenly meeting and she smiled a little bit. Her smile was warm and bright and it was obvious how happy she was. I was glad that she was happy and having a good time. Seeing her like that did help melt some of the empty feelings of being left out. It wasn't really my group to contribute to, as long as they were having fun, that was what mattered. I got to see Cayden all the time, so they should all enjoy the limited time they all have together.

But still, it all just reminded me of how I didn't have any friends here or friends to go back to. I mean, I still had Griffin and some friends I knew from high school that lived in my hometown, but a lot of them had moved away and only ever came back for the occasional holiday.

"Alright, so what do we want to order?" Mia said and looked at the menu in front of us.

"A round of drinks first, obviously," Liam said and everyone agreed.

I looked down at the menu for the first time and was shocked to see the prices in front of me. Everything was expensive—the drinks were three times as much as I was used to paying back in New York, which said a lot. In New York, we normally pre-gamed before club or bar outings, and even then, the prices for the drinks weren't too bad, but they could be considered somewhat pricey. If we ever ate somewhere, it was normally a cute local place like Yolei's or some other quaint cafe or restaurant. Even the few high-end places we did go for food or drinks, still weren't anything compared to this. I was definitely not prepared for any of this.

I looked up at Cayden, not knowing what else to do. She looked up suddenly and without me even needing to say anything, she seemed to understand that something was wrong.

"Whatever you want," Cayden said. "My treat for the night since I'm forcing you to hang out with all of these idiots."

They all laughed and I laughed politely along, but the menu still made me feel uneasy. I was glad Cayden felt comfortable enough to cover something like this, but I never wanted to be in a position where I was dependent on her doing something like that for me. I don't know. I guess I could always...text my parents and ask for more money.

When I looked at Cayden again, she was already looking at me. Her eyes were soft and affectionate and familiar, and I could tell that she was silently communicating for me to just get a drink. She wanted to do whatever would make me happy.

Our waitress eventually came around and put in our orders for drinks, then appetizers, another round of drinks and then dinner, which was then followed by another drink. I tried not to think about the bill that we were probably building up.

With a few drinks in me, I definitely started to relax more. I eased into the conversation and was able to find ways of stepping in and saying something. I felt a little more confident with the group, which I liked. And I could tell Cayden liked it too, by the way she was eyeing me from across the table.

When the bill came, Jazzy put everything on her card and sent a picture of the receipt to their group chat. It was so effortless, so easy. I didn't get a chance to see the bill, which I was mostly glad about.

"Alright, you guys joining us out at the club tonight or what?" Liam said, clapping a hand to Cayden's back.

"Hell yeah, of course," Cayden said and I frowned a little bit, stunned.

Hi guys. Why do I feel so sad for Vina right now? It was a little disheartening writing her perspective this go around. How do you guys feel about Vina? Or Cayden? Do you think Cayden could've done more? Or perhaps Vina could've voiced her feelings better? What about Cayden agreeing to go to the club? I can't wait to see all your opinionsWeekendlustt