I just... I'm realizing something, and it's kinda hitting me hard, you know? Like, I always thought my work friends were actual friends. We’d go for coffee, sometimes a happy hour, we even did that escape room thing for Sarah’s birthday. And I really thought we clicked, like, outside of just work stuff. I'm new to all this, obviously, first proper job out of college, so I kinda latched onto everyone a bit, I guess. I wanted to be liked, you know? But lately, it's like... it's only ever when they need something. I started paying attention, like, after the last big client presentation. It was super high stakes, and I stayed up until midnight, three nights in a row, helping Mark with his slides. And he was SO grateful, like "OMG you saved my butt, I owe you everything!" He even said he’d buy me lunch for a week. That was two weeks ago, still waiting on that lunch, by the way. But then, a few days later, I texted him about that new ramen place we talked about, and he just... read it. Didn't even reply. And it’s not just him. Emily, she only texts me when she wants to know if the rumors about the layoffs are true. She’ll send me a text, like, "Hey! How's your Friday going? Heard anything new about the budget cuts?" And I’ll be like, "Oh, hey! No, not really, just trying to get through this report." And then she’ll ghost me until the next time she wants the scoop. It’s like I’m their personal rumor mill, or something. I try to sound vague, but sometimes I hear things, you know? And I just... tell them. Because I think they're my friends. It really hit me last night. I was watching this dumb movie, and I saw a text pop up on my phone. It was Jen, from accounting. I got excited, because we usually chat about The Bachelor sometimes. But it was just a picture of a spreadsheet with "Can you look at this before 9am?" And I looked at the time, it was 11:47 PM. Like, seriously? And that's when it clicked. Out of the last ten texts I got from anyone at work, NINE of them were asking for help or asking about layoffs. The tenth one was a mass text about the office potluck. It just feels... kinda crummy, you know? Like, am I just a resource? Am I just there to help with presentations or provide gossip? I thought we were building something, like, real friendships. And maybe I'm being naive, I don't know. But it just sucks realizing that the people you thought you were cool with, like, only really see you when they need something from you. And now I’m just sitting here, feeling kinda dumb for not seeing it sooner.