I know this sounds kind of ridiculous and I’ll probably get advice to just “let it go”, but it’s been a nagging unknown for most of my life now and I simply just want to know what happened. I can handle the response either way.
Growing up I had a close group of friends in the neighborhood, like “Stand By Me” style. The four of us. Sleepovers every weekend. Spending every week night and summer day just riding bikes through the neighborhood, lighting fires in the woods, playing N64, typical boy shit.
It was so great that I never really prioritized friendships in school. Like I had a lot of acquaintances and even some close friends that I’d hang out and have sleepovers with, but honestly it felt a bit like charity, as I would’ve rather been with *the gang*.
Every day was like clockwork. One to all of the neighborhood kids would come running into the garage, knock on the door, and ask if I could come out to play. I’d yell to my parents that I’m heading out with the boys and I was gone the rest of the day.
One day when I’m 12, the gang just doesn’t show up to get me.
After spending an hour pacing in the garage, watching them play wiffleball in one of their backyards, I summon up the courage to just show up without an invite. We play wiffleball, it’s fine, I pretend I have things to do and then hope the next day things just go back to normal.
They never came to get me again.
Now, I was a couple years older than the rest of them and was a quiet nerdy type. So honestly, I understand them suddenly not seeing the value in me. I didn’t exactly have the popularity points. I think I actually had the opposite of them, whatever that is.
Anyway, one of the dudes just moved back in with his parents in the my old neighborhood where my parents still live. My dad talked to him and apparently he’s genuinely excited to catch up with me the next time I visit.
This one guy in the group of friends was definitely my closest one-on-one relationship. Although, I never really hung out with the gang again after that day, I believe I still hung out with him one-on-one several times. When he would visit my workplace, we’d have a great conversation, when I’d see the other two, it would be very brief and kind of awkward.
Anyway, I’m wondering if I should just ask the guy after the normal small talk bullshit. I’m just really curious what happened that day. I’m almost positive I know WHY they stopped coming to get me (not cool), I just want to know if there was a conversation, what was said. Did any of their parents not want me being around them? I did bring them through my pyro phase, which I know their parents didn’t like…
TIA.