DUO PLUS ONE: BETWEEN TWO AND NONE

Quiet ache of being the outsider in a trio, where bonds shift and hearts quietly break.

Have you ever been in a trio?
Let me tell you a story...
Of a passive-aggressive, love-hate bond.

Once upon a time,
There was she
Living her quiet little life,
With a bestie to lean on at school,
And a partner-in-crime just next door.

But fate had other plans.
All three placed in the same class.
Introductions exchanged,
And just like that
A duo plus duo became a trio.

She felt like a magnet,
While the other two were metal.
Laughter echoed, homework was swapped,
Tutoring turned into inside jokes.
Moments stitched together
By silly, carefree days.

They noticed.
People pointed out
A group of three,
Yet somehow... one always stood at the center.
People identified them as her friends,
Not a trio, but her trio.

Time rolled on, quietly.
The introvert among ambiverts,
Still sharing, still laughing.
But change is inevitable
Evolution is nature’s way.

Possessiveness whispers softly.
Jealousy bites her tongue.
Tears blur her vision.
Her smile holds pride,
But her heart feels left behind.

A trio can so easily shift back to a duo.
And a duo?
It can always find another
To make a new trio.
Was she the glue...
Or just the potential third member
In a trio that no longer needed her?

A question she never dared to ask.
Why would she?
A trio is always a trio... isn’t it?

When they spoke, sometimes in hushed tones,
Even when there was no reason to whisper
Her mind played tricks.
When they laughed at jokes she didn’t quite get.
When they took selfies...
Without her.
When they shared moments where she felt...
Just a little too far away.

But what hurt most...
Wasn’t the whispers, the selfies, or the distance.
It was the closeness between them
The way they fit together so naturally.
They weren’t just a trio anymore,
They were something she had never been.
Individually, they had been hers.
But together...
They had become something more,
Something she could never quite touch.

Was it all in her head?
Or had the distance stretched too wide?
Perhaps...
Her eyes were deceiving her,
While her mind played a quiet game of hide and seek.

What did she miss?
What was it she couldn’t grasp?
Or maybe...
Was it something she could have had,
If only she reached for it?

She felt it all
Tears threatening,
A smile barely holding its place.
Anger simmering quietly.
Because her two besties...
Became besties.

And yet...
She stayed.
Still their friend.
Silently scolding them now and then.
Silently wishing for things to go back
To the way they were.

But in the end...
What can she do?
You can’t break your own heart.

Author's Note

Have you ever felt being the odd one in while you are laughing with your friends..

Reviews

[Manta Ray Lily]

I always feel left out in my whole group which I made it intact but what can we do? Should we just accept it as our own fate? Or stand up for our emotions to be seen as one of them? Maybe the answer depends on the character and traits that we possess as there is no such process to tell us what to do at a given situation. Now, coming to this poem, I admire your writing so much because everything you've written above is too relatable to everyone as in some or the other point in time you would encounter such a feeling of betrayal which gives a life to your poem and what can i say about the title given to this poem? It's very creative and I can see your thoughts have a meaning to them. Excellent work, inkspire! I love it 🖤

[Inkspire]

Thank you..
Very true, what we do depends on the character