Simply Platonish

Not quite love. Not quite friendship. Not quite sure.Pia is a 30-something who appears to have it all: a basic job, a tiny apartment, and a lifelong subscription to student loans. But during a virtual college reunion, one notification wrecks her peace—her two closest college friends, Jacq and Ethan, are now married. The audacity! And maybe—just maybe—she had feelings for one of them. What kind of feelings? She’s not so sure—she’s never been so sure.What follows is a sharp, awkward, and surprisingly tender rewind through her college years, where Pia, a first-gen student and a second-gen immigrant, tried to make sense of race, identity, and complicated interracial friendship dynamics... all while navigating a closeness that didn’t quite fit into the categories she’d been taught.With biting humor and bittersweet nostalgia, Simply Platonish explores the blurry lines between platonic and romantic, the weight of belonging, and what it means to come of age—again—in retrospect. Read more