Post-college, it becomes harder to find truly amazing friends. Still, sometimes if we’re lucky, we meet someone and totally hit it off, platonically speaking. Here are 10 signs that the new chick in your office or the girl you talk to on the treadmill at the gym is about to be your new BFF:
- She has the same sense of style as you. If you’re like me, you’re definitely guilty of making conversation simply because of someone’s bomb outfit. I’m not afraid of giving a compliment to another boss bitch—if I see someone rocking a style that I love, I’m immediately going to let her know and I’m immediately going to want to strike up a friendship. After all, she clearly has impeccable taste.
- As soon as you exchange numbers, you can’t stop communicating. If you exchange numbers to be polite and never text each other, you can pretty much assume the friendship isn’t happening. But if you exchange numbers and start texting and don’t stop, you can totally assume you’ve made a new friend who might turn into a new bestie.
- You get as excited to see her as you do a crush. You guys make plans to hang out after you first meet and you’re so excited that you carefully plan out what you’re going to wear (gotta be Instagram ready), you do your hair, and you basically treat it as if it’s a date with a new guy. Why wouldn’t you? After all, she IS going to be your new bestie.
- It feels natural to introduce her to your current best friends. This one is kind of risky, but after you and a new potential friend have gotten to know each other better, introducing her to your crew of besties is a critical move. Not everyone’s best friends are best friends with each other but I also know that sometimes, our best friends know about and support our relationships with our other BFFs. If she meshes well with one or more of your current ride or dies, then she may be best friend potential.
- You start to ditch your current group of friends to hang out with her more. It’s the shiny new toy syndrome—you know what I mean. You have something or someone new in your life, you love them, and don’t want to put them down so you start incorporating them into your everyday life and before you know it, they’re always with you. Unfortunately, this might come at the expense of your other friendships.
- You guys talk about the heavy stuff early and often. If you’re able to get into the weeds on the heavy topics then there’s a chance that she’s a winner. In my own experience, my best friendships started because we were able to talk about real things that matter. If you can’t, what’s the point?
- You get close quickly because you’re so similar. Part of connecting with other people is connecting through experiences. Some of my best friendships were made in part because as we got to know each other, we realized that we had VER similar life experiences. That’s not to say that opposites don’t attract because they do, but I do think that when you meet someone who you bond with because you share past experiences, it’s the universe giving you a little wink and letting you know that you may have met a lifelong friend.
- You talk about her all the time. She comes up in all of your conversations. You call your parents to update them on your life and you mention her five times because she was with you on at all five events that you went to this weekend.
- You learn that you hate the same people. This is particularly salient if your new potential best friend is your co-worker or someone that you met through a professional organization or something that requires you to collaborate together with other people. I don’t know about you, but it always makes me like someone better when I find out that they dislike the same people that I do. I know that’s not the nicest thing in the world but it’s true. It’s about solidarity. Sometimes crappy people bring other people together. It’s the least they can do.
- People can’t believe you just met because you’re so comfortable with each other. Listen out for the comments about how you guys seem to click so well. If other people sense your best friend vibes brewing, there might be something to it. It’s my belief that when other people can feel the energy between you and someone else, it’s a sign that there’s something there.
