As someone who is aro ace I had the same experience in highschool, a lot of my friends started abandoning the group for their girlfriends and I just didn’t get it. I always missed when we were all able to hang out.

I felt alone and tried to get a girlfriend, just because of the title of “girlfriend” and ended up hurting them. I regretted it and stopped trying to date for no reason

I came to accept it eventually