The Ugly Truth

Although it hurts to hear, the inevitable truth may be that he's just not that into you.

BY Lana Freije ★ March 7th, 2026

Design by: Maisy Wood

“He’s just not that into you.”

Those are words you’ve probably never heard from your friends. Why? Because most of the time, they’re true. 100% of the time, they hurt to hear.

We always want to be genuine friends, but sometimes the nicest thing we can do is tell the truth… even when it’s ugly.

In college, we have the opportunity to go out, have fun, meet new people, and get close with one another. As a result, many of us meet many not-so-nice boys. They initially say what we want to hear, but their actions soon begin to fall short of what seemed like the start of something exciting.

Here’s the truth we try so hard to avoid:

If you have to think this hard about whether a guy likes you, the answer– the one buried deep, deep down in that scary place we never want to visit– is probably no.

When we’re honest with our friends and ourselves that a guy is just not that into us, we save ourselves from future heartbreak. From endless nights of overthinking, replaying interactions, and wondering what we did wrong.

2026 is about being brutally honest with ourselves. It’s about self-protection. So if you find yourself drifting into a haze of delusion, remember this: NO.

Am I not pretty enough?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.
(It’s no secret that the pretty girls outnumber the pretty guys.)

You are enough. More than enough.

He just hasn’t realized that– and that’s okay. Let’s not put too much self-worth or pressure on boys who are also just figuring their lives out. They don’t have it all together. Neither do most college students.

College is only four short years of our lives. There isn’t enough time to sit around dwelling on boys and whether our feelings are reciprocated. We are smart enough to know our worth, and smart enough to recognize when it isn’t being noticed.

Stick to our strict program.
Choose clarity over confusion.
Create more memories.
Commit to the ugly truth.

Edited by: Anna Altman