The car ride home was quiet, Jonathan sinking into his seat and silently thinking while being pleasantly tipsy. He was reflecting, suddenly, about being twenty-three.

It was a moment of realization and acceptance. He was, he concluded, an adult. He probably had been for a while now, but his birthday made him confront this in a more direct way. Jonathan was in the “real world” now, and it was completely different from what he’d expected. It was harder in some ways, easier ...