They’re deep into each other’s worlds. They’re basically finishing each other sentences, while also continually negotiating friendship boundaries, almost like a really fast game of speed chess. You’re in a different world than them and that’s OK.
Your friend slowed down his speech to compensate. My ne does that with me. I also notice when he tells me what he thinks I want to hear, which is something we all do at any age — it’s not dishonesty but a form of translating.
It’s not that you’re slow – you just don’t have all the cultural cues that they have for their generation.
The same would be true if you were a seventh grader talking to a fourth-grader: The world moves quickly but we all learn to translate a little.
I don’t have any advice for you as far as friendship goes. But what you described sounds normal when dealing with a population that has their own cliques and things.