In today's edition of Stars Hanging Out Together: Ellie Goulding shared a photo of some "good times" with Katy Perry and Lorde. She later deleted the snap without comment, leading observers to speculate as to why she did it.

As anyone who follows Taylor Swift on Instagram knows — or if you've seen her "Bad Blood" video even once — Tay likes to keep a tight group of girlfriends around her at all times. Ellie Goulding wielded a rocket launcher as Destructa X in the singer's aforementioned 1989 video, and Lorde's been close with Taylor for a couple of years now. Katy Perry, on the other hand, lives pointedly outside of this interconnected network of Taylor-affiliated attractive famous women. Which, of course, begs the question: Did Ellie remove the picture lest she jeopardize her (and Lorde's) Swift Squad status?

As you can see in the screen cap above (via Billboard), the caption doesn't provide any info regarding where or when the image was taken. It just says "Don't really remember this but...good times" punctuated with the "dancing girl" emoji, which Lorde is expertly recreating with her pose. Ellie's cuddling with some friends over Lorde's left shoulder, and Katy is peeking over and laughing to Lorde's right. There's plenty of room for plausible deniability on Ellie and Lorde's parts: "But I said I don't even remember it! Read the caption, Taylor! She photo-bombed us, I swear!"

The photo may have been taken down for one of many reasons, such as Lorde deciding she looks gross in it (she doesn't, she looks fun and awesome here) and vetoing the post. And if Taylor did see it, her response might have been akin to the tight-lipped "that's cool" that you say when you hear that your friends hung out with your ex at a party. Hopefully, the vanishing Instagram does NOT mean there's a slightly controlling element to the glory that comes with being part of Taylor Swift's Friendship Club.

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