Chapter 2

Finding that account had been a pure accident.

One day, I was scrolling through Instagram, and the algorithm suggested an account nearby. The profile picture was an anime character I really liked.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked.

It only had around three thousand followers. The latest post was from three days prior.

It was a photo of a messy desk late at night. The caption read:

[Working overtime until midnight. He said he’d starve with me, but ended up ordering takeout for two anyway. Idiot.]

Instinctively, I scrolled down.

[He said I was eating too little and dumped half his steak onto my plate. I told him I wasn't hungry, and he teased that I was just a picky child.]

[Stargazing on the hilltop. He whispered that he wished time would stop right here. Truth is, so did I.]

[Came down with a fever. He ditched work to take care of me. He has no idea how to cook, yet he burned a pot of soup for me. It was ruined, but it tasted sweet.]

...

Post after post, my heart softened.

Those mundane daily moments and quiet, tender details felt just like the romance I had always dreamed of.

I wanted to leave a comment, but comments were turned off. So, I just quietly hit follow.

How could I have known that in every single one of their cherished memories, I was the clueless fool in the background?

She wrote that they had been in love for ten years.

Ethan and I had been together for ten years, too.

Blair and I had known each other for twenty years.

When I was ten, she moved into the house next door.

The first time we met, she had pigtails and handed me a strawberry lollipop.

"I’m Blair! Let’s be best friends!"

From elementary school through college, we were joined at the hip.

She knew every single secret I held. She stood by me through every milestone.

Sophomore year, I met Ethan.

He was the campus golden boy from the Architecture department. Girls lined up just to catch a glimpse of him.

I was completely ordinary. I never thought he’d look my way.

"What are you scared of? You're our lit department’s star," Blair had cheered me on. "Want me to get his Snap for you?"

Eventually, Ethan and I got together.

I told Blair first. She spun me around in circles, screaming louder than I did.

"Yes! My girl finally got her happily ever after!"

I was certain she meant it back then.

People always joke online that a best friend is like the ultimate gatekeeper, the toughest critic any guy will ever face.

No matter how great the guy is, he’s never good enough for your girl.

Blair played that part to perfection.

Even though she rejoiced when we started dating, she gave Ethan the cold shoulder the moment they met.

That first meeting happened during lunch at the campus dining hall. I was wearing full makeup, sitting across from Ethan.

Blair, fresh off pulling an all-nighter for a group project, barged in with dark circles under her eyes, unwashed hair tied up in a greasy bun, wearing oversized pajamas and flip-flops.

She squeezed herself between Ethan and me, practically shoving him aside.

Ethan froze, forced to move to the seat opposite us.

Blair looked him up and down, openly disgusted.

"Him? Seriously? Babe, I think I cheered way too soon. Can we rethink this?"

She held nothing back. Ethan’s face turned sour.

Later, I asked Ethan what he thought of my best friend.

He scoffed. "She’s alright, I guess."

I had playfully punched his arm. "She’s my best friend, and you’re my boyfriend. You two have to get along."

After graduation, Ethan and I rented an apartment together.

Blair crashed over all the time. Whenever it got late, she slept on our couch.

"Honestly, the way you guys spoil me, it feels like I’m your adopted kid," she once teased.

Ethan would play along, putting on a stern fatherly face. "Then get off the couch and do the dishes, kiddo."

The apartment had been filled with laughter from the three of us.

I never imagined that all that warmth was just a mirage built on lies.