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I pushed aside the questions that kept buzzing through my head—

Had they always kept in touch?

How long had they been together?

Could they have gotten together when Spencer and I were still dating?

And the worst question of all—

Was there always a spark? A spark of something that I had missed because I worshipped the ground he walked on and she was like family to me?

It was late the next day when I got a few answers, but it wasn’t from digging through her older posts. I got notifications on all my accounts that Kaavi had uploaded a video to her YouTube channel.

My fingers trembled as I hit the play button. It had already racked up over a hundred views in the few minutes it was online—127, to be exact. It wasn’t going to be good. Even the numbers weren’t on my side.

She was sitting in her minimalist, rose gold–accented office.

The future is female, a poster behind her read. Her hair was flawless, as always. I have no idea how she kept it so sleek and neat, but then again, nothing about me has ever been sleek or neat, so it’s not like I could relate. And, also as always, she was radiant. She usually included the makeup she wore in her videos with links to buy. I had bought every single product in her ensemble. The scrubs and exfoliators and “natural finish” tinted moisturizers. But never, not once, did my skin manage to look like hers.

She was wearing a dusty-pink silk blouse, which matched the aesthetic of her office. She always matched the aesthetic of her office. Every Instagram post, every YouTube video, every picture on Facebook had some sort of filter on it that made it bright and light, with hints of pink and rose gold, of course. She was nothing like the shy girl I grew up with who mostly wore oversize men’s shirts and was obsessed with Bruce Springsteen.

She was smiling and happy and positively glowing as she spoke.

“Hi, everyone! I’ve been getting bombarded with messages congratulating me on my engagement, and I’m so very thankful.”

She pressed her palms together in front of her. Just the right amount of tradition for her Sri Lankan audience, as always.

“But so many of you had questions about Spencer, my fiancé”—she dragged out the word like it was two syllables longer than it was— “that I thought I would make a quick video. First off, many of you have asked if this is an arranged marriage.”

She gave a little giggle at this.

“No, my lovelies, this was not arranged by my parents at all. Spencer and I have known each other for a very long time. Years and years, in fact. First as friends, and then I guess we grew into our love for each other.”

I knocked over the glass of water that was sitting on the desk next to me. Of course they knew each other for years and years. It was normal, wasn’t it, for someone to get to know their best friend’s boyfriend? The three of us were practically inseparable while we were in college. And they grew into their love? What does that even mean? This was a relationship, not a pair of shoes that Sri Lankan parents buy their children—three sizes too big so they would fit them for longer.

I wanted to turn it off. Turn it off and throw my laptop out the window.

“Spencer has been quite the supporter of my charity, and this is what really allowed us to get to know each other and build a relationship based on our shared values.”

She interspersed this bit with images of her and Spencer meeting with the girls from Pink Sapphires. There was a picture of him handing over one of those silly oversize checks, and one with both of their arms around three girls. My head felt like it was about to burst.

I remember when I first met Spencer. How he had been so different from the immature, idiotic teenagers I had dated back in Sri Lanka. He used to pick me up from my classes with giant bouquets of roses. He was so proud of me. Wanted to show me off. We didn’t have to be quiet or discreet like I had to be at home.

“The big question, of course, was why I had never mentioned Spence before. And I know, I know, it was all very sneaky of me. I hope none of you will hold it against me, because I really do love sharing my journey with you. It’s just that Spence is really quite shy and doesn’t like the limelight at all, so he asked me if I could please give him some space and not put too many details up on social media. It was something I struggled with at first, because as you lovelies know, I have no filter.”

She gave a hearty laugh, but I continued to feel dizzy. There are many words that I could have used to describe Spencer, but shy was definitely not one of them. Spencer was confident. He always knew what he wanted. Unapologetically so. It was what drew me to him in the first place. Unless he’s changed. Of course he must have changed. Five years is a long time, after all. Long enough to forget everything that happened in the past and happily move on with your best friend.

“But now that the cat’s out of the bag, I guess I can finally share a little bit about him. Apart from being ridiculously handsome, Spencer is quite the successful entrepreneur. His start-ups in San Francisco have done really well. Well enough that he can finally take some time off to plan the wedding! I don’t mean to brag, of course, but I am very, very proud of him.

“What plans for the wedding? Well, here’s another bit of exciting news! We’ve decided to get married in January. Now I know, I know. That’s only three months away. But you all know how traditional my parents are, and the astrologer told them that this is the most auspicious day for us.”