Ten Years Wasted Before Spring Chapter 02

I found the account by accident.

One day I was scrolling on my phone when the app recommended someone nearby. The profile picture was an anime character I liked.

Curiosity made me tap in.

The account had just over three thousand followers. The latest post had gone up three days earlier.

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

[Worked until dawn. He said he would wait to eat with me, but in the end he just ordered DoorDash for us. Such a softie.]

I kept scrolling.

[He said I haven’t been eating enough lately and insisted on giving me the last slice of his pizza. I said I wasn’t hungry. He laughed and said I was still a kid.]

[We watched stars on the mountain. He said he wished time could stop right there. Honestly, so did I.]

[I got sick, and he skipped work to take care of me. He can’t cook either, but he still made me a grilled cheese. It was a little burnt around the edges, but it was the best thing I’d ever tasted.]

…

Post after post, I felt something in my chest soften.

Those ordinary days, those small warm details, looked so much like the kind of love I had once imagined.

I wanted to leave a blessing, but the blogger had comments turned off, so I used my anonymous burner account to keep an eye on her instead.

It turned out every happy memory she posted had me in it too.

I was the clueless side character.

She said they had been in love for ten years.

But Everett and I had also been together for ten years.

And Brynn and I had known each other for twenty.

She moved next door when we were ten.

The first time we met, she had a friendship bracelet looped around her fingers and handed it to me.

“I’m Brynn Harlow. We’re friends now.”

From elementary school through college, we were inseparable.

She knew all my secrets. She stood beside me through every important moment of my life.

Sophomore year, I met Everett Shaw.

He was the golden boy of the architecture program. He had girls lining up around the block for him.

I was painfully ordinary. I never imagined he would notice me.

“What are you scared of?” Brynn encouraged me. “You’re the smartest girl in the English department. Want me to get his number for you?”

Later, Everett and I got together.

Brynn was the first person I told. She hugged me and spun me around, more excited than I was.

“Finally! Our Celia got her wish.”

I was sure she was genuinely happy for me then.

People online always joked that a best friend was basically the boyfriend’s second interview panel.

No matter how good he seemed, he was never quite good enough for your girl.

Brynn was like that too.

She was thrilled when she heard I was dating someone, but when she actually met Everett, she disliked him on sight.

Their first meeting happened while Everett and I were on a fully dressed-up date in the dining hall.

Brynn had just finished a huge group project the night before. She had dark circles from several all-nighters, hair that hadn’t been washed in days, and she was wearing a hoodie and flip-flops.

She shoved Everett aside and plopped down next to me.

Everett froze, then had to move back to the opposite side.

Brynn looked him up and down with zero subtlety, her face full of disdain.

“This is him? Babe, I think I spoke too soon. Want to reconsider?”

She was merciless. Everett didn’t look pleased.

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

He was dismissive too. “She’s… fine.”

I laughed and swatted his arm.

“She’s my best friend, and you’re the person I love. You two need to get along.”

After graduation, Everett and I bought a small condo together.

Brynn often came over for dinner. If it got too late, she slept on our couch.

“You two make me feel like your permanent third roommate,” she joked once.

Everett played along, putting on his best landlord face.

“Then earn your keep, kiddo, and go wash the dishes.”

Our apartment was full of the three of us laughing.

I never imagined that kind of happiness was a mirage built on lies.