Betrayed by Childhood Friend

My entire body shook, barely able to hold myself up as I leaned against the wall, biting down hard to keep from crying out. Though we never explicitly talked about it, we had shared countless ambiguous moments over the years. I was captivated by him, never rejecting him, and he was always aware of that.

Last night, Zamir, smelling of booze, held me close and murmured sweet nothings as he kissed me. I thought I was wrapped in a wonderful dream, willingly following him to the hotel. Now I understand that everything he did was just to reassure her, to show he had no interest in me.

I was filled with anger and resentment. Just because I love him, does that justify his careless hurt? If he didn't love me, he could have turned me down, kept his distance. I can't understand why he would say such sweet things to me while trying to please someone else—doesn’t he find it repulsive?

"Aren’t you guys being a bit too harsh? Imagine how heartbroken Kya would be if she knew what you were saying about her in private!"

“Just delete the recording,” Adler chimed in, the only one standing up for me. He, Zamir, and I were all neighbors in the same complex; being younger, he always called me his sister.

Zamir gave a sarcastic smile. "Kya’s always been easygoing. What's there to worry about? She's not really going to get mad."

But under Adler's insistent urging, Zamir reluctantly picked up his phone. "Fine, fine, I'll delete it. It was just for Keilani to see. Since everyone has watched it, it's useless now."

"Honestly, what does it matter if she’s upset? In the grand scheme of things, my girlfriend comes first."

With that, he leaned over and kissed Keilani on the cheek. She playfully hit his chest, "Fine, since I’m the priority, I don’t want you staying in touch with her."

"Alright, I promise."

“Is there some group chat you all share?” Keilani asked.

Zamir nodded. "Rodrigo, let's go ahead and remove Kya from the group. For now, we won't invite her to gatherings. I need to give Keilani some peace of mind."

Adler stood up, frustrated. "You're going to kick her out just because she’s a girl?!"

But Rodrigo scolded him. "Zamir’s finally found someone, and we all need to support him. Don’t create conflict!"

As the leader of our group, Rodrigo spoke firmly to Adler. "Regarding Kya, she’ll understand. Once Zamir’s relationship stabilizes, she can come back. As a good friend, she should bear some inconvenience. She’s been trailing Zamir all this time, causing misunderstandings."

He gestured to Zamir. "Carry on, guys."

Everyone started cheering, shouting, "Go for another kiss!" Zamir didn’t hesitate, pinning Keilani to the couch and kissing her deeply.

Adler’s expression darkened as he pulled out his phone and headed for the door. I quickly slipped into the nearby bathroom, my phone on silent, not daring to answer his persistent calls.

A message popped up on my phone:

[Kya, have you arrived? We’ve already split up. Don’t come.]

I knew he didn’t want me to face embarrassment, so I replied,

[Not yet. Got it.]

Tears streaming down my face, I zoned out in the bathroom for a long time, trying to calm my emotions. Eventually, I splashed some water on my face from the faucet, then stumbled out the door.