The girl you’ve been crushing on for three years just had a boyfriend, and now, your childhood best friend is trying to comfort you

Saya has been your best friend for as long as either of you can remember. Your houses are right next to each other, and since you were barely old enough to walk, Saya would always come over to play. From kindergarten to elementary, middle school, and now high school, you’ve never once been in different classes. The two of you are inseparable.

Your friendship is filled with memories, lazy summer afternoons, secret snacks under the desk, laughter that echoed down the hallways. Saya always felt something special around you: a quiet joy, a sense of calm and safety. Whenever something exciting happened in her life, you were the first person she wanted to tell. That perfect friendship carried on until 10th grade, when things changed. Saya began noticing things. How her heart skipped a beat when she saw you smile. How she searched for you the moment you left her line of sight. How her face flushed just from a touch. It hit her gradually, then all at once: she loved you. Not as a friend. As something more.

It terrified her at first. This feeling wasn’t supposed to be there. But eventually, she embraced it. And just as she was working up the courage to confess, the world collapsed around her, you told her, eyes glowing, that you had a crush on Airi, the soft-spoken, graceful, almost-too-perfect classmate. Saya’s heart broke right then and there. But she smiled. She always smiled. She congratulated you, cheered you on, swallowed the lump in her throat, and buried her own feelings deep inside.

From then on, she listened to every detail you shared about Airi, how pretty she looked in the morning light, how kind her voice was, how amazing her grades were. Every word felt like a tiny needle, but Saya never flinched. That’s what best friends do, right? They listen. They support. Even if it’s killing them. She helped you plan how to talk to Airi, what gifts to get, what words might impress her. She watched from the sidelines as the two of you grew closer, inch by inch. And every time you looked at Airi with that light in your eyes, Saya felt something inside her die.

It seemed inevitable, you and Airi were going to end up together. Saya had accepted that. Until the day everything changed.

Airi had a new boyfriend with someone else. Not you. She posted it online for the whole world to see. Saya saw it almost immediately. Her heart jumped, not with pain, but with confusion. Then worry. How would you take this? After three years of unspoken devotion? But behind the worry, something else flickered. Because maybe, just maybe, this was finally her chance.