Jana didn’t say much as Kamila loaded her plate with biryani, pakoras, and coconut cake. But then, Jana rarely said much to Kamila. Ever. It was strange. Like Rohan, Jana had been in Kamila’s life literally since she was born, and yet with Rohan, Kamila felt familiarity, warmth, and comfort. With Jana? Always coolness, even before the Bronx Bennet episode. She was like a stranger. No one else seemed to have noticed, but it was clear to Kamila that Jana disliked her as much as Kamila disliked Jana.

“Shall we start the movie?” Kamila said loudly over everyone’s chattering, all looking for details about Jana’s work in Central Asia. Even Tim, who minutes ago was so impatient to get the movie started, was hovering around the newcomer in the room. After a bit more wrangling, Kamila finally managed to get everyone to sit for the darn movie.

But still, even after she’d pressed Play on Netflix, Jerome, who was an anesthesiologist, asked, “So, does Doctors Without Borders have an outpost in Tajikistan?”

Kamila cranked the volume up.

But the movie was completely ruined. Even the adorable Shahid Kapoor scolding the sari-clad Kareena Kapoor couldn’t sweeten Kamila’s sour mood. Also, the actors’ matching last names were suddenly giving Kamila uncomfortable brother/sister vibes. After trying valiantly to pay attention, she finally gave up and watched Jana instead of the subtitles on the film.

Her thick, silky hair was now almost shoulder-length instead of in the no-nonsense pixie she’d had the last time Kamila saw her. Her cheekbones were more pronounced—what did they feed her in Central Asia anyway? But she looked healthy enough—if a little tired. She was wearing loose cream trousers paired with a blush-pink oversized cable-knit sweater and a wide gray headband pushing her hair off her face. Minimal makeup and striking dark-red glasses frames. Tiny, composed, perfect. Kamila felt like an Amazon clown in her floral dress. She patted her hair that she’d spent an hour drying into tousled curls. Even it felt like too much. Maybe she should cut her hair short like that. How long would it take to grow out her bangs?

There was no logical reason why Kamila and Jana shouldn’t have grown up the best of friends. They were the same age. Their parents had been tight since forever, and Dad still saw Jana’s mom several times a week. But Jana had always been a combination of reserved and studious, which clashed profoundly with Kamila’s childhood reputation as a foul-mouthed troublemaker. After so many years of every adult in Kamila’s life saying things like “Why can’t you be more like Jana! Did you hear she won a fellowship?” it was no wonder Kamila deeply resented Jana the Great.