I pulled out my phone and ordered a large Thai tofu salad for dinner, then turned on Netflix and started searching for a show with some good old-fashioned bloodthirsty serial killers, settling into my favorite pastime.

My phone beeped, and I thought it would be a notification from DoorDash about my salad, but it was an email.

An email from Kaavindi Fonseka.

I sat up straight on my couch. No way she’s emailing me. Not now, after five years of not speaking to each other.

My fingers were sweaty, and it took a couple of tries for me to unlock my phone.

Hi Amaya,

How are you? I know this might seem really out of the blue, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. I’m getting married!

A little late there, Kaavi, but of course she wouldn’t know how obsessively I stalk her online.

It might come as a bit of a shock to you, after the way we left things, but I’m actually marrying Spencer. I just wanted to be straight up about it and get that out of the way. I know you’re probably thinking WTF, and I don’t blame you, but I would love it if you could come for the wedding. It would give us a chance to clear things up, once and for all, and to be honest, I’ve always pictured you at my wedding and I can’t imagine going through with it without you by my side. We’re keeping it small, no bridesmaids, and my baby sister, Nadia, will be my only flower girl. I don’t think you’ve had a chance to properly meet her, but she’s really sweet, and she’ll love to see you, I’m sure. My whole family misses you, actually. It would really mean so much, to all of us, if you could come.

I know it’s short notice and you probably have a lot going on, but please think about it?

Love and bubbles, (ha ha, remember when we signed off all our notes that way!)

Kaavi

The remnants of the one mimosa I had this morning rose to my throat. It burned. The distraction was welcome, even if it only took my mind off the email for a moment.

Kaavi invited me. Her whole family did.

Does that mean they’ve decided to forget about our agreement? The one where I was asked to never contact them ever again?

But there was no way I could go. Forget about our understanding. There was no way I could see Spencer. Not like this. Not with him happily marrying my best friend while I was single, alone, and well on my way to spinsterhood.

But the email kept burning in my mind.

My baby sister, Nadia, will be my only flower girl. I don’t think you’ve had a chance to properly meet her, but she’s really sweet, and she’ll love to see you.

There was a whole new person that I’d never got to know. There was so much that I’d missed. And not just Kaavi, but all of them. Was it possible for me to ever really move away from the only people who treated me like I was their own? The only make-believe family I had?