When Oakley\u2019s best friend Sophie ropes her into planning an engagement party, she\u2019s happy to help, until the event turns into a nightmarish betrayal. Confronted by her cheating ex in a public proposal orchestrated by Sophie, Oakley is forced to question loyalty, love, and her own worth.Friendships are complicated things. Sophie and I weren\u2019t the storybook best friends who did everything together. Instead, ours was built on a shaky foundation of high school rivalry, competing for grades, sports, and even attention at parties.But somewhere along the way, we found common ground. By college, she was the one I trusted with everything, the one who always had my back.\n\n\n\n

When Sophie called me a few weeks ago, her voice bubbled with excitement through the phone.\n\n\n\n

\u201cOakley! Ryan and I are throwing a little engagement party,\u201d she said, pausing dramatically. \u201cIt\u2019s a surprise announcement. No one else knows yet, not even Ryan. Well, not about the party, I mean. So, I need your help.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, Sophie,\u201d I said, genuinely happy for her. \u201cCongratulations, bestie!\u201d\n\n\n\n

Ryan was a sweet and lovely guy, and Sophie deserved someone who treated her well and always put her first.\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not a big thing,\u201d she added quickly. \u201cI want a cozy and intimate vibe, you know? Just our closest people. I\u2019ll send out the invitations and whatnot when you\u2019re ready with them. You\u2019re so good at planning these events. Can you handle it?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d I said. \u201cJust tell me what you need and if there\u2019s anything specific you want.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Over the next few weeks, I noticed Sophie\u2019s usual chatter had a strange edge to it. She was jumpy and dismissive whenever I pressed her for details.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to jinx it,\u201d she\u2019d say with a nervous laugh.\n\n\n\n

\u201cJinx what?\u201d I asked. \u201cEverything is already planned. I just need to get the cake order finalized and it will all be sorted. Nothing can be jinxed, Soph. It\u2019s all going to be perfect.\u201d\n\n\n\n

I figured it was just pre-party jitters. She\u2019d always been a little dramatic, but I thought it was part of her charm. I didn\u2019t question it.\n\n\n\n

By Friday night, I had spent hours arranging pink and gold balloons, fairy lights, and floral centerpieces. Sophie\u2019s backyard looked like a scene from a romantic movie.\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exactly how I imagined it!\u201d she gushed. \u201cThank you, Oak. You\u2019ve made it perfect. Just perfect.\u201d\n\n\n\n

When Saturday arrived, I loaded the last box of heart-shaped balloons into my car, excited to see Sophie\u2019s big reveal to Ryan. He had been away for work since Thursday, and he was going to walk into the surprise engagement on his way home.\n\n\n\n

Ryan\u2019s stunned face, the joy in Sophie\u2019s eyes, and the warmth of celebrating her happiness, surrounded by all their closest people.\n\n\n\n

But when I stepped into the event hall, my excitement curdled into something cold and heavy.\n\n\n\n

Jason, my ex-boyfriend, stood in the center of the living room, which now had vases of flowers and some of the pink and gold balloons all over.\n\n\n\n

He wore a suit and held a small, velvet ring box. His grin spread wide, the same grin that had once charmed me and now made my stomach churn.\n\n\n\n

\u201cSurprise!\u201d Sophie chirped, rushing toward me with a wide smile. \u201cJason has been planning this for weeks! And we thought, who better to help with the decorations than you? Isn\u2019t it romantic?\u201d\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t Sophie and Ryan\u2019s engagement party. This was Jason\u2019s proposal to me.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the hell is this?\u201d I managed to whisper, my voice shaking as my knees almost buckled.\n\n\n\n

Jason stepped closer, the same confidence oozing from him that had once been magnetic.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know I messed up,\u201d he began, as if acknowledging the understatement of the century. \u201cBut I\u2019ve changed, Oakley. You\u2019re the only one for me. And I want to spend the rest of my life proving it.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Jason, who had cheated on me with a coworker, forced me into questioning my worth, and dumped me with a single text after weeks of silence, now thought this public spectacle would erase it all?\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou knew what he did to me,\u201d I said, my voice breaking. \u201cYou knew, Sophie.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone makes mistakes. Besides, he\u2019s serious now. He\u2019s ready to commit, Oak. Isn\u2019t that what you\u2019ve always wanted? Isn\u2019t that what matters?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a grand gesture, Oakley!\u201d she said brightly. \u201cI think you\u2019ll thank me one day.\u201d\n\n\n\n

I had barely noticed my parents standing in the corner of the room until my mom stepped forward. Her voice was soft, pleading.\n\n\n\n

\u201cJason explained everything, Oak. He made a mistake, sure, but he\u2019s trying to make it right. Don\u2019t be so stubborn, sweetheart. You\u2019re not getting any younger, and how often does a man who wants to propose come along?\u201d\n\n\n\n

My humiliation, my anger\u2026 it was all secondary to the suffocating realization that the people I trusted the most in this world were siding with him.\n\n\n\n

Just as I turned to leave, Noah walked in carrying the cake box I\u2019d asked him to bring in. I wasn\u2019t going to trust myself to carry it with my heels on.\n\n\n\n

I had forgotten about Noah. But seeing him made me feel better. He had always been a calming presence for me.\n\n\n\n

He paused, his eyes scanning the room, his brows knitting in confusion. Then, his gaze landed on me, tear-streaked and trembling.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proposing to Oakley, Noah. You don\u2019t have an issue with that, do you?\u201d\n\n\n\n

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. The cool night air hit my face like a lifeline as we stepped outside.\n\n\n\n

We drove in silence for a while, my thoughts a tangled mess of rage and betrayal. Finally, I told Noah everything. I expected him to offer advice or a quick solution, but he didn\u2019t. Instead, he just listened.\n\n\n\n

Noah had been around for years, and while I told him about most things in our friendship, I wasn\u2019t always open about talking about Jason.\n\n\n\n

Over the following months, our relationship became more intimate. Noah became a rock of sorts. He never pushed, never pried; he simply was. And when the time was right, our friendship deepened into something more.\n\n\n\n

It started out as a dinner from a drive-thru and turned into a romantic picnic in a parking lot. Noah reminded me that love wasn\u2019t supposed to hurt or feel like an uphill battle.\n\n\n\n

It had been months since that night, months of cutting Sophie out of my life, deleting her texts without reading them, and dodging her calls. I thought I\u2019d moved on, that I\u2019d buried the hurt.\n\n\n\n

Then, one chilly afternoon in early spring, she showed up at the caf\u00e9 where I was meeting Noah.\n\n\n\n

The bell above the door jingled as she stepped inside, her bright smile faltering slightly when she saw me.\n\n\n\n

Her expression flickered. Disappointment? Irritation? But she quickly covered it with the kind of grin that used to fool me.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve missed you,\u201d she began, her voice soft as she slid into the chair. \u201cI know you\u2019re mad, but I hate how things ended. I just want to explain.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cExplain what, Sophie? That you thought it was a good idea to ambush me with the guy who destroyed me? That you cared so little about my feelings you turned my pain into some romantic gesture for Jason?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like that,\u201d she said quickly. \u201cI was trying to help you. You and Jason\u2026 there was so much love there, Oakley. I just thought if he could show you he was serious, you\u2019d see it too.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople change!\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cHe told me he regretted it, that he wanted to make things right. Isn\u2019t that what everyone wants? To be forgiven?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought you\u2019d be happy! You used to love him, Oakley! How was I supposed to know you\u2019d react like that?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cReact like that? You mean like a normal person who doesn\u2019t want to be blindsided by their abusive ex in front of their family and friends?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re blowing this out of proportion, Oakley. Like you always do. I wanted you to be happy like me.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you were trying to force me into the life you thought I should want. You\u2019ve never cared about what I actually feel, Sophie. It\u2019s always been about you.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Just then, the bells above the door jingled again, and Noah walked in, beaming.\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I said with a small, bitter laugh. \u201cBut that\u2019s okay. I don\u2019t need her apology anymore.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"