AITA For Lying To My Best Friend About A Conversation I Had With Her Ex
I (21F) and my best friend (21F) not named Mia have been friends for just over a decade. We've quiet literally grown up together to the point where people mistake us for sisters. Another reason that people mistake us for sisters, if I may add, is because we have very similar features, eye colour, facial features and even hair. As we grew up, people would start comparing us saying "[My Name] has beautiful eyelashes but Mia's eyebrows are thicker". It never really bothered us since we always thought each other to be beautiful and being compared was just something to be so proud of.
Anyways, things became more complicated when boys come into the mix. When we were around 16, boys that had a crush on Mia would start seeing me as a second option in a way. I say that because I gained quiet a bit of weight and it was obvious that not a lot of boys liked me. This has deeply affected me and I've stayed single, even now when I'm 21 and have had a wonderful weight loss journey. Mia on the other hand had been dating a boy not named Rick since she was 17.
3 days ago, I moved to a different country for pursuing my dream. On my flight to a connecting destination, I saw Rick. This was weird, Mia always tells me everything yet she didn't tell me that Rick was gonna be on the same flight as me...? Rick also mentioned that Mia knew about his travel... and the fact that he is going to break up with her. While on the flight, he talked to the air hostess and sat beside me to explain himself to me. Mia was getting controlling and possessive especially with regards to me, he said "I know you guys have a love-hate relationship but I didn't want to talk about another person behind their back every day". I told him to stop. "Love-hate"? That's when he told me how she's always been comparing herself to me since we were young, I wouldn't brief her insecurities but most of then I never realised but made sense once I thought about it.
Then he said "you know (almost) every dude who has had a crush on Mia has really had a crush on you and tried to make you jealous by going for Mia" I said "What?". He digged through his instagram and went all the way back to 2020 showing me chats of several boys saying they'd like him to set them up with me. All of whom I remember had a crush on Mia. He ultimately also admitted that he started off with a crush on me but ultimately, found Mia way more compatible. Also, the fact that Mia knew about all of this from the start.
My mind was super confused and has been since, when Mia asked me how was the travel. I told her "I saw Rick and waved at him before the flight". Today, she told me about the break up. I know I should be honest with her about sitting next to her boyfriend, freshly ex, for 6 hours in a flight. She knew I was super insecure and never mentioned once about all the boys texting her boyfriend about wanting to be with me. I am not ready to face that reality.
AITA?