Jessica and I (21F) were best friends in high school, but she now goes to university on the opposite side of the country. Nowadays, we only see each other 2-3 times a year.  We're no longer as close as we used to be, but she still has a special place in my heart, and I've always assumed she felt the same way about me. 

In December, I texted Jessica to ask if she would be coming home for Christmas. She texted back, "Sorry, I'm too busy to fly home this year! See you in the summer." I thought, okay, no big deal. 

Then one day, closer to Christmas, Jessica sent a Snapchat to a group that I'm part of. It was a picture of her sister (who lives in our hometown), and the background looked vaguely like a restaurant in our hometown. I wasn't really paying attention, so I thought maybe it was just an old picture. But the next day, Jessica sent another Snapchat to the same group, and it was a video of herself that also looked a lot like it was taken in our hometown. 

I texted our group chat (which has 5 other people in it) to ask "Hey Jess, are you back home?" and received no immediate response. Our group chat moves pretty fast, so the message got buried quickly and I wasn't sure if Jessica ever saw it. 

The night of December 25th, I received a text from Jessica. She said, "Hey, Merry Christmas! I actually did fly back to \[hometown\]. It was only for a few days though. I knew I wouldn't have time to hang out with you so I didn't bother telling you. I'll see you in the summer."

I was with our other friend when I received that text. I showed him and he told me, "Yeah, I bumped into Jessica at the mall on December 23rd. She told me not to tell you. She didn't have time to hang out with you and felt bad about it." 

I said, "Then why did she send me those Snapchats that were clearly taken in our hometown?"

He said, "I don't know. I guess she forgot that she was supposed to be lying to you." 

This really upset me at the time. I'm a mature adult who understands people have different priorities and get busy. If Jessica had just told me the truth, I would've been okay with it. But the way she handled things, it felt like she didn't care about me. And the fact that she didn't even do a good job of lying and sent those Snapchats is just the cherry on top. 

For the record, I didn't hold a grudge against Jessica for this. I never brought it up again after that one text, and our friendship is still going strong today. But I  can't believe she lied to me (and made our other friends lie to me too). 

Is this justified or AITA? 