“I... I... I...” Mary stumbled on her words. She was nervous, how could she not? She was about to reveal the biggest secret to her best friend David.

David, being ever so patient, touched her shoulder, hoping to comfort her without interrupting whatever Mary was trying to say. “ I am here to listen,” he smirked with genuine interest.

Mary had been keeping this secret for as long as she could remember, and she had never hidden any secrets from David. They had known each other since they were three.

“From now on,” Mary could hear her three-year-old self said to David, she could even see herself hooking her pinky to his, “we will never keep any secrets from each other.”

David was three as well, and he had to hide the fact that he did not have a father. It might not have been a big deal, but it was to him and he hid this secret away from Mary. She wasn't weirded out by that fact, but she didn't want anything to be hidden between the two anyways.

“We will never keep any secrets from each other,” three-year-old David sniffed as he echoed, stamping their thumbs together to seal the promise.

Only Mary could not keep her end of the promise.

She was petrified because despite how sweet David was, things would change between the two, things would definitely vary between the two of them, and Mary wanted so badly out of her confession.

But she had to keep her promise.

“You can tell me anything, Mary,” David patted her shoulder, and Mary took in a shaky breath at his words, 'I guess I have to tell him now.'

“David, I…” Mary took in another breath, stabilizing her voice, “I have a secret I have to tell you.”

David's hand stopped, but his face was unchanging, “what is it?”

“I um…” Mary scratched her head, trying to act nonchalant when she dropped the bomb, “I like girls…” Mary swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “And dwelling on it makes me weak,” she sniveled. “I don’t think you are weak. I think admitting you feel disappointed by something you want actually makes you honest.” David leaned forward and put his hands on the desk. “I know it mustn’t have been easy, but you managed to do a great job pal!”

Mary waited for David to move away, to scream at her, at her disgusting secret, but David only smiled, like a burst of sunlight brightening the darkest corners of the room.

“Thank you for telling me,” David replied, and followed with, “does this mean we can talk about girls together now?”

Mary could feel tears at the brim of her eyes, this reaction was much better, much much better than what she expected “yeah, absolutely.”