Secrets Can Be Decieving

       “Can you keep a secret?”, asks Margo worriedly. Sweat dripping down to her chin from her forehead. She begins to frantically prance around her mess of a bedroom. Clothes draped along the ground and her nightstand full of empty chip bags and pop cans. Margo is not the type to leave her room in such a state, anyone else would have brushed off this minor detail in the whole scheme of things. But not Quinn, she takes note of this, as well as the look on Margos face. A look she had never seen before from Margo, almost enough to send chills down her spine. 

“What’s going on Margo? You are really freaking me out” Quinn says eagerly, expecting an answer right away but in return she gets nothing. Margo turns her back to Quinn, almost as if she wishes she had never spoken in the first place. 

“Please Quinn, just answer the question. This is serious” said Margo. Quinn wanted to speak but nothing came out, not one word. Her mind wandered to every possible thing Margo could say if she said yes. Of course Margo could trust her, they had been best friends since freshman year of high school. The memory comes back almost as quickly as if it had happened the day before. The first day of school, most kids her age could not wait for this day to come every year. The excitement you felt walking into the school was like nothing else you have ever felt before. ‘A new beginning’ as her mom put it, yet hearing that every year never made it stick like her mother wanted for young Quinn. She was different, extraordinarily weird. At first she loved not fitting in, being ordinary was her greatest nightmare. As time went on the task of fitting in began to feel more like the right thing to do, the easy path to take. She stayed on that path for a long time, wondering why she always craved the thing that nobody else wanted. Asking herself why she had to be different and unusual. Why she was such a freak, why nobody wanted to be her friend. But it was not her fault, she would tell herself, it is never your fault when you want to succeed but are set up for failure. Quinn lived with her mother, Rose, after her dad had left when she was only 3 years old. She did not remember much about her dad, only that he was the one leaving bruises on her mother's gentle skin. The weeps of her mother stayed with her for a very long time after that, playing in the back of her ears every so often. By the time she was 6 she had grown used to them, they now brought her a sense of peace, which in a way frightened her. Her emotions felt like they were slowly evolving into an overall sense of sadness. When she was ‘happy’ there was still a stream of sadness plucking at her, but trying to push that feeling away only made it grow stronger. For Quinn the beginning always felt the same each year, sitting alone at the now rusted, abandoned bench near the entrance of the school, reading “To Kill A Mockingbird”, one of her personal favorites. Margo had moved from Texas the summer before the start of high school, she was the new girl. Quinn liked that, she liked that Margo knew nothing about her past, her old self, nothing that could be used against her. Most people were quick to judge Margo for being the new girl, making assumptions about why she moved, who she really is, trying to find out every detail about her life, and invading it. For once Quinn was happy she was not like them in that sense, and Margo was too. Quinn was deeply in thought over her novel when Margo came and plopped down next to her on the bench. “Hi, my name is Margo and I just moved here from Texas. What’s your name?”  Quinn cautiously peered up, like a newborn chick looking up at their momma. Her fingers landed onto her arm, she closed her eyes and pinched herself, surely this was a dream. But when she opened her eyes Margo was still there, looking at her with pure and utter confusion. “Sorry hi, hello, I’m Quinn, Quinn Booker” she said in fear Margo would laugh in her face, or call her names, but she did neither. The longer Quinn looked at Margo, the more fascinated she became. She had dazzling auburn red hair that fell straight down onto her back. Not a single strand out of place, pure perfection. Quinn could not help but stare into Margo’s luminescent blue eyes. Emitting a feeling of security, that allowed Quinn to experience true peace. They brought back memories of her and her mother strolling alongside the shore. Their feet gliding through the lukewarm sand, so soft it could have been mistaken for silk. Quinn’s eyes began to blur, tears gently rolled down her warm, rosy red cheeks. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m even crying. You must be so embarrassed to be seen with me. Just go, it’s fine, really” said Quinn, with pain in her voice as she spoke those wistful words. Margo looked at Quinn, and somehow she understood, she knew what she was going through. And she knew how much Quinn needed someone, a friend, who would not let her down, like everyone else had. Margo wrapped her arms around Quinn’s delicate body and hugged her. In that moment, everything else stopped, they felt as though they were the only two people left living in the universe. Just two beings who found each other, and needed each other, more than either of them knew. Quinn felt for a slight second like they were both back in that moment, the time that changed both of their lives. But she suddenly snapped out of it, realizing Margo was still waiting for a response. She answered as quickly as she could, knowing the longer she waited, the faster Margo’s patience would slip away. “Of course you can Margo. You know you can tell me anything. I thought you trusted me” she said with sorrowful eyes. Margo turned around slowly, Quinn saw there were tears slipping down her face. Margo sat down on her bed next to Quinn, and leaned her head on her best friends shoulder. “I’m sorry, I do trust you. I’m just so scared” said Margo as her tears began to rush down her cheeks faster. Quinn wrapped her arms around Margo. She felt safe and secure with Quinn, a feeling no one else could give her. Margos' muscles began to tense, she knew that this secret could ruin their whole relationship. But she had to tell Quinn, she could not keep it in any longer. Margo said, “I like you Quinn, and not just in a friendship type of way. You know what, I am in love with you. And I know you might not feel the same way and this could ruin our whole relationship” but before she could finish her sentence Quinn pressed her warm lips against Margos. They both laughed and Margo felt the happiest she had ever felt in her life. “I love you too Margo. I always have, ever since I first met you, I knew you were the one” said Quinn, with happy tears in her eyes. They sat there for a few moments, letting that feeling of joy and happiness fill up every ounce of sorrow. Covering every past mistake they had made, or choice they came to regret. Without each other they would have never been able to gain the missing piece in their life’s puzzle, true love.