Our Little Secret

"Can you keep a secret?" I whisper to my best friend, Hannah.

She looks at me, a confused expression on her face. "Of course, you can tell me anything."

Taking in a deep breath, I say, "I haven't told anyone this before and you're my best friend, so I'm sure I can trust you. Please, don't tell anyone else."

She nods, waiting expectantly.

"I-I'm..." I let out a breath. Nervous butterflies flutter around in my stomach. "I'm gay!"

The air fills with silence. Hannah stares at me, not saying anything. Why isn't she saying anything? Did I make her uncomfortable?

Then, she starts laughing. "Hahaha! That's a good one, Emma. No, but seriously, what did you want to tell me?"

I feel a pang of hurt when she says this. "I'm being serious, Hannah. I'm gay. I've been gay since I can remember."

The smile on her face disappears and she looks at me, anger in her eyes.

"W-Why, do you look angry?" I ask, fear filling inside of me.

"You were gay for so long and you never told me?! I mean, I've always wondered why you never dated guys but I thought it was because of your anxiety!"

"Are you mad at me? It's okay if you don't want to be friends anymore..." I say, looking down at my hands.

"I'm not mad at you, I just wish you had told me sooner. I mean, we're best friends."

"I'm sorry, I was just scared of how you would react."

"You know that I'm supportive of the lgbtq community! What did you expect me to do, stop talking to you or call you names?"

"Well, kind of..."

She sighs and shakes her head. "Girl, you are unbelievable. I would never do that to you. Have you told your parents yet?"

I purse my lips. My parents are very religious, I'm sure they wouldn't support me.

"No, I haven't. I'm sure you already know why. They would probably kick me out."

She looks down and nods. "Well, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Thank you so much! I don't know what I would do without you. You have no idea how hard it's been for me to keep this secret from you! I nearly told you multiple times."

"Well, I also have a secret to tell you." Hannah says, her cheeks flushing.

"What is it?" I ask, scooching closer to her in anticipation.

"Umm... well... You remember that time you said you couldn't find your favorite sweatshirt?"

I frown, remembering my favorite pink hoodie with the little bunny ears on it and the bushy bunny tail.

"Yeah, what about it?" I ask.

"Well... I might've or might've not of spilled black bean noodles on it when you let me borrow it that one time."

My mouth falls open. "Are you serious? I thought your brothers stole it or something! Why didn't you tell me?"

She pouts and looks away. "I thought you would be mad at me. And look, I was right. You are."

Sighing, I rub my temples with my fingers. "You know what, it's fine. I forgive you. The thing was old any, I wore the thing too much too."

She giggles and nods. "Yeah, you wore it almost every single day and barely washed it. It had so many stains on it and it smelled bad."

I wrinkle up my nose, remembering. "I have no idea why I had worn it so much. I was one weird person. I'm glad it's gone."

"Well, I guess we both learned something today." she says, smiling gently.

I smile too and pull her into a tight hug. "Thank you for accepting me. I was so worried."

"Of course, you're my bestie. I love you, bro." she says, hugging me back.

"I love you too, Han."

That day, I go home, a huge smile on my face. There's still more secrets that I haven't told Hannah. Like how I have the biggest crush on her. I know for a fact that she's straight though. I'm scared that if I were to tell her, she would definitely leave me this time.

So, I'm going to keep it a secret from her. The last thing I need is to lose my best friend.

Walking inside of my house, I see my parents sitting around the living room on the couches. They're watching a church reception on the TV.

"Oh, hey Emma. You're back just in time for the reception." mom says.

I force a smile on my face and take a seat beside her. I look down, fiddling with my fingers. I feel bad for not telling them my sexuality. I'm just, really afraid of what their reactions are going to be.

"What's wrong kiddo? You look like you're in deep though." dad asks, worriedly.

"I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Well, what are you thinking about? You know you can tell us anything, right?" mom says, pausing the reception.

I mean, I should tell them. It's not good to keep secrets from your parents. It will only separate you from them.

Taking in a deep breath, I blurt out, "mom, dad, I'm gay! I should've told you sooner but I was afraid of how you would react."

Mom smiles. "Oh honey, I already knew."

My eyes widen and I look at her in shock. "H-How did you know?"

"I looked at your search history." she says with an amused smirk.

Shoot.

"A-And... do you guys support me?" I ask.

"Of course we do! You're our daughter! We would be monsters if we didn't. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being gay. Everyone should be free to like whoever they want." dad says.

"Thank you guys so much, I'm so happy!" I say, a huge smile on my face.

My mom pulls me into a warm hug, I hug her back tightly.

In my room, I sit down at my desk and text Hannah.

Me: "Hannah! Guess what? I told my parents that I'm gay! They accept me!"

Han: "Oh my gosh! That's great. I've got to go help with dinner. I'll talk to you later."

Me: "Kay, bye!"

I stare at my phone dreamily. Today was better than I expected it to be. I'm so happy.