"I... I.. I..." Rachel stumbled over her words, nervous of revealing her best friend Michael's deepest secret. Rachel and Michael had always been close, growing up in the same neighbourhood and attending the same school. They were like family. Rachel had kept this secret from Michael for as long as she could remember, but she knew he deserved to know, and she valued him too much to keep it from him any longer. What better moment to tell him than now?

Michael, being ever so patient, patted her shoulder, hoping to console her without interfering with anything Rachel was trying to enunciate. "I am here to listen," he smirked with genuine interest.

Rachel and Michael had known each other since they were three years old and had never hidden any secrets from each other. They pledged as kids not to hide secrets from each other. Michael had upheld his word, but Rachel could not keep hers any longer.

"From now on," Rachel could hear her three-year-old self talk to Michael; she could even imagine herself hooking her pinky to his, "we will never keep any secrets from each other." She was sure that this conversation had taken place when they were kids. It was so vivid to her that she could readily imagine herself at that age. Michael was three as well, and he had to obscure the fact that he did not have a father. It might not have been a big deal, but it was to him, and he disguised this secret from Rachel. She wasn't weirded out by that fact, but she didn't want anything to be concealed between the two regardless.

"We will never keep any secrets from each other," three-year-old Michael sniffed as he echoed, stamping their thumbs together to seal the promise. The two of them were inseparable from then on and would not keep secrets from each other for the rest of their lives. The years passed, and the two buddies were soon teens.

Only Rachel could not keep her half of the bargain. And as much as she wanted to keep it a secret, she could not. It was gnawing at her insides, and all she wanted to do was tell Michael the truth so that he would understand what she had been going through all these years. She was in agony, and she was dying inside day by day since she did not have anyone to confide in about her secret.

She was anxious, knowing that no matter how sweet Michael was, things would change between the two, that things would utterly vary between the two of them, and that Rachel wanted so badly to hear her confession. So she gathered up her intrepidity and blurted out the truth she had been hiding for so long.

But she had to keep her vow. Perhaps it would be too much information for him to digest, and he would have to leave their friendship once he had processed everything. "What’s wrong?" Michael asked as he frowned with concern.

"You can tell me anything, Rachel," Michael fondled her shoulder, and Rachel drew a shaky breath at his words, 'I guess I have to tell him now.' She reached out for him with trembling palms.

"Michael, I…" Rachel inhaled in another breath, stabilising her voice, "I have a secret I have to tell you." The silence in the room was deafening as Michael waited patiently for Rachel to continue. Her heart raced in her chest as she slowly lifted her hand and placed it on Michael’s face, feeling his warm flesh on hers. He closed his eyes in silent encouragement. Michael’s hand stopped, but his face was unchanging. "What is it?" Rachel hung her head for a moment before mustering up the courage to look him in the eye again.

"I um…" Rachel scratched her head, trying to act nonchalant when she dropped the bomb. "I like girls." Rachel swallowed the lump rising in her throat. "And dwelling on it makes me feeble," she snivelled. "I don’t think you are frail. I believe admitting you feel disappointed by something you want actually makes you honest." Michael leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk. "I know it mustn’t have been easy, but you managed to do a great job, pal!" He beamed with pleasure at her remarks.

Rachel waited for Michael to pull away, to shriek at her appalling and repugnant deceit, but all he did was grin like a burst of sunlight brightening the darkest corners of the room. He leaped off the desk and took her hand in his.

"Thank you for telling me," Michael replied, and followed with, "Does this mean we can talk about ladies together now?" Rachel chuckled, deflecting the attention away from herself as she and Michael hugged each other tightly. Holding each other close, they sat in silence for a moment.

Yes, even the strongest among us get embarrassed from time to time, and there’s no need to feel ashamed of that. Admitting your vulnerability actually makes us more courageous and valiant than we were heretofore.

Rachel could feel tears welling up at the brim of her eyes; this was a far better reaction than what she expected. "Yeah, absolutely." The world had tilted on its axis when Rachel opened her lips, and the words were practically spilling out before she had a chance to think them through properly. "We can talk dirty together," Rachel said through gasps of air, cackling wildly. Both Rachel and Michael grinned at each other, their mutual delight clear for all to see. They both stood and threw their arms around each other, laughing out loud as they turned in circles and rocked back and forth on the wooden floor of their room.

There is no shame in letting your feelings out.

"Everything is going to be fine," Michael reassured her. Rachel and Michael continued to cuddle and laugh until they had both almost lost their breath.