Tales Untold

The Secret

"Oh! I have to go now", my best friend Mark exclaimed as he stood up. I switched off the TV and asked curiously, "Where? You always stay here for an hour everyday." He replied, "Not today. I need to go home because...uh...my mom needs help with something." His left eye twitched slightly. Having been best friends with Mark for almost five years, I knew that he was lying. But why?

"Okay", I muttered reluctantly, a bit hurt. Mark hadn't kept anything from me all these years and I was upset that he was lying to me now. After Mark left, I went downstairs to make a cup of tea for myself. "Mom!", I called out, "Where's the sugar?" I was met with silence. "Mom?", I called out again, but there was no reply. Suddenly, my mother rushed into the kitchen ina hurry. "Did you call me, dear?", she asked.

"Where were you, mom?", I asked. She began to chuckle nervously. "Oh! I just came back from the grocer's", she explained. "Oh really?", I asked, "I don't see any groceries with you." She shrugged, "I didn't buy any. So what did you need?" I asked for sugar and she pointed at the small cabinet behind the refrigerator. "Ok bye", she said and disappeared mysteriously again while I watched her retreating figure suspiciously. Was she hiding something from me?

The next day at school, I felt as if everyone was trying to avoid me. It seemed like they were hiding something from me. I would often catch some of my friends glancing my way, but they would look away as soon as they realised that I had noticed them staring at me. I was upset.

"Hey Karen", I said to one of my friends, "Wanna hang out today after school?" Karen smiled apologetically at me. "I'm really sorry ", she said, "I'm kind of busy today." I narrowed my eyes at her in suspicion. "What do you mean by 'kind of' busy?", I prodded. Karen smiled nervously. "I'm just busy, you know, doing important things that I should be doing." Before I could interrogate her any further, she turned around and walked away swiftly.

Now I was angry. I couldn't take this any longer. With angry determination, I marched towards Mark's house. "Mrs. Johnson", I greeted his mother as politely as I could, "Is Mark home?" Mrs. Johnson shook her head in surprise. "Mark told me that he was going to your house!", she exclaimed. What? What was in my house in my absence? That sounded extremely suspicious and strange. "Thank you", I smiled and began to walk towards my house.

I found Mark standing outside my house at my doorstep. "Mark!", I said, "I know something is up. I know that all of you are hiding something up your sleeves. Tell me! Tell me what this is all about!"
"I'm sorry, friend", he apologised, "I can't tell you. It's a secret." I gritted my teeth in frustration. "Mark, we are best friends! You can tell me anything. Tell me your so-called secret!"

Mark shook his head stubbornly. "It's a secret for a reason", he said, "It's not meant to tell anyone, least of all you." I stopped my foot on the ground childishly in anger. I felt like a toddler making a tantrum. "Fine!", I spat, "Keep your stupid secret with you! All these years of friendship for naught!" Pushing Mark out of my way, I marched towards my front door and pushed it open.

Suddenly, a large mob of people in ridiculous hats jumped out at me and screamed, "Happy birthday!" Wait - what? I blinked around in confusion, seeing my house decorated with balloons and streamers. A large cake stood proudly in the middle of the living room, surrounded by all of my friends and family. That's when it finally dawned on me that this surprise birthday party was the 'secret' which everyone had been hiding from me and which I was so desperately trying to unearth.

"Surprise!", Mark chuckled at me. Grinning wildly, I muttered, "Looks like the cat's finally out of the bag!"

Needless to say, that was the best birthday party I ever had.

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