Tell Me Yours, And I’ll Tell You Mine

I should have known something was up when my little man/boy-puppy called Jake had followed me home and stationed himself on my couch again. It was odd because this man/boy-puppy he had soccer practice on Thursdays. “Dee-Dee,” he whined. “I don’t wanna watch this…” he poked me. “Shudup, you, I wanna watch Parental Control. Suck it up,” I said without batting an eyelid. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him pouting. I sighed. “Okay Jacky. I’m going to the kitchen. You can change the channel while I’m in there but when I come back, MTV is back, capice?” He nodded. I went to the kitchen to look for the marshmallows.

While wandering around the waiting for the kettle to boil for my coffee, I skipped about singing a random medley of songs. Material Girl to Ordinary People to Ocean Avenue to Boom, Boom, Boom. I was about to start My Sharona when I felt something wet in my ear. I must have jumped a foot as I swore loudly. “Jacky!” I whined, “Why’d you do that?” I glared at him and continued. “Then when I come back outside you're gonna be all ‘I don’t wanna watch Parental Control’.” the last part I said in a whiney drawl that I knew irritated him. Jake pouted at me then retreated into the living room. I shook my head.

Jake and I had known each other for years, our mothers being best friends and all. We knew each other inside and out all the embarrassing stories, most of our secrets and what made us tick. Even when the Great Divide of high school came, we always found time for each other (this time included teasing and general mucking about). But despite the juvenile behaviour, we were always there for each other.

I stuck my head through the doorway as Jake flipped through the channels, lingering on the cartoons. I couldn’t help but grin, thinking to grab the bone shaped chocolate cookies that I always bought for Jake. I picked up the bag and filled a bowl with M&Ms and Skittles. Plopping down on the couch, I threw a biscuit at Jake’s head. When he didn’t respond, I tried to balance one on his nose. Still no reaction. “Jacky, what’s wrong?” I asked poking him on his cheek. He looked me dead in the eye, all signs of flippancy gone. “Cass, there’s something I need to tell you.” I nodded. “But you need to promise me you’ll respect me and treat me the same once I do.”

“Jake, you're my best friend, nothing short of you killing me would make me hate you!” I said smiling but Jake still looked grim and it was starting to worry me. What could be so terrible that my light-hearted man/boy-puppy could look so unhappy? “Do like Niké says and just do it, Jacky,” I said chuckling nervously, but Jake still looked torn. “Okay, here’s the deal: you tell me your secret and I’ll tell you mine. Will that work?”

“We could write down…” Jake suggested. I nodded and collected the necessary apparatus and quickly wrote down my secret as Jake did the same. We exchanged the little slips of paper and I took a deep breath before opening mine.

I’mGay

Our gasps were simultaneous and I knew without needing to look up that Jake’s eyes were fixed on a little slip of paper with the words I’m in love with you written on it. I should have known something was up when my little man/boy-puppy called Jake followed me home.