Don’t you wish you didn’t have to keep secrets from the ones you love? I probably wouldn’t be in the position I am now, lying in bed for the past 42 minutes after midnight trying to make sense of my thoughts. I mean, I really wish I could tell her. This girl is my best friend, the girl who’s been there for me since my parents divorced years ago. She’s got short, honey-blonde hair that frames her face perfectly, a smile that can ease your worries in a second, and a comforting presence to be around. It’s no wonder this girl is my best friend, and I can tell she appreciates me too. So why I haven’t made a move you ask? Well, it’s not that I don’t like her. Trust me I really do, I fall in love with her more and more everyday. I’ve just been keeping this secret from her for too long now. Maybe it’s the fear of what she’ll think of me, I don’t want to lose her. Especially when she finds out that i’ve been keeping this secret for years now. We have a no secret agreement, though now that I think about it, she’s been weirdly chill about it. Maybe she knows? No, she couldn’t have, there’s no way… But now that I think about the way she’s been weirdly complimenting me lately, especially calling me things like “brave” or “her personal hero,” it all starts to make sense. Or how she doesn’t even question me when I suddenly leave anymore, it’s like she knows that i’m off to save the city. At this point, my head was spinning and I can’t believe I didn’t realize this before. She doesn’t care that I leave because she leaves too, she’s been showing me these weird new gadgets lately that she bought from a “thrift store,” and I know that she didn’t all of a sudden become flexible for no reason. My best friend knows that I’m a superhero, because she’s been my secret sidekick. The sidekick i’ve been sleeping with for years.

“Get out of my house!” I yelled as I dropped my groceries on the front counter. I head towards the window where the formal-dressed man was stuck halfway through, and opened it further so that he could wiggle out. For him though, this was an opportunity to invite himself in. “May I interest you in one of our mini vacuums?” he asked, as he pulled one out of his bag. “It’s got self cleaning, newer settings, and-“ “NO,” I stomped my foot down as I cut him off. “No, no, no. Haven’t I told you already? I’m not interested in anything you have to offer, so leave!” However, he proceeded to ignore me and ramble on about the machine as he showed it off around the house. Before moving here to Glimmercity, I heard all about the problems people face. Things like break-dancing ducks in the street causing traffic jams, babies crying so loud that they could substitute an alarm, and of course the salesmen who won’t leave you alone. But I thought hey, how bad can it really be? I mean, i’ve been living in a city where the gas prices are $7 and crime is happening at every corner. To me, these problems were nothing compared to what I used to face before. So when I walked into a store to browse furniture for my newly-bought home, I never expected to be pestered with the recommendations of cleaning supplies. And when I got so annoyed that I decided to leave, I also never expected to be followed down the sidewalk to the point where I had to run and hide behind an electricity box. At some point, I did lose the salesman and I sighed with instant relief. I should’ve known though, he wouldn’t stop there. Now, there’s been a man in my house for the past 20 minutes explaining the workings of a vacuum. “I’ve had enough,” I explained. “You need to leave, the cops are on their way.” A simple but effective threat like that can have a stalkerish salesman shake in fear. I watched as he packed his things and set a foot out the window. He turned to look straight at me then dumped the dirt from the vacuum onto my carpeted floors. “You’ll be needing it now.” he smirked.