Short Story: Secrets (or "Looking Up")

         "Fiona?" Mara leaned thoughtfully over the park bench. She looked pensive. Her blue eyes were focused straight ahead.
     "Yeah?" Fiona lay lazily across the park bench, a serene smile on her face.
     "If I tell you something, do you promise never to tell it to anyone else?"

     Fiona opened her eyes and sat up, swinging her legs to the ground. "Yeah, sure! Go ahead."

     "I wanted to tell you since you're my closest friend. I'm still wrapping my head around it. I've known for about three weeks. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I hope you can understand. See, my mom took me to a doctor's office a few weeks ago and they did some testing on me. They asked me questions and such. They called back a few days later and told me to come back in. They gave me a medication for depression."

Fiona's stomach clenched fiercely. "What?" She asked, full of confusion.

     "They said I have depression. Don't worry though...I'm taking medicine now so everything is okay."

     Fiona's eyebrows raised. She knew deep down that Mara was telling the truth, but she felt she had to deny it. "I've known you since we were eight." She said slowly, "that isn't right. You're such a happy person. I've never noticed you getting especially sad before. You aren't depressed. You were having a bad week or something."

     Mara frowned. "Look...I don't know how they can tell it's more than just a bad week but they can. I never really thought of it as being 'depressed' either, but now that I know and I have medicine, I feel ten times better than I used to. It's working, Fiona. I feel better."

     Fiona didn't want to believe something was wrong with her friend, so she stayed silent. It was a hard thing to accept.

     "But how? I mean, come on. You're always happy."

     Mara closed her eyes briefly. Trying to keep her patience, she spoke clearly and coolly. "I know it's hard but you honestly can't tell me how I feel when no one's around."

     Fiona was silent. Mara didn't say anything more. The girls stayed in the park for hours afterwards. They sat there in silence, until eventually, Fiona lay a hand on Mara's. Still in silence, Mara smiled.