The Secret’s Out


You thought your deepest secret was safe with your girl…but she spilled.


The sec you found out your folks were splitting, you called your BFF. You needed to talk, and you trusted her not to blab. But she did. Now, everybody in homeroom is giving you the sympathy stare. Ugh.


The Full 411

If a friend leaks a biggie, don’t assume she unzipped her lip on purpose. Maybe your prob was weighing so heavily on her mind that it just popped out of her mouth. Call for a convo, and get the scoop. If she wasn’t gossiping and didn’t mean to give up your secret, yes, she owes you an apology. But forgive her.


Position the Intuition

Your girl doesn’t seem all that bummed about telling the world your biz? Beware if she shrugs it off with a “so what?” attitude: What your bud is really telling you is, “What’s sacred to you isn’t sacred to me.” If you get the feeling she really isn’t all that sorry for spilling, you might need to take a closer look at the friendship.


Follow Through

Your BFF is on the level if she wants to help you do damage control. She ought to be willing to make an effort to stop the secret from spinning even further out of control. For example, your girl might offer to talk to every girl who knows your deal, one by one, and ask them not to dish on it anymore.


Trust Much?

Even after the shebang is set straight, you may have jitters about full-on trusting your BFF with top-secret info. That’s totally understandable, so just share itty-bitty no-biggie secrets with her for now. A true BFF will put herself on lip-slip red alert and will earn back your trust by protecting your privacy. You’ll know when you’re ready again to trust her with the whoppers.


Clear the Chaos

If either of you accidentally gives out any inside dirt ever again, for any reason, pinkie-swear that you’ll own up right away and stomp out any fires as a team. It’ll show that you have each other’s best interests at heart and that your friendship rules. And that’s no secret!

By Lisa Mulcahy

POSTED IN , ,

3/20/2009 7:00:00 AM
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