A Terrible Secret
Mandy couldn’t wait to see her best friends after so many years apart. She never thought that someday, they would reunite in a retirement home.
She couldn’t wait to sit down and speak to them for hours on end, just like the old days. But would they all still be the same?
Mandy had no idea at the time, but one of these women was hiding a terrible secret. But the truth was about to come forward.
Best Friends
Throughout her life, Mandy Morgan often thought about her three best friends from high school. She wondered where they were and how their lives turned out.
But when she received the news that all three of them had returned to their hometown, she couldn’t wait to see them.
Mandy was in the process of finding herself a nice retirement home, but when she heard where they were headed, she decided to check the place out.
A Dark Secret
The retirement home was on the outskirts of town, and as soon as Mandy stepped through the door, a smile played on her lips.
It was perfect. She admired the white marble floors and the grey walls. “This is the one,” she told her son.
She knew that soon, the ladies would all be there, and they would have a lot to catch up on. But little did she know that one of those ladies had a dark secret.
They Applied
Mandy and her son applied for a spot immediately, and a week later, she moved into her new home.
Although the change was scary, she was excited to spend her last few years with the three women she once loved more than anyone else.
They would arrive in just a few days, and Mandy could barely contain her excitement. But the unexpected was about to happen.
She Could Hear Them
Mandy counted the days as they passed, and before she knew it, that Saturday morning rolled around. They would be there at any second.
She sat anxiously in the communal garden, waiting to reunite with her best friends. Eventually, she could hear their voices from down the hall.
Many sat up in her seat, straightening her dress as she waited to see their beautiful faces. But one had arrived with a dark secret.
The Truth
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She couldn’t wait a second longer. All she wanted was to hug them and tell them how much she had missed them.
Tears sprung to her eyes as the ladies stepped through the door one by one. First, she saw Judith, then she saw Andrea.
But as soon as Margery walked through the door, her eyes grew wide. Suddenly, her tears of joy turned into the opposite.
A Simple Girl
Mandy Morgan lived in Stowe, Vermont for her entire life. It was where she went to school and where she met all of her best friends.
As a young girl, Mandy struggled to fit in with girls her age, but that all changed when she entered middle school.
She would never forget the day she met her best friend, Margery Young, on the first day of school.
Best Friends
Margery was a beautiful girl, and she was quite popular. She saw something in Mandy that no one else saw.
“Do you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?” she had asked Mandy. Mandy nodded with a smile on her face.
She met Judith and Andrea through Margery during lunch, and somehow, the girls hit it off right away.
She Was Happy
For the first time in her life, Mandy was happy. She had had a few friends here or there, but she never liked any of them as much as she liked those three girls.
From the day they met, they became best friends, and as weeks turned into months, their friendships only grew.
Soon, the girls were spending weekends together. They would have sleepovers and all kinds of adventures together.
Secrets
Throughout their years in school, they remained close. Slowly but surely, as time passed, the girls grew up together.
They shared everything with each other, and Mandy felt a connection with each of them. But one stood out from the rest.
Mandy and Margery were the closest of the girls. They shared secrets that they would never dream of telling other people.
Everything Changed
Mandy thought they would stay close until the day they died, but everything changed as they approached the end of high school.
Judith and Andrea decided to apply to some college in California while Margery applied to NYU. Mandy hadn’t applied anywhere.
When she told Mandy that she had gotten accepted, Mandy was devastated. “Why don’t you come with me? We can go to NYU together!” Margery suggested.
Their Separate Ways
But Mandy knew it wouldn’t work. Her family could barely afford her school fees, never mind a university in New York City.
The girls were devastated as they were faced with the sad truth. Margery, Judith, and Andrea were going to leave, and Mandy had to stay in their small town.
“I will be back each summer. We will call all the time. We won’t lose contact,” Margery promised. But this would prove to be rather difficult.
They Left
The day Margery left was one of the hardest days of Mandy’s life. Judith and Andrea had already left, and she was all alone.
Suddenly, her small town seemed hollow without the three girls she had loved for the last few years of her life.
For the first few months, she and Margery spoke all the time. But as they went on with their lives, this changed.
Derek
Margery got sucked into her studies while Mandy began working for a gas station in town. That was where she met the love of her life.
When Mandy met Derek, she finally felt like she had found herself a new friend, but their connection ran far deeper than friendship.
Soon, the pair fell head over heels for each other, and Mandy stopped feeling the need to call her friends every few days.
Daily Life
Life moved on, and although she still spoke to her friends occasionally, she became far more focused on her daily life.
Two years after they had all parted ways, she and Derek were engaged and had begun planning their wedding.
Not being able to afford a big, grand wedding with lots of guests, they decided to have an intimate ceremony with only their closest family members.
Settling Down
When Margery learned about her best friend’s wedding, she was overjoyed. She, too, had found a man to settle down with.
Margery built an entirely new life in New York and saw no reason to go back to that small town. Before she knew it, years passed.
At that time, Mandy and Margery stopped calling each other. They had moved on, but they still felt a deep love for one another.
Everything Changed
Mandy and Derek soon found a house and had children, and from that point on, the years began flying by.
It got to the point where Mandy hardly thought about her high school friends. The years flew by, and slowly but surely, Mandy grew old.
But when she was in her mid-sixties, something terrible happened to her family, and soon everything would change.
Tragedy
When Derek suddenly fell ill, Mandy’s entire world came crashing down around her. Doctors had no idea what was going on.
Every day, she watched as her husband lay in his hospital bed, getting sicker and sicker. She already knew what was coming.
The day Derek passed away was one of the toughest days of her life, and she had no idea what she was supposed to do next.
Sadness
She had always imagined growing old with him, but she never thought about what would happen if one of them passed away.
Mandy lived with her son for months as she tried to process her husband’s passing. But one day, the unexpected happened.
Mandy was sitting on her bed, reading a book, when her son came into her room with a cell phone in hand. “It’s for you,” he said.
A Call
Mandy was confused. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had called her. She took the phone from his grasp.
“Hello?” she spoke, her voice quiet and croaky. But when she heard the voice on the other end of the line, a shiver ran down her spine.
“Mandy? It’s Margery,” the woman said. Mandy couldn’t believe her ears. She hadn’t thought of Margery in years.
The Retirement Home
That day, Margery had decided to call to inform Mandy that she, Judith, and Andrea had all made an important decision.
“We reunited in New York a few years ago, and we have all been talking about returning to Vermont when we retire,” she began.
“Judith and Andrea found this wonderful retirement home close to where we used to live. I have decided to move there with them.”
Talking To Her Son
That was when Margery asked if Mandy would like to join them. Mandy had to give it some thought, but she already knew how she felt about the entire ordeal.
She didn’t want to burden her son by living in his house any longer, so she spoke to him about it that night.
They decided to visit the nursing home the very next day, and Mandy loved it more than she could express.
She Knew
Since her husband had passed away, she had been feeling lonely and unsure of where she belonged. At that moment, she finally knew.
What better way to live her last few years than with the three women she once loved more than any other person?
“This is the one,” she told her son. She knew that soon, the ladies would all be there. But one was carrying a dark secret.
She Applied
Mandy and her son applied for a spot immediately, and a week later, she moved into her new home.
Although the change was scary, she was excited to spend her last few years with the three women she once loved more than anyone else.
They would arrive in just a few days, and Mandy could barely contain her excitement. But the unexpected was about to happen.
Any Second
Mandy counted the days as they passed, and before she knew it, that Saturday morning rolled around. They would be there at any second.
She sat anxiously in the communal garden, waiting to reunite with her best friends. Eventually, she could hear their voices from down the hall.
Many sat up in her seat, straightening her dress as she waited to see their beautiful faces. But one had arrived with a dark secret.
Her Friends
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She couldn’t wait a second longer. All she wanted was to hug them and tell them how much she had missed them.
Tears sprung to her eyes as the ladies stepped through the door one by one. First, she saw Judith, then she saw Andrea.
But as soon as Margery walked through the door, her eyes grew wide. Suddenly, her tears of joy turned into the opposite.
The Truth
The second Margery stepped foot through the door, tears streamed down Mandy’s face. She couldn’t believe what she saw.
Margery was as beautiful as ever. Her skin was still pale, and she was still thin as a stick, but there was one difference.
Instead of her long, blonde hair that everyone had always admired, she was completely bald. Mandy knew what that meant.
Cancer
In recent months, Margery had been diagnosed with stage three cancer, and she had decided to return to Vermont for her last few years.
She had lost her husband a year prior, and she wanted to spend her last few years with the people she loved.
Mandy held onto her best friend for what felt like hours as the two women shared an emotional moment together.
She Was Happy
Margery explained that she had no more than five more years in her, and she wanted to make the most of that time.
She didn’t seem scared or sad. She was just happy to be with her friends once again. Mandy promised to enjoy every last moment with her friend.
That day, after managing to swallow their tears, the women sat and spoke for hours, telling each other all about their lives.
Grateful
For the first time since her husband had passed away, Mandy smiled genuinely, grateful to be around the people she loved.
It was just like old times. The women couldn’t stop talking and laughing as they told each other every last detail of their lives.
Under the table, Margery grabbed Mandy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She was grateful to be reunited with her best friend.