Learn to Speak

I am told by teachers every year that I need to learn to speak during class, to share my answers and questions. I agree with them, but not for school. My friends are the best things to happen to me in my life, and I would be no one without them. But they all have secrets, and I just so happen to know almost all of them. And none of them are good. When they tell me, I feel terrible knowing that they are being harmed, whether by themselves or others. But, I've never had any of those things happen to me, so I can't relate to them. It kills me inside to know that when they tell me, I have nothing to say that will make them feel better. That maybe the response I do give won't be the right thing to say, and it will make them feel worse. My friends have cut, been bulimic, anorexic, contemplated and/or attempted suicide, been abused, done drugs, and more things I probably don't know about. And I'm always afraid that something I say in regular conversation will be offensive to them, and I won't even know. To J.H.: You have no idea how much it means to me when you said that you don't trust a soul as much as you trust me. Because even though I was terrible enough to break-up with you over text, you forgave me and you still trust me. And I would never, and will never, judge you on anything you do, no matter how bad. Although I don't promise that I won't worry about you, because I still care about you. I'm glad we're still close, cause my life would seriously suck without you. So right now, I just need to learn to speak, to know what to say to make my friends realize how much they mean to me. I need to learn to speak, not just for me, but for them.