Admit it: Everybody has a secret. We all know it's true that there are things we keep from our parents, spouses, and friends. Sometimes, these are small secrets, hush-hush things that we hide to make our lives a little easier. Other times, though, the skeletons in our closet are so big and loud, they have to get exposed eventually.
1. Way To Leave Us Hanging
A long time ago, back when I was still in middle school, my mom's best friend passed. She wouldn't tell me how she passed. Only that it was sudden. When I asked why we weren't going to the funeral she told me that there wouldn't be one because "her body was being donated to science". I didn't ask any more questions. That was the last time we ever talked about her.
Well, five months ago my mom handed me her phone to find the number for Domino's and as I'm scrolling through her contacts, I made the most chilling discovery.
I come across the phone number of the deceased best friend. Biggest "what the heck" moment of my life. The next day I called it from a payphone at Waffle House and she picked up. I instantly recognized the voice and accent. She's STILL ALIVE. Second biggest "what the heck" moment of my life.
Turns out, my mom had been lying all these years about her BEST FRIEND BEING DEAD. It was beyond messed up.
2. You’re Not Welcome Here
My father passed when I was 17. At the funeral home during a viewing, a young lady and her boyfriend showed up. She was probably two or three years older than me. Nobody recognized her so she was asked why she was there. Her answer shocked the room.
She stated she was there to see her father. My siblings and I are naturally confused, and our mom is just standing there shaking her head. My uncles ask her to leave, and she leaves crying in her boyfriend's arms.
Our mother then takes us to a private area and explains that our father had an affair years ago and that was our half-sister. I never heard any more about her, never learned her name, and have never met her. I would like to meet her and apologize for my family.
Seeing her rejected and crying because she couldn't even attend a viewing for her father bothers me to this day, and this was over 40 years ago.
3. Teacher’s Secret Lair
My high school building had a big square with a courtyard in the center. There was a utility tunnel that ran under the whole building. It was like the creepy places you see in horror movies.
There were a bunch of rooms attached to the tunnel, mostly used for storage of old junk that hadn’t been touched in decades. No students were allowed in the tunnel for obvious reasons.
However, during the day, the doors were unlocked so staff could get in if they wanted, and of course, students would use it as a shortcut around the building. None of the rooms attached to the tunnel were locked, not even the boiler room with the steam boilers—except for one, mysterious room.
The rumor was this room was set up as a bedroom that teachers would use to get it on with each other. Yep, that was true. It was exposed when one teacher went to law enforcement after another took her down there and forced himself on her.
4. Bills, Bills, Bills
My dad told me how my mom forged his signature to remortgage the house so she could go shopping. When he found out, all my mom could say was: "It's only money". But that wasn't the worst part.
My Dad also bailed her out of her credit card debts, which were in the tens of thousands. He even had to refinance part of the house to pay for a multiple credit card bill of close to $50k.
When I was clearing out my parents' house to sell it, I found a sheet of paper with the math working out how much my mom owed. She had nothing to show from her spending. My dad said the only reason he didn't leave was because of me and my brother.
I never told my mom because I knew she would lie about it. My dad passed two years before my mom, and I miss him a lot.
5. Under The Radar
I lived a seemingly normal life in Florida. I traveled a lot for work, so it wasn't uncommon for me to vanish for a few days at a time. Everybody thought I was just another Average Joe who worked a lot of overtime. In reality, I was hiding a second life.
What no one knew was that I was actually delivering several bales of some VERY potent (and unlawful) product up to Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, and New York. I did it once on a whim and got addicted to the rush and the money. Over the span of three years, I made 27 round trips and never once dealt with the authorities.
I drove a nondescript Chevy Cavalier that I put patriotic bumper stickers on, I kept my hair short and face shaved, I wore polo shirts and Dockers, and I never ever exceeded the speed limit. I looked like the thousands of other young professionals headed to work, so I never gave patrol officers a reason to profile me.
I was the last kind of person they were looking to pull over. I'd go to the arranged meeting place, receive a brown paper bag with cash in it, then leave my car unlocked and grab a burger or just walk around Walmart for an hour or so. When I'd come back, the bales and the people who took them were long gone.
Since I couldn't keep depositing large amounts of cash in my bank, I'd have thousands of dollars in fake soup cans in my pantry and in my sock drawer. Since no one knew how much I made from my legitimate job, I was able to spend freely. I had every game console and movie I wanted. All was going well with my side hustle until I met the woman I eventually married. I just couldn't keep up the ruse.
Heading out of town at a moment's notice was no longer an option, so I dropped it. It took some time getting used to being frugal again and not eating steak for dinner three times a week. Only two people know what I used to do, but I'm not worried about them talking.
One has been charged with perjury before, so his word isn't worth anything to the authorities, and I have so much dirt on the other guy that I could get him sent to prison for a long time if he ever crossed me.
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6. A Hunter's Tradition
During my first time cleaning a hunted deer, my uncle reached into the yuck pile and pulled out the deer's heart. "Coyote". He told me. "It is a hunter’s tradition to take a bite out of the deer you've hunted. It goes back thousands of years, and to break tradition is bad luck". He explained all this while holding out the deer's dripping heart.
Without hesitation, because I wanted to be a "man," I reached out and did what I was told to do, biting into it like an apple and getting blood everywhere as I tried to tear out a chunk. They FLIPPED.
They told me they were just teasing me and that no one expected me to really do it. When I did, my other uncle went behind a tree and puked. "Never, EVER tell your mother, or we're all finished". I'm 47. She still doesn't know.
7. Detached For Good
I served in the Navy from 1985 to 2005. While in my first squadron, from 1985 to 1989, we were away from home often; either on short detachments of two to five weeks or six-month deployments. During one period when we were at home for a while, I was on watch in the duty office after hours. I had to man the office, answer the phone, and monitor the guys on watch down in the hangar bay.
Shortly after my watch started, I got a weird phone call from the wife of someone in our squadron. She was asking us when the squadron would be back from detachment. I asked another guy if he knew about anybody out on detachment, and he just looked at me funny. I told her we didn't currently have anyone on detachment and that we had all been back home for a couple of months.
She insisted her husband had been out on detachment for three weeks and needed to know when he was coming home. She then just hung up after that. Turns out, the guy was telling his wife he was out on detachment, but he was really shacking up with his girlfriend for a few weeks.
She called the Commanding Officer to find out how many times her husband had been part of a detachment and she found out he'd cheated on her many times over the past couple of years. Infidelity is officially against the Code of Justice. It didn't turn out well for him.
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8. It Wasn't Me
My friends and I were hanging out in a parking lot at night somewhere in our New England town. I had my family car, a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder. I had recently gotten my license and, of course, in high school, nothing was better than driving around with your friends, blasting music, and hanging out in parking lots.
I had my BB pistol (powered by C02 cartridges) and we were shooting at trees. I turned to shoot the license plate of the Pathfinder in an attempt to look cool—but I messed up BAD.
I shot out the back window instead. One of my friends who was in the car started screaming out of fear and confusion. I realized at that moment how much trouble I’d be in with my parents, so I decided to cover it up.
We drive (with a completely shattered back window) to the RiteAid to grab a dustpan and bag. We swept up all the broken glass and drove downtown to a sketchier part of town. I parked the Pathfinder next to this small graveyard and scattered the glass around to stage a break-in. We gathered ourselves and I got out my flip phone to call my parents. Then I put on the greatest performance of my life.
I fake cried and told them that their car was broken into as we were walking around downtown. My dad drove to meet us at the scene. He didn’t suspect a thing and I was so proud of myself for getting away with that one. Years later, the story was brought up and I decided to tell my dad the truth.
He laughed and told me he knew we were lying when he got there, specifically because of my best friend's face. Apparently, she looked suspicious as heck…which is hilarious because she was the actress of our group and very involved in theater. Anyway, it always gives me a good laugh to think about that night and my dad's reaction.
He keeps this a secret from my mom (who would not think it’s funny) even to this day.
9. Lost And Found
The dark family secret I discovered is that my favorite cousin wasn't really missing as I had always been told. He was 13 years older than me and all I knew growing up was that he would come and go a lot. He lived with us when I was a baby, and after some time, he moved out. He would visit every six months or so out of the blue, but we never called or visited him ourselves.
His visits were one of my favorite things in the world. I loved him like a brother. By the time I was a teenager, I began to understand that he had issues with his parents. They had kicked him out when he was 13 and my parents took him in. But that kind of childhood messes with you.
In between visits to my parents’ place, he avoided the rest of the family, moved around a lot, and didn't hold jobs for long. That’s part of the reason why my parents didn't always know where he was. But in my later teens, he stopped coming over at all. I asked repeatedly if anyone had heard from him, and I was always told no.
I asked about contacting him and was told that no one had a number or address for him. I assumed he would come around when he felt like it. But his absence stretched on for years. I really worried that he had somehow passed, and I really missed him. In my late twenties, I finally found out the shocking truth—everyone knew where he was the whole time.
He was serving a sentence behind bars for shooting someone. From what I hear, though, it was actually somewhat justified. He was defending his new wife, who I never got to meet.
I also found out some super awful things about how the extended family sided with his messed-up parents and refused to help him or his wife when he got taken in. They also shamed my dad for not helping either.
I tried to send a message to him recently, but I don't know if he ever got it. I wish he knew that I didn't turn my back on him for decades as everyone else did. I just didn't know.
10. Homewrecker Revealed
My mom's parents divorced not long before I was born, then two years later my grandfather remarried a woman I’ll call Patty. Then, my biological grandmother passed, so, when I was growing up, my grandfather's new wife, Patty, was basically my grandmother. Now, Patty is a little weird.
She means well but tends to put her foot in her mouth and ask people weirdly personal questions. Still, she's family, so whatever. Except, growing up, my mom and her two siblings hated Patty. When I was younger it was kind of minor, just occasional snide comments behind her back, but as I got older it became increasingly clear that they couldn't stand the woman.
It was always so odd to me—yeah she was a goof, but whatever, lots of people in our family had quirks. I had no clue what was going on beneath the surface...
Then, when I was in my 20s, my grandfather passed. As I was sitting down with my mom, going over some old photos of my grandad, there was a picture of Patty that my mom immediately made a rude comment about. I finally asked, "Why do you guys hate her so much?" My mom looked at me, confused, then realization dawned on her. "Oh, we never told you, did we?"
So, it turned out that the reason my biological grandparents got divorced was because my grandfather had been cheating on my grandmother with Patty. This had been going on for more than a decade before the divorce. My mother and her siblings didn't hate her because she was weird, they hated her because she was a homewrecker.
It seemed kind of unfair to me that they directed all their hate at Patty since my grandfather was just as, if not more, guilty, but I guess that's what people do. The funeral I think actually kind of gave my Mom and her siblings a chance to put those bad feelings to rest, because after it, they all started being a lot nicer and more civil towards Patty.
11. House Blessing
My mother is from Thailand, and a convert from Buddhism to Christianity. Despite this, my mother does have a firm belief in ghosts, especially in cases of sudden, violent acts, as that is an everyday, common belief in Thailand. My dad bought a property of thirty acres for cheap from the state, and about six months in, I visited him there.
Around a campfire, he got this mischievous look. Then he told me the most disturbing story. Apparently, the reason the property was so cheap was that the man who had previously owned it set his house on fire and ended his own life with socks on his hands to try and make it seem like his wife did it. The problem was, his house didn’t quite burn fast enough, and the firemen were able to put it out.
They found the body and immediately assumed he'd tried to take his own life. He’d been going through a divorce and was just a few aces short of a full deck of cards. My mother would have had a cash cow. Instead, she’d been living there on and off for six months and there were no spooky hauntings. Eventually, my dad did tell her, and naturally, my mother immediately called a preacher to bless the property.
12. Doctor Fraud
One of our computer science teachers at school seemed totally normal. But he was hiding a huge secret. He was faking his doctorate. In fact, it turned out that he never even went to college at all. We weren't allowed to talk about it because he kept working there for the rest of the school year. He would even go absolutely bananas on students who called him Mister instead of Doctor. It was ridiculous.
13. Keeping A Low Profile
In one of my previous jobs a few years ago, we hired this guy who was my really good partner. He worked hard and never complained. After about a year and a half of working with him, I got called into the office. He was there with the manager, the assistant manager, and two beefy guys in normal clothes with the exception of earpieces.
He wanted to say goodbye to the bosses and me. Turned out, he was the son of some leader in his country and they had to relocate him. Apparently, an opposing faction found out he was in our state and they were planning on kidnapping him for leverage.
14. Pedal To The Medal
When I was a kid, my older sister (maybe nine or 10 at the time) asked my mom if she could help her pull the car into the garage. My mom (not using her best judgment) decided to let her. It was the worst idea possible.
My sister stomped the gas pedal and drove the car through the back of the garage and into our kitchen. My mom told my dad, as well as the rest of us siblings, that she herself had driven the car into the kitchen.
She said she thought she saw one of us out of the corner of her eye and panicked. It wasn't until years later that I was told the truth. My parents separated a few years after this incident and my dad didn't know the truth for a very long time...about 10 to 15 years after the fact. My sister is now 35 and we all joke about it.
15. The Man In The Mirror
This happened around 2013—Instagram wasn’t totally new but it was still a much smaller platform and centered a lot around visual artists. Through Instagram, a friend of mine found a profile that was my gosh darn doppelganger. Like, this guy looked so much like me that I sent multiple photos of him to my mom and she was convinced it was me even after I told her it wasn’t.
Now, for the purpose of the story, I’ll just say I am incredibly unique looking. Dark brown hair, fiery red beard, almost a full bodysuit of tattoos. Same for this guy. The brands of clothes I wore, even down to the gold and black Ray-Ban Clubmasters. I am a professional tattoo artist and he is a painter who owns an art gallery.
So, in keeping with how the internet worked back then, we said hey and joked about meeting and occasionally would call or FaceTime the other to prove a point. Then, I got an opportunity to travel to NYC for work. This guy lived in NYC as well, so we made plans to meet up! I bought plane tickets, made arrangements, and we even talked about how funny it would be to get a photo together.
Then we started talking about how funny it would be if we really were long-lost brothers, and he goes: “That’s entirely possible! My dad was never in the picture. He was a traveling biker who just hooked up with my mom one night". A chill ran through my body.
This was REALLY weird because my dad was a tattoo artist and notorious biker who traveled in the area this guy lived when he was growing up. I thought it was a long shot but I said, “Hey! Ask your mom if his name is James Jobin! Wouldn’t that be crazy if we are brothers?!”
He laughed and agreed that would be funny, and said he’d ask his mom the next morning before I got into town. Then he blocked me on everything. Instagram, Facebook, text. Absolute radio silence.
I’ve made other accounts to check up on him and see how he’s doing, but I’ve never reached back out. The thought that I could really have a brother is bittersweet for me—I respect his right to have contact with me or not, but it does break my heart a little every time I think about him. Plus, I just don’t have closure on what the truth really is.
16. Go Out Happy
My mother was a very heavy drinker, and due to her habit, she developed a special type of dementia known as Korsakoff's syndrome. She would forget things that were mentioned to her within a few hours, so when she was informed in the hospital of her terminal lung cancer and secondary bone cancer, she couldn’t understand why she was so ill.
We had to get her home care help, so my dad and I came up with a genius plan. We created a narrative—we told her that the nurses and care staff who looked after her were all there to help her get better and back on her feet. She happily accepted the care and enjoyed her time with everyone.
Then just before Christmas, she passed peacefully in her sleep, without even knowing that she had been sick and dying for several months.
17. Loving The Boss
When I was in college, I worked at a nearby store. I worked there for over a year before I became involved with one of the managers there. Our relationship evolved over the course of months, which then led to years. But there was one huge problem.
He was married, and I knew this. The first time anything physical happened between us, I felt a crushing sense of guilt. I'm not sure what exactly propelled me further into the relationship. There was just something that kept me hooked. Throughout the years, we developed a very close relationship. I talked to him all day, every day about everything.
He completely opened up to me as well. I was completely head over heels in love with him. All of my time was spent with him. My family and closest friends had no idea. They were completely oblivious to the biggest part of my life. It was constant lies from me...The extent that I went to was just insane.
Eventually, I severed our physical relationship, but he is still a major part of my life and is completely involved in every decision I make. I was never going to ask him to leave his wife...but I didn't want to spend my life single either. I do feel guilty and I honestly have no excuses.
18. It's Never Too Late
There was this kid at our church who started attending the youth group when he was about 15. Everyone loved him, but he was always a little standoffish. Fast forward three years to graduation time—everyone kept asking him what he planned to do after high school and if he was looking forward to it, but he always changed the subject.
Finally, the truth came out, and we couldn't believe it. He revealed to one of the adults that he wasn’t graduating because he hadn’t been to school since he was eight years old. His dad removed him from school and just never let him return.
A whole bunch of stuff went down after that, but the church members helped him do a fast-track high school degree in three years. They've also paid for him to attend a university.
19. Paternity In Question
I have a strong suspicion, based on formerly unheard-of DNA relatives, that my grandpa was not my mom’s biological father.
She is one of the middle kids, so she would be the result of an affair. My grandparents were long gone when I discovered this, so I’ve never had occasion to discuss it with my grandma. I’ve shared my findings with my dad, but haven’t told my mom as it would cause her more grief than peace.
20. Branched Off
A friend of mine lives in San Diego. She was recently telling me the story of her grandfather who has an entire family in Mexico that he kept hidden for decades. By that, I mean he has kids that have kids, and one of his secret granddaughters has ANOTHER kid. The dude was a great-grandfather and nobody knew.
Her grandfather is nearly 90, so it's unbelievable how much a quiet old man can keep from people.
21. The First Sip
When I was about 13, my grandma was battling leukemia. We all went to visit her one weekend and my aunt had a small party at her house. Everyone was drinking homemade mixes, and eventually, they all made their way outside, except me and her. She handed me the glass and said, “Try some". I did. It was great. She followed up with, “It’s good, isn’t it? But if you tell anyone, I'll end you.
About a year later, she passed, and I told everyone the story that night. I figured I was safe to tell them. We all laughed and cried about it. And I still cry to this day when I think about it. I miss her. So much.
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22. Box Of Secrets
My grandmother passed a couple of years ago. While going through her house, my family found a box with my grandfather's name on it in his handwriting. My grandfather passed before I was born. It was taped closed and the dust on it suggested it hadn’t ever been opened. Inside, my family found newspaper clippings and other documents. When we realized what they were, we were stunned.
Turns out that in the early 1900s, my grandfather took a road trip with friends to see the ocean. During their time at the beach, their car was stolen. They decided to stay awhile; being in their late teens and out of school. They earned some money and had a good time. My grandfather then met a Mexican woman and married her within the course of a month.
There was an article on vehicle theft, as well as another on marriage. We could never find information on what happened next. We don’t even rightly know if they married for love, to get her citizenship, if they had kids, or even if he was legally divorced when he married my grandmother in the 1930s. We don’t think my grandmother knew.
However, we did find out his first wife returned to Mexico. She did have children (who say they don’t think their mom had kids before she remarried). We sent them copies of the documents we found and they were as flabbergasted as we were.
23. String Of Lies
I failed out of college when I was 18, then went back when I turned 22. I was one semester short of graduating when I failed out again. I didn't really want to tell my family and friends that I screwed up twice, so I continued my last semester as though everything was great. They bought it, so now that I had a "degree," I started searching for jobs like any normal college graduate.
With all the lies I've been telling, I wanted my resume to be the one thing in my life that bore any truth, so I decided to apply to jobs without listing my college education. Obviously, I couldn't land any interviews that way, and since I had already been applying for months, I decided to lie to my parents yet again to ease their worries.
So I made up a job, and I went to it every morning...because why shouldn't a smart, hardworking, COLLEGE-EDUCATED young man not have a job, right?! I was able to sustain the lies for quite some time, but it all eventually came falling down on me. Here's how I got caught: I would drive my mom's old car to get to "work" and one morning, she stopped me to remind me of something.
I had told my parents months ago that my "job" required me to wear khakis and a button-down shirt, so I wore that every morning...until I started getting too comfortable with my pretend situation. So, things went south fairly quickly when she found me in my gym shorts and an old basketball T-shirt. That's when I basically broke down and confessed to my mom at 6 am in the middle of the driveway.
So began the long road of guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Other than losing the trust of those closest to me, the weight of the world has been lifted from my mind. Thankfully, I was able to go back to living ONE honest life.
24. Avoiding Drama
He didn’t keep this secret for very long, but my dad found out I was having a suspected ectopic pregnancy before my mom. It was three days before Christmas and he came around to drop some gifts off thinking I was at work. Instead, he found my hospital letter and me crying on the sofa.
We’re quite close but not really affectionate, so it meant a great deal to me when he comforted me silently whilst I sobbed and sobbed. He said, "I will tell your mom if you want me to, or I won’t tell her, and if it’s something you want to share with her yourself, then you can tell her when you’re ready".
In the end, I asked him to tell her, but how he handled it really meant a lot. My mom's awesome, but she would have smothered me with love and not let me out of her sight, and I just wanted to forget about it.
Anyway, he took me to all my follow-up appointments, and on December 23rd, we found out that the baby was in fact growing exactly where she was meant to be. She’s four now.
25. Repeat Offender
There was a rumor that our IT teacher slept with his students. He was attractive, young, and friendly. Then, suddenly another rumor went around the school that he was sleeping with an underage student, and he was suspended for a while. After he was cleared of wrongdoing, he decided to leave. He got a new job at another high school across town...where he was caught with another 17-year-old. He was fired shortly after.
26. He Went Out On A Low Note
There were stories about the music teacher sleeping with some of his students in exchange for solos, better grades, prestige, or jobs after graduation. They turned out to be true. He was found guilty and was given a six-month prison sentence. He was also barred from teaching and lost his pension. Except there was a twist. The news hit my dad really hard: They studied together at college and were good friends. He had no idea.
27. You Got Played
I was going on a senior class trip, and I had saved up some money to splurge a bit while I was there. My family had very little money back then, which is why I made it a point to save up for myself so that my parents wouldn't have to. A few days prior, my dad said, "Hey, here's a few hundred bucks; have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don't tell your mother". I, naturally, agreed and didn't tell my mother.
The very next day, my mom said to me, "Hey, here's a few hundred bucks; have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don't tell your father". I, naturally, agreed and didn't tell my father. The trip was amazing—I was able to do way more than I had initially planned and I was able to help a few of my friends do the same.
I told my parents that it was amazing, and each of them separately gave me the old wink-wink-nudge-nudge. Decades later, I was visiting my family, and the subject of "Don't tell your mom or dad stuff" came up since I have kids of my own now. I told them about how they had both given me the extra money for the trip, and how I was more than happy to not tattle on them to each other.
They looked at each other, all comically wide-eyed, and laughed their butts off, swatting at each other's arms and stuff.
28. There Was Some Pep In His Pepsi
My high school history teacher would carry around a two-liter bottle of Pepsi with him all day, every day. It was rumored that he would put hooch in it and drink while at school. One day, he was caught trying to buy booze for some senior girls, which resulted in a car chase that we all watched. Law enforcement had to pull out the spike strips to catch him.
29. In Her Custody
My parents divorced when I was quite young, and when I was around 14 years old, I happened upon my mother's darkest secret: a substantial stash of substances hidden in the house. She wasn't angry about it or anything, and I knew it wasn't mine—it was just a one-time thing she'd gotten from a friend. But as she pointed out, if I ever told my dad, he would do everything in his power to get full custody of me, and I wouldn't get to live with her anymore.
Now that my brothers and I are all adults, I can tell that story all I want...but yeah, I kept that secret from my dad.
30. European Vacation
We had gone on a class trip to Europe for a week. Stories about two teachers hooking up on that trip started making the rounds when we came back. Two weeks later, a rumor emerged that the one teacher got divorced. Then, during the last week of school, the two were spotted at a restaurant together. A couple of years later, after I graduated, I looked them up. They were married.
31. The Real Reason
My stepdad and my mom broke up. The day my mom left, she took me with her, and I went back into the house to say goodbye. I got along well with him since my mom is a bit crazy. I was young; middle school age. He was devastated and broke down crying, which I had never seen him do before. He then revealed to me the real reason why he had issues getting along with my mom.
Apparently, he was taken advantage of as a child, and he had a hard time getting close to her. He made me promise not to tell her or anyone. I never did. I always wondered if I should tell her, but keeping his secret was the only thing I could do for him. I care for him a lot, so I never told anyone. Sadly, he passed some years ago.
32. Rebel Without A Cause
My grandma didn't drive. I thought she couldn't, but it was just never discussed. One day when I was maybe seven or eight, I'd been trying to get someone, anyone, to drive me to the store for candy. We were visiting my aunt and uncle, and my grandma lived with them. They had Bit-O-Honey at the local store, which I could no longer get at home, but no one would take me to the store.
Finally, I said I'd just ask grandma, and my cousin chimes in with, "Grandma can't drive". She had an immediate comeback. "Oh, you bet your sweet behind I can drive. They just don't let me!" Grandma had overheard and she was very offended. But that's all that was said about it at the time and my aunt finally took me to the store, so I forgot about it…until much later.
Years later, when I'd just gotten my license, I asked my mom what was up with grandma not driving. The whole story came out. She explained that during prohibition, grandma boot-legged moonshine, and she was very successful at it. She was so successful at it, in fact, that when the moonshiners were finally busted, even though the revenuers never caught my grandma, her license was suspended by the state "to never be reissued".
Later in life, she was told she could petition for it back but it came with an admission of guilt or some such. She told 'em to get lost.
33. The One That Got Away
There was a crazy rumor that our history teacher was a bank thief. He had his sleeves pulled up and it exposed a really bad and unidentifiable tattoo, so I asked him what it was. He told me that it was a reaper that he got it while he was in prison. I couldn't help asking what he went away for and he said he was a getaway driver for a bank heist. It blew my mind.
34. Romeo And Juliet
After my grandfather passed, we found out he had fathered a child when he was posted in Italy during WWII. But that’s just the beginning of the saga. He never knew, because his mother intercepted any letters from the Italian girl who was the mother. So my grandfather finally came home, met and married my grandmother, and had four children.
I forget who in the family found out and how. It's crazy to think we have a whole Italian family out there! My oldest aunt is 77 so this “kid” would be at least 79 by now I would think. We've considered doing the DNA testing, but some family members aren't comfortable with how those companies could use the information.
It's a really sad story, but if his mother hadn't intercepted the letters, I wouldn't exist. It's a weird place to be in emotionally!
35. Shop Class Sting
There were rumblings that the principal at my school was cheating on his wife. The rumor started in shop class when he donated his car to us to change his flat tire. We weren't supposed to snoop, but we looked in his trunk. Our discovery made my heart pound. We found a pair of high heels and panties that would NOT fit his wife, or him if he was into that.
It turned out he was sleeping with a freshly graduated 18-year-old. He and his wife divorced after that was discovered.
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36. Dissing Kathy
When I was a kid, my dad would take my brother and me to a woman named Kathy’s house. Kathy would buy us computer games and stuff so, of course, we loved her at the time. The weird thing was that my mother really hated Kathy and I never understood why. When I turned 18 my mom told me the secret about Kathy: She was having an affair with my dad.
Weirdly, Kathy ended up marrying my dad's best friend. As an adult, I was never nice to her and my dad would give me grief about it. I finally told him that I knew about her and that mom had told me everything. He just said, "Oh, alright then". He never gave me trouble about it again.
37. The Show Must Go On
I think I was about 14 when my dad and I got interested in a trading card game together and started going to local tournaments. My parents were divorced and my dad had custody, and a tournament fell on a weekend I was supposed to visit my mother. She knew about the tournament, and I think I asked to postpone the visit, but she denied it.
So my dad said I could pretend to be sick and so I could play, and I did. Well, my mother didn't believe me. On the day of the tournament, she drove down to the game store where the tournament was being held and asked if I was there by name. The owner knew me and that he would go check in the back room.
He warned my dad and me that my mom had arrived and shuffled me out the back door. I sneaked away to a nearby pizza place and hid there until I got a phone call that she left. When my phone rang, I came back with my pizza and finished the tournament. They had paused the whole thing, waiting for my return. To this day, I haven't told my mother.
38. The Administrative Kingpin
For years before I got to my high school, there was a rumor that the Administrative Assistant, who was the guy you went to when you got in trouble, was doing drugs, selling them, and confiscating them from students without turning them over to the authorities. About five years after I graduated, he got busted a couple towns away for possession with intent to distribute.
39. Under The Table
After college, I was really struggling financially. Despite having a "real job," I was grossly underpaid and living in my truck. My mom was in charge of the household budget and managed to squeeze a couple extra hundred dollars per month to pay for my car insurance, gas, and some new dress clothes so I could interview for jobs. My dad wanted to cut me off entirely so I could "learn to take care of myself," but missed the fact we were in the middle of a recession.
She also sent me weekly care packages from work which were full of food and things that I needed. He still has no idea that she did this and it was 20 years ago.
40. Poker Party Palace
There was an English teacher who was close with students, not in an inappropriate way, but more like he was a fellow student instead of an authority figure. It was said that he would host weekend poker parties with his closest students where he would serve booze and weed. One weekend, someone prank-called the authorities claiming one of these parties was happening.
They went to his place and found there was one taking place, as described. But there was one crucial detail. There were also racy movies on every TV in the house. The teacher was immediately fired, had his license revoked, and disappeared for a couple of years. Students tried protesting the firing because he was the cool guy who liked to party.
41. Forever 21
When I turned 21, my parents took me out to a fancy cocktail bar because they wanted me to get an idea of what fancy drinking was like before I inevitably resorted to being a degenerate with my buddies. We went to a number of cocktail bars and at each one, without fail, they (obviously) carded me. BUT, they also carded my mom as well, to her surprise and elation.
She was practically giddy. I remember her telling me how all the bartenders keep carding her and how it made her feel 21 again. I wrote it up as a coincidence. A year or two later, I was hanging with my dad and I mentioned the evening as a fond memory. I told him how it was crazy that all of those bartenders thought my mom needed to be carded. He looked at me and said, “Oh I did that. I told all of them to card her so that it would make her feel young".
Unaware to me, my mom had been feeling old at the time as she watched her sons leave for college and grow up. To this day, I haven’t told my mom, but I always share a smile with my dad whenever the story gets brought up. He’s a good man.
42. The Predator Had A Past
There was a rumor that the chemistry teacher was attracted to children. He was an older, overweight guy with a physical disability, and I thought it was just people being judgemental and mean. I even defended him. Until I looked him up and found out the whole story. He was caught in a "to-catch-a-predator" style sting at his last school trying to meet up with minors.
I have no idea how or why the school hired him. I even sent a message to the superintendent, but never received a reply.
43. Lost And Found
My older brother took my mom’s $60,000 wedding ring and gave it back to my dad during a very messy divorce. He said he did it because “she didn’t deserve it” and to show my dad his unwavering loyalty to him. An insurance claim was filed, paid out, and everything. My mom still thinks she actually lost it and my dad still has the ring sitting in his safe 14 years later.
Nobody on either side knows that I know exactly what happened. Taking that one to the grave, for sure. Divorce is some heavy business.
44. Close Call
My father got a girl pregnant and she decided to go it alone, so she moved across the state and had my half-sister. She met a guy, married, and he raised her like she was his own. They had no other children, and she didn't reveal my dad's identity until after he passed. Apparently, the woman had contacted my grandma and mom, but they kept it from us. Instead, it came out in the worst way.
Years later, my half-sister had a kid with medical issues and needed to know family medical history. She contacts mom and grandma, who again don't tell us. Meanwhile, after dad passed, my uncle had prints made of a favorite picture of dad. He gets them framed and gives them to all us kids, as well as my grandma, aunts, and uncles. Mom gets a picture to our half-sister after their secret meeting. Fast forward another few years.
My brother and his roommate live in a nearby large city, hit a bar, and pick up and bring home some ladies to "sleep over". The next morning, my half-sister sees a photo on the mantle and turns white. She asks, "Whose picture is that?" "Oh, that's my roommate's dad. He passed a long time ago". "I need to talk to your roommate". She lived her entire life across the state.
Hundreds of miles. Her friend was going to school in a large city near our hometown. She was visiting, and they decided to go to the bar. They get picked up by my brother and his roommate. That's how we found out. My brother went to my grandma and asked about her, and grandma first denied it, then gave in and spilled the beans. Small world. And thank GOD she slept with the roommate and not him.
45. She Went On A Radical Adventure
My algebra teacher was having an online affair. She would teach for about five minutes and then tell us to read to ourselves and do our work, while she typed away on her computer. Then, one day, she just didn’t show up. It turns out she just up and left in the middle of the night to move to Ohio and be with her internet boyfriend. I lived in a town of 700 people, so it was big news.
46. A Father's Misery
My dad stopped drinking when I was around eight years old because the doctor said he'd pass within the year if he didn't. When I was around 13 years old, he made a scary confession: He told me that he wanted to end himself. That was about a year after he had stopped drinking. He obviously told me not to tell my mother. I don't think he really had anyone else he could go to with those thoughts.
I still nag him to this day to seek therapy, as I don't think he's properly faced his demons.
47. Mafia Man
I was raised in the "family business" which was riddled with unlawful dealings. I never wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t really have a choice. My father expected me to get a high school diploma or a GED, and then commit myself to the business full time. Instead, I opted to go to college. There was a major falling out between us, and my father and I barely spoke for years.
I never told my friends or my girlfriend (who I had planned on proposing to) about my past. I sold myself as some normal guy, but I’d actually done some pretty despicable and abhorrent things before I even entered college. After I graduated, I fell back into that same life, perhaps even deeper into it than before. It turned me into an addict, my girlfriend left time. I was at my lowest point ever.
After a few years of being clean (more or less), I turned things around for myself a second time. Nowadays, I refrain from telling girls I want to date about my past double life; not only to spare me the drama but also to protect them.
48. As Luck Would Have It
After my mom passed, I found out the real story behind my parent's marriage. She came to my father's country to visit some of her relatives. She met my father, and after just one week she asked him to marry her so she could stay in the country. My father accepted because he had no one else and his parents were pressing him to get married already anyway.
But the highlight of the story is that over some time, the two of them fell in love with each other. Their love only grew over time and they were really happy together. My mother spent her last days very ill, and she would accept only my father by her bedside. He swears to this day that she was an angel sent from God to take care of him. I am shocked that they got married just like that, out of the blue, and ended up loving each other so, so, so deeply.
I can only hope to have as good and loving of a marriage as they had.
49. Things Were Cooking In Shop Class
The auto mechanics teacher at my school was suspected of doing illicit substances. There were some disturbing signs. He would act strange while in class, and it looked like signs of withdrawal would take over and entirely consume him. As it turns out, he definitely had a problem because when he was let go, we found needles and spoons under the seat of a school vehicle we had been working on.
50. A Big Gamble
When I was 24, I worked at a very large corporate casino with a few close friends. We saw each other every day. They had no idea I was hiding a huge secret from right under their noses. I began secretly seeing my 40-year-old boss against company policy. We dated for about a year and a half. It was awful having to lie to my friends about who I was staying with some nights.
But I knew I had to keep quiet about the relationship in order to prevent us from losing our jobs. It was so hard. I didn't even realize until the relationship was over that I was leading a double life. Although he was a great guy, I was relieved when it ended because I didn't have to lie anymore.
51. Target Off Their Backs
When I was 10, my older brother was bullied in middle school because we were poor. He fought back one day and was suspended from school. When my mom asked what happened, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he lied. I told her what happened and she started to cry. The next day, she took us to a shoe store and bought all three boys Nikes, which were very expensive.
She made us promise to not tell our dad and if he asked, we were to tell them that they were super cheap on sale. She bought us Nikes two times a school year even though they were way out of our budget because she didn't want us to feel bad at school. I love you, mom.
52. Bad Reaction
My science teacher was lying about being a soldier. He claimed to have come back from Afghanistan, when in reality he was in Colorado with his girlfriend. He flipped out when someone asked him to name a person who had been killed in action. About three or four years later, it was revealed that he had been lying about his service record and job experience.
53. Code Switching
I'm an English-born man, but I have spent most of my youth in the US. I currently live in the States with a green card. When I worked in retail, I adopted an American accent because it's more efficient than having to explain to everyone that I'm English and moved here when I was 14. This continued into office jobs until we were in a meeting with some English clients, who spoke first.
I immediately switched to my English accent. My boss looked at me for a second, stopped the meeting, and said: "Are you having a stroke?" I then had to explain my entire life story and we wasted half an hour. Sigh.
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54. Watered Down
When I was in high school, I was mostly a good kid. I volunteered with people with developmental disabilities, I was a lector at church, I worked hard on my grades...all the classic stuff. But I did have one vice: I used to have friends over and drink their drinks. We would often water the containers down when we were done, just to be on the safe side.
I always assumed they knew and were just looking the other way. Fast forward 16 years—I was 32, at my parents' house, and my mom wanted a cocktail. I laughed out loud and asked my mom if I realized I used to indulge in drinks as a kid and that I always watered it down. She was shocked and angry; mostly because they had served some of it to her friends!
I was shocked because I always assumed they were pretending not to know. Long story short, I got away with it. But kids—don’t expect you’ll be as lucky as I was!
55. I Couldn’t Resist This Story
Word on the street was that one of my teachers, who had retired before I got to my school, was a WWII resistance fighter. We had heard about it a lot but never knew who, until one day he came back in to share his experiences and photos with us. It turns out that all the stories were true. He was at a Dutch boarding school when the Germans invaded.
He eventually found his way into the care of a Dutch resistance group. He fought with them until the Canadian forces showed up. He was given a spare Canadian uniform, and asked whether he'd like to go home. He decided to stay and fight, helping to translate for Canadians and organize logistical runs. When the fighting was over, he finally came to Canada, and in his 60s he joined the Peace Corps. He was a true legend.
56. Just Between Us
When my first serious boyfriend and I broke up in high school, it was over the phone. I remember I hung up and sat on the floor of my room, just sobbing. I assume my dad must’ve heard me because he came to my room and just stood there in the doorway looking at me. I blurted out something like, “Frank and I just broke up!” before going right back into my teenage hysterics.
My dad, who isn’t a very physically affectionate or demonstrative person, simply walked into my room, sat down on the floor beside me, and held me. Never said a word. It was exactly what I needed at the time. We never told my mom because she tends to get very jealous of moments like that when she isn’t involved. I’m glad we kept it between us because it is one of the fondest memories I have of my dad. I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
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57. Caught In The Knick Of Time
There was a rumor at school that a kid had a hit list and was going to hurt people. The story spread like wildfire and the school resource officer was alerted. The next day, the bus the kid rode was singled out and isolated at the drop-off zone. The school resource officer, a local officer, the assistant principal, and the kid’s counselor all boarded the bus.
They searched his bag. What they found made their blood run cold. He had an enormous kitchen blade. The kid was taken off the bus and taken into custody.
58. The Good Boy
I grew up in a Roman Catholic home with a very close-knit family, sitting and eating dinner every night, talking hours on end about our days, friends, plans, anything. Given my good boy image, no one had a clue what I was really doing behind the scenes. In secret, I ran an unlawful distribution ring. At my peak, I had about 15 people working for me while hiding packages of substances in the house.
My parents were completely blind to what I was doing. The entire time, I had never touched substances or drinks. I did this from the tenth grade up until I graduated. I had a 95% average in sciences and math and I played on a number of sports teams whose players bought from people who worked for me, but they never had any idea.
My best friends who I'd hang out with every weekend didn't know until I told them myself. I realized once I turned 18 that I could get into some serious trouble, so I got out before I became of age.
59. A Textbook Case Of Mold
There was this weird closet built into the middle of the hallway at school. It wasn’t flush with the wall; it was a giant freestanding block that you had to walk around. Its door was always locked. Every morning before the bell rang, we'd meet up by the closet block because it was close to our lockers. Rumor had it that it was full of mold because our school was underfunded and gross.
I figured it was just janitorial supplies, even though I had never seen a janitor go in there. Then one day, the door was unlocked. There was MOLD! SO MUCH MOLD! There were multiple stacks of German textbooks rotting inside this closet. The pages were wavy and stuck together, and the whole thing was covered in black spots with white dust on top.
They had literally melted together and dried. I simply closed the door and said, "Well guys, I guess this is why we only have Spanish as our foreign language".
60. Fresh Off The Runway
In my sophomore year in high school (living in a not-so-popular town in Texas), I was signed with a professional modeling agency in New York City. Every break I had from school was spent living in a model's apartment with different women from around the world and we would all go to the castings that the agency sent us to.
No one at my school knew anything up until my junior year when I was published in popular magazines that were distributed across the country. At home and in school, I was nerdy and shy; but I was totally confident and outgoing while working as a professional model. Also, by professional model, I mean by the fashion industry's standard.
None of this Instagram-modelling business.
61. Sentimental Monkey
My dad's a great guy, but he's really hard to read emotionally. Not his fault; it's just how he was brought up, being the emotional rock in the family and whatnot. When my mom and dad went on their first Valentine's Day date a long time ago, he bought her a monkey stuffed animal. They've had it in the house since then, and it's been there for the past 40 or so years.
When I moved out for college, they had to take care of my grandma on mom's side because her husband, my grandpa, had just passed. They were about to get rid of a lot of stuff and I added the monkey to the pile because mom was getting ready to donate it; even though I could tell that she didn't want to give it away. So the monkey came with me to college and hung out in my room while my mom and dad packed up their stuff and moved to my grandma's.
When I came back from college to the place where I live now, my dad and I unloaded the truck and he picked up the monkey. His reaction took me by surprise. He stared at it for a bit before tearing up and telling me, "I think I would've been even sadder to see this go than your mother would have". As far as I know, dad hasn't told mom how much that little stuffed animal means to him and their relationship.
The monkey's still sitting on the top shelf at my wife's apartment until my mom and dad can take him back home.
62. Head Of Households
I have a wife and a five-year-old child in another country. I send money back home and speak to my daughter every two weeks. I have a significant other and a six-month-old child where I currently live.
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63. Caught On Camera
There was a story going around our high school that one of the substitute teachers was showing her self-made racy videos to students on her cellphone. The rumors spread rather quickly, but no one believed them because we all thought no one could be that stupid. Our minds changed instantly. We saw the authorities and news crews show up to film her being escorted off the premises in cuffs.
64. The Landlord's Secret
This is about my landlord when I was in the Peace Corps. I was assigned to one of the poorest towns in Southern Honduras. I was living with a family in a mud-brick house when someone told me about a listing for rent in the "exclusive" neighborhood. It's this little street of about 20 houses—each of which is no more than 1,000 square feet and made of concrete bricks with asbestos roofing.
The really big deal was that the neighborhood had its own pump and therefore had running water for about four hours a day, which was much better than the norm in the town of water a few hours a week. Anyway, no one spoke any English in the town, not even the English teachers, but this woman told me that her husband had built the place for them in the exclusive neighborhood and that she didn't want to live there because it was too far from her family.
So she rented out the place to me for $40 per month and after a couple of months or so, her husband came back to town. He was...not what I expected. He was a skinny, effeminate man who spoke perfect English...very gay and incredibly nice. Why the heck was this man, who spoke perfect English (a mark of higher class), living in this real dirt hole of a town? Well, it turns out, he led a double life.
Six months of the year, he works as a bartender on cruise ships, and the other six months, he's home with his wife and family. None of his family knew that he was gay. They think he mops floors and stuff while he's on the boats. A genuine double life.
65. She Lost It From Both Ends
There was a story going around that the reason a long-time substitute teacher at school was let go was because she pooped herself during a class when she lost her temper. The story turned out to be true. It took forever to get out because a good portion of the class wouldn’t show up to school to begin with. It was amazing that those involved were able to stay tight-lipped for almost seven months.
66. Cook, Clean, Pose
I was a line and prep cook in a kitchen, working my way up to a supervisor position, while also working as an adult model. I wasn't really "out" when it came to my modeling. A very few close friends knew, as well as some family, but that was about it. I was attempting to keep both identities separate. I ended up landing a pretty fantastic title in the alternative model industry.
One weekend, I was working at a convention when my boss from the restaurant randomly came up to the booth. I had to awkwardly explain to him what I was doing there. After that, the cat was out of the bag, and I've been shamelessly going by both names ever since. More often than not, I get approached by people using my online identity rather than my birth name.
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67. Knocked By His Knock Up
My school had many stories that started out as rumors, until they ended up being true. One had to do with one of my own friends. I had heard that he got his girlfriend pregnant and they ended up having twins. I half believed the part where they got it on, because the guy was a "jock," but I thought the whole pregnancy thing was a load of garbage.
I was mistaken. My friend spilled the tea, and even showed photos of him, his girlfriend, and their twin kids. I was shocked.
68. Losing Faith
I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. I decided when I was 13 that I didn't want to be a part of the faith anymore and my mother threatened to kick me out of the house or send me to live with my father. I was scared and didn't know any better, so I acquiesced and started pretending to live life according to her rules—but the physical, emotional, and psychological tactics didn't stop.
I held the lie and lived with it for 10 years until I moved out and left town to live on my own. Then, when I was 26, I told my dad everything about what my mother had done to me. My dad told me he was sorry he didn't try to get custody of me when I was little and I realized that all my fear of my father was built up out of all the bad things my mother had told me about him...none of which was true.
Despite knowing that I was doing what I had to survive and try to live as normally as possible, I still feel intense guilt over the lies I told and the double life I lived.
69. Stranger In The Restroom
There was this conspiracy that somewhere near our school was an abandoned, two-storey, old, creepy house. In the residential lot there was also an external restroom that was locked. A few people who lived nearby could hear strange noises at night coming from it. Common hearsay stated that a strange person was living inside there with nothing to eat.
So, during a break, we decided to check on it. We couldn't believe what we found. We went to the lot and found the locked restroom only had small, decorated holes on it, so we could only peek a little. We climbed up and peeked into the holes. AND THERE HE WAS. There really was really a strange man living in it, with nothing, and emitting a very foul odour. The man started screaming and threw stuff on the walls. We got out of there fast and never went back.
70. Mall Meet-Up
Everyone in my class was a real jerk to our social studies teacher. She was a 30-something year old woman who peaked in high school and for the life of her never seemed to find love. We all thought she was desperate to find a husband. Rumor had it that she had been on dating websites during class. Then it all unraveled in the most embarassing way possible.
Once, when we were on a field trip, we went to the mall’s food court for lunch. Instead of chaperoning the students, she actually had invited a date to meet her there. So, we were all sitting in the food court snickering and watching her flirt with some random guy. As an adult, I feel bad that we picked on her, but to this day, thinking about her bringing her date to the food court is so cringey.
71. Good-Willed Deception
There was a 20-something-year-old guy in a nearby town who passed. He left a will that granted a bunch of money to his sister, on the condition that she couldn't have it until she got clean from her substance use and went to college. At her graduation, the guy showed up and admitted that he faked his own passing and was actually living overseas. He still gave her the money and helped her open a business with it.
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72. The Old Man Who Lived In The School
There was a door on the side of my school building. There was a rumor that a homeless man lived there, but I just thought that it was a janitor's closet. One day, a guy kicked a ball into that door, and a guy in overalls opened the door and started screaming at the kid. We were terrified. Teachers confirmed that a homeless man lived there and in return he usually cleaned the school after we were gone. I never walked in front of that door ever again.
73. Good Girl, Bad Habits
I was the "good girl" type. I always got good grades, I put myself through college and a master's program, I have an education-related job, I love kids, I'm good to my family and friends, I'm not into partying...all that jazz. Most people who know me would never suspect my darkest secret. I struggled with addiction as a child, and was subjected to emotional pain by my neglectful mother and hot-tempered father.
My real secret, though, is the promiscuity that resulted from that trauma. I think I needed validation, affection, or comfort in some form. As soon as I turned 18, I was completely submerged in the online dating site world. I met many men who were much older than me; men who wanted things I'd never even heard of. I started out having fun, feeling powerful.
I thought I was so beautiful that I could get any man to want me. It started shifting at some point when I realized more and more what I was really doing to myself. I was devaluing myself, thinking my only value was my body. The biggest turning point was when I met this one guy online—I expected him to be just like the rest of him, but he totally surprised me.
He helped change my behavior in a matter of months. Now, don't get me wrong—I don't think there is anything innately wrong with promiscuity. I was just doing it for all the wrong reasons and it made me feel empty instead of fulfilled. Keep in mind that through this wildest, out-of-control phase of my life, I was still working at a daycare, going to class, teaching students, doing my schoolwork, making lesson plans, and maintaining good relationships with my friends and family.
Little did they know that I was actually dying inside, sleeping with multiple men in a single day to try and fill a void in my life. I'm not sure if it will ever be filled—it was left there by my mother and will likely never be satiated by someone else.
74. This Rumor Blew Up
I had heard that years back, some AP chemistry students had to come up with a final project. One student thought it would be fun to make DNT, an explosive precursor to TNT. The chemistry teacher saw no problem with his plan to make an extremely toxic and combustible substance in school. She even helped him and they successfully made it in her chemistry classroom.
She casually asked the school officer where he would recommend they ignite their contraption. He was obviously just bewildered and a detonation squad wound up disposing of their project. The teacher nearly lost her job but they kept her because she was actually a great teacher. She later became my chemistry teacher so I asked her if she had really made TNT with a student. She said, “Oh it was just DNT, it would have been fine!”
75. Pilot Promiscuity
My mother's a flight attendant and she has all these stories about pilots having more than one family. Some even had three or more. They all have houses for each family with several children, and some of them managed to "marry" each wife without them knowing it wasn't legit. They get away with it for so long because they are flying across the country for days or weeks at a time.
76. Something Didn’t Add Up
There was a young math teacher who seemed a little psycho. She was always on edge and she never talked about her personal life. Any attempt to ask her about it was ignored. Because of this, the running joke became that she did away with someone in the last place she lived and moved away to escape suspicion. Unfortunately, we found out this was more accurate than we thought. It turns out she helped her brother chop up his ex-girlfriend and hide the parts.
They found everything scattered across five different states.
77. They Drummed Up The Past
There was a conspiracy about a band student at school who was a dealer. Apparently, he would hide his stash in the band room drum closet. He got expelled for something unrelated and it is said he was unable to retrieve his stash. Many years later, the drum line and I were practicing in the band room. The student who played the bass drum entered the closet to retrieve a new pair of sticks.
He threw his broken stick at the ceiling in an attempt to get it stuck in the tile. The ceiling tile fell out and lo and behold, so did about two ounces of cannabis. The bag was incredibly dusty, one of the corners had been chewed by a mouse, and the weed inside was a bit moldy. But there it was in all its glory. The rumors were true.
78. On The Side
My best friend's boyfriend was raised by a single dad and his two older brothers. Turns out, their dad is secretly married to another woman and they have three children who are their step-siblings. They have no idea about their father's new family.
79. There Was Some Funny Business Going On
There was a couple who taught physical education at my school. The husband lost his life in his late 20s while jogging, and there was a charity trust set up as a college fund for the couple’s children. Then the horrific truth came out. The business teacher was embezzling funds out of the charity trust. He had been close with the couple, but apparently had no problem taking money from the widow.
80. Don’t Mess With The Stache
We had a substitute teacher who was an older gentleman. He had his hair parted to one side and a thin-style mustache. EVERYONE always made fun of him for it. The guy always brushed it off and smirked about it. One day, a group was talking to our principal, who was formerly in the service and someone made a joke about said substitute teacher.
Our principal dropped his smile and became very serious and said, “If you guys only knew what that man went through in Vietnam. He was a former Army Special Forces member and ran black ops. He doesn’t let anything get to him anymore". Everyone stopped joking about him and began treating him with more respect. However, it was never confirmed.
So, one day after school, I asked the sub if he was indeed prior Army Special Forces in Vietnam. It turned out he didn’t run black ops, but was a former MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam–Studies and Observations Group) operator in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos against the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong. I had to look up what that was. It changed my whole perspective on bravery and heroism.
81. Safe House Confessions
My friends and family think I am just a regular bodyguard. I am 6'4" and about 400 lbs the last time I checked. My job started out fairly normal, but the lawyer I work for became deeply involved in a 100-million-dollar illicit distribution ring. He and his associates are constantly under threat. I have personally moved $80 million in cash when one of our dealers was on the run from the law.
Eventually, my boss sold me out to the dealer whose money I moved and he disappeared. The dealer was trying to take out everyone who could tie him to the operation or the money, and that included me. He took the life of my good friend and co-worker, as well as his own partner of two years. The DEA is chasing him, and they are currently protecting me.
I have been in a safe house for over two years now. I can't use my phone because they are tracking it, and the DEA agents who put me here have not returned. I have only recently started using a laptop that was left in the apartment. I took about $400,000 in cash when I moved the $80 million, so I'm under strict rules. I have to have four or five meals delivered every day, but I have not been outside in over two years now.
Hopefully, those two agents will return any day now to update me on the situation.
82. They Weren’t Counting On This
There was a rumor that two students who were looking to get some extra explanations on some math problems during an off period caught the math teacher pleasuring himself in his room. Turns out it was totally true. The teacher never got fired though, he just lost his classroom. He became one of those traveling cart-pushing teachers, since he, obviously, couldn’t be trusted with a closed door.
83. Double-Edged Sword
None of my friends know that I am the granddaughter and heiress to a shipping magnate. I have always lived extremely comfortably. I go to art school, where most of my friends come from middle- or lower-income families, and I have taken out substantial student loans. Sometimes, I have to help my friends pay for some groceries because they just don't have enough money.
I have been told explicitly by my family that I, under no circumstances, am allowed to divulge my economic situation to anyone. My parents want to protect me, and they don't want my economic status to attract negative attention to me. I hate my situation. I know the first thought that will probably come to your mind is, "Wow, your life must be so easy! You're rich!"
Well, it sucks. I'm not going to deny that I am very fortunate and lucky, but it sucks having to pretend to be someone else 24/7 and lie to people on a daily basis about my family. It sucks being embarrassed to tell people what my parents do or invite them over to my house. It's isolating and I have never felt like I have belonged.
84. Doubting Blood
My father got a DNA test done on my autistic, non-verbal little brother because he didn't think he was his child. The results came back and it turns out my brother is his son, but my mother has no idea my dad ever got that done.
85. Teacher’s Pet
There was a kid at school who was absolutely terrible at singing and acting, yet every year, he was given the lead role in whatever play or musical the drama class was putting on. The reasons were scandalous. Rumor had it that he was banging the drama teacher. It was never actually confirmed, but the summer after graduation, the two of them went on a trip to Europe together, so go figure.
86. Meeting Oscar
On my grandmother's 85th birthday, a party was organized. My whole family was there. This is all happening in northern Mexico, so the invitation rules were pretty loose. I was about 17 at the time, so were most of my cousins. One of them, Gerardo, didn't have a girlfriend at the time, so he came with a friend, Oscar. They had been hanging around for about four years, but this was the first time Oscar was going to meet the family.
When they arrived, an older cousin was going around the parking lot collecting money from every cousin so we could buy some booze. Gerardo said he could ask his father for some money, and Oscar accompanied him. When they entered the hall where the main party was taking place, Oscar ran back out. He said he had just seen his father who he had only seen twice before.
Gerardo curiously asked who he was. They both entered and Oscar pointed to the man. Turns out, my uncle was also Oscar's father. Oscar got to meet all of the family. We all got to meet the cousin we didn't know we had.
87. The Truth Was Staring Right At Us
When I was in school there was a rumor that there was an old man living in the school, and that sometimes he would appear in the hallways. No one really believed it, until one day while walking with some friends, we saw him behind a fence, just staring at us. We got really scared, but the truth was stranger than fiction. It turned out that this old man was really the founder of the school. He lived there because the land was his, and therefore he was allowed to do so.
88. Worth A Fortune
I went to a private high school. Every year, the computer teacher would host an "invest in the stock market" competition. He would only pick 10-20 kids, and you would "play" against other schools. We started with 50K of fun money and you got to see what would happen if you would invest. It was a lot of fun. However, people started noticing that the teacher was living way above his means. We found out that he realized the kids would always average out wins overall, so he was using our picks to get rich.
89. Making Things Right
Back in the '80s, I unwittingly got a woman pregnant. She was married at the time and told me she had had a hysterectomy, so I thought she couldn't get pregnant. Yeah, she was a pathological liar. The day she told me that she was to have my child, I freaked out and left. That was not my proudest moment. In fact, the guilt would follow me years later.
Whenever I would date women with children, I'd remember the awful thing I had done. At one point, I even raised a child who was not mine with a woman, and to this day I call her my daughter. My family would always badger me about why I never had any kids...None of them know that I have a child. Eventually, with the help of Al Gore and his internet, I found my daughter.
I saw a photo of her on MySpace, and I kept tabs on her for a while. At one point, she posted something about feeling like she didn't fit in with the rest of her family; like she was different. That's what convinced me to contact her and try to start fresh with her mom. Things went well and we are now on good terms.
90. High School Musical
There were rumors about a music teacher and a student, but they were both pretty dramatic people and did very little to dismiss the talk. So, half the school wanted to believe it for the salacious thrill and half just waved it off as attention-seeking gossip. Later on, the teacher was let go without explanation, but most of us thought it was just budget-related.
Years later, I randomly caught up with the student and she said the rumors were true. But the details made my jaw drop. She had freaked out and tried to end things in hopes of shaking off her reputation. Eventually, the teacher showed up trashed and without clothes on her family's front lawn, in the rain, yelling for her. It was like a messed up version of John Cusack in Say Anything, minus the boombox.
91. Fun Uncle
A few years back, we went on a ski trip. My wife and I were with our friends, and some of them had kids. I'm a first chair, last chair type of person. I'm in line ASAP and I go until I can't go anymore. Well, the group was getting tired, so I said I'd take the kids with me. I took them up the mountain way higher than their parents ever would have. We all got some good speed, but those kids were super good skiers. It was all going smoothly until I made a horrifying realization.
My niece (the youngest of the bunch) got a bit out of control and was headed straight for the trees. I zipped over and caught her just before she hit the tree line. All four of us stopped what we were doing and even though the kids were young, they understood we weren't going to be telling their moms and dads about anything, even though no words were spoken.
Turns out, the earliest memory my niece has of her life is of that day. She doesn't remember the tree part, but her moment with me up high in the hills is the earliest memory she can pinpoint. One of these days, I'll let my brother-in-law and sister-in-law know what happened, but I'll wait for a few more years when the kids stop going up with me.
92. Bridge Over Troubled Water
There was a girl during my freshman year who went missing. They ended up finding her body in the river. There were rumors that she was seen on a bridge with her boyfriend the day she went missing, and that maybe he had a hand in it. Nothing was ever discovered, so, it was assumed that there was an accident, or that she took her life.
Twenty-five years later, the boyfriend did away with his best friend of several decades, set a fire to cover it up, and went on the run. A couple of days later, he killed a woman at a rest stop in the bathroom to take her car. They reopened the case about the high school girlfriend. That rumor was correct all along. He will be behind bars for the rest of his life.
93. Driven Together
The school bus driver started receiving a bunch of anonymous letters accusing her of having an affair with the superintendent. Then they started sending them to her husband. But that wasn't the worst part. Her husband got a phone call that was so bad, he ran out, got into his truck, and peeled off. He ended up getting into an accident and didn’t make it.
The bus driver completely denied she was having an affair. After her husband passed, she got together with the superintendent but swore up and down that the relationship started after her husband passed. Too coincidental.
94. The Lowly Heir
I am a poor man living in project housing in Queens, NY, but I have a secret that could change my life any time now. My father is the chairman of some corporation. My mother was his first wife and he divorced her shortly after my birth before he acquired his fortune. I know who he is, and I've met him a couple of times, but he never participated in my childhood and upbringing. He wasn't even present at my birth.
Because of family law and registry in Asian countries, and because I have official documentation that I am his firstborn son, I am entitled first dibs to the inheritance. Essentially, I am the heir to one of the biggest fortunes in Asia. That said, my mother and I live in real fear that his current wife or her immediate family would harm me in order to prevent me from obtaining it.
My father made life a living nightmare for my mother when they were married. Actually, a lot of his current wealth was seeded from my mother's parents. He was a serial liar and cheater, and he has taken much of my mother's happiness. Despite the fact that I have first dibs by law, obtaining the fortune will be a risky endeavor for me, especially since my father's family employs servants and bodyguards.
My father tends to buy a house near ours whenever we move, just to watch what we are doing. It scares the heck out of me. If I try an inheritance coup, I'd need a bunker or a serious protection program. Even worse, almost all the lawyers in my birth country would be on his family's side. The divorce lawyer he used to divorce my mother, for example, was the mayor of the capital city of my birth country.
My mother got nothing in the divorce, so I live poorly in a housing project with her and with other really poor people who don't mind roaches on their laundry. I live on instant noodles and Pop-Tarts. I don't even own a toaster in my sublet room.
Unsplash
95. A Stranger In The House
The secret is not revealed yet, but when I was in college and my parents got divorced, my dad gave me all the information on what to do if he passes. He told me where things are, and had me go to his bank to sign a document for access to his account after he passes. When we were leaving the bank, he looked at me very seriously and said something so ominous—I'll never forget it.
“Your mother is not who you think she is. Everything you need to know is in my deposit box". I have no clue what he could be talking about—he never elaborated—and my mom laughed it off when I told her about it. Guess I’ll find out one day.
96. Lost In Paris
Each year the senior French class, or the ones who could afford it, took a trip to Paris. About eight years prior, one of the girls on the trip snuck out of the hotel they were all staying in to meet a guy. It ended in tragedy. Nobody ever saw her again. I always thought it was just some quasi-urban legend, but the French teacher who was on the trip, who was still teaching at the school, verified it.
97. Forever Traumatized
A guy wrote to a radio station asking for help about his situation. His story was truly shocking. He had been dating this girl for about three months. They had talked about moving in together after graduating high school. They were both seniors and they went to different schools in different towns. One day, after school, he went over to his girlfriend's parents' house for the first time.
They went to her room and they got intimate. Her parents were gone at the time, so they thought it would be the perfect time to do it. After they did the deed, the guy went to the bathroom and on his way, he saw a photo of his girlfriend's family sitting on a table at the end of the hallway. He walked up to it and picked it up. Upon looking at it, his face went white.
He brought the photo to his girlfriend and asked her who the guy was in the photo. She told him that was her father. He instantly got up, got dressed and left the house, and he told her he could never see her again. Later on, she discovered why he was acting so bizarrely, and the truth made her sick. The man in the photo was his father.
He had caught his dad living a double life. He had two families. His father went on business trips a lot, so every time he was on a "trip," he was actually with her family. He wrote to the radio station seeking advice on what he should do—if he should confront his dad, or tell his mom. I have no idea what he actually did, but man, I wish the kid would write back in and tell us what happened.
98. Serial Fibber
I worked with this guy once who was known for his stories. No matter how loose the connection was, he'd find a way to turn anything into a personal anecdote of a thing he'd seen or done before. All of them were interesting the first time (he'd lived an interesting life—he grew up in America, moved to Australia in his early 20s, worked in a lot of really cool places over the years), but it wasn't long before he started repeating the same stories over and over again.
I worked with him for just over three years, so it got pretty ridiculous. We knew how he'd met his wife, all the obscure things he owned, his pets, his kids—we knew every detail of his life. It became a bit of an inside joke within the office about how the guy never shut up. Then one day, he didn't come in. He passed of a heart attack. The whole office was at a loss, especially our little department (which had about 8 people in it, including him).
When it came to his funeral, our little group took the afternoon off and attended. And that's how we found out the truth—none of his stories were true. He'd grown up locally, his family wasn't at all who we thought they were, none of his old jobs were real...Everything we'd known about him had just been made up. The most interesting thing for me was that at one point, our boss needed someone to head to China to double-check something in person at one of our company's factories.
When the usual choices couldn't do it, he was picked. It seemed like a no-brainer since he was regularly going to China from America to visit his family and he said he had traveled a lot on his other jobs. We now think that may have been his first time overseas.
99. One Man Down
It was an “intentional community” I joined when I was 19. There were a bunch of hippies living in tents on a piece of land. A charming, shirtless dude was the leader, the group included several young women—although there were a few other dudes and an older woman involved as well. After I moved in, I discovered their dark secret.
I learned that one of the other guys had gone missing after having a disagreement with the leader. He packed up his car full of all his belongings, and then…was nowhere to be found. They searched the property for his body, contemplated calling the authorities, but decided not to. Instead, they decided to just hold hands around the fire. I left.
100. Spoiler Alert Will
Two sons of a really wealthy couple go to the family lawyer to have their recently deceased parents' will read. The lawyer is super nervous because he has known them both since they were kids. One son gets the entire inheritance, and the other gets nothing. The explanation was that it should be passed through to blood relatives only. So that was the day he found out he was adopted.
101. What Really Matters
My grandmother is the world's sweetest person of all time. She also, unfortunately, had a horrible, horrible woman as a mother. Her father, though, was incredible. She always talks about the small and sweet things that they used to do together when she was growing up and how much she still misses him to this day.
Recently, she told me that her mother would always tell her, "He isn't your real father, you know" whenever she felt like hurting my grandmother some more. This continued for as long as they knew her. Eventually, her father escaped her mother’s mistreatment, and the two of them never spoke to the mother ever again.
My Nana doesn't blame him at all for what happened, and she still loves him very, very much to this day. But at one point, she decided to get some ancestry tests done. She said that she needed to know the truth about her father before she passed; although she said it wouldn't change anything about how she felt about him one way or the other.
So she took the test. When the results came back, she held her breath and read them out loud. A tear immediately fell down her cheek. As it turns out, her wicked mother was right after all. My grandmother eventually found her biological family and loves to talk about her French heritage with them. This is a heritage that she's only now starting to learn about. To this day, she doesn't hold anything against her non-biological dad and she loves him very deeply.
He took care of my grandmother when her own mother wouldn't. He loved her, soothed her, and nurtured her through everything as if she was his own. He saved my grandmother's spirit, I'll tell you that much. He helped shape her into the most miraculous human being that I've ever met.
To this day, I will always refer to that man as my great-grandfather, and if I ever have a son of my own, I’ll definitely be naming him after him. This story always gets me teary-eyed. But the thought of Alistair, my Nana’s pretend dad, and his unwavering kindness always makes me really happy. I know it makes her happy, too.
102. Miss Me?
It was the day of my husband's funeral. I answered a call from an unknown number—that’s when everything fell apart. There was a woman on the other end claiming to be his girlfriend. She’d been calling his cell for weeks but I’d had it turned off when he was in the hospital. I had no idea that he'd been unfaithful, but it was about to get worse. She told me that he'd been paying her rent for a year—while the bank had been about to foreclose on our house.
103. Me And My Big Mouth
This happened a couple of weeks ago. So I sometimes drive for rideshare companies to make extra cash and keep me off of the couch. I live in a touristy area that booms during summer months and vacation rental homes are common. So common that I sometimes do pick-ups and drop-offs at the same homes for different people week to week and family/friend groups of people renting the homes are the norm.
One particular day, I dropped a guy off at a beautiful home near the beach that I had just picked a guy up from just an hour or two prior. So as we arrive I mention this to the rider: “Hey, I just picked one of your buddies up from here about an hour ago". Rider: “No, must be the wrong house". Me: “Nope, he walked right out of that side door. I dropped him off at a bar. His girlfriend is still in there though, she stayed behind".
I had seen her kiss him goodbye at the door but didn't mention this to the rider. “You guys having a vacation?” Rider: “This is a family-owned home, it's been in my family for years and we don't rent it out. Nobody lives here but my wife and I and I've been in New York for work for the past four days". Awkward silence as we both come to the realization.
He got out and I drove away, scolding myself for having such a big mouth.
104. A Chilling Letter
I am currently cleaning out the attic and getting the house ready to sell due to divorce after 40 years of marriage (my husband cheated…twice). I found a box of his things from before we met: school report cards, boy scout memorabilia, Archie comics…and something so horrifying I’ll never forget it. I picked up a handwritten letter from his older sister. I wish I’d never read it.
The letter detailed her intimate relationship with my husband and his best friend throughout his high school years. She wrote that she wanted him to think of her every time he was with another woman. And now her lack of warmth towards me throughout our marriage makes more sense.
105. Escapism For Moms
My sisters and I found my mom's fantasy love letters that she wrote to other men besides my father. I know they were fantasy because she didn't even know half of them and some were happily married. They were the saddest things I've ever laid eyes on. She wrote about how she wanted to run off with these men and have their babies.
She would write them, wad them up, and just throw them wherever. I'm surprised my father never found them. My youngest sister would scream at her, "ARE YOU INSANE, MOTHER!?!" We just thought she was unhappy with my father and never said anything to him about it.
106. His Phone Confessed For Him
My husband had a cardiac event that required an ambulance. As the ambulance was arriving I asked him if the code to open his phone was XXXX, he said yes, then looked up at me and said, "I am so sorry." He had successful surgery, but had several strokes on the operating table and was taken off life support after seven days. That’s when I learned his dark secret.
When I opened his phone I found out he was having an affair. The same code to his phone also opened his laptop where I found telephone recordings of him and his girlfriend, as well as screenshots of their chats. I don't know how interesting this is, but it was certainly devastating to me.
107. Daddy Issues
This was one of those revelations that haunted me the very moment it came out. It was a case where my client, a mother, was trying to get a restraining order against her brother for harming her kid. The entire time, she’d been super dodgy about the kid’s father’s identity. Well, in the middle of open court…she confessed that the brother was her child’s father.
108. No Show
My wife's grandmother, who raised her, believed that when you are about to die your deceased relatives show up to escort you to heaven. She was by all accounts a horrible person. On her deathbed her last words were, in a quiet terrified voice, "They're not coming".
109. Dad Checks Up On Daughter
When I was 20 years old my brother let me know that I was adopted. Everyone in the family—I'm the youngest of five—knew and kept it a secret. It turns out my mom and birth mom are distant cousins. My birth dad was in a biker gang and he and my mom both had addiction problems and had absolutely no clue how to care for a baby.
After I found this out, I saw some pictures of my birth dad, I was shocked. Turns out I recognized him. He was a regular in the restaurant I worked at the year before I found out about being adopted. He was always very kind to me and told me he knew some of my distant family but left it at that. It turns out he wasn’t there for the food, he just wanted to see who his daughter was and know that I was turning out ok.
110. The False Father
My co-worker's wife had a complicated delivery, but for some reason, they gave the baby a genetic test. I think they were looking for some inherited gene that can only come from both parents. The doctors ended up telling him there was no way it was his baby. That was bad enough, but it gets worse—it turns out that none of his four kids were his.
His newborn, his six-year-old, his 10-year-old, and his 16-year-old all belonged to someone else. His 16-year-old tried to end his own mom and the 10-year-old ran away after the false father cleaned out their savings. The real fathers turned out to be various coworkers of the husband who fled town.
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