Adopt a Secret

I know we've got one for family secrets, but what about other kinds? My plot this year is heavily based around personal secrets, and I still need a few more, so I thought I'd start this and see if anyone here in internet-land wants to share. If it's too close to the one already going, I apologise.

To start things off:
- Several characters are impersonating the same person, under different circumstances and to different people
- A character is actually the opposite gender to the one they present themself as
- A character goes to extreme lengths to keep others from finding out that they are involved in something completely legal and even laudable, like volunteering with underprivilaged kids, because it would ruin their 'tough guy' image
- A character has an incurable illness that they haven't told anyone about

Pretty much covered a lot of ground there. Let's see.... what are some more secrets that people hide in everyday life....hmmm, thinking about news reports recently....

-Murdering a family member and claiming they are only missing
-A Priest/Minister while hiding that they are actually a pedophile
-An agent for one country, when in fact they are an agent for another country/countries
-An upstanding citizen serving in a position of great respect, but actually embezelling funds and such
-An officer impersonating a high school student to do a drug bust
and the list of reality could extend into infinity.

Pen

Hm. I'm intrigued by your characters impersonating the same person. I too have a character who is posing as the opposite gender, because she knows she won't be able to work on a ship as a girl. Another one of my characters has a gift that he doesn't know about yet, but the wrong people know about (this is historical fantasy).

Maybe something with cheating? Like they cheated on a really important exam that affected their life in a big way, and no one knows. Sorry if that isn't very helpful- the ones you've got so far a quite good.

Well, one of my main characters has wings, so hows that for a secret?

Small Secrets:

The character never quite learned how to fold a map.

The character has a habit of setting things on fire.

The character happens to be in love with someone they've never met.

The character secretly resents a much-loved family member

The character has nearly died before, but hasn't told anyone because...
a) They don't want to cause alarm or be embarrassed by getting into a dumb situation
b) they were involved in something that they could tell anyone about

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-the character knows what's going to happen in the future, and they can't do anything about it. Why upset your friends when you know exactly how and when they're going to die?
-the character is in the midst of betraying their closest friends. (In one story I once wrote, the main character was the villain, working with the "heroes" in order to achieve a villainous goal - of course there was quite a lot of "I like these people but I'm still going to betray them" angst)
-the furtive but unusually lucky character is keeping a wish-granting well/magic item/money tree/fairy in their basement
-the character that seems to have a god-given talent has really sold their soul for that ability

character's sister has been living with and is married to her sisters husband....

"I didn't get into that school; I was living with friends and working in a diner the entire time you thought I was at uni."
"I spent my child's college fund so that they'd never be able to look down on me."
"I knew he/she was taken when we met. I just didn't care."
related to the above: "I still don't."
"I told you I learned to swim, right? Well, that was wrong."
"Those mysterious murders? I knew about them, but I'm not the killer."
related to the above: "Actually, I _am_ the killer."
"Anonymous gifts? Nope, don't know anything about them." [a lie]
"So, you found out about the gifts? I admit it, I was too shy to give them in person, but it was me." [another lie]
"I love you, so much." [they don't]
"I never loved you." [it's true]

I also need some secrets, more like confessions since my novel is *about* a girl confessing secrets for a whole month, one secret each day.
And I still can't find the secrets that would... fit with me MC.
Help? Anyone?

A few more from the list I've been keeping for a while:

Can't fall asleep without drugs
Adopted a child without telling their family
Fought on the "wrong" side of a recent (or even current) war
Secretly harbouring illegal aliens (or extraterrestrial ones)
Is actually a double agent working for the good guys
Really does know where the bodies are burried
Is a criminal. Alternately, is not a criminal, and chooses not to correct everyone's assumption that s/he is

Maybe a secret pregnancy?
Or they have some incurable disease?
Or they're depressed and cut/drink/do some other self-destructive thing?
Or they have some type of addiction? (Can be a normal drug/alcohol addiction, or something like an internet or candy/caffine addiction)

As for smaller secret:
They're a nudist, or have attempted being a nudist in the past (I see this as a small secret, though others may not...)
Went skinny dipping in the river
Just went swimming in the river in general (My mother would kill me if I ever did this)
Stole something
Owns someone a large amount of money
They crossdress
They're homo/bi-sexual
They have some weird phobia
They claimed to be an expert on something, when they're not

I hope this is helpful to somebody. ;)

-The character has problem with analog clock and time. Digital works just fine, but converting is also a problem
(Saying "half past five" doesn't tell this character anything. Saying 06:30 makes sense)
Yes, this one is based on myself...
- Is actually a ninja
- Isn't really a ninja
- Used to be a pirate, but is now a ninja
- Used to be a ninja, but is now a pirate
- A character knows about the stairs down to the centre of Earth
- A character is actually the sacred protector of the stairs down to the centre of the Earth
- Is actually mute, it was the parrot on the shoulder that was speaking all along

I don't think some of the above ideas count as family secrets. LOL

The family is riddled with incestuous relations and the children from these unions are not quite "Normal"
The entire family are jewel thieves or cat burglars.
Certain members of the family have a taste for cannibalism.
The men are hunters and the prey are humans.
Certain family members are terrorists.
The family are immortals.
The family are vampires, werewolves, or whatever paranormal entity you can think of,
The family are ghost hunters.
Ancestral home is full of ghosts which interact with the family and so do not invite people over and are very private and unsociable.

They secretly help out at the soup kitchen

And a bunch more, because this thread needs some love:

Has a tattoo that is terribly out of keeping with the kind of person they are. Examples might include a vocal athiest with a tattoo of a religious symbol, or a big tough biker with a tattoo of a fluffy kitten.

Isn't actually a criminal, but choses to let everyone believe they are. Alternately, really wants to be a criminal, but their attempts at committing crimes never work out they way they want.

Secretly harbouring illegal aliens... or extra terrestrial ones.

Won a big jackpot in another state and never told anyone about it.

Genius, but likes to fail classes
Likes children (not in a pedo way, but a motherly way)
They're blind
Pregnant
Gay
unheard religion?
Has a gland problem so they keep growing in height
hates something their friends gives them all the time
Demon!
Under fed so low nutrition
really dirt thoughts ;) and their teens. HA, HA HA!
They're racist or a family member is

molested by a cousin as a child
is a clean freak, but their home is messy (figure that out)
had sex when they were 13 with an older, more experienced teen because they looked older than they were
secretly loves anime
dating someone, but hasn't told anyone beyond a few close friends
likes to dress up nicely in the privacy of their own room/apartment/house (is otherwise a casual dresser who is never seen in dressy clothes in public)
has a compulsion that makes them buy flashdrives/calendars they like when they see them and so has a large collection
cut their own hair and blamed it on a classmate to get a haircut
is harboring several kittens/puppies in their room that they found on the street and pets aren't allowed where they live
scared to death of frogs
can't concentrate unless music is playing
or, is deaf, but 'listens' to their music loudly to hide it
they're actually homeless
they're telekinetic (can move things with their mind)

how are these?