The lying party

She felt horrible about it but she didn’t know what else to do.

“Yes, mum. I’m going to sleep at Mary’s house, you don’t have to worry. We’ll just go for a coffee and then straight to her house. Her parents will be there so you don’t have to worry about anything. Tomorrow, I will be back around eleven o’clock.”

As she kissed her mother goodbye and turned her back, she felt guilty for lying to her face and she was about to turn and tell her that she would go to a party with Mary. But without realizing it she reached the door and opened it. And then she saw Mary’s car waiting for her and all her doubts about that plan vanished.

She could not characterize her parents as strict, overprotective or narrow-minded but she knew that they would not allow her to go to that party, because it was organized by college students –while she was still in junior high school-. However, she wanted to go, since all of her friends would, and she didn’t want them to think of her as a child who is scared to say no to her parents.

But when she was in her friend’s car with the window open and she could feel the breeze on her face, she wasn’t thinking about all that stuff. The only thing that was on her mind was that she was free to live her life and to have a good time with her close friends.

As they reached the house where the party was at, they were all stunned by the luxury of it. It was a detached house with a gorgeous and colorful garden. It was built with white marble and there was a huge window at the center of the house. In other words, it was the best, the coolest and the most awesome house they had ever seen in their entire lives.

However, the inside could not compare with the outside at all. Although they could understand that it was a spacious house and well-decorated, it was a complete mess. The music was deafening, people were dancing and drinking everywhere. It was difficult to move, as the number of people in the room was extremely big. The floor was sticky, as liquid had been poured, and full of broken glasses.

Despite the difficulties, they managed to take a glass of something -they had no idea what they were drinking- and to go dancing. There they met some guys who were dancing near them.

“I’m Mark. What’s your name?”

“I’m Jess”, she replied.

“You have a really nice name Jess. Would you like to go somewhere quieter?” he asked.

Mark was a really handsome guy and Jessie liked him very much. It was obvious though that he was much older than her. He was probably in college. But she didn’t want to disappoint him or make him think that she wasn't worth of him so she said yes.

Honestly, she was excited that an older and such a pretty boy was interested in her. It’s not that she was not beautiful. She was a pretty girl but she had her flaws and her insecurities. Her major insecurity was that boys didn’t consider her as an attractive girl. She had some experiences, as she had rejected a classmate of hers and she had kissed a guy from her swimming class but with Mark it was different. He was tall with dark, black hair and brown eyes and she could tell that he was working out.

So, they went to one of the bedrooms and they sat on the bed. They started talking about his school life. He was indeed in college and he told her about some of the adventures that he had with his friends but then he asked about her school experience. She panicked, as she didn’t want to let him down by saying that she was much younger or to come up as desperate

“I am senior at high school. I am thrilled for the graduation. My friends and I have arranged to travel to Amsterdam after the graduation. After that I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know yet if I would like to look for colleges. You know, I think that I would prefer to travel. Of course, my parents are cool with that and when we discussed about it they said that they’ll support me no matter what I decide. What do you think?”

All of that was a lie. She knew that she wanted to study to a good university and be the first of her class but she wanted to seem cool to Mark.

So, after they talked for a little while longer, Mark made a move to kiss her. She didn’t move and after a while she returned the kiss.

“How was it?” he asked

“It was nice”, she said shyly.

“You don’t have to worry. I understand that you don’t have much experience. Would you like me to continue?”

Then the panic really kicked in. Mark was a cool and handsome guy but she wasn’t ready to continue with him at all. The kissing was great but he was in college and she knew that when he said “continue” he meant to do something more than kissing. At that moment she wanted to tell him the truth about her age but then he would think of her as a cheap liar, a child and he would laugh at her.

“I would love to but I can’t. The problem is that I am in a relationship with a great guy and I should not do this. I am so sorry. I really don’t know what else to say. I’m really embarrassed.”

“No, it’s okay. I hope all girls were honest like that” he politely answered but a little angrily. 

When she returned to her friends, they danced for an hour or so and then went to Mary’s home. Then, Jess told Mary what happened although she left out the part that she lied to him about her age. She focused on the fact that he was gorgeous and he wanted to move to the next level with her.

The next morning, after she went back home, she sat with her mother at the kitchen table and she came up with a great story about how she spent the night with Mary. She even told her the storyline of the movie that they supposedly watched but she just thought of it at that moment.

After she finished her narration to her mother, she went to her room, she lay at her bed and started thinking of all the lies she told. She had never lied before but she just discovered that she was actually good at it. Everybody believed her. Nobody questioned her. Although there were times that she felt guilty or she panicked, she remained calm and she was always believable without saying exaggerated things. Yes, she knew that lying was a bad thing but she managed to do what pleased her and nothing terrible happened. She felt like she had discovered a hidden talent in her and she could not wait to test its limits. She could not wait for the next party. Or maybe she could arrange a sneak out so that her friends and she could go to the new bar that opened downtown.          

~Xenitidou Panagiota