Introverts, Lies, and Parties

1

“Are you coming tonight?” a cheerful voice behind me asks.

I turn my head around to see Isabelle with a cheerful expression on her face.

“What’s tonight?” I ask.

Isabelle laughs. “What’s tonight? Maya’s surprise party! Come on, Sky! You’ve known about this for months!”

I blush, embarrassed. Now that Isabelle is reminding me, I totally remember getting the invitation three months ago!

“Oh. Right. Um… I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to go,” I mumble. Please don’t ask why, please don’t ask why, please don’t ask why…

“Why not?” Isabelle asks. “You RSVP’d “yes” the day after the invitations were sent!”

“Oh. Yeah. Something just came up… my grandma’s sick and she wants us to go visit her,” I say, trying to look sad. “I’m sorry I can’t come through. It would have been fun.”

“Oh, well. That’s ok! I hope your grandma gets better!” Isabelle says and then skips away to the next table to remind everyone about the party.

I feel terrible for lying, but I’m so glad I won’t have to come to the party. I love Isabelle, and she’s so nice, but being around other people just drains me. Why can’t someone throw a party where all everyone does is read and sit outside on the back porch quietly?

The bell rings, alerting everyone that our next class is in five minutes. I throw away my lunch and walk alone through the hallways to my next class.

2

“Sky, I need you to be ready for Maya’s party by 4:30!” my mother calls when I get home.

Great. I didn’t think about this. What would I tell my mom?

“Well, Mom, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I start, walking into the kitchen where my mother is sitting. She sees me and gestures for me to go out of the room. “What-” I start. She puts a finger to her lips and points to her screen. Oh. She’s in a meeting.

I roll my eyes and then walk out of the room, heading upstairs. I pull out my phone and almost cry when I see what’s on the notification page.

First, Isabelle texted me:

Hey girl! I’ll be praying for your grandma! I dropped off some cookies on your porch a few minutes ago, for you to give to her. I’m so sad you can’t come to the party tonight, but I know seeing your grandma is a lot more important.

Then, the text below that is from my grandma, who is perfectly healthy! She says:

Hey Sky! Your mother told me about that big party you have tonight! I hope you have so much fun! I know you are probably nervous, being as introverted as you are, but I’m sure you’ll have fun! Text me when you get back home tonight!

And finally, a text from my mom, which she must have written while she was on the meeting:

Be ready at 4:30 like I said, so I can take you over to Isabelle’s. Oh, and did you have something you needed to tell me? I’m done with my meeting, so you can come down here and talk to me.

Oh great. Today is going to be fun! 

3

I walk back downstairs to the kitchen, after getting Isabelle’s cookies from the front porch, and then sit down next to my mom.

“Sky, did you have something you needed to tell me?” she asks.

I try to come up with something in my head before I say something, but I can’t think of anything. I’ll just have to make it up as I go. “Well… I’ve been thinking. I’m only a freshman in high school. Aren’t I too young to go to a party where practically our whole school is going to be there?” I ask.

Mom rolls her eyes and says, “Sky. It’s not the whole school, you know this! It’s just a few people in your grade. And Isabelle’s parents are very responsible. They are making sure the party is very safe. It’s just a birthday party! There’s nothing to be worried about!”

I shrug. That was probably a stupid question. “Ok, fine. The real reason I don’t want to go is that I signed up for… babysitting the Gray’s kids. They asked me last week and I said yes, not remembering that I had the party tonight. I can’t just… not go on such short notice. Don’t worry, I already told Isabelle and she said it was fine.”

Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me.

“I don’t believe you!” Mom exclaims.

“You don’t?” I ask.

“Sky this is great! You’re finally stepping out of your comfort zone! What time do you have to be there?” she asks.

“Um… 5:00, but I was thinking I’d just walk there. I mean, they only live five minutes away,” I say.

“Yes, but that’s driving. Walking would take an hour! We’ll leave at 4:45, so you can get there a little early to talk to the Grays,” Mom says, and then stands up to go to her bedroom.

What am I going to do? I can’t just get dropped off at the Gray’s house and then just pretend to babysit their kids!

4

I know what to do. I’ll tell Dad to pick me up.

He’ll be on his way back from work! I’ll tell him that… nope. I can’t do it. I can’t lie anymore. This is a disaster.

But I can’t just tell the truth now… they’ll be so mad at me…

I look back at my phone and tell Isabelle thanks for the cookies. I tell her that we just got to my grandma’s house and she loved them.

But what do I tell my grandma? I can’t tell them about babysitting the Grays! She knows them way too well and would text them, and then find out I was lying… So I text my grandma that I’m not able to go to the party because I got sick from someone at school today.

But when I send the text I suddenly regret it. She’s going to text my mom and ask how I’m doing, and then my mom’s going to find out and then… I’ll most likely be grounded for two weeks.

Whatever. What’s done is done.

I pack a bag of stuff for babysitting, and start to get excited, but then I remember that I’m not actually doing it. Just pretending.

At 4:45 we get in the car and drive to the Gray’s house.

“I’ll take you in. I want to go say hi to Sally,” my mom says and we start to walk up to their house.

“No, no! It’s ok! You know what, I just got a text from Mrs. Sally saying that they just left, and that the kids are waiting for me in the living room!”

“But their cars are still here-”

“They got an Uber! Bye mom!” I push her into her car and start walking up the driveway. When her car turns the corner, I run down the sidewalk, away from the Gray’s house, and pull out my phone to text my dad.

I ask him to come pick me up here. Instead of telling him any lies, I just tell him the truth.

10 minutes later, he comes and picks me up. He doesn’t look mad. Honestly, he looks like he’s been laughing!

“Dad… what’s so funny?” I ask.

“Well… it sounds like you’ve worked so hard to not go to a party, that you could have had fun at, and instead you’ve just created a whole series of lies! I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson,” he says, chuckling.

“Yeah. I guess I have. Hey Dad?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“I know I asked you to take me home, but can you take me to Isabelle’s house? I think I’ll go to the party.”

“I was already going that direction,” he says.

I send apologies to Mom and Grandma and Isabelle, and they all forgive me.

The party was a lot better than I thought it would be, and I enjoyed it!

I’m never going to try to get out of going to one again.