Short Stories

Prompt 1 - Pathological Liar

I'm a compulsive liar. And just from that, you probably know where this is going. Well, it's not so much a story as it is a stupid journal entry. Apparently it'd help to "write stuff down" and try to "recognize a pattern," since some people think little white lies are a problem.

But it's not like I lie about everything! I'm not a bad person. I'm not! I just... get into trouble a little. Or uh, sometimes. Yeah, I get into trouble often. See? I'm trying!
But that's almost never a problem. Like, you can't just lie about everything if you're gonna suck at it. Everyone's gonna know. Nobody's gonna believe you. And if nobody believes you, what's the point? No, you gotta be convincing. I mean, it's not like I'm lying about big stuff. It's more like, "Hey, are you free today?" And then I say, "Nah, sorry. I'm kinda busy," when really I just hate the guy who asked and would rather do anything else. But hey! Nobody's feelings were hurt! And it'd be worse if I hurt his feelings, right? Right? Yeah, so it's not like lying is all that bad. It's not like I'm going around telling people that their house burnt down or that the world's ending.

But uh, what really got me was a really stupid lie. She never found out, because again, you gotta be good at lying to pull it off, but this one just made me feel bad, and it still does, and it's driving me crazy, which is why I'm being forced to do this in the first place. Yeah, 'cause it's a "problem."

But anyway, my friend's birthday was like a week ago. And for a while, we had this whole thing planned out. My friend, she's pretty much the opposite of me. She's smart and friendly and she's always super busy, so I pretty much never get to see her anymore. So y'know what happened?
Probably like a month ago, we were supposed to go to the park together. Maybe get some ice cream too. I was looking forward to it forever. So I showed up super early and just sat there and waited. And then the meeting time came around, and she didn't show up, so I figured, "Hey, she's probably late," but then like, half an hour passed and she still wasn't there. I started getting worried about her. Like, actually worried. We don't exactly live in the best place. So I'm just sitting there, freaking out, blowing up her phone, and then an hour after we were gonna meet she texts that "something came up." Apparently they were short staffed that day at her job, but back then, I was so pissed that I barely even believed her. We never get to see each other, and on the one day I was looking forward to FOREVER, she just stays at her little job and works overtime. I was heartbroken. She didn't even text me about it until then! Why didn't she tell me earlier?! So I started thinking the worst again. Maybe she just found someone better to hang out with. Someone more like her. Someone who actually deserves to be friends with a good person like her.

So, what'd I do? What'd I do, like an absolute jerk?

I waited until her birthday, and then I didn't show up. I actually did the same thing she did. I didn't answer any of her texts, any of her calls, waited a whole hour since we were supposed to meet, and then I called her back and told her that something came up. And yknow what? She believed me. Like, she actually believed me. And she spent the whole day by herself.

Remember, I was planning that for a whole month. I was pissed at her for standing me up and I wanted to get back at her. I thought it'd make me feel better. And every time we texted since then, I pretended I was fine and that everything was normal with us. I just lied. That whole month, I just lied to her every time we spoke, and it was easy. She's supposed to be my best friend. She's supposed to be the person I care about the more than anything and I just lied to her because I was mad. And for what? Like, the one reason I was so pissed off in the first place was because I just wanted to spend one day with her. Then I finally got my chance, and I blew it, because I'm a jerk, and I made her spend her whole birthday alone. I don't even know when's the next time we'll be able to meet up again. I should've just told her the truth like any normal person would do instead of sitting there and lying to her for a month! I should've told her how mad I was! We could've made up, we could've had the best day of our lives on her birthday, but we didn't, all because I couldn't just tell the stupid truth.

And somehow, the worst part is that she still believes me. She REALLY thinks that I WAS busy that day! And now I actually feel bad. I never felt bad about lying before, but now it's like I'm being crushed by it. I know I have to tell her the truth, but I'll just hurt her feelings. And if I hurt her feelings, she'll get mad. And if she gets mad, she'll probably never wanna hang out with me ever again. So I guess I'll just keep it inside until I burst. Lying's better than making someone feel bad. It's better this way, right? Yeah, gotta be. Maybe I'll get to wish her a happy birthday next time.