I Lied About My Mom

Okay, so this is going to sound awful, but I need to get it off my chest. It's been eating me up for years. I lied about my mom. Not a huge, life-altering lie, but a lie nonetheless. I was maybe 16, and trying way too hard to impress this girl, Emily. She was everything I wanted to be: cool, confident, popular. And she was actually talking to *me*.

We were hanging out at her house, and her mom was making cookies. Emily started complaining about how her mom was always nagging her, and I, wanting to be relatable and cool, jumped right in. I said something like, "Ugh, I know! My mom is the WORST. She's always on my case about everything!" The thing is, my mom wasn't the worst. She was… fine. Actually, she was pretty great. She worked hard, she was always there for me, and yeah, she had rules, but they were reasonable. But in that moment, I wanted Emily to think I was just like her, so I trashed my mom. I even made up some stuff, like how my mom wouldn't let me go to parties or wear makeup.

Emily totally ate it up. She was like, "Oh my god, that's so unfair!" And I felt this little rush of… triumph? But it didn't last long. I've felt guilty about it ever since. I never told my mom what I said. She doesn't know. And now it's been so long, it feels impossible to bring it up. But every time my mom does something nice for me, or tells me she loves me, that stupid lie comes back to haunt me. I feel like a terrible person. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. I just hope she never finds out. Maybe writing this down will help, even just a little bit.