August 7, 2014 WHEN YOU MADE UP A STORY AND TOLD EVERYONE Today’s question comes from Katy, who writes: I’m going through a major problem right now. I lied to everyone and said that I met someone famous when I didn’t. I made a really convincing story up and even told my best friend. I’m really confused at the moment, and I know this sounds stupid, but I’m scared that if I tell everyone the truth they’ll hate me! Please help! My Advice: Hi Katy! I feel super bad for you because I can tell you’re really upset about this. OK, so lying isn’t at the top of the list when it comes to nice things to do, but I have a feeling you didn’t make up this story because you’re a no-good, nasty fibber. I’m guessing that maybe you did this because you wanted to get everyone’s attention, or you wanted to have something cool to talk about. And who doesn’t want those things? Sometimes I get totally bored with my usual janitor’s closet updates: “MacKenzie called me a dork! I embarrassed myself in front of Brandon! I’m SO over math!” It’s like, new day, same drama! It would DEFINITELY be a lot more fun to bust into the closet with a gripping story about meeting Justin Bieber at the mall (where he was buying some new pants that actually fit him, since his always seem to be falling off…but I guess that would be an OBVIOUS lie, since that would never happen!). Anyways, my point is, this doesn’t make you a bad person (especially since you care enough to fess up), and your real friends will realize that. They might be a little annoyed at first, especially since they’ve probably been secretly jealous. But if you explain why you did it and apologize, they’ll get over it! Trust me, in the world of friendship annoyances, making up a story about meeting someone famous is right there with “farting loudly during a movie” and “buying the same shirt your BFF just bought”…not that big of a deal, and definitely not a hate-worthy offense! As for people who AREN’T your friends, they might not be as understanding. And because they may also get tired of talking about the same drama every day, they might talk about this for a while. But your real friends will be there, sticking up for you, reminding you not to feel bad about the whole thing because there are FAR worse things than pretending you met someone famous…like picking on a good person who made a mistake and was brave enough to own up to it! What do you guys think? Do you have any advice for Katy?