Later that day, I find myself lying lazily on the living room couch. Kaitlyn is on the couch beside me—upside-down, of course—swinging her legs in the air.

“I’m…kinda bored,” she sighed.

“I can tell,” I said, without looking up. “Put the TV on, or something, to entertain yourself.”

“There’s nothing on. Besides, I can watch TV at home. I’m here to hang with you.”

“Is that why you’re upside-down?” I quip.

“Ha ha,” she says sarcastically. “It’s why you should stop scrolling through Facebook and start engaging me in conversation.”

“Oh, but this is so interesting,” I say, knowing that this is frustrating her. “I love reading these super exciting ads on my feed.” I search for the most menial posts I can find. “Oh look!” I say with fake enthusiasm. “There is currently a 2-for-1 sale at Jack’s Hardware! And, damn, our old English teacher just posted a motivational quote. Hey, look, a university we don’t even go to is throwing a party this weekend. Woah! Pool noodles that are twice as long as normal…”

“What’s that about a party?” she chimed in.

With a sigh, I muttered, “Ah, shit.”

“Jacob,” she said sternly, “tell me about the party.”

“It’s at a uni we don’t go to, with people we don’t know, and I’m not going.”

“But I’m going…”

“No, you’re not,” I interrupt.

Unphased, she continued, “…and we do everything together. You can’t expect me to go alone, can you?” Out came the puppy eyes again.

“You know nothing about this party. You don’t even know anyone who might be going,” I reasoned.

“That’s the best part,” she beamed as she spoke. “We can be anyone.” I didn’t reply. “What day is it? What time?”

“You are busy that day,” I replied.

“No, I’m not.”

“No, you’re not.”

“What day?” she asked, as if she was coaxing the truth out of a stubborn child.

“I’m busy that day.” I couldn’t help but smile as I said that. That was an outrageous lie, even when compared to the obvious lies from earlier.

“Yeah, right!” she exclaimed.