Lila had always felt the need to appear important to those around her. Its why she lied to the class so much. She may not have done all these impressive things that she claimed to have done, but so long as the class believed it that was all that mattered to Lila. She had learned from a young age that nobody paid attention to unimportant and boring people. After all, no one ever paid any attention to her mother.
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Lila may have also lied about her mom’s career. She had told everyone that she was a diplomat from Italy and worked at the embassy. While it is true that her mother works at the embassy, she is no diplomat. Her mother works in the cafeteria inside the embassy. Mrs. Rossi loved to cook and really enjoyed her job, but Lila wasn’t impressed. Cooking all day for the other embassy employees was not a particularly glamourous job in Lila’s eyes. So when they moved here and her new class asked what her mom did, she made sure to make her mom sound much more impressive. The class ate it up, and hung off of Lila’s every word from that point forward. Lila didn’t think anything of this lie. After all, what is the harm in lying about this? Not like her mother would ever find out.
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However, luck was not on Lila’s side. The school had decided to have an event called international week. Each day of the week, a diplomat from the different embassies in the city would visit the classes in the school to discuss the culture of their respective countries. When Lila heard, she was nervous. What if the Italian diplomat was sent to her class? If that happened, her class would figure out she had lied! But she had always lucked out before. There are 157 embassies in this city. Surely things would work out like they always do. What are the odds that the Italian embassy would be picked and sent to her class? Feeling secure once more, Lila just relaxed and started planning out lies about how she knew whatever diplomats were sent to her class.
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The Italian diplomat, Mr. Bacinni, had just arrived for work and his assistant was going over some details for the day. “Also, sir, we received a request from a local school here in the city. Francois Dupont has asked if you would be willing to attend their international week event and speak to one of their class about Italy. I have already checked your schedule and if you are interested in going, you have some time Friday afternoon.” Mr. Bacinni thought about it, and decided to go. It would be a good learning experience for these students, and he would love to teach them about Italy. With that decided, the embassy sent word to the school that they accepted their offer and could come on Friday. They received word in a few hours about the class that they would be speaking to. So Mr. Bacinni started preparing what he was going to say to Mrs. Bustier’s class.
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Lila was pretty happy. International week was almost over. No one from the Italian embassy had come to any class in the school as far as she knew, and her lies were still safe. She had even told a few lies about the diplomats who had visited and the class was thrilled by the new stories. So far, they had met diplomats from Greece, Germany, Brazil, and New Zealand. At first Lila had wanted the diplomat from Achu to give her more information about the kingdom to use in her lies, but she quickly realized that would cause an issue for her as well, and was glad that hadn’t happened. Today was the last day and they were about to find out which diplomat would visit them today. Mrs. Bustier answered a knock at the door and let a man into the classroom with a smile on her face. “Everyone, please welcome our diplomat for the day. Mr. Bacinni from the Italian embassy.” Lila froze, as did most of the class. Lila only had one thought running through her mind. Oh no.
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Mr. Bacinni went through his presentation, not noticing how tense the class was. The class just stared at the man in front of them, wondering what was going on. This man obviously couldn’t be Lila’s mom. But Lila wouldn’t have lied to them, would she? Mr. Bacinni finished his presentation and asked if the class had any questions. But he didn’t get the questions that he expected. Instead, a girl with long brown hair and glasses asked, “Yeah, do you know Lila’s mom? Do you work with her?” Mr. Bacinni was very confused. “Lila? Who is Lila?” The same girl who asked, pointed at the girl sitting next to her with long brown hair and an orange jacket. “Her, this is Lila. Lila Rossi. Don’t you work with her mom? Her mom also works at the embassy.” Mr. Bacinni looks at the young girl, who is obviously uncomfortable and trying not to draw attention to herself. Mr. Bacinni may not recognize the girl, but he does recognize her name. Mr. Bacinni made a point to know everyone who worked in the embassy and speak with them when he could. He would often have discussions with a Mrs. Rossi who worked in the cafeteria. This must be her daughter. Mr. Bacinni just assumed that Lila was shy and answered the young girl’s question hoping to get it out of the way and get to questions about Italy. “I know her mother. But we don’t work together per say, seeing as Mrs. Rossi works in the cafeteria of the embassy. But I do enjoy speaking with her from time to time. Now does anyone have any questions about Italy or my work as a diplomat?”
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Mr. Bacinni noticed the instant change in the classroom. It felt like it had gotten significantly colder in a matter of seconds. The young Miss Rossi looked horrified and kept looking at the door like she wanted to leave. A few members of the class and the teacher asked some half hearted questions, but it was clear that the class wasn’t paying attention. Eventually the same girl who asked the first question, who had been growing angrier and angrier since her first question, jumped up and yelled. “What do you mean her mother works in the cafeteria?! That isn’t right! Lila told us her mother was a diplomat! Why would you lie about her mother?!” Mr. Bacinni bristled at the accusation. He turned to face the two girls again. Alya, as he now knew was her name, looked furious, while Lila looked pale and like she wanted to be anywhere but here. It was clear to him now that Lila had lied about her mother and had been spreading false stories around. He was sure she didn’t mean any harm, but still this was not acceptable. “Mrs. Cesaire, I am not lying. Mrs. Rossi works in the cafeteria. She is a very nice woman, but she isn’t a diplomat. I am afraid your friend has been lying to you. I do not appreciate being called a liar. So I believe I will take my leave now. Goodbye.” With that, Mr. Bacinni left the school and went to have a quick chat with Mrs. Rossi to tell her what her daughter had been doing.
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The class quickly looked up Lila’s other stories after Mr. Bacinni left, all the while Lila wailed about how she was telling the truth and they had to believe her. But it was no use. The class soon discovered she had lied and started yelling at her. Lila played the last card in her hand and ran from the room crying, hoping to get some sympathy for when she came back. She went straight home, already trying to come up with a way to get out of this mess, not expecting to be confronted by an angry Mrs. Rossi. Mrs. Rossi hadn’t expected to speak to Mr. Bacinni that day, since he would be out of the building for a presentation. But when he came into the cafeteria and told her about what her daughter had been saying, she was furious. Mr. Bacinni thankfully understood that it wasn’t Mrs. Rossi’s fault so she wasn’t in trouble, but Lila could have caused some major problems depending on the stories she told. This lying had to stop. Mrs. Rossi was still furious when Lila came home and yelled at her daughter for a long time. Lila was grounded indefinitely, and would also be made to apologize to the class. Mrs. Rossi had also decided to send Lila to a boarding school in Italy and warn the staff about her lying. Lila left Paris by the end of the week and no one in Mrs. Bustier’s class heard from her again.
