The true or false game

It was the first day of the ninth grade, and we had a new English teacher who loved to play games. Specifically, she was addicted to a true or false game she taught us. Three of my friends and I were one team: we stood in front of the class and each had to tell the class something we’d done during the vacation. One of us should tell a lie, and the class could ask us all questions to try to find out who was the liar.

When we planned our team strategy I immediately volunteered to tell the truth, because I wanted to tell everybody about my vacation. I’d been to my very first concert. One of my favorite singers, Toni Childs, had performed in our town, and I’d been near the front row with my best friend Claire. Listening and seeing Toni Childs singing and swaying just a few feet away from me was an experience that had blown my thirteen-year-old mind away. It was so different to hearing her album in my room on the cassette player I’d got for Christmas.

At game time, the class asked my other friends questions about their vacation activities, probing with detailed questions to see if the liar would slip up. Then they asked me about the Toni Childs concert. One student asked what the first song had been, and I loudly and proudly answered “Zimbabwae” without pausing for breath. They asked another couple of questions and unfortunately my enthusiasm gave them the clear message that I wasn’t the liar. Our team lost that game, although by the next time we played it, I’d learned to lie better.