Holding together an elaborate lie is hard! :Gonk:

[Lady Schist]

Nahhhh. It's hard holding together a big lie that affects a lot of things. Both my parents and my uncle in town believe I'm still in college, when I took this year off... they'd be so disappointed. ._.

I took a shift that's very good real world like, but for a student would be hell. 11-7 monday to friday. So I was about to tell my uncle when I could have dinner monday, and the conversation went like this.

"Oh, I'm free on monday.. after 7:30ish," and he was all "ooh so you're working?" and I was all "yup! : D" and he was all "where?" and then I died because the place I'm working doesn't ever hire part time people, and so I was all "oooh, the auh... garden place. In the mall *nodnodnod*" and he was all "I am psychic and know everything and disapprooooove" and I was all "^________^;;;;;"

And then I died.

*Sadness*  

[Iconised Ghost]

lol i hate trying to hold a lie together, its hard enough to hold life together as it is! >.< So i just tell ppl the truth if i need to and deal with it. Sometimes its fun and sometimes its really not ^-^'' Of course, if they dont need to know then i dont tell them wink  

[Agorphia]

That'd be terribly awkward. D:  

[X Halt Salute]

I understand the whole pressure to be in school thing. :[
If it were me with my family in the situation I'd tell them I worked somewhere ridiculous like NASA and if they probed further I'd just make it seem like a joke. My family doesn't ask a whole lot of questions though, so.. sweatdrop  

[Sell Out Kid]

I know how you feel. Exams are coming up, I think I'm going to die. I'm lying too. I live with my Dad and my mom thinks I'm taking a year off, but I'm going to school in the fall.

We're both going to hell xp  

[CosmicSweetss]

sweatdrop This is why we don't lie. Even if the truth is hard, the lie is 10 times harder.

Hopefully you can get out of it okay and move on without anyone knowing.  

[A Touch of Evil]

I'm in the same exact predicament. Last fall, I ended up getting two D's (because I suck at chemistry and college algebra) so last semester, I tried taking the math again, and got a D again. But it wasn't my fault then, the teacher SUCKED! I think only one person passed and everyone else in the class had D's and lower. Anyways, my parents think I passed those two classes from the beginning (last year, fall). So last semester (spring), they thought I wasn't in school ("I'm trying to decide if this career is right so I need time away from school") but really, I was secretly re taking the math class........and then got the second D. What a drag. So now, august 16th is the new semester and I have both the math and chem plus 3 other easier classes, so my parents will only know about the 3 other classes. So stressful. But if I tell them that I really didn't pass those classes from before, it'll be even more stressful because my parents are just stressful as it is.  

[Almost Poetic]

The general rule is to NEVER lie about something you don't know much about, and to plan all possible questions prior to applying the lie in everyday life.

That being said, you'd have 2 main things to explain, if you keep in contact with your family while lying:
1) What are you doing during the time you are actually working?
2) Where is the money coming from?

The answers I would have chosen are:
1) Classes, then a study group. You don't need to give the name of the group or anything since study groups are typically set up by students without any paperwork or registration with the school. Since there is no possible paper trail, they have nothing to look for, and therefore is no way to find out that lie outside of them coming down to the school and checking your schedule and finding you not in a group. Just avoid saying what part of the school you're studying in (cafeteria, library, dorms, etc.) so they don't know where to go to if they decide to stop by.

2) You've decided pick up a school job of helping the librarian. This is the best one to use, since the library ALWAYS needs help, and is always hiring. Plus, flexible hours means that a large portion of hired students are working (or have worked) in the library before.

Of course, this is from what I know about my own school. They have evening classes, so I could say that I go to the latest classes, and then have a short study group session. Of course, if I find a REALLY late class, I would just say that I dropped the study group. Also, for the first question, it would be best if you started off by going through the school's class list with times and just said that you'll be attending classes relevant to your major that end very late. If your parents don't check the classes/times (which I'm assuming they don't if they think you're in school when you aren't), you could always just make something up. Nobody will know any better.

Adding guilt or negative emotions to all lies prevents the person from asking about them later. Don't be happy that you joined a study group; be ashamed. You feel insecure about the fact that you might not be doing so well in your classes as you've hoped. Assuming the person you're talking to cares about you, he will either try to make you feel better by saying it's nothing to be ashamed of, or to change the subject suddenly. Either way, he won't pry into details. If he does, you just need to avoid it and say that you're uncomfortable talking about it, or just continue making things up.

Never offer extra details. Instead of saying your classes go from 11 to 5pm, just say they go into the evening. You only give extra details if the person asks for them. If they're asking for them, then you're probably cornered. Giving less details means that you're giving the corner extra room to maneuver around in, just in case you forgot something earlier.

And, the final rule of lying: NEVER EVER EVER FORGET YOUR LIES. And never, ever, EVER slip up. Think of it like you committed a murder: you don't want to not get caught by any circumstances, even if it's by someone who promises they won't say anything to anyone. If you can't help getting caught, then don't do it. Doing something badly only makes the situation worse than if you didn't do it at all.

But NEVER lie for something bad. Like, if they're giving you money for books and you're spending it without actually going to school. Or if you actually did murder someone (don't do it at all, preferably; I was using it as an example that is popular in the modern media, not to help you get away with it). And don't lie about big things if you're never going to come clean eventually; people will find out somehow, and they'll just get really upset.

In the end, you really shouldn't lie, but I understand if you have to. Just know that someone getting hurt is inevitable.