u/Dorotheasdiary

I’m in my 20s and so are my two friends involved in this.
My best friend was leaving for a trip and had borrowed a vacuum from our other friend. She texted me asking if I could do her a favor and grab it from her apartment and return it because she ran out of time before leaving town. No problem. I went over, picked it up, and brought it to our other friend’s house.

While I was literally handing it to them, I noticed something red that was on the handle. I looked at my own hand first because I genuinely thought it might be blood or something, and I awkwardly went, “Oh god, what is that? Is that blood?” We both laughed, and then they grabbed a disinfectant wipe and realized it was dried ketchup. The funny part is this friend absolutely HATES ketchup, so we were both joking about how gross it was. They then said something like, “I’m not even gonna bring this up to her because it’s such a non-issue,” and I agreed because honestly it was harmless and I didn’t want my best friend to feel embarrassed over something dumb.

Fast forward to when my best friend got back from her trip. Completely out of nowhere she goes, “I’m so embarrassed, I think there was ketchup or something on the vacuum.” Wanting to spare her feelings and avoid making it a thing, I acted like I had no idea what she was talking about and said something like, “Oh really? I didn’t notice anything.”

Well apparently our other friend later jokingly mentioned that I HAD noticed it and not only that but I’m the one who pointed it out. So today my best friend called me “liar liar pants on fire,” but in one of those half-joking ways where you can tell they maybe actually mean it a little.

I got awkward and giggly and just said, “Well I didn’t see it until I was literally handing it back,” which is true. Then the conversation moved on. But now I feel weirdly guilty and like I look dishonest over the dumbest thing imaginable. I genuinely thought I was being polite by pretending I never saw it. I know honesty is the best policy.