The Art of the Lie

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Lying was not hard.

Really. Like not hard at all.

Adam couldn't understand why people on tv fumbled and failed to try to hide their lies. And how was it possible that the kids at school manage to look so instantly guilty the moment they started a lie that even Adam could tell they weren't telling the truth?

It just wasn't that hard to do.

Granted, none of those people learned the art of lying under the master that was John Winchester. And he was a master. Adam had witnessed his dad's craftiness first hand and it never failed to impress him how effortlessly the man was able to twist the truth to get what he wanted.

Adam hadn't always been able to lie so easily. Growing up his mom could spot his lame mistruths and half-assed excuses from a mile away. Every time he'd start spinning a tale about why his homework wasn't done or what time he'd gone to bed, she'd cock her head and stare at him with that expression that let him know that she just wasn't buying it.

But now…well…now it just wasn't that hard. People believed him without question. He rarely even got a second glance on what he knew to be complete bald-faced lies.

Maybe part of it was growing up. He had a better feeling of what lies would pass and what things people would question. Or maybe it was the training he'd been put through over the past few years. Dad had really taken the time to school Adam in the art of a good lie. It was all under the guise of training for interviewing victims and gathering information on cases, but Adam got the sense that Dad was teaching him some important life skill that Adam was missing. Sam and Dean both seemed to be able to inherently bend and twist the truth to fit their needs. They easily looked at adults and spewed whatever story would suit the situation and let them escape with minimal attention.

So maybe it was just part of being a Winchester.

It took a little time but Adam began to master the skill it took to create a lie. He discovered the artistry behind telling some truth without divulging all of it. He played around with the creativity it took to cast doubt on a situation, to make people question their own truth in favor of Adam's. He learned to appreciate the beautiful simplicity of how much everyone wanted to believe the quickest, easiest answer, no matter how far from the truth it appeared to be.

And thanks to living with John Winchester, Adam learned how half-assed lie could cover his ass, keep the peace and make everyone's life just that much easier.

John Winchester never claimed to be a 'touchy-feely' kind of Dad. Adam knew that. And for the most part, he was a pretty rational, quiet guy when he was sober. But there were times when exhaustion, fear or stress would get the better of him and his temper would flare. Adam was sure that it wasn't intentional, but Dad's wild swings of emotion taught him to lie better and faster than any official training ever could have. It was the same lesson that Sam and Dean had learned, the integral, unteachable thing that had pushed them over the edge from childhood lies and into the realm of professional con men.

It had come to the point now that Adam could lie without thinking. More often then not the lie that came out of his mouth was unintentional and unimportant, a habit that formed out of necessity and then continued on as habits do. He'd lie about what he ate for lunch, what homework he had, how long the hunt research took him to finish, things that he really had no reason to lie about.

Adam discovered the sheer volume of his lies came in handy. Because he lied so much about random inconsequential things, he actually developed a reputation for being really honest. Although he was never in any school for longer than two months, he was able to use his not-honest honesty to garner favor with teachers. And once he discovered how to play the system he used it. He had no need for Dean's bad boy reputation or Sam's teacher's pet playbook. All Adam had to do was tell his lies and tell the people what they wanted to hear.

Recently in one school, he'd had a teacher give him a failing grade on a project that he never turned in. The grade was justified, cause, yeah Adam hadn't done the project and never intended to, but when the projects were handed back and grades handed out, Adam started his performance and began to craft his lie. He asked the teacher where his project was, easily turning the blame onto her, assuring her that, yes he had turned it in, and that yes, he had worked really hard on it. Making the poor frazzled woman question her memory and organization wasn't hard and after all, Adam was a quiet, new kid with seemingly no reason to lie. So with no more effort on his part, Adam was given an apology and an A for a school history assignment he never did.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Lying just really wasn't that hard.