Mother makes 18-year-old daughter lie about wanting to attend the same college as stepsister, the truth comes out, mom shames her: "I was forced to lie"

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Jun 15, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. I remember when I was applying for university from high school. It's a deliriously exciting time for a high school student, you get to choose where you'll spend the next four years, and what you want your future to look like. It's nerve wracking of course, and every senior knows the familiar sensation of butterflies in the stomach, of searching deep in your life memories of what to write about your the application essay. It's exciting and scary, that's what makes it amazing. The perfect and wholesome transition from adolescence to adulthood. 
 

When you get into a school, it's the biggest win. Your parents take you out to celebrate, there's only up to look forward to. You can easily get swept up into the fantasy of what your life is going to look like very soon. 
 

But enough about university, in the story below the protagonist is a teenager who has a clingy stepsister. Read the full story below for all the juicy details. 

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  • 01

    AITA for lying about where I was going to college so my stepsister wouldn't follow me?

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    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    My mom married her husband Mike when I (18f) was 9. Mike had a daughter called Charlotte who's the same age as me. My mom loved having another girl and
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  • This entire dynamic seems so unhealthy. It's incredible that the mom tries to make her daughter lie, and then turns on her when she does. She's openly teaching her daughter these things, but wants to pretend like they don't exist. Read the full story below for all the juicy details. 

  • 03
    Charlotte never had a mom in her life so the two of them bonded super fast and mom was excited to have "almost twins", which is what mom used to call us.
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    Charlotte acts younger than she is, always has. She gets attached and wants to be with someone 24/7 and followed me around the whole time like she was a much
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    UNIVERSITY
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    younger sibling. She'd do the same with mom too. Mom loved it and would encourage it and she forced me to put up with it. She scolded me regularly when I
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    didn't want to spend time with Charlotte or I was short with her. Mom told me Charlotte was my sister now and I should embrace having someone who loved and wanted me around so bad.
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    I tried to explain to my mom that having Charlotte follow me around and be forced on me 24/7 was making me dislike her and not want to give her a chance. But
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    my mom told me that was a child's wife of thinking about it and 9 year old's are big girls. Then when I tried to talk to mom about it at 12 she told me I was old enough to be mature and
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    loving and to know the true meaning of family is to love and appreciate those who treat us well and Charlotte adored me and
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    would do anything for me. I said that wasn't true because she would not leave me alone. Mom hated that I wanted that.
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    via icimage from Getty Images Signature / Canva

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  • 13
    We fought a lot when I was 14 to 16 and then I learned to stop speaking to mom. What sucked most was I could talk to extended family and ask for them to try and
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    talk to mom but it didn't work and my dad's de d so I didn't have another parent to run to.
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    I knew when I was 15 that my mom and Charlotte wanted us to attend college together and they were planning to have us go to the same school. I tried to get
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    Charlotte to understand that we needed the separation and we shouldn't base our schools on each other but she was set on following me. My mom didn't
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    support me either and she made it a big deal that I wanted distance from Charlotte. So when college talk was happening more seriously I lied about where I was
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    applying to. I made sure all the schools I mentioned to mom and Charlotte were pretty far from where I was actually planning to go. Charlotte accepted where she and mom thought I accepted but it wasn't.
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    Before graduation I moved into my paternal aunt's house to avoid the backlash that I knew would come. Now the truth is out there and Charlotte's decided she's not going to college at all. My mom is
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    furious and she tried to shame me for the stunt of tearing our family apart. She told me I had a lot of making up to do and I told her in reply that I don't regret my decision. I said my only regret is
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    that I was forced to lie. Mom said nobody forced me to lie and I said they did, by giving me no choice but to accept Charlotte following me. I told mom I knew either her or Charlotte would
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    have sabotaged me if I openly applied to a school Charlotte couldn't attend. Mom told me I wasn't thinking of what was best for Charlotte and as an
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    afterthought she said for me. I told her the best thing for Charlotte is no concern of mine. Mom said that wasn't kind and I should be kind.
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    Mom asked my maternal aunt (as in her sister) to talk to me. My aunt did and she told me she understood why I did what I did but I should apologize and at least regret lying a little because I
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    interrupted Charlotte's plans with my actions. I told her I did not want to be in the same college as Charlotte and I didn't want to be in the same state as her. My aunt said it was extreme to feel so
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    strongly about it instead of keeping my distance at college. She told me I lied so easily and could have handled it in a far more mature way. She said communication is key. I asked her
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    what good communication was when my mom willingly ignores my communication attempts. Mom was furious when my aunt told her everything I said.
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    I feel like while lying isn't the ideal or a first choice people should use but I feel like I was left with no other choice. Maybe I'm too close to judge this though so I'm asking AITA?
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