And then she was asking about parents. They always asked about parents. And always he was so unprepared for the question, you'd think by now he'd have a stock answer prepared that was better than 'we're on vacation'. Time to make up another ridiculous lie.
"I'm 18," he found himself saying, "I don't need my parents around." He tried to sound in good humour, like he was really an 18-year-old used to being mistaken for a lot younger than he was.