If you’d have to lie about where you are, you already know something about where you are.

The need to lie is information you generated yourself before anyone asked a question. Whatever is happening, part of you has already judged it, and the instinct to manage the story is that judgement arriving before your reasoning does. You can argue with the reasoning. The instinct is harder to talk out of, which is why it is worth hearing.

Run the simple version: imagine saying out loud exactly where you are and what is going on. If that lands badly you have your answer, and leaving early is always an option even when it looks like it is not.