Your call?

In addition to what PokerGoblin said, just because you are the "best player" doesn't mean you know what you are doing. Lots of weird stuff being done/said that you wouldn't see at a real poker game. Get a rule book and establish a rule sheet to be used for your game so there are no questions. If you were in the process of betting as you say, but have not completed your betting and have realised you are short on chips and state an amount you want to bet, it is not a string raise. Easiest thing to do is state what you want to do before you act.