I (17M) recently got my license. A bunch of my friends either don’t drive, or don’t drive to school because they don’t want to pay to park at school. A bunch of my friends and I were hanging out and my buddy joked that I could give our friend "Bella" a ride home. Bella lives in the opposite direction to me, so I wouldn’t really offer to take her (like would with a friend who lives close by) because it would mean I get home like an hour later. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so I joked "sure, for ten bucks". Bella said that she’d pay, so I was on the hook to give her a ride.
It was annoying, but ten bucks is ten bucks so whatever.
When I was on my way to my car (where Bella said she would meet me) I got a text from her saying that she didn’t really want to pay ten bucks for a ride home, so she was just going to get the bus. I thought, great! I don’t have to go out of my way and back, so I texted back okay.
When I got to school the next day, everyone was acting weird. My buddy (the one who offered me up for the ride in the first place) said that I was an asshole and that I should have just taken her and not made her ride the bus. The rest of our friends are also mad at me for not giving her a lift, and one even accused me of leaving her stranded at school, even though she got the bus and got home fine (I know this because we texted that night and she was fine).
So, am I the asshole for not giving my friend a ride?
Why didn’t you show them the texts?? Incredibly easy solution to all of this non-drama
NTA. If giving you a ride means getting home an hour later, why would anyone expect you to do that?
And, to be clear, your friend who offered you up for the ride is the biggest asshole. Your friends who are also making a big deal out of this are also a-holes. Why are they so worried about this? And if it’s such a big deal, why didn’t any of them offer to drive Bella home?
Clearly Bella is not an a-hole – she may have liked the idea of a ride home, but she realized it wasn’t worth $10 to her and seems to have realized expecting you to go that far out of the way when she could safely take the bus was a big ask. And both of you communicated well and neither of you bailed on each other.
No. You’re not the asshole. Your friends are just being dramatic for absolutely no reason. You literally agreed to take her only because she said she’d pay you.
She backed out. Not you. She said “nah actually I’m not paying,” and chose the bus.
You said “okay,” which is the most reasonable thing ever.
She got home. She was fine. No one died. No one was stranded. Not even close. Your friends being mad is literally them being cheap, bored, or looking for something to be annoyed about.