My High School Crush Kissed Me On A Bet To Humiliate Me. Now He Transferred To My College And Wants A Second Chance. Should I Give Him The Satisfaction Of A Response?

The Betrayal

My crush pretended to like me back, then laughed in my face. Six months later, he was begging me to give him a chance.

I liked Nico for almost two years before I worked up the courage to tell him. We were in the same friend group all through junior and senior year of high school. He was funny and charming and had this way of making everyone feel like they were the most interesting person in the room.

When he talked to me, I felt special. When he remembered small details about my life, I thought it meant something. When he started texting me more often, asking to hang out just the two of us, I convinced myself he felt the same way. I was 17 and stupid and believed what I wanted to believe.

I told him at a party the summer after graduation, pulled him aside, hands shaking, heart pounding, and said I’d liked him for a long time and wondered if he might feel the same way. He smiled, said he’d been waiting for me to say something, said he liked me too and had for months. Said he didn’t want to ruin our friendship by making the first move, but he was so happy I’d been brave enough to do it.

I could barely breathe. This was everything I’d wanted. He asked if he could kiss me. I said yes. It was my first kiss, and for about 30 seconds, it was perfect. Then I heard the laughter.

His friends were standing at the back door watching us. One of them was bent over laughing so hard he could barely stand. Another was slow clapping. Nico pulled away from me with this grin on his face that I’ll never forget. He turned to his friends and said:

“I told you she’d fall for it.”

They’d made a bet. Someone had dared Nico to get me to confess my feelings, pretend to reciprocate, and kiss me while everyone watched. The whole thing was a game. I was the punchline.

Hiding and Healing

I don’t remember leaving the party. I just remember being in my car, crying so hard I couldn’t see the road, pulling over in a parking lot, and sitting there for an hour until I could breathe again. That was the worst night of my life.

The story spread through our entire friend group within days. People I’d known for years were laughing about it behind my back, some to my face. I spent the rest of the summer hiding in my room, dreading college, wondering if I’d ever trust anyone again.

Then I went to university four hours away and decided to become someone new. I threw myself into everything, joined clubs, made friends, studied hard, worked out, learned how to dress in ways that made me feel confident. I stopped being the quiet girl who faded into the background. I became someone who walked into rooms and got noticed.

It wasn’t about Nico anymore. It was about proving to myself that I was worth more than a cruel joke at a party. By junior year, I’d changed completely. I had a strong group of friends, a good GPA, and more confidence than I’d ever had in my life. I dated a few people, nothing serious, but enough to know that I was capable of being wanted for real. I barely thought about high school anymore.

The Unwanted Reunion

Then Nico showed up at my college. He’d transferred after flunking out of his first school and getting rejected from his second choice. Our university was his backup plan.

I saw him at a campus coffee shop during the first week of fall semester. He recognized me immediately, but it took him a moment to process what he was seeing. I could tell by the way his expression shifted from recognition to confusion to something I’d never seen on his face before: interest.

He came over to my table and said he almost didn’t recognize me. Said I looked amazing. Said it was crazy running into me here after all this time. He acted like we were old friends reconnecting. Like he hadn’t humiliated me in front of everyone we knew. Like that kiss hadn’t been the cruelest thing anyone had ever done to me.

I smiled and kept the conversation short. Said it was nice to see him and I had to get to class. Didn’t give him my number when he asked. Didn’t agree to hang out when he suggested it. Just walked away and left him standing there looking confused.

Over the next few months, Nico kept finding ways to run into me. Showed up at parties I was at, sat near me in the library, joined a club I was in even though he had zero interest in the actual activities. He started texting me through mutual friends who’d give him my number without asking me first. Always casual, always friendly, always with an undertone of something more.

I never took the bait. I was polite but distant. Responded to texts hours later with one-word answers. Declined every invitation to hang out. Never explained why. Never brought up what happened. Just kept him at arm’s length while he tried harder and harder to get close. It drove him crazy.

Testing Boundaries

I started noticing him everywhere the following week. Tuesday morning, I walked into the library second-floor study area where I always worked between classes, and there he was at a table three rows back. He looked up from his laptop, caught my eye, and waved. I nodded back and chose a seat on the opposite side of the room.

Wednesday afternoon, I stopped at the campus coffee shop where I went every day at 2:30 for an iced latte before my 3:00 lecture. Nico was in line ahead of me. He turned around when I walked in, smiled like running into me was the best surprise, and asked what I was ordering. I told him and moved past to grab a table while I waited. He brought both our drinks over and tried to sit down. I thanked him for the coffee, said I had reading to finish before class, and put in my earbuds.

Thursday evening, I attended the weekly meeting for the environmental club I joined sophomore year. Nico walked in 15 minutes late, looked around the room, and took the empty chair directly across from me. He’d never shown interest in environmental issues before. During the break, Leilani leaned over and whispered that this was getting weird. She asked if I wanted her to tell him to back off. I shook my head and said I could handle it.

Friday morning, he appeared at the campus gym during my usual workout time. I saw him on the treadmill watching me in the mirror while I did squats. He wasn’t even running, just walking slowly and staring. I finished my set, grabbed my water bottle, and left 20 minutes earlier than normal.