I (21M) have a best friend (19M) who, about three years ago, had a brief interest in a girl—he messaged her a few times, but nothing serious ever came out of it. Fast forward to 2 years ago: that same girl ended up in my class. We got along well, and for a while, I was basically her only friend. Over time, I developed a crush on her. I never told her how I felt, but it was pretty obvious. Everyone knew, including my best friend.

That said, I stopped talking to her after a couple of months, and overall I only liked her for about five months. A year after I stopped talking to the girl my best friend asked me if I liked her, and I said no. I didn’t want to make a thing out of it—especially since I wasn’t even close to her anymore. Again, it felt like everyone already knew anyway.

Here’s where it gets weird: our classes went on a month-long trip, but I wasn’t there. My best friends class was there too, and I strongly feel he was influenced by the people from my class—maybe they brought up the situation or spun it a certain way. After that trip, he suddenly told me he didn’t want to talk to me anymore, saying I wasn’t honest with him and that I was a bad friend.

That caught me totally off guard. I got angry and lashed out. I yelled in front of him, called him the lowest kind of male friend someone could have, and threw around some other harsh words. I admit I lost my temper, but it felt like I was being punished for something small and already known by everyone.

So now I’m wondering—AITA for not being upfront and for reacting the way I did when he cut me off?