Hi, Reddit. So, before you judge me, I need to give you some context. I'm in college and part of a pretty big friend group. I'm in my third year, and one of my friends in the group is the class rep. This year, I joined as the vice rep because my friend struggles a lot with talking to professors. I, on the other hand, have no problem talking to them on behalf of the class (I’m in a debate club and I love anything that involves negotiating, public speaking, etc.).

Anyway, we’ve been having some issues with one professor who refuses to send out the class notes, and the alternative is buying a ridiculously expensive textbook. So, as rep and vice rep, we scheduled a meeting with the professor to try to negotiate and get the notes for the class.

In our friend group, there’s another guy—let’s call him Ryan. Before we talked to the professor, we got the whole class together to discuss “what the class was willing to do” in exchange for getting the notes (since the professor complained about lack of participation and stuff). We came up with a few ideas, and one of the professor’s suggestions was that students read the notes before class. When we asked if people would be okay with that, many said yes—but Ryan said no. He felt that he wasn’t obligated to read the notes beforehand, and a lot of people agreed with him.

We took everyone’s opinions into account, and when we met with the professor, one of the points that came up was this idea of reading the notes ahead of time. I told the professor that a big part of the class was willing to do it, but that there was another group that felt they weren’t obligated to. I said it like that so the professor would understand that neither he, as a professor, nor we, as class reps, could force anyone to read the notes. That’s it. I never said Ryan’s name, never gave a personal opinion, nothing. I just mentioned that there were mixed opinions in the class about that particular point.

The professor didn’t seem too like that comment, but he didn’t say anything else.
In the end, we managed to get the notes for the class, and it seemed like everything was resolved. But when we had class with that professor again, he brought up what we’d discussed in the meeting and announced the changes. Everyone seemed happy… until he made a little joke referring to the discussion. He said something like, “Just like you’re not obligated to read the notes before class, I’m not obligated to give them to you. But I’m nice, so I do.”

Ryan looked at me, clearly upset, and I texted him saying I’d explain everything after class.
When we left, I explained what happened in the meeting, how the topic came up, and that the professor had no idea it was him who said it. He was really upset and basically implied that I was okay with “throwing some people under the bus if it meant benefiting the group,” and kept making comments that I “sold him out” to look good in front of the professor.

I tried explaining everything and made it clear I’d never do that intentionally. I admitted it was a screw-up to say that to the professor, but it wasn’t out of bad intentions. He seemed to understand, and that was that.

The next day, I was acting normal—I'd already moved on from the whole thing. But then I caught Ryan talking about it with other people in our group behind my back. He treated me coldly all day, barely spoke to me, and gave me dirty looks. I was so confused because I thought we had cleared everything up, but apparently not.

Now I’m here, confused and not sure what to do or say. I don’t know how to make him understand it was a mistake and never meant to hurt anyone. At the same time, I feel like he’s making a huge deal out of something small. I talked to other friends about it, and they’re on my side, but I still can’t help feeling like a terrible person, when I truly believe I didn’t do anything wrong. Everything I said was with the goal of helping the class and creating the best possible environment for everyone.

So, Reddit, what should I do? We’re supposed to talk about it today (he messaged me over the weekend saying we should talk), but it really hurts that someone I consider a friend could think so badly of me. And it hurts that he sees me as someone selfish or someone who would throw their friends under the bus for personal gain—because I’m not that kind of person. ¿Am I the asshole here?