Here’s the story:
I just moved, and I used to live here so I know a few people. This one guy - we can call him “E” - is someone who I used to hang out with at my old school. He’s not really my friend anymore (for various reasons) and more of an acquaintance, if anything.
I told him I moved back. That’s common curtesy, right? I only said it in case I bump into him in town because it’s a really small town - not because I want to hang out. I’m on a completely different walk of life than him.
Now he’s kind of trying to make plans “not to pressure you but let’s hang out soon” and that sort of thing. Ugh! I don’t want to. I wish I hadn’t texted him. I was just trying to be nice! He’s a year younger than me and I suspect he has a crush on me too so I really don’t want to hurt his feelings.
But seriously, I don’t have a moral obligation to hang out with him - I haven’t seen him for two years. We’re not even friends, and I honestly didn’t expect him to want to make plans - I just thought he’d ask how I’m doing and we’d end it at “maybe see you around”.
How do I let him down gently? I’ve never had to say that kind of thing before. How does one reply to the following: “ No pressure because I know you’re probably swamped with things to do, but whenever you’ve settled we should schedule a time to hang out”?