My crush, the student council president, suddenly took me under their wing right after my brother and I transferred here. My brother warned me to stay far away from that whole crowd, but I thought he was just being paranoid. Turns out he was right: I just found out my crush is only getting close to me to dig up dirt on why my brother had to leave our last school.

Ouch. That’s not romance, that’s an amateur private investigator fishing for cafeteria gossip. Talk about a cold shower. Take a deep breath and give your sibling some credit: their gut feeling was spot on. Your crush didn’t see you as an exciting new spark, but as an unlocked backdoor into someone else’s drama. High school politics can be ruthless, and trading juicy rumors is basically their currency. Getting burned like this stings, especially when you were genuinely excited to finally fit in, but you just dodged a massive bullet before getting emotionally invested. Your immediate move: cut the feed. The very next time your crush leans in with subtle, pry-happy questions about your family’s past, look them dead in the eye and deliver a dry: "If you’re writing my brother’s unauthorized biography, you’ll have to interview him directly. I’m not his press secretary." Then walk away and thank your brother. Popularity bought with someone else's secrets is toxic rent you never want to pay. Real friends will like you for who you are, not for the gossip you carry in your backpack.