I’m a 25M, and I’d been talking to this 18-year-old girl for about three weeks, though we hadn’t gone on a date yet. A few days ago, she asked to hang out. She lives about an hour away, which is one of the reasons I hadn’t met her earlier because I was busy going on other dates and didn’t really have the time until now.

On the way there, I called her, and she said her house was busy, so we’d need to hang out elsewhere until her roommates’ friends left in a few hours which I know was true as she mentioned her friends having people over before. I agreed, picked her up, and then we went to her friend’s place to pick her up too.

She suggested we get ramen and all go back and eat it and drink, so we stopped at a nearby convenience store. Her and her friends grabbed a bunch of drinks, while I just got a small one. They were teasing me the whole time, saying things like, “Don’t get too much, you’re going to have to pay for all of this.” I joked back that they’d owe me $100 for giving them rides to the convenience store.

At checkout, they looked at me to pay. I told one of her friends to cover the three drinks, and I’d pay for the rest. She acted shocked, saying, “Are you serious?” Then they all started playfully implying I was broke. I recognized it as a shaming tactic and didn’t fold. I just agreed and amplified. and I repeated that she could cover the drinks while I’d get mine.

The cashier mentioned the smaller drinks didn’t qualify for the deal, and that it would actually be cheaper to swap for the larger ones. I told them to go switch them out, but they pushed back, saying, “You go do it,” and “Stop being cheap, it’s just $5.” I found it ironic that they expected me to pay and were still trying to pressure me into spending even more. I held my ground and they went and exchanged the drinks.

Eventually, to avoid making a bigger scene, I just paid for everything. It wasn’t much money, but for me, it was about the principle. I didn’t want to play the role of a beta provider. After paying, they all went outside and left me to carry the bags. When I got to my car, I teased them a little by not unlocking the doors right away and pretending to drive off. When they got in, the ride back was quiet, except for them saying I embarrassed them at the cashier for being “cheap.” The tension was becoming more serious and I was becoming increasingly annoyed at the situation.

I know they’re just broke freshman college students, but I found it ironic that they were trying to tell me how to spend my money. When we got back to their friend’s house, they got out, and I asked where I should park. They told me they didn’t think their friend wanted me coming in and that I should leave, apparently they’d texted her about what happened.

So I asked them to give me back everything I paid for. They first tried handing me just my drink, but I told them I wanted it all since I covered the whole order. They gave it back, and I drove off and blocked her number.

Throughout this whole "date" I was being shit tested by the girl the most and sometimes by her friends.

I don't think this was a plan by them to get me to buy everything and ditch me because the girl had been inviting me over to her room afterwards too.

Did I overreact in this situation in how I handled it or was I valid for not wanting to buy her and her friends groceries and seem like a beta?