“Fool me once” is a pretty reasonable policy when the first time involved someone backing out of a lead role one week before a school project deadline.

A film student who had agreed to a mutual acting deal found himself scrambling to rebuild his entire film after his friend flaked out last minute. He got through it, finished the project, but vowed to remember the sting of betrayal.

So when the next school year brought the same assignment and the same friend came back asking for the same favor, he couldn’t help but revel in the role reversal.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for refusing to act in my friend’s movie because of something he did last year?

I have a friend who goes to my school.

Last year, one of our classes had an assignment where we had to make movies.

My friend asked me to act in his movie, and he said that if I acted in his, he would act in mine.

I agreed and acted in his movie.

That’s where things hit a bit of a bump.

But when it was time to film mine — only about a week before the project was due — he backed out and said he didn’t want to do it anymore.

He was supposed to be the lead, so I had to change a lot of things last minute and adjust the whole project because he suddenly decided not to help.

So some time passed, and suddenly the roles were reversed.

Now, a year later, we have the same type of movie assignment again.

He asked me to be in his movie, but I told him no because of what happened last year.

He still feels like his friend broke his trust, but his friend doesn’t take it well.

I don’t really trust him after he backed out on me when I had already helped him.

Now he’s saying I’m being petty and that he’s changed, but I still said no.

Deep down, he still feels like he made the right call.

I feel like I’m allowed to say no, especially since he put me in a bad position last time, but part of me wonders if I’m holding onto it too much since it happened a year ago.

AITA for refusing to act in his movie because he backed out of mine last year?

Broken trust can be hard to repair.

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Redditors join the debate.

It’s very clear to this reader that the friend is pretty full of it.

Take note: “I’ve changed” is usually a bold-faced lie.

His friend’s reaction said everything.

Why not do a little negotiating?

The friend got a full performance out of him and gave nothing back — and then had the confidence to call him petty for declining round two? That’s rich!

His friend can say “I’ve changed,” all he wants, but until his actions actually reflect that reality, this film student just isn’t buying it.

Trust is hard to build, and incredibly easy to break.