Hi Kerry, it's great that you found us. The 250 is an amazing bike and a perfect choice for your first ride. I would hold off on buying one until you've had your MSF, as you might not like it as much as you think after the full 3-day course, but I doubt that. It took months for my perma-grin to wear off, but the fact that I had a wedding not long after really helped with that too
Go check out the gear forum so that you can get properly geared up before you hit the road. You don't mention what kind of gear your friend was wearing, but stereotypically based on the fact that you are hanging with RR's, I'm going to guess it was not much. When we preach ATGATT, that means a helmet, riding jacket, riding pants, motorcycle-specific boots, riding gloves, the whole 9 yards. I would also advise finding a group that's not the RR's to ride with at least as you are starting out. From what I've seen, they have some undesireable behaviors like wheelies and racing that might get you in trouble as you are learning to ride.
As for your friend's attitude about you not getting a bike. It's hard to explain, but it really messes with your head when you go down, and he's probably still processing it for himself. He obviously cares about you and he just doesn't want to see anything bad happen. Now that he's been down himself, it makes him realize his mortality a bit more and recognize the really bad things that CAN happen.