The guy I talk to in school is not a friend, but an acquaintance.
"I recently made an acquaintance with him/her."
An acquaintance is someone you know, but you are not friends.
I don't know her well, she's just an acquaintance. He recognized her as an acquaintance from his apartment building.
acquiantance
Acquaintance with the subject is helpful when signing up for a course.
I don't know Maxie very well, she's just an acquaintance I see at the coffee shop.
I have many aquaintance like my friends or family
I was told by a meddlesome acquaintance that my two brothers had a fight.
Well, acquaintance means to get to know or understand something, for example; "She had little acquaintance on the subject." I'm not sure if this is the word you are referring to. :)
An alternative phrase for "I am" in the sentence could be "I exist."
They asked whether I knew the person next door; I explained he was just an acquaintance, but the people over the road were friends. She said she could easily do the historical research because she had a good acquaintance with the history of the area.
a friend could be an acquaintance.