My First (Not) Date...

[Rev. Powell]

Whatever happens, you can at least consider it good practice!  I agree with the Rev though, some girls get a kick out of trying to make their boyfriends jealous OR they just really love fighting and doing things to provoke them - be careful! 

I shouldn't pretend just women do this.  I'll admit to going on some dates I otherwise might not have just so I could tell a woman I was casually dating about it and let her see I had other options.  But never when I was steadily dating her.

[HappyGilmore]

One other thing to be careful of is mixed signals some women send.

For example:  Many years ago I was interested in this girl named Katie.  She seemed interested in me and would send me all the signals an interested woman would.
Those included calling me "hon" and "babe". 
She would also frequently touch me on the shoulders or arms or hands.  (touching is usually a dead giveaway that a woman is interested)
She would even say things like, "You're so awesome!" and then kiss me on the cheek.

Even though she did all of those things, I realized after awhile that she had absolutely no romantic interest in me at all.  I tried to "officially" ask her out and she shot me down.
She said, "You're my friend.  It would be too weird if we actually dated."
I was totally flabbergasted.  All those signals she sent me and she was never interested.

So be careful.  Many women don't realize that they're sending mixed signals to guys.  Or, they do and just love to f**k with you.

I was in a similar situation.  Met a girl in 9th grade, and was best friends with her until we graduated in 12th.  Asked her out, but didn't necessarily get shot down.  But, in my own stupidity, stopped talking with her for a few years.  My friend was friends with her still, and through MySpace, I re-contacted her about 4 years ago (two years after high school.) We talked on Myspace, exhanged IM names.  Then, out of the blue, she gives me her cell number.  We're talking on the phone at random times (she'd call me for like, no reason, then start singing songs and whatnot.)  Finally I just go, "So do you wanna go out, or what?"  She kinda turned me down, but was cool about it.  She was in grad school, was working, taking care of her brother, etc., and didn't want to string me along.  Then, she graduates, and we go out a few times.  Then, out of the blue, she meets a dude, and stops talking to me all together last summer.  Which really sucks, because, I not only lost a great friend of ten years, but lost what could've potentially been a decent relationship. 

And, we still see each other on occasion, because something like, 60% of our friends are all MUTUAL friends.  So we always inevitably see each other when we all go out as a group.  At first, she didn't say anything at all.  Then, we got to the point where we could at least say a few things to each other.  Now, when we see each other, we can have a somewhat good convo, but we're not at the point where we can call each other again.  It's that rebuilding phase.