Sort of big post
So I haven't been following this thread at all, but I find myself in need of possible dating advice and I don't feel like talking with my friends about it.
First off, I am 19 (almost 20) and have zilch experience with dating (didn't even go to prom). I wasn't really social in high school, but I'm kind of making a fresh start in college.
So there's this girl I'm friends with at my work (we're both doing full-time internships during the semester, so no school). She likes to get involved in volunteer activities and invited me to go w/ her and some other volunteer group to help clean up new jersey. I've been feeling like a waste of space recently, so I thought volunteering sounded great (I had no romantic intentions). This was sort of a big commitment since we live in central MD (about 3.5 hour commute), but we took a tour bus so not really a big deal. She didn't know the rest of the group so we pretty much solely talked with each other (the other people were either 50+ or some rather annoying high school students). This was also the first thing we did together outside of work.
This was from 6:30 AM -10:00 PM. She says she was dropped off this morning so I offered to drive her home (kind of out of the way but not a big deal). On the way to her house, she asks me if I want to see Wreck-It Ralph and said yes (really good btw). I paid for both tickets (don't know if this is relevant at all). We were having a great time the entire day and I felt (even w/ limited dating experience) she was dropping
MAJOR hints that she was interested in me throughout the day, including:
- Asking if I had a girlfriend.
- Talking about her past relationships for a surprising large amount of the day (maybe like two 10 minute conversations, but it still happened more than I expected it would happen).
- Explicitly saying she enjoyed my company.
- The bus was kind of empty so we each have our own bus rows (idk what you call them, but we each had 2 seats). She asks to sit in my row. I took this as move to a different row but apparently she wanted to sit in the same row as me so we could talk easier (she told me this later on the ride to her home/movies).
- Asking me to out to the movies (this might not count, but you think date when going to the movies).
On the way back it got quiet (not like awkward quiet) and she asks in a somewhat serious voice if I was thinking of anything. I said kinda which was followed by a small pause. Then she mentions this has kind of been like one long date. So I took this as my chance to ask "Do you want to start dating?" I don't remember what she exactly said but she said mentioned how she was going back to Utah for school soon, so I took that as sort of a no. I mentioned how I thought she was dropping major hints throughout the day and she said she was sorry about that. The ride home was a little more awkward after that and we came to her house. I opened the car door for her (not actually to be romantic, but something I thought was a little silly to hopefully lift the mood). She laughed (so I guess it worked) and we were both standing outside her house. I didn't try to kiss her or anything (she already implied that she didn't want to start dating) and I just said I'll see her at work. I also felt there was a sort of awkward pause with her between both of us being outside and me getting back into the car to say see ya Monday.
So now I'm kind of confused where this leaves us. Was this all really entirely platonic? Or was I suppose to be more aggressive when she mentioned she would going to school soon in Utah? Tbh I didn't even consider anything romantic until the movie was about to start. We're both kind of quiet people, so I can't really imagine her trying a more direct way for her getting me to make a move. To add more confusion, she's a Mormon (I already knew this, but I thought it would be interesting to see how many readers could guess this from 'she goes to school in Utah') and I'm non-religious (think I've been to church 3 times in my entire life).
So ... opinions?
Unrelated question: why is 'a forum' only visible to people signed in? 'A forum' doesn't have a sqsa thread, so I asked here.