Well, I found it.

How did the date go? It went pretty darn well. We met at 11:00 am, in the courtyard outside the Union. It was originally for lunch, but then we realized it was 11. We went inside - she got some coffee from the Bistro - and we sat and talked. She gave me number and directions to her place. I was supposed to pick her up at 5, we'd go from there. We talked... about all kinds of things. It was really great. I haven't just sat and talked with anyone, much less a really pretty girl, in, well, before Mindy. That puts it a solid three years or so. And this came at such a good time, too... Then, we went to Italian class. No one had done their work (that's an unfair generalization, but it's close enough). The teacher was sort of yelling at us, but she doesn't really yell. It was... humorous. I went home, and promptly fell asleep for like forty-five minutes. Then I took a shower, got all cleaned up, cleaned out my truck, and gave it a quick wipe-down (yeah, that's right). Left around 3:30... stopped by work to grab a lemon-lime slush ('cause those taste *great* right after brushing your teeth...), get some last-minute advice from Devon and Sunny... Stopped by HEB and got our tickets - traffic was pretty bad, so I was delayed in picking her up, didn't get there until 5:15. It was funny - I called her on when I was almost to campus, to let her know what was up, and I had to say "Okay, bye." like really quick, and hang up. I felt really bad, and I explained what had happened when I got there. I was near this light, and it was yellow, but I was going to go through it, but this guy like jumps out right in front of me, so I had to brake pretty hard, and then stop for the light, which had turned red during my delay. I couldn't do it on the phone, which was why I had to do that. Picked her up - she looked *so* pretty - she had her hair down, for once - and we just drove. We went, um, north on Guadalupe - it turned into Lamar, then into a highway or something, then back into Lamar. About the time I realized we were near Cedar Park, we turned around. The whole time, we were just talking. About stuff. She likes foriegn films, among other things. She makes me feel so uncultured, but in a good way (that makes no sense, even when I read it). Well, we made it to the arena, drove past it and back, then went in. I had to run back to the truck to get the tickets - I could tell the DDR had been helping. Well, we went in, and sat in the wrong seats. Instead of being near the front, we were *at* the front. My shoulder was literally against the plexiglass (or whatever) surrounding the Ice Bat's bench. The game was a lot of fun. We won, 4 - 1. There were some fights... there was this old lady sitting in the (only) row in front of us, and they kept slamming the glass right in front of her. After the game, i took her home. When we got to her dorm - well, as close as I could get in my truck - she turns to me, touches my right arm, and tells me she had a great time. Then she left.

Man, it was fun. So, I wrote her this email the next morning - feeling all gutsy as I was - and told her yeah, I had a great time too - glad she did - and that I really like her and if she'd like to do something again.

*Sigh...*

"Dear William,
Hey! I'm a little confused about what you're asking me. I just wanted to say that I would love to hang out as friends again. If I misunderstood your intentions and you were asking me out on a date, then I would have to say no because I really don't feel comfortable dating someone who does not share my religious beliefs. I think you're a really sweet person, and I would like to still be friends with you. If you weren't asking me out then completely disregard the last two sentences,
Sara"

Man... oh well..

There's not really much I can do about this one. There's some interesting pros and cons on this one. Well, let's look at the pros, so we can get that out of the way and go wallow in self-pity for a little while, then get back to my fun, exciting life. Hmm... well, I didn't pull any of my classic screw-ups - coming on too strong, not coming on, being totally oblivous to any and all signs thrown my way - the old favorites. I was basically out of this one before it began. I've talked to a few people, and there's not really a consensus. Rudy feels that this is probably just a "smoke-screen," and that she's probably just not interested, and doesn't want to hurt my feelings. From a self-esteem point of view, this is a really easy one to believe. But I think that really discredits Sara. She seems so sincere. I mean, I trust her enough that if that wasn't why, she wouldn't have said that it was. I've had a great deal of advice on this, for whatever reasons. But, as usual, I'm going to ignore all that experience garnered at the cost of pain, and heartbreak, and learn them for myself. Where do I go from here? Well, I'm not sure. The debate that's taking center stage right now is the possibility of a respone email. I've heard a lot of no's on that one. I'm still leaning towards yes, though. I *really* want to be friends with her, and she deserves at least some clarification. 'Cause yeah, I was asking her out on a date. Yeah, I wanted to "go out" with her. I'm not sure if that should be in the past tense... well, it needs to be. I'm going to try to remain friends.... although, I've learned from past experience that when you meet a girl, and try to jump to dating without establishing a deep friendship first, if you don't make it, that going to friends is rather difficult. But I almost feel like that's doing her a disservice - undermining her, or something. The more I think about it, the more I lean towards a reply email. Something like, yeah, I was asking you out, but I understand what you're saying....and I'd totally like to hang out as friends. Except that sounds really dorky. Hmm... well, I don't think there's much I can do about that. I'll keep you informed.