Went on a date with the same high school crush again after 10 years

So just had an interesting experience. Im male, 28 now. When I was in high school in 2011, there was this very cute girl I had a crush on. She was two years younger. Anyway I decided to take my shot and asked her out. She agreed, but after a week cancelled the date and said she didnt want anything serious for the moment and we could still be friends. At the time I didnt know better so I agreed. We would sometimes text and chill together with friends but nothing else. Year later I asked her out again and again she said no but we stayed friends. In my final year in high school I tried again and she actually agreed on a date. We went on two dates, but after second she again wanted to be just friends. Back then I had zero game and knew very little about dating and woman. After third rejection, I finally stopped texting her and only communication we had was over wishing happy birthday on Facebook. But that also stopped in 2017.

Fast forward to January 2023, where just recently I had a birthday and friends like every year would post happy birthday wishes on Facebook wall and some would text on messenger. Its very sweet and I appreciate it. But a bit of surprise was my old high school crush, who texted happy birthday directly on messenger. Its was strange so I replied and we got into a conversation. It was obvious she was very interested on what I was doing now and how was my life in general. She had a lot of question and she texted in paragraphs so after one day of texting I asked her out. She is 26 now and still very cute, so I thought why not take my shot. I been going on dates for some time now and thought it would be fun. She agreed.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Over the course of our texting before date, I made it clear I had romantic interest in her. I didnt say it directly but with flirting. I even joked about doing the impossible and trying to get out of the friend zone. She even said that only recently she would say yes to dates (for some reason she was scared of dating), so I thought we both understood it was a DATE. We agreed to keep it casual, just meet and talk and see where it goes. She was hyped and even cancelled on an event to see me on weekend.

So here comes the date. Overall it was pleasant. We walked next to river side in city, I wanted to take her to cafe but it was closed, so we went to restaurant next door. We sat there and talked for like 4 hours. It was very sweet. We had a lot in common and it felt like talking to an old friends again. Laughed and had fun together. I bit of flirting but my plan was not to rush anything. Just to see if there would be any chemistry which I thought there was. Anyway, I take her home, she thanked me for the evening and we say goodbye. A nice first date.

After a day I decide to ask her out again next week. It felt like maybe the feeling is mutual. But what other way to find out then to ask and see what she replies. Of course it took her 24h to text back and at that point I knew she would say no. But I didnt expect the way she would do it.

In her reply she basically said that she didnt expect me to ask her out again so soon but it does not matter cause it was just a casual dinner between two friends. Nothing more. She would be okay to do some stuff together with me but at this point she is not looking for a relationship and she thought its was clear from the start of our conversation. So I got friend zoned for the 4th time.

Now I dont really care about her saying no. But the way she did it I thought was just a bit dishonest. Any other guy from our texting and conversation would assume there is romantic vibe from her side. But to say that I misread the whole thing was just putting responsibility on me and it was my fault for even asking her out again.

Anyway. I politely declined her offer of being friends, wished her all the best and said goodbye.

What do you guys think? Maybe I wasnt interesting enough, or misread the whole thing or she was just bored. One interesting thing she said was that she hasnt been into a relationship ever and to me that kinda pointed to unrealistic expectation she might had for her partner.

Im not angry or bitter. Just wanted to share this experience with you guys 😉