I got really close to this girl, purely platonically. I didn't consider her romantically until one of my friends told me to go after her. From his perspective, it made sense. We sat together on the bus for a sport, always next to each other. We would talk a lot, and she would always initiate conversations with me. We even went on walks during the night on my school's campus.
I really thought she liked me. I was about 8 inches taller than her too, so she would always look up into my eyes while we were talking.
Eventually, I asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner. She said yes. I thought I had finally ascended.
At dinner, she brought up dating. We talked a bit before she started talking about the guy she liked. (I didn't pay for her food, don't worry)
Eventually we grew further apart and she stopped talking to me. She found a chadlite bf.