How oblivious can I be?
It was a Friday night.
I was 20 years old, and in my third year at university.
I was single, and after 2 past failed relationships, I was nowhere near thinking about romance at that moment in life. Sure, I had my crushes, but they remained as crushes, all in my head and with no link to my reality.
So what happened that night?
Truthfully, how I ended up in a guy’s room was fuzzy, and I don’t recall in detail how it happened. As close as I can recall, it was a spur-of-the-moment action that led me up to this situation.
I was chatting with a guy friend of mine on my computer that night, and he was in the same engineering society as me at that time. We were both committee members and had to work together on some events that year, so we already knew each other and were somewhat friends. We were not that close, but we clicked.
Apparently, I expressed my desire to watch a movie that came out that year but had not been able to catch it.
In retrospect, it was a full-blown chick flick. The type of movie a guy would never watch on their own.
The movie was called P.S. I Love You (2007), starring Hilary Swank in an American romantic drama.
He said he could have it downloaded and ready that night itself.
He invited me over to his room to watch it together.
Okay, now I feel embarrassed recollecting this.
I thought nothing odd out of the whole situation. Thing is, he was not even the type to watch American films, his main spoken language was mandarin, although we conversed in English. This was because my mandarin was not good, although I am myself Chinese.
I just wanted to watch this new movie on a free Friday night.
He drove me over to his all-boys apartment, and we went into his room.
Nothing alarming at all, right?
We watched the movie on his computer screen while lying on his bed, talking and laughing at parts of it together.
It wasn’t until one of his housemates passed by the room door, which was open just a tad bit, and quickly peeped in at me with shock and walked away, that I got the message.
It was now getting awkward for me when the realization sank in of what I was doing.
I was in a room alone with a boy on his bed, watching a movie.
I start to put my guard up.
Nothing else happened that night. After the movie, we talked a bit more and I said I was tired, so he sent me home.
To be clear, he was a nice guy, and easy to talk to.
He was a friend, and that was the extent of how I felt towards him.
I didn’t think much about it afterward, but when I do recall back this episode, I kicked myself for being so oblivious to the situation.
I worried that I may have led him on, or worse, if something did happen, I would be at a disadvantage being alone in a boy’s apartment.
It was not wise for a girl, for sure.
So that’s one of my stories of being on an accidental date. A funny moment now when I think back about it.
I hope you were not as oblivious as I was in my earlier years, and made wiser choices in your youth. Or maybe, it all worked out for you in your personal experience.
Now that would be an even more interesting story to hear, wouldn’t it?