There was a first date that never led to a second.

You thought that it would lead to a second, being that it seemed like she didn’t have such a bad time.

Nevertheless, she destroyed your hopes and dreams when she told you what she was really thinking a day after the date.

In a conversation with you, she said, “Let’s be friends.”

She went on to tell you that it wasn’t you, it was her.

She was the one with the issues and that you shouldn’t feel bad about this.

The date was alright, but she thinks the two of you would be better off as friends.

Of course, the moment you heard these words coming out of her mouth, you were heartbroken.

And since then, your brain has been working overtime dissecting every word in the hopes of finding a kernel of hope.

She did say that it was her and not you.

Maybe that meant she would be open to dating you in the foreseeable future, but not now.

You are tempted to take her up on her offer to be friends, but in the back of your mind, you are hoping that she changes her mind and wants to date you sooner or later.

See, this is how your mind leads you on the wrong path.

I don’t want to be too harsh in saying this, but there is no other way to say it.

She has no romantic interest in you whatsoever.

She doesn’t want to date you today, and she won’t want to date you tomorrow.

She asked you to be friends to break it to you kindly, so as not to be too blunt in telling you directly.

In asking to be friends, she was hoping to make you feel better about getting turned down.

The date didn’t work.

She realized she wasn’t feeling a spark.

There is a possibility that she wasn’t all that into the idea of going out on a date with you in the first place.

She chose to go, hopeful she might feel something.

She didn’t.

Knowing that you were really excited about going out on a first date with her, she didn’t want to hurt you in telling you that she was not interested in you so bluntly after the fact.

Ergo, she tells you to be her friend.

This doesn’t sound as bad as, “Um, I don’t like you like that. Sorry.”

I know it’s hard to accept that this girl won’t be that dream girlfriend you were so excited about, but you have to accept reality.

The sooner you accept reality, the sooner you move on.

No, it wouldn’t be smart to be her friend.

The truth is, she doesn’t legitimately care to be your friend.

She told you to be her friend to make the rejection sound better.

If you were to be her friend, you would be hoping that every time she calls or texts you, flirts with you, or gives you a compliment, she is getting closer and closer to the idea of going out with you again in a romantic sense.

This is a pipe dream.

It is your mind tricking you into believing that there is more to your friendship with her, galvanized by your desire for that.

But it isn’t real.

She meant nothing by it.

Since you never had a prior friendship with her, you are better off not taking her up on her offer to be friends.

All this does is keep you from moving on from her mentally and emotionally, as you expose yourself to desperate moments of false hope during the course of your so-called friendship with her.