I met the most amazing girl, and I owe it all to my best friend...but this story is unresolved, so far.

It started when E was in a show at school and she met her...who shall be referred to as M. E told me that she met someone I might be interested in, so I asked for pictures. She linked me to one of M's Facebook photo albums, and oh my god! I was completely floored, just by her pictures, but I know pictures can be deceiving, so I put this to the back of my head. I told T that I'd like to meet her. I know, downplaying my reaction. She told me she'd introduce me to E after the show.

I went to see the show and while my friend did point out M, I froze. I don't work well when prompted to do something, especially if it involves approaching a beautiful woman. So M disappeared quickly afterwards and I never got to meet her. I bugged E once in a while about her, but she never got around to telling M about me.

About three months later, I was hanging out with E and I was talking to her about M. I was basically gushing about this girl and how beautiful she was and how I felt about this, and at that moment, I realized I had to do something or I could miss out on someone that could offer a lot of happiness and may never come back into my life, so I decided to message her on Facebook. Nothing too much, just how T was supposed to introduce us, at the show, but since she was so busy, that figured I should do it myself. This way I had a link back to my friend, so she wouldn't freak about getting a message from some Facebook stranger.

She responded and we exchanged about 20 messages between the both us on Facebook over the course of about 2 1/2 months. About halfway through, I asked about meeting up, she said she would like to, but didn't contact me for a little over a week. I thought it was something I said, so I apologized for making her uncomfortable and said we didn't have to meetup yet if she didn't want to but to let me know when she was ready.

A few days later she responded, saying she was busy and then got sick. I was so relieved that it wasn't something I said. She said she just disappears from time to time. This is annoying, but I can deal with it, just wish I got a warning. We also added each other on Facebook after this. Where I learned that she is 8 years my junior (I'm 26). Wow. I probably should've picked up on that. No big deal. I figured long ago that I need someone younger than me, because of my inexperience, and that they might not be as put off by it. The only thing this made me think is that she might be a little bit immature. She had videos of her posted singing. She has a wonderful voice, but again, the camera is a lie, anything I saw or heard had to be dismissed until we met.

There was a time when I didn't hear back from her for about a month, but she's in the performing arts and was working on a show, so I figured she was busy. I shot out a message just to acknowledge I understood that.

We continued messaging each other, and I became really interested in her through our correspondence, but I was beginning to get the impression as we approached the end of this long messaging thread though, that we would never meet. She seemed a bit shy, but she was quite open about some of her idiosyncracies.

When I first started messaging her, I had absolutely no confidence. I have zero experience with women. I'm 26, a virgin, never been in a relationship, never truly been on a date, never kissed a woman in a romantic fashion...but I've been hurt by women a whole bunch of times. This has ended up with me feeling unattractive and inadequate to all women. Due to all these things I’ve mentioned, I asked E to approve of my messages. She also doesn't have much experience, she's been in one relationship, but she's got more than me and plus, she's a woman. As we continued to exchange messages, I slowly became more comfortable with them not needing to be screened by my friend first, with certain exceptions once in a while, but I did constantly seek feedback after the fact. I needed that positive reinforcement that I wasn't doing anything wrong, that I was doing OK.

E was having a birthday party, and I casually mentioned how nice it would be if she invited M, since she knew her and wanted to get better acquainted with her as well. Well, I found out she had decided to, but she wasn't sure if she could come and that she would need a ride. So I cleaned and washed the car just in case, and when I got up there, I found out M could come to the party, but she needed a ride. E told her she'd arrange for someone to give her a ride. I joked to E that she should have me go pick her up, but she decided this was a good idea, but I had her call her and let her know, so she wouldn't freak out. As an insurance policy, because her comfort and safety was of utmost importance to me, I had E come along with me. We all know how internet meetups can be.

When I pulled up to the corner and saw her, I was absolutely awestruck. Her pictures did not disappoint. The camera wasn't a lie. She was ab-so-lutely gorgeous! In fact, I have never laid eyes on such a beautiful woman. She could be a model if she wanted to.

We got better acquainted at the party. I gave subtle hints. I complimented her dress. She's got a very good sense of style. I was totally digging her. About halfway through the night, she finally got more comfortable with me, and showed signs genuine of interest/flirting. She likes to poke people, so we wound up doing that. We also learned some things about each other that we hadn’t known before throughout the course of the night.

At the end of the night, she needed a ride back, but my other friend who I feel indebted to for life for reasons I’m not going to get into, also needed a ride home, and of course…asked me for a “favor.” I was not happy about this, not one bit. Here I was going to have a chance to be in the car with her alone and because he was present, he killed the mood! I could’ve came back for him, but he doesn’t get along with M’s parents, so I had to remove him from the area in order to prevent E from paying a heavy price for his presence.

So I got to M’s place, and I told her I had a good time and that I was glad we met, and she pretty much said the same thing. We hugged, and I asked her for her number. She gave it to me and asked for mine, so I gave it to her. Then I mentioned that maybe we could hang out after she was done with her show, and she said that would be nice. We then said goodnight and went our separate ways.

A few days later, I called her because I knew I wouldn’t reach her all week. We didn’t talk for long. I would only call her on weekends while she was working on her show. Of the times we talked, only once did it last longer than 15 minutes. It’s almost like she had our calls set to a timer. There was a time once or twice where I may have said something that could’ve been misinterpreted. For instance, once we were talking about activities we did in high school and she told me she wanted to try out for a traditionally male sport, so I called her a tough girl and when asked about where I fit in, I said something along the lines of I always knew my place or my limits or something along those lines. Which is not what I meant. What she said told me she’s a strong woman, and I like a strong woman. I don’t want one that’s going to put up with any bullshit. I decided not to blow this out of proportion, so I haven’t brought it up, but I’ve been waiting for an opening to casually refute what I had said, just so I don’t look like some male chauvinist, cause I’m really not. I just get tongue-tied with her. She’s rather quiet on the phone. She doesn’t really ask me anything except for like in return. It’s almost like holding an interview instead of a conversation.

The day of the show was approaching, but I had never actually gotten out of her when the date was, so I did some research and found out myself. Because she had talked about it so much, I thought it would be OK if I went and supported her. I called her to let her know I was coming, so she wouldn’t freak out. I got her a flower. She was involved with the crew, so I don’t think she was expecting anything. She had a very positive reaction to this. She said it was very sweet and gave me a big, long hug. She was dressed up. I told her she looked very pretty. She was surprised to see me. Apparently, she didn’t get the message I left her. She says her voicemail’s acting up, so she’s not getting any. When I said maybe I should’ve sent one over Facebook, she said she probably wouldn’t have gotten that either. We didn’t do anything after the show. She was involved with another show coming up soon, that she had mentioned earlier, and I asked her about it and asked her if she wanted me to come, and she said she’d like that. This night was a major boost to my confidence with her.

I went to see the next show, and the night I went, a few of her friends came to see her too. During intermission, one of her friends gave me a grilling about whether I liked M or not. We danced around this question for the entire intermission before I said, “I don’t know,” and she was satisfied with that answer. She claims M didn’t put her up to it, but I don’t know. After the show, I presented her with another flower, and she said I’m too cute. We all went to a diner afterwards. Her birthday was the next day, so I had decided to get her a card, since she had reacted so well to the flowers. I made sure it was a non-threatening kind and just simply wrote “happy birthday” inside and signed it. This did not go so well though. She said I just “appeared” when I gave it to her and that was creepy. Whether she was joking or not, I don’t know, but she can be quite sarcastic and has a bit of sass to her personality. She didn’t have anything to say about the card though and didn’t open the it in front of me, but she seemed fine the rest of the night. She said I was quiet, but that’s because her and her friends were talking about stuff I couldn’t contribute to: their high school experiences, but I got further indication that she’s a strong person.

She had mentioned that night how someone offered her a good job already. I am currently going through the quarter-life crisis. I’m a college graduate and can’t get a job that pays that puts my degree to use. It’s very frustrating and depressing to see someone much younger than me doing better. This kind of soured my mood the rest of the night, but I made sure to not show it, I hope

At the end of the night, we all wished her a happy birthday. I found out her friend, the one that questioned me, approves of me, which is good. I also found out M thought I was from the same town as E, which was about 15 – 20 minutes away, pretty close. I corrected this and told her I lived an hour away. She seemed a little put off by this, and at that moment, I think she realized that I like her. We hugged and left. That was about 3 weeks ago.

About two weeks after I last saw her, I decided to fess up to M’s friend that I did indeed like her, because I thought she might’ve said something to her, but I expressed that I’d prefer to tell her myself. Hell, I thought M put her up to asking me, but she denies this, and the response I got from her seems genuine that she wasn’t put up to it by M. She expressed skepticism that I would tell M myself how I feel about her.

I have not seen or spoken to M since. I have developed a very close relationship with her voicemail. She’s not good at picking up the phone in general. I would periodically call and leave a message. After about a week, E advised me to cease contact, so I did, and I went away, approximately two weeks passed. I asked E if it would be OK if I called, and she said it would. When I came back, I called M but she didn’t answer, so I left a message. That was last night. E has now advised me to cease all contact with her “for now,” and by “for now” she means an indefinite period of time, to wait for her to contact me now.

As you can see, we have talked on occasion and seen each other, just not spent any time alone yet, which I really would like to, and I have said to her I’d like to hang out sometime. Only one time has she actually called me. I also received confirmation in a later message from M’s friend that M is indeed terrible at picking up the phone and that I would have difficulty contacting her, so maybe I still have a chance yet? She also asked me not to ask M about her questioning, so it sounds like she asked me about M on her own accord. Did I blow it by calling too much? I never called the following day. I would always give a day or 2 or more in between, so as not to come off needy. I’m thinking about going back to Facebook for correspondence now the next time I do contact her, which won’t be for a long time. The only rational explanation I can think of for her silence is that she’s busy with school. She just started a week ago.

Does anyone have any helpful advice for me? She has an amazing personality and to top it off, she’s beautiful! I don’t want to lose her before I even win her over. It’s very different from all the other times. I can’t put my finger on it, but I can feel it. You’re lucky if you meet someone like this even once in your life.

The flowers I got her each time were not roses. I made sure to stay away from roses, because they make a statement.