I was thirteen when I first took Allison on a date. Well, I thought it was a date. Allison... not so much.

We were in the middle school at this point. Other guys in our year had started to talk to her more, and I hated that. She was my best friend, didn't they know that?

I thought the best way to make people back off was by asking her to be my girlfriend. Some people had started dating at this point, and I thought it seemed cool. I figured we could try that.

I invited her to the local restaurant in our town. It was the place everyone our age went to cause it was right next to the schools. Everyone went on dates there, so I figured it had to be good luck or something. One of my buddies on the football team went there single and left with a girlfriend, so it seemed pretty logical.

My Dad had spent an hour giving me advice. He knew how much I liked her since the day I met her. He told me to give her a lot of compliments and make it clear I liked her. Apparently, girls like a guy who's direct with his emotions.

My Mom let me run all my conversation ideas by her. I didn't wanna be the one talking the whole time. Even though Alli never minded when I rambled sometimes. But still, my Mom made sure I had a good game plan.

I wanted to wow her. I wore my best button up shirt and pants— the clothes I only ever wore on holidays. I got there a half hour early to make sure I could set it up the way I wanted it to. I asked them to dim the lights and everything. Even put a rose on the table.

I vividly remember the first thing her saying was, "Why's it so dark in here?"

"Bad lightbulbs." Not sure why I went with that, but I did.

Next thing she said was, "Oh no, someone must've left this rose here."

I brought the rose to the receptionist and told them someone left it there. The look of pity she gave me is engrained in my head forever, I think.

That was when Allison noticed my outfit, asking. "You going somewhere after this?"

I panicked. "Funeral."

The only thing I was mourning was any relationship I thought we could have. She tried to ask some questions about it, but I steered the conversation away before she could ask anything more. I think she started to realize what was going on after that, but she didn't say anything. I tried to find a chance to tell her she looked pretty, but I was too embarrassed by this point.

After that, I figured we were gonna be friends. And I was fine with that, cause I just knew I had to have Allison in my life one way or another.

I was wrong, obviously. But I didn't realize it at the time.

Looks like I'm back where I started.