Am I her "fall guy", or...?

[Ruval]

There's a girl that I met MANY months ago and I thought we got along pretty well. It turned out that she wasn't ready for a relationship and when I first asked her out she didn't want to consider it to be a date. We hung out regardless and ever since then we've been friends. I know I made a mistake, fine, whatever.

Fast-forward to a couple of days ago and she asked me to go out with her to dinner on Valentine's Day. I already had plans for that day so I couldn't go. She seemed kind of upset and hasn't contacted me since.

Normally, I would think that (like any friend) she's upset that I couldn't hang out with her. But here's the funny thing... all those times that we do hang out it almost feels like we're dating. We're almost always just alone together and we flirt a lot. I won't lie to you, I'm confused as to where I stand with this girl. (Mind you that she has lots of friends, most of them boys. Also, by no means is this girl a bitch...surprisingly enough, she's actually nice. A little too "cool", but nice.)

Has this girl changed her mind and actually likes me, or am I just a "fall guy" to her (meaning that if she can't find anyone to go out with then I'm her last resort)?

[starbuck]

Ruval, it's hard to tell how she feels about you. She seems to like you as more than a friend, but you might have fallen into the friend zone.

My advice? Get yourself out of there now. If you like her, ask her out on a real date. No more of this "hanging out" stuff. Make sure she knows it's a date, too.

If she still balks at the idea, then I think you know your answer.

[Ruval]

Lol not to sound like I've given up hope, but I actually know I'm in her friendzone already... or, maybe I was in her friendzone up until now. I mean, she always tells me about her guy problems among other things. Honestly, I wasn't diggin' the fact that I was friendzoned but after a while I got over it and now I think it's not so bad. I no longer pursue her like I used to, though.

I guess you're right, I would have to ask her out on a real date and only then will I find out where I stand with this girl.
Still, the invitation to dinner on Valentine's Day of all things did catch me off-guard...