I've known this girl for half a year in college. We are from the same home town and hanged out a bit over the summer. I didn't like fall head over heels or anything for her at the beginning and I didn't even realize that I liked her till a month or so ago. Prior to that, I only saw her once in a while since we were in the same class.
When I realized that I wanted more than a friendship with her, I became a bit more proactive, asking to meet up for lunch, events, etc. Most of the time she came and we hanged out, but only while her friends were there also. I didn't really show my feelings towards her till a few days ago, when I bought a hello kitty doll(she loves hello kitty) and placed it with a note by her door.
The note just said that I thought about her while passing the hello kitty store and thought of getting her a gift. It was just something to show she was special, not a love letter.
After finding the gift, she txted me and thanked me. I foolishly called her immediately after the text and asked her to come to the dance with me. My intention was to ask her to go as friends, but I didn't mention that to her on the phone and she probably thought of it as a date. She couldn't answer immediately on the phone..
Next day she told me in person that she's too busy to go. I heard from friends that she was intending to go to the dance just with her friends, but because she didn't really want to go with me "that much"(exact words used) and because she doesn't want to give me false hopes, she rejected me.
It was kinda awkward meeting her after that, but I think I pretty much worked my way out of the awkwardness now. The dance is in a few more days, and I don't want to give up on her. What should I do?
Should I ask her again? And this time, stating clearly that this is just as friends and for fun? I don't want to force her to come...any advice is appreciated.