Ode...Could You Repeat That?

Ode and I had a big test in our geology class this week, so we spent late nights in the computer lab studying with all of our classmates. In a normal dating situation, I imagine that the two people don’t interact nearly this much between their first and second date, but we weren’t so lucky. Another gray area. Delicious. 

In that time, I learned that this kid still drives me crazy! Whenever I expect him to be serious, he’s making a joke at me. Whenever I think he’s being jocular, I try to play back, and that’s when he’s being serious. When I really want to talk about what we’re learning in class because I need help or have a question, he never says, “I don’t know the answer either, let’s figure it out.” He just toys with me until I get fed up and ask somebody else. The word that keeps running through my head to describe Ode is obnoxious. In all honesty, I feel a lot of frustration because I am trying to get to know him better but we never seem to click.

So I have to admit that our disconnect stems from a communication barrier. And it’s amplified 10-fold every time he texts me. When he talked about going out for a second time, I wasn’t sure if he was referring to me or our lab teacher. He kept talking about going to get Mexican food with our teacher, which I’m like 60% sure was a joke, but he has tons of typos and his phone uses some kind of autocorrect, so none of the text made sense. I was thoroughly confused. Even with two friends helping me, I had to guess at what he was saying. I didn’t know how to respond so I said, “Oh I love Mexican food. I haven’t had it in forever.” Then he asked if I was hinting as something! I was like, Dude are you hinting at something? Because please, fill me in.

However, he did drop some promising hints. He asked me if I have a boyfriend (in that backwards “I bet your boyfriend thinks…” kind of way), he called our date a date, he told me I’m “an awesome girl,” and he made a half-joke about what he does with girls he likes. He also brought out the Good Night Text. I’m not a fan of good night texts. It’s like a hug that you don’t want. Unless I’m thinking of saying good night too, it’s just an awkward reminder that this person thinks about you as they go to sleep. Or they think about you falling sleep. Which is perhaps not creepy, but strange to me. I don’t know. Maybe I’m crazy. But I don’t like hearing it too early on.

Our date was awesome, just like the first. It was actually a lot longer, with more talking. He told me some great stories, we joked about our professors, and we talked about sharing personal information, too. (He’s really direct, I only share if I’m asked). We also had some great food, though I’m honestly not sure what part of the pig I was eating in my tacos.

As he drove me home, he offered to carpool to our environmental science conference the next morning, but I turned him down because my sister had already agreed to drive me. So he said okay and drove off without a word. No "good night". No hug. It’s like we were just friends.

I ended that night really confused. I mean, I know how I feel about him -- not a romantic interest, but still an impressive and admirable guy - but what about the things he hopes for with me? Did he change his mind? Did I miss something?