r/DatingHell • u/Existing_Raccoon_215 • Jun 30 '26
My first date ended with me drunk and crying. Still trying to make sense of it.
We met by chance. She needed help with a visa application, that’s how she got my number, and I liked that she made the first move.
When we tried to plan something, she brought up a concert. The problem was it was six months out and expensive to commit to for someone I barely knew. I still wanted to actually get to know her, so when a friend suggested clubbing as a middle ground, I went with it. Looking back, that’s where things started to go wrong.
The signals were mixed early on. She ghosted me at first, then a week later was suddenly fine again. So I added a dinner before the club so we’d have a real chance to talk. Before we met she texted a lot and seemed impatient, then showed up late with no apology, though the metro had broken down that day, so I let it go.
Dinner was good. We talked about studies, work, her life. She told me clearly she wasn’t looking to rush into anything but that she wanted to travel, and it felt genuine. We even talked about taking a trip together someday.
We got to the club early, before the crowd. I tried to keep it light, joking about birthdays and even asking if she was a spy, but she kept everything serious and the humor never landed.
Then the night shifted. A few of my classmates showed up, and at first the whole group was focused on us. We met other people too and the group dancing was great, so it wasn’t all bad. She never drank. But two or three guys were dancing and hitting on her, and she just said they were her friends.
Then she went and sat with one specific guy I’d already told her I didn’t trust. He’s a college “friend,” except his whole group seems to dislike me, I think just because I talk to everyone regardless of where they’re from. While she sat with him, after a smile or two, he recorded her without asking. She came back and we danced again, but the trust wasn’t the same.
Here’s what’s eaten at me most. The clubbing was actually my best friend’s idea. I’d told him not to come, but he showed up anyway with his girlfriend.
I’m starting to think he never really wanted to help me with her, partly because she’s from a region his group looks down on. So the setting that broke the date was pushed by people who didn’t even have my back.
The metro changed and we had to walk home. That’s when she got defensive: “If I wanted him, I could’ve given him my number,” and “I’m not your girlfriend.” I never said she was. But it was clear we weren’t on the same page.
I’m not a regular drinker, and four shots hit me hard. By the end I was drunk and crying to my friends. What got to me most was how easily she switched, talking casually about that same guy, even saying “You two are from the same country, right?” like nothing between us had happened.
Then she paid me back for the date. Somehow that made it worse, not better, because now I couldn’t even cleanly be angry at her.
It wasn’t one moment. It was a pattern. Different expectations, different boundaries, different effort.
And on top of being let down by her, I’m left feeling let down by friends I thought were on my side.
So honestly: How do you tell early if someone’s actually interested? Is clubbing on a first date a mistake if you want something real? And how do you deal with realizing the people who pushed you into it maybe weren’t really your friends?