It was in high school, and I was a major loser and wasn't confident at all. I hung out with this girl a lot, mainly because I didn't know how to deal with my interest in her. I was friend-zoned pretty hard.

Fast-forward three years. This past New Year's celebration, I went to a party at a house of a local university. Surprisingly, this girl was there. She was with a guy she had been dating. We got to talking, and her interest in my life since high school gradually became a bunch of shit tests. "So, how many girls have you been with?" "Are [my university] girls hot?" "Are you a player?"

It was kind of dumb. So I played around with it. "At least one thousand" "Yes, but they're all lesbians" "What are you talking about? I've never even kiss a girl"

I had no desire or incentive to pursue her, so the anxiety of how I answered was much diminished. I didn't care if my answers weren't true; I know that they were jokes and I was having a good time.

Then she whips out a bombshell - "You were so into me in high school, but you didn't even kiss me, you bitch." It was in playful spirit, but it still felt like a heavy statement. I replied with a smile, "Whoa, whoa, who said I even wanted to in the first place?" This set the conversation back to playful banter.

I left that night thinking about how much of a blessing that was. Here was a girl I utterly failed with, and she was giving me brutally honest critique. Granted, I have grown leaps and bounds since then, but how often does something like this happen?

Another thing I learned is that a lot of the time, girls want you to try and kiss them. In high school, this girl was cool sometimes, and had a bitch shield other times. It is an interesting notion to think that the entire time she wanted me to take the lead, grab her and kiss her, and be proud of it.

Don't be afraid men! Give 'em a smooch!