So about a Week and a half ago I grabbed coffee with this girl from a lab who had asked to hang out during our reading week. I thought it went pretty well, I made sure to establish physical contact, (hug upon meeting, touching arm/hands, letting my hand brush her leg a bit and so on.) I held eye contact during conversation as well. Unfortunately we both only had about half an hour as we were busy after and so I didn't have the chance to extend things. Just walked with her to her car where she went for a hug. So I thought things went pretty well that day, and I've texted her a couple times since and we've had some playful back and forth. Haven't had a chance to see her since due to too much work and exams.

Anyways flash forward a week and I've asked her if she'd like to go out to the bar to celebrate after our last exam on Saturday, and she says she was already planning to go out with some friends to celebrate her birthday (it's passed she just hasn't been out for it yet). Doesn't faze me, I was just trying to see if she was going out since I was planning to go out with my friends anyways and try and meet up with her once we're both downtown anyways (small town, all the nightlife stuff is super close so different venues is not a problem). Basically my goal once I meet up with her to start kino, try to isolate and ideally get her back to my place or go to hers.

Now the things I'm not sure about.

One: I hadn't texted her much, just proposed a time and place to meet up, she was busy, a proposed alternate plan of coffee (only thing that worked for my schedule) and she said yes. I never explicitly used the word date, figuring my actions would imply it, but my roommate says she might have just seen it as friends hanging out. I know it's probably hard to judge from text but what do you guys think? Am I reading too much into things or proceeding with a reasonable line of thought?

Two: For kino, am I trying to get her isolated first or just starting the ladder around her friends? (ideally some of my buddies will be with me if it's a more group setting, or so I'd think). Can I simply start from class 2 since I've kind of done of some of those already or is it better to start with class 1 again?

Three: Are there any particular reads I should be looking for besides her being comfortable with my escalation? Would the ideal time (assuming I get this far) to propose leaving for a different place (be it a different venue or one of our places) after class 3/kissing her or is there a better time?

Four: Is there ever a time to give some space and back off? I've had a thing in the past where I was dancing with this girl and we were grinding, making out and I had gotten hands under the shirt and down skirt (along sides near abdomen, we were still in the bar). She didn't stop me anywhere or seem uncomfortable but she saw a friend and her friend and a roommate (who'd been watching us all night, it was fucking weird to me) just kinda got a hold of her and I didn't really go any further that night. Should I have backed off or tried to keep her attention? I'd like to avoid a similar situation Saturday.

TL;DR: Took a girl out for coffee, tried to do some kino, she's going out this weekend with some friends to celebrate her birthday, I was planning to go cause exams done and meet up with her at some point. It was never explicitly said that it was a date but I treated it as such, would it be fine to continue with that mindset Saturday? Should I start kino around her friends (if it makes sense in context) or try and be more isolated? What point do I suggest changing venues/leaving at; should I have kissed her by this point? Any time to back off if friends of hers are trying to get in the way?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post guys!