Heads up, this post is very long. I really like to write and try to make the most of it when I have a story to tell. Plus, I think it'll be good for me to go over the whole night in detail just to make sure I know what I did right and what I did wrong. I'll break it into a few comments to follow and end with a summary of things I need to work on. Here goes. (Worth noting that I'm from the US, but living in New Zealand.)

After finishing The Game, several other books, most of the Annihilation DVD, and reading some of the exploits documented here - I set out on the town Saturday night with the intent to put my new abilities to use.

The night started with some rugby, cards, and beers with my flatmates (we'll call them T and D) at home. At the bottle store, each of them grabbed a 12-pack. I grabbed a 6er which provoked a "Is that going to be enough for you?" I laughed and said I was taking it easy tonight.

I've been encouraging them to pick up The Game and read it since I finished it, but neither of them have gotten around to it. I'm hoping one of them will take me up on it and make a decent wing - but we'll have to see. Knowing a bit of my intentions, they said a little condescendingly that they were eager to see my new skills. Me too, fellas. Me too.

So rugby finished up, I had a few in me and my flatties had two or three fews in them. We called a cab and headed downtown around midnight.

First stop was Bar 5 - T knew some girls there. We got in and it was relatively dead. There was a 5set with 1 dude on the dance floor - and a mixed bag of 7 or 8 who were friends of one of the girls T knew. He did a piss poor job at introductions, so we hung about for a little while awkwardly. The music was pretty loud which meant any approach would almost immediately mean that I'm in their space.

The dude from the 5set bounced over our way and introduced himself. He was pretty clearly on something. He was happy in a way that creeped me out a bit. He kept telling us we should get out on to the dance floor with him and his friends. He pointed out the one that was his girlfriend - she was the HB3 surrounded by HB7+s. In hindsight, what the fuck was I waiting for? I declined - repeatedly. As did my flatmates. He went back to them and continued his little dance orgy all by himself.

Having swallowed a giant beta pill in the face of that guy's invitation, I moved in to talk to some of the friends of friends of friends that had been standing a few meters off the whole while. I went into a mixed set of them, got in close, and pointed out the guy on the dance floor. Subconsciously, I wanted to tear him down for being better than me (something I realize now). I opened the set by pointing him out, explained how he came over and individually asked each of us to come out and dance with him and his friends. With a look of subtle curiosity and a cocky smile, I said "You think he's a pimp? Like, a real pimp?" It got some laughs - which is good, though I feel a little shitty retrospect for making it at the expense of that dude. Went on to ask how I'd go about figuring out if he's a pimp or just some guy who's having a really good time. "You can't just go up and ask 'Hey, are these girls for sale?'" More laughs, feeling good.

I moved a little closer and started talking to an HB7 at that point. T had introduced me to the girl he actually knew (we'll call her Eva) - so I asked HB7 how she knew Eva. She said, and I'm not fucking around here, "Well, my aunt has down syndrome. So I've known Eva for about 20 years." I assumed I misheard her, so I said "What?" and moved in a bit closer. She said again "My aunt has down syndrome, so I've known Eva for like 20 years." I was dumbstruck. I laughed and said exactly what I was thinking because I didn't know what else to say: "I have no idea how those two things relate to each other, but okay." It was downhill from there. I got out that she was from a town up north, fluffed a bit more, talked to her English guy friend a bit, came back to her with something specific to living in town which got her to repeat that she was only visiting. Crash and burn. I ejected, and she left shortly after with Eva.

A couple of the girls stayed behind when the majority of the group left. They were on the piss and already having a good time before I got to them. One was a shorter brunette HB6 sporting a hat (it made her look a little too much like a boy). The other was a bit taller, brunette and a solid HB8. They weren't around when I opened the previous group with the "Is that guy a pimp?" bit. Being that it worked the first time and I wasn't yet feeling guilty about it, I did it again. They laughed. The music was loud with this group, and they were bouncing around a lot - but they weren't going to let me spoil their good time, so I was determined to use that fact to play some games.

(I won't document every touch, but I was kino'ing the fuck out of these girls. My hands were on their shoulders, their arms, and their lower backs throughout the whole of the conversation. One big revelation for the night: if I'm already in their space to talk to them, I have no problem at all touching them. In fact, I feel more uncomfortable if I'm that close and not touching them.)

I asked how they knew each other. They said they were co-workers. I asked if they go out all the time together. They said they actually never get out on nights like this. Thinking to myself that they are way too chummy to just be mild work acquaintances, I pushed further and said they seemed way too close to just go out every couple months. They admitted that they used to work together, but they got separated because they caused too much trouble when they were working in the same department. They laughed, but I didn't care for it. It was a laugh between the two of them - I wasn't involved in that little bit of rapport that had just been established. Thinking about it, it's a laugh I've heard a hundred times from every new group of people I was trying too hard to become a part of. It's a laugh that brings out the worst in my self-conscious, beta habits. I pushed it aside and resorted to a routine.

The first routine I'd ever run - the Best Friend Test.

(continued in comments...)