There was a girl i was interested in. She was drop dead gorgeous and everyone wanted her. She became friends with me at the same time she became friends with my entire circle. Here's how it went down, she started hooking up with my arguably more attractive friend. Meanwhile i had swiftly been brought into the much loathed friend zone. But i said to myself, i'm gonna wait this out. She continued to hook up with my friend for a lil while, but he was kind of a jerk and other than good looks didn't have a whole lot going for him. We started to become really good friends. Like we would basically go out all the time and people assumed we were dating...and he would get her at night. Eventually she got sick of his bullshit and moved on. WE CONTINUED TO BE REALLY GOOD FRIENDS. Now at this point i was steadfast in the friend-zone, and though its not ideal i didnt allow it to get to me and "played it cool" I was tempted many times, but one day finally she couldn't take it anymore and just pounced on me...the rest is history. TL;DR: Waited it out in the friend zone, got the best part of her.

All these years of reading has finally paid off!