Some background:

Me: Got out of a serious relationship recently. My skill is not that great, but I'm not hopeless. Clubs & bars scare the shit out of me, but house parties are very good. I used to be the nice guy, LTRs & shit, but no more, I wanna change that.

My friend: Comes from the same background as me (computer science nerdy/geeky guy), but he recovered earlier than me, more success with girls recently. We have been friends for many years now, though there always been a competition factor involved.

The situation: We both went to this cocktail party (formal attire), enter HB8-9. I got some opportunity to talk to her, so did he. The outcome: she's much more into him than into me. I did some kino and she reciprocated a bit, but his outcome was so much better. I wasn't that bad in general though: I #-closed another girl, I made some friends, talked to people in general.

The big question: why??? Some of my thoughts: He knew her before: they met a few days earlier at a club, through a common friend who was the one to invite us to the cocktail thing. He's a bit better looking, I think - I'm slightly taller, but he spent much more time at the gym: I'm skinny, he's muscular. And, most important: he can do the small talk. We are both engineers, smart guys, but he is so much better talking about parties, drinking. I'm more into intellectual conversations. I spent some time with the girl and we built some rapport, but it was plain to see that she was so much more into him.

The big question: Why? Do I really need to talk bullshit about parties to attract hot girls? Whenever I talk to someone, I'm more about information/idea exchange, than just party talk. This is not the first time I'm experiencing this. What do I need to change to improve on this?