In high school, I was in the same situation as your friend. My best friend was cute, sweet, smart, funny and convinced he was in love with me. I adored him but any semi-serious relationship I got into would quickly sour or get boring. I didn't want him to become just another ex-boyfriend I avoided. I valued him too much for that and didn't think I was quite ready for the kind of serious relationship he wanted. We continued being friends and eventually we did start dating. It lasted for a whole week and then HE broke up with ME! The qualities that made our friendship so enjoyable made us miserable as a couple. I was hurt (mostly my pride, I admit) but we eventually became friends again. Now, years later, we are both happily married to other people. We keep in contact but now my husband is my best friend and the love of my life as his wife is to him. The story has a happy ending but not one either of us could have imagined all those years ago! Perhaps your friend will come around and you two will be great together or, perhaps, like my friend and me, you'll both move on to be even happier with someone else one day.
Nothing hurts worse than a rejection. Even if she wants to be your friend only. Sadly, this is often a code women give to say "I'm not interested and probably won't be in the future." Being a woman who has seen this happen plenty of times, it makes it really difficult to see a guy go through this.
That being said, if you've enlisted, your life is going to change dramatically. You will grow and change in ways you can't possibly imagine and she'll be home and away with her own experiences. Even if she said yes to dating, most long distance relationships don't work well because there isn't a lot to keep them together. Married folk have enough of a difficult time as it is.
Right now, you probably feel pretty low and feel as though the world sucks and you'll never find anyone as wonderful as her. Been there. After I got dumped, I met my husband and we've been married for 26 years. So, don't give up.
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Well it wasn't really a rejection.
I've talked with our rabbit show mom (long story there) and she thinks I should let it just take it's course and let things work themselves out. It's a mission for my Church. I would say which one but i don't want to get in trouble with the mods.
I'm proud of you for letting her know your feelings! Definitely just let it take it's course and enjoy your friendship. In the future it may turn into something else, but honestly you have a lot of new things coming your way and in my experience these new experiences tend to change people. During the next few years, she may change as well (Not necessarily in a good or bad way, but everyone changes as they mature). When I was in HS I had a similar situation with a guy, except a bit reversed. We were the best of friends and did EVERYTHING together. I went off to college and he went to community college. The few times we got together after starting college, I realized he wasn't the same person I had liked in HS. The change we went through pushed us apart. However, I had one friend in HS who I was close to, but I wouldn't have called her a best friend. Now that she is done with college, and I think the experience really helped her mature. Now I would say she is probably one of my closer friends, and certainly one who I really enjoy hanging out with.
I guess what I really want to say is don't wait for anyone, even if there seems to be a slight possibility they may like you. This will cause you to miss out on other great opportunities with other great people. Who knows? You may find someone to be with on your mission! I would not suggest getting involved with someone before leaving for two years though. So many of my friends tried the long distance dating thing when they went off to college and hardly any relationships lasted. It caused a lot of stress for them, and the few relationships that did last just were not very happy ones.
Good luck though! Don't worry, you'll be alright. It's amazing how much a rejection can hurt, but at the same time it can really make a person stronger.