The evening had started with a quiet kind of courage. She had rehearsed the invitation in her head for days, smoothing out every word until it felt natural enough to say out loud. When he agreed to go out with her, she carried a cautious hope into the restaurant—nothing too big, just the possibility of a pleasant conversation and a shared laugh. But once they sat down, something felt off. He barely spoke, his responses short, his eyes lingering in a way she couldn’t quite read. The silence grew heavier with every passing minute, and her confidence slowly folded in on itself.