I really don't understand guys.

I grew up with two brothers, I'm a daddy's girl and most of my best friends are guys -- but I still don't get them.

On Friday night I went to dinner (at the commons, mind you, don't get excited) with a guy who'd I'd met the week before.

I wasn't expecting anything -- just to get to know him.

It went well from what I thought, so later that night, we watched a movie at his place ... which turned into not really watching a movie at all.

And I thought it was all going really well.

But then, a few hours later, out of the blue, the ball dropped:

"I'm just not looking for a relationship right now."

Of course. Guys hardly ever are. Especially a guy in the spring semester of his senior year.

But my theory is to take opportunities as they come, so maybe -- just maybe -- this time would be different.

"Don't take this the wrong way. I just don't want a relationship with you."

Yup, he said it. He actually said that to my face. But, the "wrong way"? Is there any other way to take that?

And then he said I could stay over -- if I wanted.

Nice date, huh?

Now, I appreciated the honesty, but there are nicer ways to get the point across.

And it gets worse. When I got home and signed online, he IMed me with, "good night beautiful."

WTF?

I know I'm only a sophomore, and haven't had much experience with guys.

But when someone says he doesn't want to date me specifically, that's a pretty good sign that things are not going to work.

But then why would he have flirted with me?

Why would my neighbor, who's his friend and gave him the highest recommendation, have told me he was interested? Why would have invited me over?

Unless ... I was nearly the victim of my very first booty-call.

I didn't think booty-calls actually existed, aside from Facebook and friends-with-benefits relationships. I thought it was just something people joked about when they needed a little attention.

But is that the way it really works? Does a guy actually think he can just call a girl and she'll come over and jump in bed with him? Well, I'm sorry. That's not the way it works with me. No calling of the booty here.

But, I have a bigger problem than having to stick to my principles that night.

How is a girl supposed to know the difference between a date and a booty-call? We had dinner, we talked online, we had all the necessary flirtations to make it seem like a date, but by the end of the night I was clearly mistaken.

Do dates even exist in college? Does anyone go out for dinner and a movie anymore? Or is it all just a "get drunk and hook up" kind of modern-day courting?

My friend, who is the female equivalent of a "playa," told me that I should never come right out and ask a guy if he wants to go out. I should drop hints, like "I'm going to this party later, you should stop by, or whatever."

But what if I really do want him to stop by? What is so wrong with someone being direct or just wanting to go out on a normal date?

I would love to revert back to sixth grade, when we can just send notes that say, "I like you, do you like me, check yes or no."

But with jerks out there like that, I guess that would be too much to ask.