There is this boy, well actually a man that I have a schoolgirl crush on. Yes, I have gone back to giggles and butterflies whenever we meet. At this point we are still friends, and he seems to be taking his time so I’m trying to hatch a plan to ask him out. I know its 2012 and I should get out there and seize the moment and just ask him out but something engrained in my DNA won’t let me. I imagine older women are just shaking their heads at the idea of a woman asking a man out but hey, what is a girl to do? Everyone knows it’s the other way around but sometimes you just have to step out on a limb if you want things to move a little faster.So, I’m thinking of taking my chances and asking him out and see where it goes. What’s with the delay on his part? Is he shy, or just not into me? Maybe I’m the one who is terrible at showing interest. I really don’t know what the problem is but I’m a risk taker and I want to see what happens. Don’t guys these days enjoy all that independent women stuff including the fact that women ask them out? Sometimes it confuses me because one minute guys are loving independent women then the next, they are complaining about women who are not submissive. If I ask him out, will he see it as me setting the pace of the relationship?It shouldn’t be too hard, if guys can do it then I sure as hell can. Maybe I will ask him out for coffee. However, this throws the game rules out the window, seeing as one relationship expert said that a man should pay for the first dates while a woman can chip in after a while. Should I offer to pay the bill the first two times or do I sit back and let him even though I asked him out?  All this is messing up my head. What if I pay and bruise his ego? I know some men would never stomach a woman paying bills for him but others are different. I sincerely hope I don’t waste too much time thinking about this rather than actually doing it. But being the 21st century woman that I am, I simply can’t fail. I can handle this.