We were young, 12 or 13. I liked a girl and my best friend an I walked across town so I could ask her out. It was my friend's first time meeting the girl. I chickened out of asking the girl. Over the next few weeks my friend constantly urged me to ask the girl out. I eventually did despite the girl giving me increasingly weird vibes. She rejected me and said she couldn't tell me why she wasn't interested. Within a couple of days my fried had asked her out and they were dating. I moved on.

Many months later a mutual friend told me that my best friend had actually asked her out the first night night when we walked over to meet the girl. He had convinced her to go with his plan to secretly date him until he could get me to ask her out, she would reject me and right after they could start officially dating.

Our friendship dwindled. I ended up casually sleeping with the girl for a few weeks, when we were around 16 at the tail end of her and my best friend's relationship. I ended up growing much closer with the mutual friend who informed me of the scheme and we have been best friends for decades through thick an thin.