[LordSappington]

I've messed up with a lot of girls. Sometimes I meet them but never bother really chatting them up. Sometimes, I chat them up but never get a number. Sometimes I get a number but can't arrange a date due to scheduling conflicts. Sometimes I arrange a date but it just goes poorly. All of these are salvageable. You're just afraid that she'll reject you. The key is to not think about it and act fairly quickly to fix it. If you have a great date with this girl, then your screwup will be a distant memory to her. However, if you wait too long, she'll likely lose interest. Don't find out her phone number because some people think it's a bit creepy to get numbers from her friends. Get her e-mail address (which is probably publicly known) or message her on your favorite social networking site and send her a brief e-mail like, "Hey, I had fun with you at the party. Do you want to do XYZ on Wednesday night?" Do it now.

Just last night, I messaged a girl on Facebook to go get a drink. I met her at a party like 6 months ago. We chatted for about 10 minutes and it was fun. Then I never got her number. We exchanged jokes on Facebook every month or so, but never really did much more than a one-liner. I decided to ask her to go to a bar with me last night. She went, even though we hadn't really talked for 6 months. It went reasonably well. Like I said, everything's salvageable.

I have reflected upon the situation you described, which seems to reflect many of the interactions I've had with women. I've been there before. I realize the proper way to solve the problem is this. While you're still interested, get her number. Then end the conversation and walk away to socialize with other people. Do not wait for the conversation to die down. End it intentionally with the purpose of getting her number. A good way would be, "I'm going to go refill my beer. I'd love to get together with you some other time. What's your number?" Then go get a beer. You can talk to her later in the night if you want.