Peer pressure and dating?

The other night I (26M) was out grabbing dinner with a friend, and I caught this girl(23F) glancing at me from another table. I found her attractive, so this turned into us basically eye f***ing each other throughout the course of our meal. I can’t imagine how she found me stuffing rigatoni down my face appealing… but anyways.

Eventually she stood up to have a smoke, and I took that as an opportunity to introduce myself. Sure enough we struck a conversation, and the chemistry seemed great. There was a lot of flirting and touching, along with her clearly expressing she found me attractive.

Things were going great until a few of her friends came out to join us. While I greeted them, I could tell that they had a bit of disdain for me. I don’t know why that is necessarily, but I managed to remain composed. At one point, one of them whispered something in her ear as they repulsively looked at me.

Her demeanor completely changed after this interaction. At this point I started to get uncomfortable so I bid them a good night. As I left, I asked if she wanted to exchange information. To which she simply responded “No thank you”. I was left confused, but I wasn’t surprised after the interaction with her friends.

Now, did she reject me because I didn’t fit the standard set by her friend group? If this is the case, which I believe it was. This is a big reason a lot of people are failing to find partners.

We should choose who we date based on our own needs and values. Do not let other’s expectations ruin your chances at finding a SO. I believe women are more susceptible to this, and it’s very unfortunate.