What gets me is, she's actually got more of a chance now than she did before, since now she knows her friend is at least open to the idea. But she's letting pessimism get the better of her instead of at least trying to move forward. It's a bit frustrating.

My thoughts exactly. I wondered if I missed some indication why the relationship wouldn't work regardless of gender. I think I'm pretty good at missing things like that. Ha.
Still. I liked it.