I'm not asking for advice on what I should do!!! I already rejected her offer and don't plan on revising that. I'm only curious for insight into her thought process.
For about a month I (22M) could sense tension between a girl and I. To illustrate, the last time we saw each other I caught her staring at me from across the room multiple times, she blatantly checked out my shoulders and chest mid convo and seemed to verbally acknowledge the tension between us for the first time; as I remarked that I was glad it was over between a guy and her to which she responded that she "wonders why that is" in a sarcastic/rhetoric tone. After this we texted for 3 days before I asked her out.
However, she replied that she wouldn't see it as a date as she went through the aforementioned break up just a week before and because we'll be doing a board year for our student association together (+ a third minor reason, but I strongly doubt that's a dealbreaker for her). Notably she stressed twice that these contextual reasons were the issue even after I expressed some confusion that I felt there was something between us, which felt like she implied she had feelings too but we just couldn't. She was very excited to see me regardless and even started planning it herself, but I refused as hanging out privately but not dating felt like a sure way for one or both of us to get hurt. Lastly she stressed that she hopes we'll still talk like we used to despite me not wanting to meet, which I agreed to and I proposed to postpone a potential meetup to a later date which she in turn also agreed to.
So now I'm confused as to what exactly she expected to happen if we did meet? Surely she can see that we (or at least I) won't see the meeting as purely platonic? If she was concerned with maintaining a friendly connection she wouldn't need to see me privately, we see each other often enough as is. She also never stated to want to stay friends or that she wanted to meet as friends, further ambiguating the status quo now.
Again I understand that it's a no and I'll move on, but I can't help but feel confused.