I went on a social outing to a pub. I signed up to this social outing because it was in my area and I thought it would be fun and maybe I could make some friends. This person messaged me through the website I signed up for this outing beforehand and said he was looking forward to seeing me. I said you too (just being polite). I actually went to this outing because I wanted to, not because he was there, because I want to make new friends.
We were all talking, as in group talk, taking turns just shooting the breeze, not talking about anything in particular. And then one member of the group left the venue, and this person moved to sit next to me and started asking me questions one after the other. He seemed to know things about me that I hadn't told him, and I asked him how he knew these things, and he said he'd looked at my profile. So for example he said "What are you doing for the rest of the day?" And I didn't say much, then he said, "Writing?" And I said "How do you know that?" He paused for a moment and said "I looked at your profile."
At that point I felt creeped out (it was an involuntary response) and started to grow uncomfortable in the face of his constant questioning. He kept up with what pets I own, where I grew up, what I do for a living, etc. It was making me uncomfortable. He was staring intently at me and the other people in the group were talking amongst themselves so he had broken us off from them.
So I gave very short, one word answers. He kept going, though, so I tried flipping it back at him immediately, i.e. if he asked 'do you like such-and-such?' I would say 'well, do you like such-and-such?' But he kept on with his questioning so I stared at the TV away from him. Then I thought this might seem a bit rude, so I focused my attention instead on someone else in the group who was talking to another person, and then he did too, and he finally stopped asking me questions. We all left soon after that so I was able to avoid being questioned by him any more.
Later on after we left he sent another message saying he enjoyed seeing me and looked forward to seeing me again.
I don't really know him very well. I only met him once before. I have no idea what he's like; I'm sure he's a nice enough guy, I just really hate being interrogated. If anyone did that to me I would instantly find them repulsive and want to get away from them. This is just how I feel. I can't really help it.
Next time we went to trivia (they invited me) but there were too many people so they said, 'we'll split into two groups. So-and-so knows all the answers, we'll put him in a group on his own.' Then they kept saying, 'Who wants to be with so-and-so?' And I got the feeling they wanted me to say 'I do!' But after the first time and all the intense questioning, I really, really did not want to be alone with him. If he started asking me questions again I knew I would feel uncomfortable again so I stayed where I was. So another woman reluctantly got up and said, 'I will be with so-and-so.'
In the future, though, I may not be able to avoid him, so what can I do? How can I gently dissuade him from interrogating me, without hurting him or making the rest of the group think I'm stuck up?