<human>: Can you give me a shortened version of the text?

Hey, Reddit! I'm fairly new here, so I don't know too much about how this site works as far as posting goes. 

I just got out of a really rough patch. My first relationship ended in a really bad way. Friends were lost, other people revealed themselves to be my true friends and my ex and I are on awful terms. I thought I was happy in that relationship but retrospectively there were many things that I should have noticed beforehand to spare myself the trauma that I have endured for these past few months.

When talking to family at a going away party, a cousin of mine suggested that I talk to an old friend of mine (21/M that I mentioned in the title) to strike something up. We were rather fond of each other back in high school but neither of us said anything about it to initiate any type of dating. We haven't gone to the same school in three years, but we have kept in contact minimally, exchanging birthday wishes, and randomly dropping in on one another to check up. Most people that I talk to confirm that he still has feelings for me, and I have enough feelings to want to ask him out on a date.

The problem is that we don't talk frequently enough to have a basis for me to be able to simply say, "Hey! Let's go on a date!" without it seeming out of nowhere, and I am not at all keen on how to get dates. My ex and I had shared classes together in high school, and he was the one who initiated our circumstances. Up until then, I had never had a boyfriend before. Only several potentials.

So my question is, Reddit, how would I go about asking out an old friend of mine without it seeming to spring out of nowhere/ looking like a weirdo? Thanks!
<bot>: Finally feeling strength after a bad break up, want to ask out an old friend that had a mutual feeling of attraction back in the day, but don't know how to approach him?