DR. WALLACE: How do I know if a boy at my school is interested in me? I've made the mistake before of actually asking a guy out on a date, and then he said he wasn't interested in going out with me. Needless to say, I found that experience a bit difficult and embarrassing to go through.

I do not want to make that same mistake again and misinterpret a guy's signals. I'm asking because I really think this one guy in my science class is directly flirting with me on the daily class videoconferences. Your help will be appreciated on this topic! Thank you in advance if you find my question worth printing! — Just Wondering How to Proceed, via email

JUST WONDERING: If a guy looks at you a lot, teases you a lot or makes several direct comments to you in a group setting, he's likely interested. If he's smiling and making a lot of eye contact, that is indeed another likely indicator that he's interested in getting to know you a bit better.

My advice is to look out for these signals. When you feel you have gathered up enough of them, have one of your girlfriends make contact with him or one of his friends to float a "trial balloon" to check his level of potential interest in spending some time with you. This will allow you to avoid facing a direct rejection, and it may well lead to an opportunity to get together in person if your instincts were correct in reading the original signals!

DOES HE LIKE ME IF HE'S SLOW TO REPLY?

DR. WALLACE: I met this older guy at a house party, and I started asking people for his Snapchat information. When I found it, I started texting him, but he acts so different over text than in person.

Then when I started visiting him or getting asked to hang out with him, he would playfully tease me, open the door for me and compliment me. But over text, he is super slow to reply to anything that I send, often leaving me hanging for hours at a time. My feelings are really kind of confused right now because I don't get to see him that much and when I do, he's so nice to me.

Do you think I'm getting played because I am younger than him, or does he actually like me and he's just scared to admit it? — Unsure Girl, via email

UNSURE GIRL: There are many reasons why individuals do not respond quickly to text messages. They could be working, conversing with another person, eating a meal with their parents or any number of other activities. You get the idea here. Do yourself a favor and don't worry so much about the timing of your friend's replies; focus more on the interpersonal reactions you get from him when the two of you spend time together in person. And don't forget that talking on the telephone is also a good way to communicate because you can hear inflection in each other's voices. Perhaps you could occasionally send him a text saying, "Give me a call whenever you have a free minute; there's something I want to share with you." This way, you can relax and see if he eventually calls you back. If and when he does, have something ready that may be interesting to discuss, and you'll soon start to gather information about his interest in you by the way he speaks to you.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: JESHOOTS-com at Pixabay