'Are you asking me out', she asked, with a somewhat derisive 'are you kidding me' tone. 'What if I am', I mustered a courage to quip back. We did. It was glorious.

'Why do you always stare at me', she asked, after we broke up. I didn't respond. We grew distant.

'Why do you want to get close to me', she asked, after I answered that I wanted to learn guitar from her to get closer to her, and I told her the things I like about her. We got closer.

The lesson of this case is: when you get shit tests, escalate.