Hello,

TLDR: this old female friend contacts me after many months we didn't talk to ask for help with a math problem. I give her the solution and ask what she's up to and she ignores me for 1 day. I ask if she died and she replies that she'd send me an audio message later. Two days pass and nothing. What gives?

Background (I may mention some details that may seem irrelevant to you, but maybe they are not):

There is this ex-classmate of mine (we are now both 27+), with who I used to hang out. One of those ambiguous sunshine girls with 29823 friends who are liked by everyone and like to surround themselves with "friends" but are magically always single. I kind of liked her and we used to joke around,and she was always touchy feely at school but it never really got serious. After going separate ways at university, we still kept in touch from time to time and would meet during christmas and summer.

She once asked me to visit her univ. apartment (shared with other girls, so I understood it "as friends", since we didnt' really get any alone time), so I stayed at her place but spent the day as friends. We went out just the two of us one day, it was what you could call a date, but nominally as friends. Then again, all back to normal. She would often say "oh, one time I'll come visit you too" and I would always reply "sure, you're welcome whenever" but it never happened. She said this every time she asked where I was (and due to my current job, I'm often in different places), mentioning that she'd potentially come visit me but never acting out on it, even tho I always provided her with timetables and guidelines on how to reach me (I'm a practical guy :/. When she invited me the first time, I wasn't half assed and carried out the deed as planned). But she's kinda random and airhead, so I always shrugged it off "oh whatever, she's just an airhead old friend" and didn't overthink it.

Then contacts got more sporadic during the years. I once forgot to congratulate her on her birthday (like 5y ago) and she was a bit cold for a while. When I said "oh, sorry if I'm late, happy birthday" she was like "thanks!!! this time you are forgiven", so I guess she was pissed. I didn't miss even one in the following years but then one year she missed mine. She always congratulated me so I guessed it was her way of saying "see how it feels?". Anyways, after I texted her afterwards for other reasons, we chatted a bit and she ended the convo with "When we meet next time, I'll make up for having forgotten your birthday and offer you breakfast!", even tho I never mentioned anything about it (since I don't really care), nor acted annoyed (and from that I assumed she missed it on purpose). Tho we didn't happen to meet afterwards, so this died too.

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Present

This year I've been super busy with my work, travelling on a weekly basis abroad, time flew for me and before I realized it, 6 months had passed since we last had a chat (reads: exchange of greetings and little updates). The other day she contacts me out of the blue to ask for help about a math problem, since she was helping her cousin with homework, so I gave her the solution, she thanked me, and then I asked what she was up to. This last message was ignored for 1 day straight, so I asked her "did you succumb :o?" and she replied "Oh love, I'll have dinner and send you an audio message". This never happened either and so I dropped it (she always calls people with "love" or "sweetie" or whatever, so nothing special)

This isn't really the first time she replies with a delay (typically 30min - 1h), but this is the first time she so obviously ignores me. Did I do something to her? Or was she just attention-whoring and keeping me "in orbit"?

I wouldn't mind getting together with her, but our circumstances and job situations (or lack thereof) at the moment do not really allow it from a practical point of view, so I refrained from pushing and half assedly entering a relationship to eventually end up hurting her in the process.

There are many fishes in the sea, sure, I'm not even bothered by it that much, but it still puzzles me since she's still a good friend anyways. Is she trying to play some game? Or she doesn't really give a shit about me (otherwise she would have acted at least once on her word in those 9 years, I presume?) and was just checking if I was still "hooked"?

Should I see it as a "red flag" that she's been single all this time despite being such a lovable and attractive girl?

Thanks