I'm a sophmore in a high school that is really big (800ish per grade). I've never had a girlfriend or kissed a girl, and I've never really talked to girls before a couple weeks ago (for some reason i just didn't want a girlfriend or anything, was pretty content with my life. something changed though...) :/. I dress pretty well, and have been a long time user of r/mfa. I keep good personal hygene (brush teeth twice a day, shower daily, comb my hair, etc.), work out daily (running, pushups, situps), and I don't believe I'm super unnatractive in terms of facial features. I've got a fairly large group of friends at my school from different social circles, who aren't super popular, but definitely aren't outcasts either, and I get invited to a decent amount of parties (never gone though). I started nofap 2 days ago, we'll see how that goes.

How do I start talking to/approaching girls and letting them know that I want them as more than a friend, while not being awkward...

ALSO: How do you recognize what's an IOI and what's not. For example, I was going home, with three male friends and one girl. On the walk, me and the girl kinda split off from the group for a couple minutes and had a conversation alone. When we got on the train, there were two open seats, one right near the girl next to one of my friends, and one farther away, next to me, she chose the seat next to me... Are these two IOIs?