My goal this week was just to try opening to girls, since until now I used to be pretty much incapable of even maintaining eye contact with girls without flipping out and getting nervous. So while I didn't get any closes of any kind, and while these approaches were just stuff normal people do during the day, it’s a big first step for me.

I’ve had 4 interactions yesterday and today. Any advice/notes would be much appreciated. I especially would like advice on #3, since I may actually be able to pursue it further.

Wednesday:

1) Sat next to a girl in lecture just as she happened to find out her desk was broken. She was about to leave when I said “hey, that doesn’t seem too tough to fix – why don’t we give it a shot?” and she replied “umm okay” and sat down again. So we both tried and succeeded in fixing it, and I said "Haha, the ancient Egyptians and their pyramids don’t stand a chance against our amazing feat of engineering. High five!" and she gave me a high five. That's more kino than I've ever pushed for in my life haha. We talked a bit for the rest of class during discussing problems etc., and at the end of lecture she said "it was nice meeting you!" and I said "yep, you too" and left.

2) In the Library: Asked a girl if the seat next to her was taken, she said “nope” so I smiled and sat down next to her. She didn’t smile back, so I just started my work. Later she asks if I can watch her stuff, and I say “sure” so she leaves for a bit. She said “Thanks” when she returned, and I said "Yeah, you owe me. I had to fight off hordes of people who wanted to steal your laptop," but apparently too quietly, so she said "what?" Now here, usually, I'd have just mumbled "nevermind" and gone on, but I felt that what I said was clever enough to repeat, so I did, and she laughed a bit and thanked me again. Finished my work and left

Today:

3) this is the main one i'd like advice on There's this really cute girl in one of my discussion sections, who I've been too afraid to talk to all semester. Today, she and I both were outside the door about 10 minutes early, so I quickly turned around and went to drink some water and waste time until class started, but since I'm trying to improve myself I said "fuck it" and went back to talk to her.

I walk up to her smiling and say: "hey how's it going?"

CuteGirl (also smiling): "pretty good, how are you?"

Me: "I'm doing great. How was your weekend?"

CuteGirl: "it was tiring, lots of work and stuff. you?"

Me: "haha that's unfortunate. I actually visited home last weekend. My sister had an audition in orchestra so I went back to help her out"

CuteGirl: "Awww that's so sweet!"

Me: "Well I'm just an awesome kind of guy"

She laughs, and by that time the previous class was leaving, so we both went into the room and put down our stuff. I decided to move from my usual place and sit next to her this time.

Then my friend runs in saying "WE HAVE A POP QUIZ TODAY" and I say "WTF, yesterday's reading was incomprehensible! Did you understand it?" Then, to my surprise, she grabs my reader and says "okay there's actually a really useful section at the end that summarizes all the key stuff," and she circles it in my reader.

Then the teacher came in, we took the quiz. During class itself, when we had to split into groups, she said "hey why don't you be in our group?" so I did.

I was feeling pretty good about myself through the rest of class, and since I didn't feel nervous and stupid, I was pretty witty throughout the discussion and she laughed a couple times at things I said. I didn't talk to her directly that much in the discussion, since 1) didn't want to be too overbearing to her, seeing as we never talked before, and 2) I wanted to engage the entire group. Overall though, I clearly was in command of the group, and I was being an overall charming and witty guy.

At the end of class though, my friend started talking to me a lot, so I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to her or anything. But I have that class twice every week, so I'll see her again next week.

4) This one was fun. Walking back from campus, I saw the top of the golden gate bridge, with the rest of the bay covered in fog. There was this pretty girl who looked kinda sad walking towards me, so I stopped her and said "hey are you okay? look at the bridge from here, that should make you feel better" and she looked and said "wow that's beautiful," and she smiled a bit, and I said "I like your smile, you look almost as pretty as the view. Hope whatever it is you're worried about turns out well for you" and I continued on my way. She had a huge smile when I left.

So yeah, those are my 4 interactions. Basic stuff for most of you, but it's a HUGE improvement for me. And tell me what I should do with #3, since I'll be seeing her in class next week.