Okay, sorry, I was in a rush and this makes no sense. I tried to be vague and then changed my mind halfway through. Here’s the story in coherent form:
I like to take meandering walks, usually I walk out to my University’s campus. One day there was a marching band competition that’s rather important around here, it was about a month and a half before they usually hold it so I wasn’t expecting it. I sort of stumbled upon it and had no idea what was going on (it was so early I thought they were doing clinics or something).
So I bump into my friend (year younger than me, met in middle school) with her little sister (who is still in high school but quit band her sophomore year, so they went together to have fun reminiscing). I ask her what the hell is going on, she tells me it’s <competition> and I’m baffled. We talk about regular “I haven’t seen you in a while” stuff. And she points and says "we’re going that way to see the other bands and talk about old band stuff. " (along those lines) I would have gone with her if I knew she was inviting me, but I thought she was just closing the conversation, especially since she was with her sister and I thought they were doing bonding time or something. I say “Okay, I’m taking a walk, maybe I’ll bump into you.” She says, “Okay… maybe, bye” and we walk off in separate directions.
Apparently she wanted me to come with her, but I’m not even seeing an implicit invitation there, which is apparently obvious to her. Some people just don’t pick up social cues, or at least they don’t pick up the SAME social cues.
Or she’s “hedging her bets” in the sense that she doesn’t want to throw herself at the guy because a. she’s afraid of rejection, and/or b. she knows that all things being equal, he’ll likely be more comfortable being the aggressor.
One problem that Clueless Guys tend to be very passive when it comes to meeting women. So it tends to puts the burden onto the girl to indicate her interest. And girls who are forward enough to indicate to a guy they are interested in no uncertain terms generally don’t go for very passive guys. And if you are too passive and don’t reciprocate interest, she will assume there is none on your part and move on.
One thing I’ve noticed is that their indicators are extremely subtle. She’s not going to sit in your lap and touch your face (unless you are in a strip club or something). It might be as simple as shooting a look your way when she thinks you aren’t looking.