Keep her talking when she's only giving one-word replies

A person who was texting you in full sentences and then drops to 'lol' or 'yeah' is sending a signal. She got busy, she's losing interest, someone else came along, or she's testing your reaction. Sometimes it's just a bad day.

A one-off minimal reply doesn't mean much. But if it's a pattern across three or four messages, she's telling you something. Early on, low effort almost always signals low interest, not just a bad mood. If she were really into you, she'd find five seconds to say something real, even if she's slammed.

Your reply needs to do two things at once. First, it has to acknowledge what she said without making a big deal out of the low effort. Don't call her out ('you're not much of a texter') and don't pretend she wrote a paragraph.

Second, put something in front of her that's concrete enough to grab her attention but easy enough that she doesn't have to perform enthusiasm. A detail about something she mentioned before, a funny observation about something real, or a choice that lets her just pick a side. The goal is to make it harder for her to coast, but not so hard that she feels obligated.

Send your thoughtful reply. If she comes back with minimal effort again, you get one more shot. After that, you have your answer.

Don't send three or four good messages in a row waiting for her to suddenly reciprocate. That's you chasing. Once she's shown you twice that she's not willing to engage, move your attention elsewhere. If she wants back in later, she'll text you something real. Conversations should feel like they're happening between two people, not you working to keep something alive alone.