How to tell if teasing is flirting?

Look at what she picked on. If she teased you about a thing you did, a thing you said, or a claim you made in your profile, she is paying attention to you specifically. A tease about the weather or a shared situation is closer to group banter. A tease that names a small quirk of yours, your taste in food, your timing, the way you typed a message, is a sign she is looking at you as a person.

Next, look at how long the tease runs. A single light jab that she follows with a question is usually flirting. A jab that gets a laugh and then goes nowhere is more ambiguous. If she keeps returning to the same running joke across several messages, she is building something with you. Count the exchanges, not the single line.

When she teases you, your first instinct is often to work out what she meant. Resist that for one reply. Answer the tease as it was sent: take the jab, give a small concession or a comeback, and let it be fun. Curiosity about her intent shows up better in the next message, once the banter has run for a couple of turns.

A reply that fits is one that accepts the frame she set and adds one small piece of you to it, a detail that gives her something to pick at next. The reply should be shorter than her tease, not longer. Stop before it sounds like you are defending yourself. If your draft has a reason in it, cut the reason.

Timing changes how a tease reads. Answer within a reasonable window, the same part of the day she is likely to be around, and avoid replying so fast it looks like you were waiting. If she teased you at night, a reply the next morning reads as relaxed. A reply thirty seconds after her message reads as eager.

If she does not reply to your comeback, wait a day before you send anything else. One more message is fine if it is a light continuation, a new small tease or a question about something she mentioned earlier. Two unanswered messages in a row is the signal to drop it for now. If she comes back later with another tease, pick it up again. If the thread has gone dead after two of your attempts, let it go and come back with a fresh opener in a few days.