Q - Dear Annabelle, I really like this girl whom I have know for a couple of years. I just started talking to her regularly again. I called her four days ago and we talked for half an hour, I also called her two days ago but she wasn't home. I was wondering how often I should call and ultimately pursue without looking like a desperate loser or a psychopath. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this because I'm extremely shy. If you have any advice it would be taken kindly, thanks for your time. A - Dear Andy, I suppose a call two or three times a week wouldnāt hurt. At 17, one of the Īthings you need to learnā is to read subtle signals given either verbally or physically. The physical stuff is actually a separate language, called Ībody languageā and, if you can master it, youāll be ahead of the game. Thereās a book written by Julius Fast on body language and itās well worth time spent on committing it to memory. Not only will it be useful for understanding and communicating better with girls, but, in school and in the business world, the skills you will have developed will be of enormous use to you. I know itās hard to Ītake your cueā from the young lady without even knowing what a Īcueā looks like. As long as you can maintain a sense of humor about this whole process and not take it too too seriously, youāll do fine. For what itās worth, almost everyone in your age group is in the same situation. The ones who seem Īcoolā are just the ones Who're learned not to let their fear and confusion show...which has, interestingly enough, the added benefit of producing better results as well. Good luck! - Annabelle