Confused on What to Do, First Time Crush

Hi everybody, I'm a college student in my senior year, and I had a crush on a girl in my class last March. It all started when I saw her soaking wet on a rainy day—and so do I. I talked to her that day about some sort of experiment we had to do outside, and that's why we got wet. Anyway, I remember gazing at her eyes that day and her wet hair, and I liked the way she talked; she seemed sweet and nice to people. A couple of days passed and I tried reaching her out by messages to ask her about some calculations and sent them to her after I did them but, I didn't say anything else and more days passed, I kept looking a her from time to time throughout these days as she attends the same classes I attend, one day I noticed that the arm of the seat to her left was raised and empty (it's worth noting that nobody sits next to her but her friend to the right), Idk what I was thinking that day!, I guessed that she raised the arm for me to come and sit beside her (and I knew that there was a possibility that it wasn't her and maybe it was the way it is before she came) so I got up and walked and sat beside her, she had a funny reaction and I saw it sweet as well; she leaned towards her friend and shrank up on herself while whispering something to her friend. Now I know that what should've happened next was me talking to her about anything, but unfortunately, I was a complete idiot and didn't say anything but got out my phone instead because I felt stressed out and terrified. It was the first time I felt like that, and it kept me from thinking properly. However, I continued to sit next to her later on, and I did break the silence eventually :), but never got into a conversation outside of studying. There was this one time where she said something to me and I responded, but the conversation ended right away after 1 minute, and I later knew (from a friend) that I had to extend the talk whenever we talked about something to break the weird silence that goes in between. More days passed and we had an exam once, so I took the chance to send her a question bank to help her out; she saw it and responded thx to me, and she added my number (I figured it out because her status appeared to me). After this exam, we had two holidays that lasted up to 5 days with the weekend in count, and I didn't text her or reach out in any way possible because I thought it wasn't the time yet to speed up things like that and that we barely knew anything about each other. After those 5 days, classes should resume, so that day I got up to college and walked into the hall and saw her sitting in the same area where she always had, so I sat next to her and asked her how she was doing, and she replied that she was fine. She was facing the other way and watching shorts on her phone, but she faced me whenever she replied. That day passed like other days, but the day after it I felt that I might need to take it up a notch, so I started talking to her more about studies, mostly, and at the end of the day I had to leave the hall because I had something important to do, so I asked her, "Do you have something to do after this?" She replied, "nope" (and she talked with a calm voice that almost sounds like she doesn't care), then I asked her if she typically goes home after the classes, and she said, "normally, I would," so I decided to say, "Alright, we'll see each other tomorrow then," and I followed it with a slight smile. The very next day, I decided to be at the hall before she did (note that I was still confused whether she felt something for me as I do or not), and I waited for her. She later showed up with her friend 10 minutes later, walked past me, and took a seat behind me. I got upset, and bad ideas started flowing into and out of my head. I thought that she didn't want to talk to me anymore or that she wanted to be left alone. I spent the time of the lecture thinking about the whole thing, which got me to the point where I said to myself: "F*ck it, I'll pretend nothing ever happened and I'll move on without giving her more attention," and this is where I f*ck up big time! As our instructor gave us a 15-minute break, I went to eat something and to forget about everything, but as I was walking, I felt that I was being followed by her, and that's when some guy I know called for me by my name and said, "Hey, come here, I have something to tell you." I said, "Maybe later, man, I have to go to eat now," and waved my hand at him. Right then, I glimpsed her walking right next to me, but I guess something in my mind told me to continue walking. However, it was apparent that she was gutted by what happened as she stopped walking and turned back (note that I didn't look at her directly, but I have this ability to tell who's who and where they're going without directly looking at them), so I kept thinking again and asking myself, "Was she really following me?" Or was she casually going somewhere, and I'm just creating scenarios out of nowhere?" At last, I decided to go talk to her one last time to really figure it out before the break ends. I went up to her, and she had her friends all around her, and I said, "Good morning." Her friend replied to me apathetically, but she didn't, and she ignored me and didn't look at me at all (thinking about it right now, I think I should have talked to her directly at the time), so I walked away and grabbed my phone to call someone so I wouldn't look so desperate. And the thinking didn't stop, unfortunately; I had a lot of thoughts flowing into my head, and I kept looking at her from time to time to notice if she was upset or how she was feeling, and I noticed her laugh if something funny took place during the lecture or whenever the instructor made a joke. She may have noticed me watching her (I kind of have sharp and serious eyes; I might have scared her with the look). She had a notebook, so she covered her face with it as soon as she noticed. The day passed without me saying anything else because of how confused I was about the situation. I've had enough thinking, and I know a friend who hooks up with a lot of girls, so I gave him a call to let him know about everything, and he said, "Come early tomorrow so we can wait for her, and I'll lead the conversation." I did, and we waited, and I knew many guys in my year, so most of them grouped on me as they were talking, and I hated that as I wouldn't be able to talk to her with that many people around us. My friend told me, "You're unlucky, dude; she just walked past us." I said, "Are you being real?" He said, "Yes, she just walked while looking at you and smiled", I kind of felt relieved after knowing that she smiled for seeing me, but I also felt gutted at myself for not seeing her to give her a smile back. Long story short, I walked with her and her friend, who was on her phone that day, and asked her if it was alright to walk with her. She said, "Yeah," casually followed by, "Idk," so I asked, "You don't know?" in a funny way and made her smile and giggle. I asked her if she has certain hobbies and what she does in her free time, but she said, "Not really; don't do anything." Then I said, while smiling, "Why can't I believe that?" and she smiled. I also asked if she likes to draw, but she said that she's not into it, so I asked, "Don't you watch movies?" She replied, "Bro, your questions are weird," while smiling, so I laughed and asked why, but she didn't have the time to reply as her friend finished the call and told her that they had to go see a professor, so she said to me gently, "Ok, I have to go see my friend there, peace!" and she waved and smiled, and I did the same. The day after, I sent her exercises for another exam we're having but she never replied (I forgot to mention that she hid her status from me after that holiday I mentioned earlier), and since then 15 days passed and I haven't gone to her nor spoke with her at all and I've been ignoring her, some friend told me she was walking with someone else and I saw her once walking with that guy but as I said before almost all guys know me and are my friends and that guy told me he's engaged and planning to marry XD, so I figure she's trying to pick on me to make me chase her, the thing is I don't like to keep chasing her and look like I'm desperately wanting her, and another thing is since she can initiate a conversation with other guys why can't she do the same with me? Is it still my fault from that time when she followed me, so I have to compensate for it? Also, we had a report this Tuesday that we should've worked on, and as I previously mentioned, I usually help by sending her the calculations, but this time I didn't send her anything and wanted to see what her reaction would be (I knew from someone whom I trust that she was talking about me to her friend and she wanted me to do all the work), so I figured I wouldn't, to give her the impression that I don't like getting manipulated, we're both smart and focus on getting good grades in our majors and other majors as well (we're not from the same major). Sorry for the extremely long post, but I really had to talk about this with someone to know what to do next. Should I walk with another girl around her to see if she really cares? or keep ignoring her as she does? It's been hard for me to read what's going on in her mind, and that's why I keep making mistakes. I think sometimes that she might be sad that I didn't go up to her and talk, but I need her to know that I kind of hate this cat and mouse move because it keeps me in the shade about what she really thinks about. I mean, at last, I only want to know if she wants us to know each other or not; if she doesn't, I totally respect that, and I'll move on, and at least I'll be relieved from the continuous thought process I've been through. Please tell me your thoughts on this. I accept all opinions.

"...so I asked her, "Do you have something to do after this?" She replied, "nope" (and she talked with a calm voice that almost sounds like she doesn't care), then I asked her if she typically goes home after the classes, and she said, "normally, I would," so I decided to say, "Alright, we'll see each other tomorrow then," and I followed it with a slight smile." So, she told you she wasn't busy, and...you didn't ask her out. She was telling you she was available. If a man did this to me, I would figure he was just messing with me: setting me up to anticipate a date and intentionally disappointing me. You may have ruined it with this woman. If a man did this to me I would walk away and never look back. Ditto with playing cat and mouse games. I don't know who is telling you that this is the way to function, but you need a new mentor. You want to ask her out, ask her out. If you don't, don't. But like I said, she may have decided you were messing with her. I wouldn't give you another chance. She might. Do your friends date? Do you have sisters? Female buddies? You didn't date at all in high school? You NEVER had a crush before this?

"So, she told you she wasn't busy, and...you didn't ask her out." yeah I feel you right there, I thought about it a lot that day but there's something I didn't mention to the story which's the cultural difference where I live, I don't live in the states and I wish I did cuz I would be so calm asking a girl out, but where I live it's not normal for guys to do that with girls and most people feel disgrace if their daughter walked out with a guy. "Do your friends date? Do you have sisters?.." unfortunately, I lived 20 years of my life imprisoned in an ideology that forbids looking or talking to women other than your family members, so yeah I guess that answers all of your questions you have. As for having a sister, I never had but I would've been happier if I did cuz at least I'll have someone to ask about girl stuff. Now I don't wanna sell myself as a complete victim here, I feel sometimes that I'm an idiot for trying this out, I should've kept walking alone as I did whole my life and die alone at the end, it may be better for everybody that way. Thanks for replying to me, I really appreciate it that someone actually cared for what I have to say!

"So, she told you she wasn't busy, and...you didn't ask her out." yeah I feel you right there, I thought about it a lot that day but there's something I didn't mention to the story which's the cultural difference where I live, I don't live in the states and I wish I did cuz I would be so calm asking a girl out, but where I live it's not normal for guys to do that with girls and most people feel disgrace if their daughter walked out with a guy. "Do your friends date? Do you have sisters?.." unfortunately, I lived 20 years of my life imprisoned in an ideology that forbids looking or talking to women other than your family members, so yeah I guess that answers all of your questions you have. As for having a sister, I never had but I would've been happier if I did cuz at least I'll have someone to ask about girl stuff. Now I don't wanna sell myself as a complete victim here, I feel sometimes that I'm an idiot for trying this out, I should've kept walking alone as I did whole my life and die alone at the end, it may be better for everybody that way. Thanks for replying to me, I really appreciate it that someone actually cared for what I have to say!

Sooooo......In your culture, how is this done? I'm guessing your parents aren't picking your partner, but owing to social/societal norms, they'd need to approve of a match? Can you date, just to get to know people and have fun, or is all courting a prelude to marriage? Just as important, I guess, is the culture of the female peers you'd be dating - are they products of your particular culture, or is there a wide variety of attitudes among the students in your school?