What to text when they answer but never ask follow-up questions

A one or two word reply is not the same as a short reply. Someone interested but busy will still give you something. They'll say "Maybe, been slammed at work" or "Yeah, trying to finally check out that trail by my place." Someone uninterested says "Maybe" and stops. Someone bad at texting but interested will still try.

The pattern matters more than any single message. If this is the third time she's answered without adding anything, she's showing you where you rank. One word answers are either a filter or a flag. Your job is to figure out which one, and do it quickly.

When she gives you nothing, you have to make the conversation specific enough that it requires an actual answer. This means referencing the exact thing she mentioned, then asking about a detail that branches off from it. If she says "Maybe" to hiking, you could ask which trail she was thinking about, or why she's on the fence. Pick something that would only make sense if she'd read your previous messages.

The second thing your reply needs to do is prove you're not just lobbing generic questions at ten people. Specificity does that work. It also makes it harder for her to answer with one word. If you ask "Why maybe?" you force her to either explain or admit she's not interested enough to bother.

Reply soon enough that it looks like you're actually in a conversation. If there's a time gap, she'll interpret your message as lower stakes and lower priority. Send within the same day, ideally a few hours later.

Then wait. This is the hard part. If she does give you a real answer this time, you're back in business. If she gives you another one word response or doesn't answer at all within 24 hours, you have your signal. Don't triple text. Don't send another message trying to be funny or interesting. Accept that this isn't working and move on to someone who texts back like they want to talk to you.