The protagonist of our story is a man named "Aspie John" and involves a woman named "Anxious Jane".
Aspie John meets Anxious Jane in "High School".
Anxious Jane is in Special Ed for severe anxiety, and so is Aspie John.
Anxious Jane, however, always manages to next to the tallest kid in the room, which is odd given he sits alone in an otherwise empty row of desks. When Tall Kid helps the teacher pick up classroom litter, Anxious Jane suddenly bolts up and quickly joins them. Aspie John remains seated due to anxiety. After some time, Tall Kid starts to sit with other kids in the classroom, leaving Anxious Jane sitting alone each day. He sits across from Aspie John.
Three years later...
Aspie John and Anxious Jane are in different Special Ed classrooms. Anxious Jane speaks of wanting to be in a "relationship" with Aspie John. There is a catch, however: Anxious Jane regularly wears ponytails and make-up for the Tall Kid in her new classroom. She would flirt with this man in class(Which frustrated her teacher) and would also chat with him over text and social media, all while sometimes making friendly gestures towards Aspie John in passing through the hallway.
On a certain occasion, though, Aspie John encounters Anxious Jane in a hospital lab waiting room. Anxious Jane makes "romantic" gestures towards Aspie John. Aspie John, being a very coy man, is reluctant to approach Anxious Jane. As he prepares to approach her, he recalls her heavy flirtation with Tall Kid in her new classroom. He also remembers hearing her teacher say, "Why is Anxious Jane flirting with Tall Kid? She already has a boyfriend."
He then decides to ignore her and covers himself with a hoodie.
A few days later, Aspie John overhears a teacher speaking of himself and Anxious Jane - "He's so sensitive! Oh my goodness! They were just joking!" - Note that this is after months of flirting and closeness between Anxious Jane and Tall Kid. Shortly after that, Anxious Jane flirts with Tall Kid in her classroom, telling him "P-Please don't call my phone number".
An interesting story of "signals" and cues, yes?
