Having a crush can be thrilling— and completely, ridiculously nerve-wracking. You spend half your time wondering if that person actually likes you (I mean, they kind of made eye contact with you the other day) and the other half wondering if you had played it sufficiently cool around them.
Well, take a deep sigh of relief. INSIDER spoke to Matthew Hussey, dating expert at howtogettheguy.com, about all the signals people give off when they're secretly into you — and the best ways to (subtly) return the favor.
They act differently around you than they do with other people.
If someone is interested, you'll notice that they won't quite treat you the way that they treat everyone else.
"It's school playground stuff," Hussey told INSIDER. "The boy or girl is going to act strangely around the person they like. As soon as we like someone, it tends to be that our charisma and our wit and our fun, casual nature goes out the window — and this new, strange, awkward fumbling person shows up."
You'll also notice that their energy will go up when they're around you — and suddenly you're way more hilarious than other people give you credit for. Hussey noted that someone will laugh more loudly, smile more widely, and be more generally enthusiastic if they're interested in you.
They'll make a point to be near you — even if they're not actually talking to you.
Keep an eye out for your crush's proximity when you enter a room. You might notice that they shift locations to be closer to you.
"You'll find that you become a center of gravity for that person," Hussey said. "They'll find a way to get closer to you, even if they haven't quite gotten the courage to say something."
When the two of you do end up mingling, your crush will have a hard time looking straight at you.
"If they're telling a story to a group, and you're in that group, very often if they like you, you're the person they won't make eye contact with," he noted. "The person we feel most nervous with is the person who we avoid direct communication with."
They think you're really, really cool.
"When someone likes you, you'll find that they're impressed by you," Hussey said. "They want to know about you and what you're into. They're ready to be impressed by you because they're building up this romantic image in their head."
He also noted that it's a great sign if the person remembers details from your previous conversation — especially if that person is a man. "Men tend to be quite bad with details, but when we like someone all of a sudden, magically, we remember what someone said to us."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider