7 Emotional Stages You Go Through When Your Crush Texts You ‘Hey’

We've all been there.

You've been waiting days or even weeks to receive that elusive first text from your crush and it finally comes… only to simply say "hey."

"Hey?!"

On one hand, you're thrilled that the person you're crushin' on took the time to reach out. And on the other hand, you've put more effort into a text with your group partners for an assignment you didn't even care about.

We can't fix the problem, but we can let you know you're not alone. Keep scrolling for the seven emotional stages everyone goes through when your crush texts you "hey."

1. Anticipation

The first stage starts before you even get a text from your crush. You know  they recently got your phone number and you think there's a good chance they'll reach out to you, but you can't be entirely certain. Welcome to the anticipation stage. It's half excitement at the thought of chatting with your crush, and half anxiety that they'll never reach out at all. To put it simply, the anticipation stage is mostly you overthinking everything your crush might say, and stressing about the fact that you have yet to receive a message.

(Grown-ish via Freeform)

 

2. Excitement

Finally, after days of anticipation, your phone dings. You look down and oh my gosh—it's your crush. You're immediately filled with total joy and happiness. They've reached out, they must like you! After all, no one texts someone they don't like, right? You give yourself just a couple moments to freak out, and then quickly dive into their message.

 

3. Realization

Annnddd… it only says "hey." You stare at the message in confusion. Part of you is still thrilled at the fact that they texted you at all. The other part of you is slowly processing just how long it takes to type three letters into your phone and press send. So you've been waiting for this message and it took them all of five seconds to send something along? What are you supposed to do with this?

 

4. Worry

Immediately your brain starts to overthink the situation. With such a short text message, what if they don't like you at all? What if they just need help with their homework? What if they're about to confess their love for your BFF? And most of all—how are you supposed to respond? You definitely want to chat with them, but you don't want to come across too flirty in case they're not into you that way. It looks like it's time to call in some backup.

(Crazy Ex-Girlfriend via The CW)

 

5. Advice-Seeking

You quickly screenshot the message and send it out to all your closest confidants asking what on earth you should respond. Your advice ranges from confessing your love for your crush to not responding at all. You try to take the best pieces of each person's counsel, but you just feel more confused than you were before. Looks like you're going to have to handle this one on your own.

 

6.  Message-Crafting

You quickly get to the process of typing a message back. You try out a few options and think through how each of them will come off to your crush. You try flirty, friendly, short, assertive—name a vibe and you can guarantee that you've already tried to capture it.

 

7. Responding

Finally, you land on a response that seems to fit well. It's short, but still friendly, and it even asks a question, so it ups the likelihood that your crush will respond. You take a deep breath to calm your nerves and get to typing. "Hey ???? What's up?" you press shakily into your phone, quickly hitting send before you can change your mind. Now, you just have to wait for a response—aka cue the anticipation stage once again.

 

Wondering how you can communicate to your crush that you want to be more than just friends? Click HERE for how you can show your crush you're interested via text.