1. "Talese, if you want him to like you, you have to give him a couple of signs. By all means, give the guy something to do and flirt a little with him!" I announced, trying to get my roommates to open up towards the whole male gender.
2. Earlier that day she told me how she didn't know "how" to flirt, so I took it upon myself, the queen of flirting, to teach her the do's and don'ts of flirting.
3. "How, I can't flirt, it just isn't in my personality." She protested against me standing strong on her idea. It was as if she was fighting for animal rights and that she was standing in front up us as we ripped and tore the feathers of a chicken off, all for the fun of seeing them both scwerm.
4. "No, don't flirt like the new eighteen year old babies that have just moved in to the ward, just be you." I was trying to encourage her a little bit. "First you have to give him some signs so that he knows that you like him. Give him signs like touching him on the elbow or shoulder."
5. Josh, Talese's cousin, entered the scene at the perfect moment. His tall body lingered at the door, and he had the confidence and a bright smile that always appeared on his dark complicated face. I knew that he would be perfect for my little experiment of teaching my poor, lost, roommate how to enter the dating game. If I was the queen of flirting, he would defiantly be the king. So I chose my target, took stance, and shot for a dead kill.
6. "Hi, Josh." I said, as I playfully looked at his eyes and slowly touched his shoulder, moving down to his elbow.
7. "Hiii," his eye brow lifted, and a pause of silence hit our ears. "What going on in here?" He peered at Talese, and then his directed changed to me. The only thing there was bewilderment of what was going on. This wasn't working.. Obviously Josh was the wrong one to choose for this game. I think I was scaring him more than anything.
8. "Ah, Josh, why can't you just go along with me on this!" I screamed, as I hit him with a pillow. Talese was rolling on the floor with laughter, at our display, and tears slowly tricked down her face.
9. "What the heck is going on!?!" Josh was as lost as a first time driver in New York City.
10. "I'm teaching Talese how to flirt"
11. "Oh" the confusion was slowly melting off of his face and the knowledge of what I was doing finally popped in his head. "Pillow fights, or tickling is always good and fun." He said, picking up a pillow and hitting me repeatedly.
12. "They are only good and fun with it doesn't go too far. When a girl says stop, she means stop." I said, and gave Josh a look that not even a two barrel shot gun could kill. I then grabbed the blue fabric stuffed with cotton that he had now stopped hitting me with, and hugged it tightly. He knew that I was teasing, but backed off anyway, just to magnify my point.
13. "But it isn't that easy, it isn't me." Talese was still against the idea of showing even the slightest bit of emotion towards someone.
14. "Give him a little eye contact, tease him, joke with him a bit, just play around and be relaxed. There is no real talent or art to it, just have fun."
15. I hoped that I was getting through to her, but even I didn't know everything about flirting, I just wanted her to enjoy herself and see that even the worst people could get the opposite sex to notice them.
16. "Over exaggerate everything." Josh said.
17. "Okay, but still. I don't know how to make it look like I am not just trying to flirt, and that it isn't totally fake."
18. Then it was Josh who's bright mind, that is as bright as a night light can be, who came up with what Talese needed to hear. "Talese, just be yourself. That's all you need to be, just be with. Just through in a little confidence and take a chance to talk to someone. Just be you."

click here to see my actual comments to Shasta.