Anyone ever try using your best baby pic as your main pic (captioned as you as chick's may think it's your kid) to get more replies? Try it. It lowers their defenses and puts a seed in their mind of what your kids may look like together.
Your buddy Dave has been single for three years and thinks "hey u up" is a valid strategy. Your other buddy Mike just got dumped and told you to "just be yourself."
You showed them her text. You asked them to decode the emoji. You drafted four responses and sent the screenshot to the group chat for a vote.
She's been waiting forty minutes.
Put the phone down. Stop crowdsourcing your love life. Type something that sounds like you. Hit send. Then go do literally anything else with your evening.