I think there's a tendency among us more experienced guys here, to advise people to show even less interest than is probably okay because I believe being too obvious with your interest level is one of the most common mistakes we see people posting about on this site.
So many threads are along the lines of "Gee whiz, we met in study hall every day after class, I waxed her cat and shampooed her purse, then I looked her in the eyes and told her how beautiful she is before asking her to a private dinner. Now she doesn't return my calls. WTF??"
There's a way of indicating interest subtly and without tipping the balance of power. In my opinion, it's non-verbally. Unless the situation is extra complicated, I can almost never recommend "telling" a girl about your "feelings" for her. It's like pulling the rug of mystery and fun right from under her feet, even if she was starting to warm up to you. This goes for too-obvious date requests, too! I always, always advise guys to stay away from the dinner date at all costs. It's bad for so many reasons, but on the topic of this post, your intentions are too clear if you ask her improperly. Obvious intentions = no mystery, no fun, no social intuition on the part of the guy.
A guy orbits a girl for weeks, months, planning his move, then finally works up the courage to ask some girl to dinner. But what he doesn't realize is that by doing this, 99% of the time he is transparently saying to a girl 'I have romantic intentions towards you; now, will you please accept my old-fashioned and ritualized invitation to dinner? I might even kiss you on your doorstep as I say goodnight!'
Guys are going about this sh!t all wrong when they buy into that whole deal. You might as well ask her if she wants to get a couple root canals done. So then, how would I recommend communicating interest?
- KINO
This is number one. Studies prove that potentially up to 90% of communication is non-verbal. And if you non-verbally communicate you're interested by initiating flirty kino in a non-creepy or threatening way, you're also sub-communicating that you "get it" and are socially savvy. This isn't the thread to go into kinesthetic techniques, but I'd say at least three quarters of my successful female interactions had their jumping-off point when I kino'd her and got some kino back. Boom. You're in business.
- Well-timed compliments
My rules for compliments: I never compliment a girl (on anything) more than twice each time I see her. Of those two compliments, only ONE can be related to her LOOKS (the other one should be some astute observation about her talents/personality). And any compliment directed towards her LOOKS needs to be clever or directed at a secondary physical feature (her hair, her makeup ((works as a neg too)), her clothes, her bag). You have to be complimentary once in a while so that the girl feels good and starts to get the idea that you might be interested. But never overdo compliments or risk lowering your own value and becoming too obvious.
- Asking her out the correct way
When trying to get a "date" from a girl (although I like to avoid this term - the more informal your hangouts with a girl, the less awkward she'll feel, the more socially astute you become), most guys who are having problems, are presenting the date request with too much gravitas (importance and weight). I realize this is where opinions can start to differ, but in my opinion if the girl realizes you're asking her on a "date" and she's not way into you, you've got two strikes against you right there. Don't try to formalize or put a label on your meetings with girls. You have such a busy schedule that you're constantly hanging out with various people - you didn't have any time to meditate on this one day or interaction. That's the frame that you want to cultivate. Then in the back of your mind, you can acknowledge that you're on a "date", or whatever you want to call it, but the moral of the story is that at all costs....
DO NOT COMMUNICATE NEEDINESS, CREEPINESS, OR DESPERATION! And you should be good to go!
Whew! Sorry, that wasn't directed necessarily at you, OP, but I thought anyone with questions along these lines could benefit from some of the stuff that has worked for me. Good luck all.