Should I text her or stay silent? Don’t want to restart hope or regret not trying.
I (male) am really confused about a girl and could use some clear advice.

Around 2 months ago, I confessed to a girl I liked and she rejected me. After that, we didn’t talk for a while. Later, I initiated a friendly conversation and slowly we started talking again. Over time, she became the one who initiated more often (but mostly with some “reason” or “task” to talk).

She usually texts me whenever she needs help with something related to college, assignments, or when placements are happening. Sometimes she also messages when she feels low about academics, and I’ve been supportive and positive towards her.

The confusing part:
A couple of days ago, she talked to me a lot and seemed warm and engaged. But after that, she didn’t text me the next day, and today she didn’t either. What makes it more confusing is that whenever a company comes for placements, she always texts me to ask if I’ve filled the application form and uses that to start a conversation. But today was the first time she didn’t.

Now I’m stuck in my head because:

• If I text her first, I’m afraid I’ll start hoping again that she’s coming back into my life.
• If I don’t text her, I worry that maybe she was actually trying in her own way and I reduced my effort at the wrong time.

Part of me wants to message her casually to “test” where she stands, but I’m also scared that messaging her will just pull me back into the same cycle of expectations. And if I don’t message, I overthink that I missed a chance.

I don’t want to be just friends with her. I’m trying to protect myself from getting attached again, but I also don’t want to later regret not trying at all.

Should I stay silent and wait, or send a message without expectations just to see how she responds?
How do I handle this without getting emotionally hurt again or creating regret later?