> I was a girl's lab partner today... and we both acted like robots because we didn't show emotion. Everybody else was enjoying their experiments while she looked like "ugh, I wish I didn't come to school today."

This is your major problem. People are shy because they don't know what other people think of them. They tend to over analyse little things, and because of their insecurity, they assume other people don't like them. When in fact, the other person might of just been frowning because they don't like chemistry, or their cat died yesterday. You should have more faith in yourself, and believe that you are someone worth talking to. Asking her questions is always good. It almost always leads on to other things. And relax dude, guys with braces are kind of cute.

Ps. The smirk thing they do is very cute (in a "oh he's self conscious..aww, i want to kiss him" sort of way), but seeing a guy full on grin is always lovely and can make my day.