Why won't she text me first, and how do I ask her to be my girlfriend?

Two questions, might be kind of long but I'd appreciate it if I could get some solid answers. Thanks in advance.

Quick Note: We're both 18+

So this girl I've been seeing will never text me first. We've acknowledged that we both like each other a lot, and yet it seems to be a one way conversation every time. I'll text her and she replies usually within 30mins if not quicker, but the conversations are always me asking her things with her giving me short replies like "Cool thanks, you too." How the hell am I suppose to keep a conversation going with that? Strange thing is that when I see her in person the conversations are way more balanced. She's even told me that she doesn't want to come off as needy, so I've told her that I love to hearing from her so she doesn't have to worry but still to no avail. Now I seem to feel needy and clingy since I keep texting her first, and now I'm sitting here all day waiting like an idiot for her to text me. What should I do to solve this?

Same girl, obviously, we've known each other for a long time but we only started hanging out maybe 2 months ago and we get along so well. I've never felt this way about a girl, its evident that we like each other since she introduced me to her parents after our first date, and she didn't want me to leave at the end of that same night. Anyways to get to the point how do I ask her to be my girlfriend without saying the words "Will you be my girlfriend?" I'm more than 1001% sure she'll say yes but how do I do it in a sweet way? Should I kiss her after or what?

I'm hoping that this will be a long term relationship, she's the first girl I'm scared to lose, the first girl I've been completely honest with so any help would really help.
Why won't she text me first, and how do I ask her to be my girlfriend?
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