Could he actually like me?

Hello! This is my first time posting here, and I’d really, really appreciate some help/advice!

I’m a Junior in high school and there’s this guy from my grade with whom I’ve shared the same classes since Freshman year. At school I’m a rather quiet person so I don’t have many friends.

Since last year he would occasionally ask me random stuff out of the blue. Once he teasingly stated in front of me and his friends that apparently I wasn’t allowing him to sit next to me in class, but the thing is he’s never even asked me... He also always teases me about being scared by the ball when we play volleyball during P. E. and sometimes even pretends like he’s gonna hit me with it...

a few days ago he randomly asked me if I had a boyfriend, I said that I didn’t and asked him why he wants to know, he said he was curious. Then he started teasing me about having seen me with a boy (which was obviously not true) When I was about to head home from school the same day, he literally shouted if I was now his girlfriend and that he’ll take me out the next day. The next day he again talked about me going out with him and later even one girl from his friend group told me that he’s asked her to tell me about him wanting to take me out. After that few other girls were telling me that I should accept and that I wouldn’t regret it and how rarely he’d ask girls out...

The thing is for some reason I keep thinking that they are all just mocking me... he’s a very outgoing and extroverted person and I’m quite the opposite... and there’re days where he’d just ignore me, so that makes it even more confusing.

Now we are back to online school and today during the online class the teacher was checking who’s absent and when she reached my name he said in a rather teasing voice “Oooh ((my name)) how are you?” (he did that yesterday as well) and then told the teacher that he was at café and when she asked him with who, he said that he was with me....

I’ve also never responded to him when he’d “ask me out” cause I just don’t know if he’s being serious and I don’t want to make a fool of myself if he’s just joking...

So I really don’t know what to think...

Could he actually like me?

What should I do?

Please let me know your thoughts

It sounds like he has a crush on you but is a bit geeky in trying to express it.

The next time he teases you about going out with him you can say something like "I've heard going out with someone actually means two people who are interested in each other. I don't date boys who don't know what they want." He's being a jokester and if he's mocking you, you don't have to take him that seriously.

Have fun with it and if it seems off or like they're mocking you, just ignore them from now onwards. What those girls say shouldn't matter to you if he really is just yappy and white noise.

Unless he's known as a bully, I would assume he's interested. If you suffer from depression, sometimes in that state, one see things through a more negative lens.

I've always been a quiet person, and have always been attracted to extroverts and vice versa. That dynamic works for the majority of couples I know.

The times he's ignored you is probably because it's one-sided, and he probably feels like not trying for the day. If you're interested, he's given you enough clues, (albeit a bit immaturely, but hey, it's high school) I'd say it's high time you stop being passive and give him the green light. I don't know how you'll do this with COVID. Maybe ask for his digits so you can communicate outside of school.

There's a book where they interviewed elderly people who a community regularly sought for their wisdom about life. One piece of advice these people offered was that thinking about the lives they've lived, they were always happy they took a risk even if it didn't pan out, versus not trying at all. And when the risk did pan out, sometimes it changed their lives for the positive in major ways.

So what if it's the case he was mocking and turned you down? You could call him out and say, "Don't play with people's lives like that. I'm a human being with feelings." Bullies stop bullying people with spines who speak up for themselves, but I doubt he will turn out to be a bully since you don't mention that he does this with anyone else.

Have faith you can deal with whatever way chances play out. But if you don't let people in who are truly interested and see your worth, you will have lost out on something special. I'd advise joining a school club to develop more friendships, because guys will come and go, so don't always rely on just romance for satisfaction in life. Take care and let us know how it goes.

It sounds like he likes you. If you like him back, ask him where he's taking you. I don't think you need to worry about good timing; I think you can just blurt it out at any time. That's what he did. Follow his lead.

It sounds like he likes you. If you like him back, ask him where he's taking you. I don't think you need to worry about good timing; I think you can just blurt it out at any time. That's what he did. Follow his lead.