[Everyothertofu]

I really like this guy. He is really funny and kind, and from what I have seen, not a jerk at all. I was almost positive that he liked me. He showed the typical signs to name a few:

Stared at me constantly, even stared when he was performing with his band.
Smiled and looked away when I looked at him
Said "Hi" whenever I saw him/walked past him
Stuttered when talking to me and acted extremely nervous
Approached me, but when he saw I was looking he ran away
Ate lunch with me and my friends
Bragged about his "biceps"
Acted manly, put his foot against mine several times
Put his hand on mine when we were watching a film
Sat next to me at parties and only talked to me
Yelled at some guys that accidentally ran into me
Acted extremely jealous when I talked about other guys
Made eye contact then looked away quickly
Flirted, Flirted, Flirted!

It was not like the typical middle-school relationship, I have known him since second grade. We have the same sense of humor; he is ten days older than me, I know a ton about him and vise versa, strange coincidences happen in our lives similarly.
Finally I got the guts to tell him that I liked him, thinking that he absolutely loved me, I didn't quite get the reply that I wanted.
He looked at me said, "Thank you, Emily." and freaked out.
I texted him a couple days later and he replied with short, almost irritated sounding texts, then didn't reply at all. I sent a last text that said, "Joe, I'm really sorry if I made things awkward between us, I was just trying to be honest."
He replied a day later with, "It's okay, just don't mention it again."
That made me angry so I said, "I won't mention it again if you don't want me to, but first I have to know...do you feel the same way?"
It took him a while to respond, but finally he said, "I don't, I like the relationship we have as friends."
I was really shocked. I thought he might be lying, but I think he was telling me the truth. I know I am not imagining the flirting, what is going on?!
Please help me!

[Wondergirl]

How old is he? Maybe he's backing out because you "outed" him, and he can't admit his feelings after all.

Back off and mostly ignore him to see what he does.

[Everyothertofu]

How old is he? Maybe he's backing out because you "outed" him, and he can't admit his feelings after all.

Back off and mostly ignore him to see what he does.

He's only fourteen, I'm not sure what he's doing

[Everyothertofu]

How old is he? Maybe he's backing out because you "outed" him, and he can't admit his feelings after all.

Back off and mostly ignore him to see what he does.

He's only fourteen, thanks for your help :)

[Wondergirl]

He's only fourteen

That explains it! Guys that age are just getting into the boy-girl friendship/relationship thing and are mostly scared to death. He wants to be the aggressor, so let him.

Like I said, back off and mostly ignore him (in a nice way). It's like karate when the defender uses leverage against his opponent -- he pushes, and you allow yourself to be pushed back, but then use the other's weight against him to flip him. In the same way, let this guy "push" and be the aggressor. Let the "weight" of his "aggression" toward you tell you how he feels.

He wants to pursue, so let him. It's more fun that way without getting into all the gooey stuff like feelings. (Fourteen y/o guys don't realize they have feelings yet. Some 45 y/o guys don't either. And some NEVER admit it.)