It's been bugging me a lot the past few weeks or so. This girl and I get along really well and it seems like there's something there - I like her a ton and she seems to like me too. But I can't tell if she likes me as more than a friend or not. She'll exhibit some of the characteristics that people say to watch out for if a girl is interested in you but I still wonder sometimes.
She's said "you're amazing" to me a number of different times and often compliments me on things (she's said I'm a good guitar player, said I'm good at graphic design, etc), laughs a lot at my jokes (even when they're lame) and has "liked" several different pictures of me I've posted on either Facebook or Tumblr, and has called me "cute" a few times before too.
She's never said anything "friend-zone"-like, ie - she's never said "you're such a good friend" or "you're like a brother" or anything like that at all. The most she's said is, like I mentioned, that I'm "amazing" or "the sweetest guy ever" and she'll say things like "aw, you're neat" from time to time. We talk mostly through texting or SMS as of now and I usually text first but when I do we end up texting for a while, sometimes over the course of an entire evening, and often end up saying goodnight to one another and wishing one another "sweet dreams" and all that.
She's texted me first on a few occasions, mostly recently, just to say hi and talk. She wasn't asking for anything and both times she was hanging out with her friends/roommates so it wasn't just because she was bored. She'll "aww" at a lot of things I say and use a lot of smilies or heart icons in texting or SMS chats as well. This girl has expressed an interest in spending time alone with me before as well and seems excited at the idea of hanging out.
Also, she's told me twice now that she takes a stuffed animal I got her for her birthday to bed with her each night and she falls asleep cuddling it. She even takes it home with her on weekends when she's not at school and has named it.
So do you think she's thinking of me when she's cuddling with it? I know she loves cats so that's why I got it for her but part of her love for the gift probably comes from the fact that she got it from me, right? She called it "the best thing I ever did receive <3" in a text once, so I get the feeling she's dropping subtle hints? I don't know, I might just be seeing things how I want to. Sometimes she doesn't contact me for a couple days at a time or she won't respond to texts I send her and I just wonder how much she really likes me. People say girls will always respond to the guy they like, but I dunno about that. Thoughts?
Basically I just really really like this girl a lot and it's killing me right now not knowing for sure how she feels. Where does "good friend" end and "love interest" or "crush" start? Where's the line? I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff. I want to find out for sure/ask her out sometime but I'm nervous about messing things up. Anyway, thanks for reading this and you time. I appreciate it.