Could he like me and is shy?

I really like this guy in my grade. It was all great till he found out. After that, he'd have stages where he'd go awkward and not really talk to me but he'd state heaps. This usually happens when we're in a big group of people or there's heaps of people around and it's not just us two together, talking.

When it's a few of us, we can talk normally and we get along and he's super nice to me. Today at school, I was talking to our other friends but we were standing next to each other and I said something funny and I turned to ask him something and he was laughing so after I asked him my question, he nodded and kinda moved away from him but he ended up staying there, but he was awkward?

It just really confuses me because one minute he's cool, the next he ignores me/goes awkward. Is he shy? So many positive things have happened that seems like he likes me, like yesterday he looked at me, smirked and then looked away then a few seconds after he was laughing and looking at me, but I don't know. When I told him that I like him, he was staring into my eyes for some of the conversation and his pupils looked dilated. He also told one of my close friends that he doesn't know who he likes?