Does he like me?

So I like this guy in my grade and he knows. It used to seem like he liked me cause he'd talk to me quite a bit, he was really nice and he'd look at me a fair bit. 4-5 months after he found out I like him, he changed towards me. He started ignoring me and acting annoyed whenever I was around. This lead to me thinking he hated me. I was told by his good mate that he's just over people making a big deal over me liking him. His friend also said that he doesn't talk to me cause he doesn't wanna cause a scene.

That same friend of his suggested that I message or call him or talk to him alone in person... so I did that. I asked the guy I like if he had anything against me over messages, and he said no and that it's all good but it didn't convince me. Now, he's less annoyed when I'm around, but he still looks at me a fair bit.

Issue is, there's a rumour going around that he likes this other girl that he sits next to and talks to a lot but his friends say he doesn't and he also doesn't want to date right now. I just don't understand why he looks at me so much. I mean, if he doesn't feel anything for me, he's got no reason to be looking so often.