A little venting thoughts and opinions would be nice

Why i haven't thought about confessing. He's one of my closest friends. Im 15. He's 16. So main thing is age. I have told myself I am not dating until the age of 18. Or at most, 17. Another thing. Mixed signals. When we are alone or theres only like 4 ppl he sits super near me in like a very non just a friend way and we can talk hours and hours about stuff only he/I know. He acts really overly friendly which is not normal for him. (Nothing too obvious tho) And when we are talking he holds eye contact for really long time. But when we are in like our Youth Group (church he's a pastor kid) he just goes to talk with legit everyone BUT me and basically ignores me and i have to start conversations which dont last long. Even if it's just like a huge friend group that goes out, he'll barely ever talk to me. Last Thing. DENYING. We are SUPER close. Like really close friends. Around last summer there was a rumor that I liked him that went around for over 4 months. At that time I was in denial think no way I like him so I kept saying no. (I know i wouldve been teased or got ignored by some, which i avoid at all costs cause I value other peoples opinion more than mine. ) It pissed me off everyone thought I liked him but not viceversa. (Some did but very few) Even he knows that I said no to liking him cause again when we are talking abt stuff I have told him how pissed I am for ppl assuming I like him when I dont. Now that I've accepted it, theres no way imma confess. Either way hes not gonna confess if he did like me cause I told him I didnt like him. Im just going to wait it out until my feeling for him die. Its only been 3 years so it shouldnt be that bad.