spare some time? please?

i’m so confused! i really like this guy...and have for quite some time. there’s just a small problem -he’s a freshman and i’m in eight grade- wow! i know you might be thinking....that’s the problem. well, maybe it is. however, keep in mind that this is a super small town with a very small school district. in the beginning...it was quite obvious. i was totally out of his league. there was no chance, i just wouldn’t make the cut. then, eventually, he knew that i liked him, the whole highschool and middle school knew. he hasn’t said anything about it. then he told me happy birthday. 2 months after that he started snapchatting me. i’m honestly wondering what the heck is going on. we have been talking on and off. but, he never acts like he likes me. obviously we don’t go to the same school so i hardly see him. i only ever see him at highschool basketball games. the signs are all there...but i’m stuck. i have no clue if he’s just saving me for highschool (because its embarrassing to date a middle schooler) or if i’m just being played because he’s bored. or maybe he’s being mean since i like him. anyways, i asked his friend what was happening and his friend said that i’m really pretty and that he’s probably saving me for highschool. my friends say that he most likely likes me but is embarrassed, and that he’s waiting. but, i’m not stupid (well maybe i am since i haven’t gotten over him yet) so i can conclude that everyone is just babying me and trying to make me feel better. my friends mean well, but i know him better then any of them. however, i have been warned by girls and boys alike that he is a player. a confirmed manipulator of emotions. everytime i see a snapchat from him, we all get super excited. but now, i try not to think anything of it. i imagine that he doesn’t care at all when it happens. if i snapchatted him, he probably responds very casually. i would probably guess i’m not the only girl he’s snapping, but i’m not for sure. although i have taken this into consideration, i have also heard that if he falls for someone, he falls hard. (really hard) he has kissed a lot of girls, but dated a lot of girls too. but anyways, as soon as i decide i’m over him, because i realize it will never happen, he ends up snapchatting me. it’s really weird. i’m so confused. i will snapchat him and i’ll just get left on read after a few minutes sometimes. he really does take a few minutes to respond as well. even his friends say he’s an idiot who only thinks of himself. i want to believe that he likes me and has a purpose for talking to me other than a dare. he snapped me 4 times in a row once. i snapchat him first too, but he says “heyyy” and everything. if that even means anything. but a part of me just wants to keep giving it to him just to see if i have a chance. all these months i’ve been waiting, so when it finally happens i get a little spark of hope. this whole situation is full of lies and utter deception. i don’t know what to think, feel, do, or say anymore. i just want to be done having to constantly worry about it. i’m so confused, i wanna start crying. i just want to know what an outsiders perspective on this might be. oh and by the way, if you got through reading all this, thanks for listening and letting me rant. if i missed any important details ill fill them in later 😂