Haha, I get it. Though like like isn't really something that is mutual in my case, so I play it safe with Friend like more often than not.
So do a lot of people. Even me, cause friends are awesome. Essentially, how well you flirt is based upon how comfortable you are with yourself and rejection. The key thing to always remember is that rejection is not, repeat NOT, the end of the world. Despite the sadness that comes with it, and trust me I know I've had my heart broken, there is always someone else out there. The majority of the time, it will come by chance.
Stupid things, they always pull the GIP funny colors thing on me all the time, and I was pretty gullible back then. Plus you know how I got crushes in elementary school easily right, well some would bring this guy with them claiming they wanted to date me but I know it's fake because they laugh during the entire [tornado fang]ing thing.
It was pretty stupid, why do kids do thinks that aren't funny to the person they do it to? I mean granted this is nothing compared to other [parasitic bomb] some go through but I still don't understand to this day why they do it.
Truth be told, I was a super sensitive kid when I was younger, like around 8-10. But eventually, like you seem to have, you get over it and realize that kids will be kids. As long as it's nothing physically harmful, the majority of the time you'll pull through. Still though, they were all big fat meanie heads for picking on you!