So, kind of a long story, but I just need advice/help/something. At this point I don't know what to do.

Here's the story.

I'm a 16 year old guy. For a year, I've had feelings for my best friend, a girl. We'll call her Mary. So, at first (a year ago) I tried to see if she had any feelings for me. I would have told her how I felt, but I was scared she wouldn't feel the same way and that our friendship would be ruined. Now, we were so close, we told each other everything, she even said that she can "promise we'll be best friends forever."

It got to a point where I felt that she would never ever feel the same, so I tried to move on. I dated another girl, but I couldn't get Mary out of my head. Eventually my relationship ended (this was two months ago), as I expected, and I was back where I started. But something was worse. For some reason, Mary had become very quiet around me, almost acting like I made her sad or something, but she was her normal self around everyone else. around all other people, she would laugh and smile and everything, but around me everything was different.

I came to the conclusion that one of two things was happening. Either I made her upset somehow, which I highly doubt, because I think she would have said something, and she always acts pleasant around me, but just...weird. The second possibility was that she liked me. Which I thought was a 0% chance of happening but things were just so weird. Could it be? Could she actually like me? That's what was running through my head.

The weeks went by. Our friendship which I have always treasured was slowly deteriorating it seemed. I felt like it was now or never. I had to take the chance. I had to tell her. So I did. At the end of October.

And she rejected me. Obviously she didn't like me, and she said nothing had been wrong with our friendship either. And then of course, She told me it was awkward now, and that she needed time but we could still be friends. I thought at first that it's good that I got it off my chest but then things started to go even more downhill.

I realized that I did have to give her space, and I did. this was right before hurricane sandy so we had a bunch of time off from school, which was good in our relationship aspect. About a week after we got back from school things seemed okay between us, but obviously a little awkward and tense. I decided to text her, trying to get some sort of more closure on the situation, telling her I'd never try and make a move and that I treasure our friendship more than anything, and I don't want her to hate me, but I understand if she wants to disconnect. Truly, I just want her to be happy.

She kind of blows the conversation off and acts like "embarrased" that I like her. It seemed like the fact that I liked her was sort of an insult, but she wasn't mean about it. She just acted like I was a burden that she was desperately trying to forget about. And things went badder and badder. We weren't talking as much, and I began to see what I had seen even before I told her - the whole "i'm acting quiet and tired around you". I feel, and I still feel that it is something more than the fact that I like her. Something was wrong with our friendship, and is still wrong, and I screwed it up even more....I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to approach it. She doesn't want to talk about it any more and she wants to pretend it never happened....I'm just so confused. and so sad. Honestly, it makes me want to cry...

She's my best friend. And I've lost her. She, who made me a card for my birthday last year (Which was last week) that said, "I couldn't ask for a better best friend...etc.etc." barely ackknowledged my birthday this year. My birthday wish was that she wouldn't hate me and we could be friends again :(

I just feel so hopeless, and so lost. Everything is wrong.

please help?

Sorry you had to read all that :PPP