Is pretending to hate your crush common during your earlier school years?

Obviously I've matured by now but I used to do that as a kid all the way till age 13. I wasn't always giving him an attitude nor teasing him though. Certain times I would be nicer and have a normal conversation. Other times I would act like a frenemy.

Eventually he and others figured it out and were very confused. They couldn't understand why I couldn't just be my natural, nicer self and say what I feel without the ''pretending to hate him'' thing. Is it common when a school boy or girl pretends to hate you but actually always liked/loved you?

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One time he liked my sweeter version and actually said ''you know you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar don't you', why can't you stay like that all the other days''. I was embarrassed that he might figured out my secret and simply answered ''I'm not sweet. I'm mean and tough. You're just lucky I'm not in a bad mood today''. He replied with an ''ok, whatever you say''.
Is pretending to hate your crush common during your earlier school years?
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