Search Results: signs he wants you to back off

This is a long story but ill try to make it as short as possible

Im a senior, she is a sophmore
I like her a lot and i told her last year

It was the first time we ever talked and i was pretty weird about it
She said she had a boyfriend (ik for a fact she didnt)
Back then i wasn't comfortable talking to girls still

After i asked her, she would stare at me and play with her hair and glance at me all the time but i never had the courage to approach her again

Its been a year since then
Were friendly now, but not friends yet
She gives signs she likes me sometimes

I think she was caught off guard last year or automatically said no cause she thought it was a prank or taken back cause we had never even spoke before

We talk every few days now, and i think she wants to get to know me better
She still stares at me a decent amount

I want to go talk to her about this and try again.

I want to make a joke about what happened last year, tell her i still want to get to know her, take things slow, and see where things go
Hopefully get her number / snapchat

So is this the right way to do it or it it better to slowly bcome friends first? Should i not mention last year at all? Either way, i just need some insight into whats going on here, what she's feeling, and what course of action i should take next.