Search Results: getting over a first love

So I’ve known my friend for a year through college classes, but we’ve only been friends since December, along with 2 other people. The first semester we met she had a boyfriend and I was getting over a serious 2-year crush so wasn’t interested in a relationship, but I knew I wanted to be her friend. I asked her, but she said no to being friends cause of her boyfriend. I was a little disappointed, but accepted it. The next semester we met again and started talking and hanging out more before our classes. I wasn’t going to be friends with her since I remembered she had a boyfriend and said no, but then I found out she had broken up with him and decided there wouldn’t be any harm in asking again if she wanted to be friends. Around this time I also noticed I was developing feelings for her. I emailed her saying I enjoyed spending the two semesters with her and asked her if she wanted to be friends and gave her my number in case she did. Few minutes later I got a text from her that said and I quote “I really enjoyed spending the semesters with you too and I’d love to be friends with you!” Since then we’ve been texting all the time, but haven’t been able to hang out since becoming friends cause we’ve both been busy. I want to tell her I like her and got her a Valentine’s present (a mug that says “you’re the best” and a small box of chocolates). I’ve read/heard that it’s better to get your feelings out in the open asap, but we’re also still getting to know each other, so should I go ahead with telling her I like her or wait a bit and do I still give her the Valentine’s gift?

So we're both 17, very close friend, she is very shy, we go home together almost every day, now she wants me come with her in the mornings too cuz we get in the same bus.

So, when we first met 3 years ago, she used to touch my shoulder every time she told me something, pulled my backpack to let me know she was there. She also fell on me by accident quite a lot. We were awkward at that stage and she once talked about exs to let me know she never dated, then asked if sb in my old class was my girlfriend (she wasn't). She also tried taking a selfie of us just as she said she doesn't have enough storage and hugged me when I was down. She also threw a surprise party on my bday.

One year passed. We could now talk about anything. This time, she was more confident and also shared more info about herself. She stopped bumping into me, pulling my backpack. Now, she was twirling her hair or playing with her straps when she saw me. She also pretended not to see me when walking close to me but slowed down a lot until I reached her to go: "Oh, hi!". She got me an eclair for my bday.

Yet another year went by. She is always very interested in my well being, always over-apologizing. She once did something bad after I helped her and went 2 hours over her bedtime texting to make sure everything was ok. After I said that I was happy to have spent the day with her and that life is about choosing what makes you happy, she texted "If life is about choices", "You chose well 🙃".

She is curious about my past. When she sits next to me, her legs are crossed, one of them towards me, wiggling it. Her head on her arm resting on that leg. When we're together, we're close enough for our hands to touch and she always compliments me saying "You're very smart" or "You're really mature compared to me". Recently, she got all hyped up (blushing, asking if she can tell her family, smiling a lot) when I told her about sb in love thinking it was me to then go nothing u can do when I told her it's a friend.