my younger brother has a really good friend named tom. he comes over a lot and I find myself talking to him more than I would to my brother's other friends. I have beginning art classes with tom and he asked me why I was taking the beginning class and said it must be a cinch for me cos I m so good. when art is over we walk out of class together and talk - it s always the joking teasing kind of convo with lots of smiles - and I feel very comfortable with him. he acts a bit strange around me also. when he s behind me in the halls he starts doing a beat with his mouth really loudly - I knew it was him because when I did nt turn around he d walk up next to me and go 'hey'. and when he walks in front of me he s always turning around to look at me. and when we talk he s smiling the whole time and holding a really firm eye lock - which startles me so much sometimes that I have to look away. he s very confident and funny and soo handsome. I feel incredibly disappointed whenever I think I m about to see him and I don t. and I feel myself getting anxious and excited whenever I overhear my brother telling my parents that tom is coming over. I think about him ALL THE TIME. I remember all the convos we ve had. also, we were talking about height and he was joking about how short he is and how I m taller than him and I was telling him he should nt feel bad cos I m older than him - I m a junior, he s a freshman - and shorter than average which is sad and he waved his hand and said sympathetically, aww, I don t care about that. then I had to leave right that instant. I wondered if that last comment had any deeper meaning to it. and when he was at our house, he cam in my room while I was doing homework and we talked for a short while, then he left when my brother called him over.

whenever I m with him I feel happy and confident and there s this connection between us that I KNOW he feels too.

the reason I feel hesitant about going further with this is that he s my brother s best friend, and if something bad happened between us, things would be really awkward if he comes to our house. and plus my friend said dating freshmen is taboo - I have nt told anybody about this - I ve hinted at it with one of my close friends, I told her I think he likes me and I almost told her I like him too, but then I just said Yeah, he s kinda cute, and left it at that. She might know, but I m not sure... do you think dating guys two years younger is weird or risky at all?

oh also, I overhear him and my brother talking a lot and tom randomly brings me up, quite often.

do you think he likes me, and should I go for it? or should I try stay friends for a little while, get to know him more, and see if he does anything?