Does he like me?! Or does he not?!

This happened back in April but I'm still confused so this one guy that I know messaged me an emoji one day and another one the next and I was confused to what he was getting at until he confessed that he had feelings for me. I rejected him because we are too young to date and I didn't know him much but I did have a small crush on him. We decided to stay friends, and he has been ignoring me ever since. (We don't talk on the daily nor do we talk but it was obivous he was).
I tried giving him space but ended up telling my best friend about it since she was suspicious of me. She was in the same school bus as him and ended up asking him about it. He said that it was a joke and I don't really know if I should believe him or not. Then after a month I ended telling my other best friend (I'm a bad person I'm so sorry) and she said it was probably a joke and that he probably doesn't like me. Then I asked my online friends for advice and they told me that he must have been embarrassed. But again he never ever actually told me face to face or messaged me it was a joke so hahahahahaahaha I'm probably overthinking it. So do u think it was a joke or do you think he actually likes me? If so ...do we have a chance???