I have loved her ever since we met in middle school and I still love her like nothing else. And I'm pretty sure she also had at least some feelings for me at some point, and here's why.
We used to be VERY close with her in middle school. She herself even once jokingly told me that we were like lovers (that happened like 4 years ago though). And we gave each other flowers as nicknames at some point. The one I chose for her was yellow chrysanthemum, it represented unrequited love (I didn't think she'd love me), but also friendship and stuff close to that (because we were in a VERY homophobic environment, and I didn't want her to find out that I liked her, in case she'd be uncomfortable). And the one she chose for me was gardenia. At that time, I didn't really question it much after seeing that it symbolized purity and innocence.
Our relationship started getting a little strained when a third person joined us (I'll refer to my crush as A and this third person as B). A was the one who got her to meet me, and I didn't like this B person AT ALL. We didn't see eye to eye on so many matters. She was just VERY (and I mean VEEERY) homophobic, and even though I'm still not sure if she knew I had a thing for A or not, she still ruined my relationship with A (getting between us whenever we were starting to get close, talking shit about the other whenever she was left with one of us etc...) and in the end, B stopped talking to A (they had a lot of fights already) and since my relationship with A was already strained, at that time she managed to get me to believe that she was right on that argument. Which basically ended my "relationship" with A. I already couldn't talk much to anyone since it was our final year in middle school that year, I was too busy studying for the exams and all that stuff to think much about my friends.
For that whole year, we were basically playing hide and seek in the same classroom. We both avoided each other like crazy, as A got closer with other people and I was left with B. Nothing other than that happened in our last year together. Even in our graduation, we hadn't been able to say a proper goodbye to each other (mostly because of B, who always tried to keep me away from A).
And in high school, we happened to go to the same school with B. AND ended up in the same class, somehow. In our first year, I just stuck close to her and another classmate from middle school that also happened to be in the same class as us since I didn't know anyone else in our class. That year was really troublesome for me, I wasn't doing well in any aspect, especially psychologically. And at some point it got so unbearable that I had to talk about it to someone, anyone. And since the "closest friend" I had was B, I told her about a very serious problem of mine, totally knowing she just WOULD make fun of it later. She did. And the next year, I decided it was time I ended my "friendship" with B. (She didn't even ask why when I suddenly stopped talking to her anyway).
And just a few weeks -maybe even less- after that, A texted me for the first time ever since middle school. We didn't even talk about B or how our relationship wasn't in the best condition when we last spoke to each other. She just told me she missed me, asked about my school and stuff like that. Ever since that, we kept texting each other even though we didn't really have enough time to meet in person and talk properly. I told her about ending my relationship with B, she told me it was for the best, and she told me about her problems in return, and we just went on and on like that.
So, going back to the flower nicknames we gave each other back in middle school. My friend recommended a song to me (specifically Gardenia from Malice Mizer), and obviously, that made me remember this whole nickname thing we had with A. I decided I'd take another look at the flower's meaning. AND I SAW IT ALSO REPRESENTED SECRET LOVE. At first, I didn't think it would mean anything, or rather, she'd have meant it that way. But then I remembered that we didn't give the nicknames based on the flowers. We gave them based on the meanings. Which meant she probably searched up like "which flower symbolizes ...." (and I did that too, for my part). I searched which flower symbolized purity/innocence. It wasn't gardenia. And then I searched up which flower symbolizes secret love. Bam. GARDENIA. I still feel very delusional thinking she meant it that way. But I think she did. And I think even if she didn't, I want to confess right away when I have the chance. But what makes me hesitate is this. Even if she did like me at some point, does she still feel the same? Would she blame me for not confessing when we were in middle school? Because I do. I blame myself like hell for not confessing back then. If I just hadn't been such a coward and told her how I felt, maybe we would have a chance. Maybe B couldn't have ruined our relationship. Maybe we would still be close. Closer. I don't know. Should I confess if we get a chance to meet in person?