Friend might be crushing on me help.

I'm a wreck to anxiety right now so sorry if this is terribly incoherent. So I [18M] am currently internally going

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

because I have a suspicion that a good friend [17F] of mine has a romantic interest in me. I got to this conclusion after looking at some of her recent-ish behaviors, as seen on the list below.

• Randomly texting me on valentine's day, and asked what I was doing (it was nothing)
• At a several-day event hosted by a mutual friend
  • She would often stare at me, but as soon as I took notice/made eye contact, she would suddenly look away (you know that really awkward staring thing).
  • Personally asking me to attend a sub-event with her, to which I happily obliged (Neckbeardy friends of the Host followed us though).
  • In louder spaces she would put her hand on my back to get my attention (not like a poke, more of a brush).
  • When others broke off into smaller groups of 2-3, both she and I would consistently be together.
  • Sitting/standing next to me as much as possible.
• Over the past month, we've been conversing for 1-3 hours multiple times per week, usually she is the one to start these conversations over text.
  • Video calling
• She seems extremely reluctant to discuss her ex-boyfriend when I am present.

I asked her if she was "dropping hints for anything", and she replied "no" with a rather weak cover-up for the staring. At this point I'm guessing she either is just not interested in me, or just doesn't want me to know she's interested. We both appear to have social anxiety to a degree, so that might be a part of it.

I feel like she's definitely a nice enough person to date, however, I'd be fine with being just her friend too. Unfortunately, I really don't know how to properly convey that to her. If anyone has advice/knowledge with the whole "idk if she likes me thing" of how to approach her about it, I would appreciate it immensely.