Advice please! - Getting out of the "friend-zone"

Hey there, I would really appreciate some advice from you experienced ladies. =)

I am a high school senior and my best friend since she moved here two years ago is bi. She has flirted with me the entire time, which I used to ignore because I was straight. However, a few months ago I began to develop feelings for her and question my sexuality. I started to flirt back, which initially took her aback, but then she accepted it and started to respond positively. We now flirt constantly and heavily, and it has escalated to the point that everyone is convinced we are together, or at the very least hooking up, and teachers have separated us in classes for PDA.
The problem is, we are still firmly in the friend zone. Despite my flirting, she is still convinced that I am 100% straight, and, despite her flirting, I know she's not actually interested. I know the first fact because she told someone so just a week ago, and I know the second fact because she has made many little comments that you simply would not say to someone you are interested in. For example, she has expressed disgust at having kissed a guy right after I kissed him in a game of truth or dare, and when I told her I was terrified of losing my virginity to a guy because I was very small, she responded with "ewww, don't tell me that, I don't want to know what your vagina looks like." And sometimes if I am too forward with my flirtations she will back off and act all weirded out. Etc. It's pretty clear to me that she flirts just for fun.

I don't know what to do to make her realize that I am not in fact "100% straight." Without that basic foundation, naturally it would be impossible for her to contemplate an us. I realize the most straightforward method would be just telling her, but I am not very comfortable in open proclamations of "love" and would greatly appreciate alternatives. If you do think however that I should just tell her, please leave a reason why…

 

I was reading this, and a thought struck me, and I had to mention it.

Did you ever consider that maybe she doesn't want to jeopardize your friendship by taking the flirting too far? You mentioned that she still thinks you are 100% straight, is it possible that she is afraid that if she admits to an attraction, you will be "weirded-out" (being 100% straight and all, as she thinks you are), and the friendship will fall apart? Could that possibly be why she seems to back off?

I could be totally off base here, it was just a thought for you to maybe look into/think about.

 

Thanks for your comment Kalypso. Unfortunately, that does not seem the case, because in the meantime we had a skype conversation in which any possibility in my mind of her being attracted to me was very clearly crushed. Here is what happened:

I did not tell her outright I liked her, but my insinuations really could not have been clearer about my feelings towards her. She remained completely oblivious and continued talking about me and men.
We also got on the topic of virgins, in which she made it very clear that virgins (and I am one) do not interest her at all because they have no experience, and as such are not sexually confident and don't have sex appeal.
And during our conversation, another person asked me if we were going out. I told her, and she seemed bemused that someone would think that. I then told her that he was the 6th person in two weeks to ask about us. She was completely shocked and made a joke along the lines of "there should be a 'NOT in a relationship with X,' status on facebook." At that point I was very frustrated, and I told her she should petition for that, and then signed off.
Today she didn't talk to me once at school, even when I said hi, nor did she even look at me. So I ignored her too, and then I decided I was being stupid and that I would talk to her about it when I would have the chance, which would during last period or after school. But then during last period she did not sit next to me, and then she ran to the bathroom and broke down into tears. She refused to tell me what was wrong, and said something vague about it not being about me, but about school, which does not really make sense because everything is fine for her school wise.

So I am at a loss and so horribly confused about everything. So anyways, I'm glad I can let some of this out and talk about it, because I can't exactly tell many people here.

 

If you never fuckin ask, you'll never fuckin know.

 

And it sounds like she was lying to you, in the last case.

 

Ask what? What was wrong? I did. I stood in the bathroom for quite a while talking to her through the door of the stall she was in (she wouldn't even open up) trying to get her to tell me what was wrong, and that's the best I got from her.

I asked her again just now if she was ok (I know its a ridiculous question, but what else am I supposed to ask?), and she basically spat in my face on skype. So I told her I wouldn't bother her again, and sorry for caring. She then accused me of being nosy, and that's basically how that lovely conversation ended.

 

She doesn't like you romanticly. And she's frustrated everyone thinks you're both dating.
Be friends, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

 

Yep wild-flowers, that has become quite clear. It's definitely over before it began, and I'm backing off. These next few days are going to be rather awkward...

 

It sounds like a lover's quarrel to me..

But what do I know?

 

We quarrel often, we're both quite opinionated and have different expectations from the other, but usually they're over small things and its over quickly. But we've been having them more and more often lately, and they've been becoming more and more serious. The first big one was october, before I liked her (she apologized), the second big one was just last week (she was the one to apologize again), and this is the third big one, only one week later, and it's the most serious of them all. And this time I don't know who's in the wrong, and who needs to apologize.