i am in 8th grade and i really like this girl but she tries as hard as she can to make it look like she doesn't like me when my friends are around and my friends always harass her and try to embarrass her so she stays away from me and doesn't talk to me when they are around but when they are not around she talks to me more and is okay with me being around sometime asking me for help and when my friend make fun of her for liking me even though they don't know that she likes me or not (that i know) she tries as hard as possible to defend herself and when they keep making fun of her she gives up on trying to defend herself and gets really embarrassed. i think she likes me because 1 if you don't like me then why get embarrassed there's nothing to be embarrassed about. and 2 i think that when she denies liking me that it is one of Freud's defense mechanisms Reaction formation: Reaction Formation is the converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites. is she possibly trying to defend herself form embarrassment caused by possible judgement and harassment from my friends?
