He Told Me He Liked Me Before the First Date…

Hi! So I am a 21 year old female. I have never dated before, even though I have been asked out by a few guys. I was always told never to lower my standards, and since I have big dreams for my life, I decided early on not to spend time dating guys who wouldn’t be compatible with me and my future goals.

Recently, someone from my university (who I had only recently seen as a friend I was getting to know more) told me that he “liked me very much” on a university retreat we both attended. I have never been more caught off guard because I assumed we were just friends. Though, a close friend had told me months earlier that she noticed that it looked like he liked me, but I really didn’t think anymore of it. I managed to stammer out a response along the lines of “that’s sweet and I’m very flattered.” He started getting even more awkward than I was and said “you don’t have to let me know now,” but me, wanting to end all this awkwardness, said that I’d be interested in getting coffee. Small talk ensued after that and we parted rather awkwardly. He is the first guy that I’ve considered just because our life plans and personalities are more similar.

We set up a coffee date for this week, though he’s been very silent on the texting front. (Is this normal?) My question is, since he told me that he really liked me before we even got coffee or anything to get to know each other more, will it be hard for us to become good friends now? I would really love for us to be closer friends first. I know for a fact that we are both awkward people sometimes, and my worry is that will always be between us and we won’t be able to act normally. Any thoughts?