[Rivière]

Personally, a lot of what happened is here-say. People in their early teens, and sometimes younger, like to make situations and pairings with others. Yes there were giggles and hearts and pointing. Sure one of X's best friends told you that X likes you, but again, these are all here-say. By this I mean that these are all comments from X herself. Unless X herself approaches you privately and tells you that she really likes you and has an interest in you, what's happened and been said to you could mean anything. They could be poking fun, making things up, having a laugh at your expense - anything. Unless you get the information right from the source, X, take what's happened with a pinch of salt.

In terms of the age gap, I think this depends on your country and people's personal opinions. Back when I was in school, there was a guy in my year group (it was either year 10 or 11, I don't remember) and he was 15 going on 16. The girl he was in a relationship with was in year 7, she was 11 years old. Now that is an age gap. That's way too creepy and weird. He was just about to be a legally consenting individual, and she had 5 years left to go. That to me is where things become a problem. You've mentioned that she's almost 15, which means she's not quite 2 years older. To me personally it's not too big of an age gap, but again this depends on your country's culture, laws, and personal views on the situation.

I agree with Jenna that this girl is in a different stage of her life. And she will be before you. She will leave school before you, move on before you. At such a young age, this can be quite difficult for young people to deal with. You haven't reached the stage where realistically, 1-2 years of life is actually very little. At your age, you'll think it's an incredibly long time to be apart. She may wait for you to leave school, or not.

Finally, I would strongly suggest finding a way to speak to this girl and discuss how you feel. I don't necessarily mean that you open your heart out to her and tell her you're interested in her, but I would definitely hint that someone (without naming names and stirring trouble) has mentioned to you that she likes you. You can gauge her reaction and see how she responds. If she is interested in you, she may tell you, and from there, you can declare how you feel for her too. If she doesn't say anything or denies such things, then you'll know to move on from her.