I can't tell if this guy likes me or is just an overall outgoing person?

Because sometimes it seems like he likes me because he exchanges glances with me during cl whenever the teacher says something or because of an inside joke we have. Normally, I'd totally think this means he likes me but one of my good friends sits next to me. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like her (and she doesn't like him, so no big deal) because of things he's said before (that she is just a friend), but I don't really know anymore. He hangs around our desks before school starts and talks to us a lot, but comes over before I get there in the morning, though he stays and talks til the bell rings usually :) How can I tell if he likes me without asking him, because it would make things super awkward for me to ask him because we hang out with so many of the same people? Plus I've seen him be indecisive and unintentionally string girls along, so I don't want to become a groupie or anything because girls group around him a lot and I hate being part of a crowd.