Thanks so much. It's great to know someone's considering it.

But, the beat goes on...

My dad and I had a long conversation/argument today about how he's sure Ben likes me and how Melanie likes him... I noticed he was very objective about how he analyzed mine and Melanie's behavior. He was much less so with Ben.
Here are his points.
Ben likes me.
He wouldn't stick around until one in the morning unless it was true.
He's waiting for me to make the first move because according to my dad, he's trying to make himself more appealing to me by playing hard-to-get. (Because as I've said, I'm really not into dating.)
He's a teenage boy with a high sex drive, and for me to be so physical with him is manipulative and unfair.

I argued with him about it, and it got but then realized that I really needed Ben's input. I didn't want to continue putting words in his mouth.

So I IM-ed Ben, and eventually that turned into an argument about how I need to learn to let these sorts of things go. But he cut it off, at which point I realized that I only needed to ask him one question, which would solve everything, help me better communicate with my dad, and better understand him.
"What do I really mean to you?"
His response was along the lines of, "You're a very good friend and I can feel that I can act how I want without fear of you either hating me or falling in love with me."
My appeal, I suppose, is in my apathy.

I don't know yet. It's very late, and I just wanted to post this before I forgot, basically. I'm finding this is actually a great way for me to stay organized with the situation!