Boyfriend mess! please help?

hi every1! i m siresma and i m 16. there was this guys max. He and i have hated each other for like, forever. But jus 2 weeks bfore, we were made co captains of the school.He came and talked to me abt making peace for the sake of being responsible n mature captains, i agreed coz i couldnt think of anythin better. And when i told abt this to my frnds, they were like totally shocked and they kept warning me about wat a manipulator he is... and i was lik ' i kno exactly wat he is and i wont fall for his pretends' But after we started working togethr, we started texting continuously, both official and personal, and when we used to talk at school, ppl were like sooooo shocked coz jus a week before we hated each other to d nth degree and ppl could not get accustomed to the sight of me and max talking and laughing instead of abusing each other. Some even told me it looked like we were going steady,,, my frnds are so on my case, they keep asking me to back off from him, dat he s not good for me. its true, i did believe it, but now i dnt think so. Max and i are quite hitting it off and we like talking to each other so much. he has never ever been in a serious relationship before and he flirts around a lot, mainly by showing off, he s got a smart brain, he keeps showin off abt his 'knowledge'. As much as i d hate to admit, i must accept i m attracted to him and i m still not able to get over the shock. and i m not sure wat to do. he told me i m the only one with whom he trusts his feelings with, i m so concernd abt him, i ve never seen him talk to a girl abt his feelings bfore and i dnt know wat to belive, is he manipulating me, are my frnds rite? or does he genuinely like me? am not sure at all abt how to be with him. Shud i hold back? and as far as my relationship status is concernd, i had a boyfrnd, we dated for an year or so, broke up few months back and so over him.