Confused about a guy?

So there's this guy I like, and I have absolutely NO experience with dating. One problem is... I moved second semester to another state. I kind of feel like I should move on, but somehow I can't, plus we (my family) go back to my home town a lot. Another problem is I think my friend might like him as well. She has a lot better chance with him than I do, because a) she doesn't live 10 hours away from him (by car), and b) she talks to him a lot more (I, for some reason, am not very good at talking to guys :/ ). I feel like I have a lot more in common with him, however, but I think, I'm not sure though, he might like her too. One thing that confuses me is that whenever we do talk, on fb chat, we always sign off with a little goodbye emoticon, mine's a penguin, and his is the :putnam: emoticon (we started this last summer, long story). Would any guy out there consider that flirting, or am I just way too inexperienced and should just see it as a friend thing? Sorry for this being so long, but I'd really like some advice on what you'd think this *is*, and what I should do.