Should I talk to him or should I just let it be? (detailed and long)

[ax]

So I have an update on my situation with the break. I am stumped on what I should do now. It'll probably be just as long. We haven't talked since the break was initiated, with one exception which I'll explain later, despite the fact that we see each other a lot during the day, and that's mainly why my problem is a problem.
The break started right before school and that's when he stopped talking to me first. I figured we'd start to talk again when school started due to the fact that we'd see each other a lot, but was I wrong... we didn't talk at the bus stop, on the bus, at school, at all. And it stayed that way.
A few days into school I messaged him and said "is this break still a thing or are you not talking to me for a reason?" and he answered "im not sure." I said "you should figure it out." The next day he messaged and said "the break is over now". that was about a week ago when we ended things for real.
Now I'm confused on what to do. I overthink about little things and I keep giving myself false hope... I know its false but somehow I trick myself into believing until I see something that'll bring it down and it's a constant cycle. I'm trying to get over him because everyone's saying that he's getting over it and I'm just here waiting for something that won't happen. When he's not around I feel better and I feel like I'm making progress but whenever I see him, 88% of the time I will literally get triggered.
For example, for a little while he stopped liking anything I posted on Instagram for a few weeks. Then randomly he started to like my stuff again. That made me wonder, why'd he start liking my stuff again? Sometimes he'd like stuff even seconds after I posted. I also see him in the classes that we have. I'll catch him looking at me sometimes. We've even made DIRECT eye contact tons of times. That also makes me think, why is he looking at me? Little things that should probably mean nothing mean a lot to me. But then at school I see him talking to these two girls a lot, they're known at school and that's intimidating because they're so pretty and cool and I'm just like... boring. And not cute. Seeing him with them brings down the false hope that I create. I'll try to think "They could just be friends!" or "maybe he's talking to them as a rebound!" but if I were him and I had a chance to get with one of those girls I would. I'd choose one of them over me so I wouldn't be shocked if that happened.
Also, I talked to my mom about it. She said I should talk to him about it. Not getting back together because I know that won't happen but to try and be friends or clear things up. We didn't end off badly so I figure it wouldn't do any harm. It's clearly extremely awkward and we both know that. I'd try to talk to him to see if he'd be willing to change that but if he doesn't then he doesn't. I think that it'd be worth a shot but I'm scared that he wouldn't want to.
I know that he knows too because, here's where I explain the exception. Since he was liking my stuff on Insta again, I was on his page and he posted something with "like for a tbh" so I did. I was curious to see if he'd give me one. To my suprise, he did. He said, "tbh: im sorry" and I said "for what?" He said "for the way things are between us" and basically the conversation was't long but we talked about how it's awkward and I was trying to say that it doesn't have to be awkward but he was like "we only have one class together". I said "well if you want things to stay awkward then you dont have to reply to this" but followed up with "for now we have two" and he never replied.. I checked later and he never even read it. That was a few days ago. I'm a little scared to go see if he read it lol
Basically that is what I want to talk to him about so I don't know if it would be worth it or if I should just leave things be and let them stay awkward even though they really dont need to be, in my opinion. I want to talk to him to see if he's willing to talk to see if we could eliminate the awkwardness but I'm scared he wont want to even though he said he's "sorry" about it. If he was, he'd want to change something, right? But I don't know. I sometimes feel like he's also still trying to get over us and is doing that by not talking to me but like... I don't know. He probably is over it and I just don't want to think that. But I'm not trying to get back with him. At the very least, I just want the awkwardness to be gone. We eliminated it when we first met so we can do it again right? Things didn't end off bad. I know lots of ex couples who are still friends so why cant we? He's the one who asked me would I cut him off or would we still be friends if we broke up.
If it's not worth a shot and I should just let things be, how do you suppose I could get over him quicker? It's hard being an overthinker and overthinking small things, but I don't want to think about the crushing things either. I'm a lot better and I don't think about him as much when hes not around so I try my best to avoid him but it's hard at school. I've accepted the fact that he won't talk to me and that we probably won't get back together but it's just the feeling that I miss. It's not exactly him but the feeling and what we did. I've tried talking to other people but I don't get from them what I got from him. It sucks seeing him talk to those girls because I know I'm not completely over him yet. Like, how did he get over it so fast? Also he's always posting things on Insta like "I want a girlfriend!" "What is love and can I have it?" or posting like something cute and is like "Can I have this?" and he knows I can still see that so... I'm just like "..." like who is he trying to get to see that? I follow him, those girls follow him...
I'm just really not sure which path I should take. Should I let things stay how they are and do this on my own?

[Sam W]

Hi ax,

You're right that plenty of exes end being able to be friends. However, what people sometimes miss about that process is that it often happens months or years after the break-up, and only after both people have had time to reset the relationship. And that transition isn't something you force or speed along. It has to happen naturally (if it happens at all).

It sounds like you're still focusing a lot of your energy on him. So, step one is to find ways to focus your attention on anything else. That could be relationships with your friends, and also your relationship with yourself. Do you have hobbies or other things that you like to do that have maybe fallen by the wayside?

Step one part two is to dial back your contact with him for awhile. No messaging on social media, limited, polite conversation if you see him in person. Continuing to talk to him, especially about your relationship, is like picking at a scab. It feels like it's helping, but it's actually delaying the healing process.

We've also got this article that sounds like it would be really helpful for you right now: Getting Through a Breakup Without Actually Breaking