How do I get a girl like this to like me in middle school?

I really like this girl in 7th grade. Since the beginning of second semester in 6th grade, is when I started liking her. I just knew she was a classmate, but just left it at that. When I learned a bit about her in the introductions that my teacher called, I instantly liked her. She isn’t like the other girls in my opinion. The others overdress in the “latest fashions” and wear too much make up. For some reason they carry their purses everywhere, and she doesn’t. She can just wear a T shirt and jeans. We are really alike, and I know other girls like her. But they are my friends and they…. she’s just different. She is really cute, but not overly hot, like the in crowd, and she can be hot, too. She’s extra funny, and super friendly. How can I get her to like me? I’m almost exactly the same as her, it’s just that I really can’t say I’ve done anything get her to like me, yet and when I try to, I stammer with my nerdy side. (Which is like 50% of me.) I think she thinks of me as a nervous wreck, because my face turns red a lot. Mostly because she is either walking beside me or behind me. Some of my friends say she likes me and she’s stalking me when she does that, but I think it’s just coincidence. Also, when she tells me a joke (which she does a lot) I really wish I could laugh, but I’m only capable of smiling awkwardly.