How can I become friends with the girl I like?

To make a long story short, I added this girl on facebook from work that I liked (we're both 20). We used to be in a group (coworkers sticking together). Anyway I added her and left a message. She didn't respond. Last Friday I invited her to eat lunch with me alone. She said no because she was going to go eat with two of her friends from work (which actually r 2 of my friends also). Sunday at work she apologized for not coming to eat with me. Then Monday I left her a message on facebook saying that I found her nice for apologizing and told her that I just wanted to get to know her better. Today is Friday and I haven鈥檛 gotten any message back. At work for the whole week I felt as if she was avoiding me and when she wasn鈥檛 (again because we r in a group) I felt this tension between us. Basically I understand that she knows I like her and just is tiptoeing around me so as not to hurt my feelings because she doesn鈥檛 like me. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I would prefer to have her as a friend. What do I say to her to make her understand that I鈥檓 going to stop pursuing her and that I would prefer to be her friend? To make it clear I don't want to get in a relationship with her because it already awkward so I don鈥檛 care about entering the friendship zone. I plan on staying there anyway because she's a good person. Now explain to me; how can I do this?How can I become friends with the girl I like?
Not everybody checks their Facebook all of the time %26amp; sometimes when they do, they don't always reply to messages right away. I don't reply to messages for days at a time, so maybe she's the same way. I think the tension was only there because you saw it, but maybe she didn't feel the tension there. Since you two tend to be grouped together sometimes, talk to her at those times. Try not to be too flirty so that she won't think you're interested in her. Ask her what she's doing over the weekend or if it's a Monday or something, ask her how her weekend was. Just try to be nice %26amp; polite %26amp; play it casual.How can I become friends with the girl I like?
Your facebook messages seem a little creepy... Just act natural.