Summer Love, Hidden Feelings, and Mistakes

Spencer-

I looked out the window of my bedroom, watching the sun set, and reflected on the week I had just had. The best and worst week of my life. The week with her. It all started with my best friend..

“Get up lazy-ass!” Eva shouted cheerfully as she barged into my room.
I groaned, rolled over and looked at the clock. 6:18. Too early for my basic motor skills to be functioning yet. A guy needs his sleep.
“What do you want Eva,” I asked. She was carrying a brown paper bag from Bakers Square, and was dressed in a bikini and sarong. That’s right, I know what a sarong is. Having to go shopping with her all the time has really upped my fashion knowledge.
“Put on your swimsuit and meet me on the dock. I need to talk to you.” And then she left. I smiled to myself. She really was my best friend. Annoying at times, but she had always been there for me. Through bad breakups on both of our parts, to family troubles, we had always stuck together. My life definitely wouldn’t be the same without her.
I rolled out of my bed, and switched from boxers to swim trunks. My phone vibrated on my nightstand. I grabbed it and flipped it open.

“SPENCER!!!! Get out here NOW!(:”

I smiled. Impatient as always. Normally I would take my sweet time just to frustrate her, but that Bakers Square bag was calling my name, so I slipped the phone into the pocket of my swim trunks, and jogged down the stairs and out the back door.
I saw her sitting on the very end of the dock, her feet dangling in the water as the sun rose. It looked amazing. I went back inside and grabbed my digital camera, then went back out to capture the morning. This time when I went out, she heard me, and just as I was about to snap the picture, she turned back towards me. The wind caught her hair, and the early morning sunlight made her face glow. It was by far one of the best pictures I had ever taken, and I had taken a lot. Occupational hazard of being an aspiring photographer.
I jogged down and sat next to her, letting my toes just barely brush the water.
“Let me see it,” she said, referring to the picture.
“Nope,” I replied, reaching for the food.
“Uhh, yeah,” she said, pushing the bag just out of my reach. I glared at her. She stared back defiantly. I raised one eyebrow. She raised one too. I rolled my eyes, and she laughed.
“Fine, but no deleting it. I’m keeping this one. It’s good.”
“Doubt it,” she said, and snatched the camera out of my hands. She had, like all other girls, a tendency to doubt her beauty, and as she studied herself in the camera, I studied her.
Now I’m not gonna lie, Eva is really pretty. Long, dark auburn hair, green eyes that sparkled all the time, tanned skin that wasn’t fake. But it wasn’t just her outer beauty that made guys fall for her. She was bubbly, fun to be around, quirky, and often immature. If we weren’t such close friends, I would probably be falling for her like all the other guys I know.
“I like it,” she declared. “It’s pretty.” I raised my eyebrows. She actually like it? That was a first.
“Hey now, I like some pictures of myself,” she said. I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I like any picture of you,” and reached for the food again. She didn’t push it any closer.
I looked back at her and saw her staring at me. There was some kind of electricity between us, something that had never been there before, and for a moment we just sat there staring into each others eyes. Then, she cleared her throat, looked away, and shoved the bag closer to me.
“Here, strawberry cheesecake with chocolate syrup, just how you like it,” she said. She didn’t look back at me.
“Uhh, yeah, thanks,” I said. There was an awkwardness in the air that I didn’t like. “So what did you want to talk about?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, suddenly energized again. “Ok, so you know my cousin Victoria? The one that lives in Wisconsin?” I nodded, my mouth full of the sweetness of the cheesecake.
“Well, she’s coming down here for a week!”
“Mmm, cool.”
“It is cool! Spencer…” And suddenly it hit me. Eva was trying to hook me up with her cousin.
Now, I’m not gonna lie, I had seen pictures of this girl, and I was in no way opposed to her looks. In fact, I thought she was really pretty. Blond, tall, and a cute face. What more could I have asked for? She was the type of girl I was usually attracted to. But honestly? It wasn’t a good time for me to be thinking about going out with a girl.
“No Evie. I just broke up with Lacey like 2 weeks ago,” I said. “I don’t want to go out with your cousin.”
“Spencie, just hear me out!“ she said, grabbing my wrists and preventing me from bringing a forkful of cheesecake to my mouth. I frowned. “Ok, you’re getting over Lacey, and she’s getting over her ex! It’s perfect! She’s only gonna be her a week. One week. That’s all I’m asking you for. She needs to get her mind off him, and you need to get your mind off Lacey. Pleeeeeease?!”
She gave me the puppy-dog look. No way was I even gonna try and resist Eva’s puppy-dog look.
I sighed deeply, and looked out to sea, keeping her in unnecessary suspense. My mind was already made up.
“Fine, just as long as she doesn’t try and turn this into a long-distance thing. don’t want be held down.” Eva squealed and hugged me.
“She won’t, I promise! This is so great! I just might have to eat some of that fattening goodness you have there.” I slid the plate over to her, and chuckled as she shoveled some into her mouth.
She set the plate back down, and looked up at the sky, taking in the seagulls flying above us and the fluffy white clouds rolling swiftly in the morning breeze. I didn’t miss the look in her eyes as she sat there thinking. About what, I could only guess.
I nudged her with my knee. “Hey, you ok?” I asked.
She looked over at me, and after staring at me for a couple seconds, she smiled.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” Then she looked away again.
I couldn’t help but wonder if her distantness was somehow related to that weird moment a little bit ago. Was there something she wasn’t telling him? But I brushed these feelings aside. She was setting me up with her cousin. She wouldn’t do that if she liked me. Would she?
“Hey Evie?”
“Yeah?”
“Uhh..” But at the last second I lost my nerve. I couldn’t just ask her if she liked me. That would be too weird. We were best friends, and I didn’t even like her like that. Did I? This was all too confusing for me. I looked over to find her looking at me, expectant, almost hopeful.
“Uhh, when’s Victoria getting here?”
“Oh.” She looked away from me, and she almost looked disappointed. “Umm, tomorrow. Tomorrow at 10.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah. Cool.” Her eyes took on that mischievous twinkle that I knew so well. Uh-oh. She reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, then shoved me into the water.
As the bubbles swirled around me, I cleared my mind of any thoughts of my best friend maybe liking me, and decided to not worry about it this week. In a week, Victoria would be gone, and I could worry about Eva then.
I resurfaced, and put on an angry face. “Not cool little girl.”
She smirked. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”
“This.” And I grabbed her and pulled her in. We became entangled underwater, and we both resurfaced laughing. Her mascara and eyeliner had become smeared under her eyes, and her waist-length hair was tangled and untamed. As I stared at her there, carefree and beautiful, I couldn’t help but wonder.. Was her cousin worth it? Should I do anything with her, knowing that there was something between me and Eva that just might be better?