Spencer sat in her room alone.  It was almost one in the morning and she could not sleep.  She was thinking about her again when that was the last thing she should be thinking about.  She fingered the ring on her all-important left finger and sighed.  ‘How did I end up here, like this?’

********

It was the summer before sophmore year of high school and Spencer had just moved to LA from small town Ohio.  She’d met Ashley at a concert that a mutual friend had taken them both to.  After they had spent the entire night talking and getting to know one another they were inseparable.  Fast friends, Ashley helped Spencer adjust to the move seamlessly and Spencer forgot what life was like before LA…and before Ashley.  The school year flew by and Spencer and Ashley were excitedly making their summer plans.

“We’ve got a whole week to party it up with barely, if any, supervision,” Spencer gushed as she took a sip of her lemonade.

“Spence, I’m totally there but isn’t it your grandfather’s house?  Won’t he be there?”

“Yea, but he’s a little out there.  He won’t even notice we’re there.”

“If you say so.”

The week finally came and to grandfather’s beautiful beach house they went.  As promised, Spencer’s grandfather was less than supervisory and the girls loved it.  There first day there was spent sleeping on the beach, recovering from the all nighter they  had pulled the night before. That night they hung around the boardwalk, talking to cute boys here or there, laughing incessantly.  They rolled back to the house around 4am and climbed into the pull-out couch that was there bed, relieved that gramps was unaware.

Spencer’s cousin came down the next day and hung out with the girls.  He took them each out on his jet skis and then they all went tubing on the boat.  They hung out at the beach for a little, but were totally wiped out from their day and headed home.

“Spence, you never said your cousin was a hunk.  My god, when he took his shirt off, I almost fainted!”

“Ash, ewwwww.  That’s my cousin!”  Spencer scowled.  She felt a tinge of something.  ‘What was that?’ she thought.  She picked up her towel and clothes, ready to head to the shower.