Kelsey I were neighbors, or as close to neighbors as country kids can be. Her house was through the woods and across the canyon from mine, about a 10 minute walk through huge trees and trails left by deer. We weren’t exactly friends growing up, but we knew each other and occasionally even ran into each other while gallivanting through the forest.
In high school we became closer friends. We had more classes together and more overlapping friends, and when I got my license I became Kelsey’s ride pretty much everywhere. There was always some awkwardness and tension between me and Kelsey, because we had crushes on each other, but never at the same time. She openly was into me for a while, while I was crushing on her best friend. I started feeling guilty for giving her rides, and occasionally flirting with her, because I was afraid that I had led her on. Indeed, she seemed a little hurt, but we remained friends.
My suspicions that she was upset at me were confirmed when she started dating one of my friends….right as I stopped crushing on hers. It was clear from the way she talked about it that she was only somewhat interested in him, and somewhat interested in making me jealous.