I am going to try and make this as short and sweet as possible.
So about a month ago a friend of mine was flirting with me and I took it as leading me on because I saw no real IOIs so I confronted her about it and basically I told her I wasn't interested if she wasn't. She said she would stop but it was hard not to and I was a little heartbroken because I had thought she never liked me. During this time that we stopped talking my friend starting liking her because she was "seemingly being flirtatious", this was because she was chatting with him constantly. however once things were good between me and her again she stopped talking with him. She the went on a retreat and when she cam back she decided she can't be dating any guys for a while. I later found out that the reason for this is she needed to get over her ex that she had broke up with 2 months ago. I also later found out this is also why she never told me she liked me and also because she didn't know if I liked her. Thursday night after that week we were both really flirtatious and there were a lot of IOIs so I decided she liked me. We went on spring break that he next day only to text each other a lot for the first 2 days but then I decided to text her a lot less because texting can not lead to anything. Then she called me a friend on text he friday before and I was sensing that she meant it. When we got back from spring break we talked and she reconfirmed that sh had liked me and that she did not like my friend and she had never flirted with him, but she also said that she needs to not date for a while, and by a while she means months.

What should I do to stay put of the friend zone and be another guy she sees as a potential boyfriend again?

Please help.

You aren't even friend zoned bro. She just told you just likes you, did she not? So would it also make sense for her to say she can't date for a few months? No. It doesn't. Fuck girl logic.

What you need to do is escalate. You're just sitting there masturbating when she could be sucking your dick. Start touching her. That will lead to more touching. And that will lead to kissing. Just be smooth about it. Read up on DiCarlo's Escalation ladder. And she won't be able to say "hey I can't date you for a few months." Doesn't work that way. If anything, she's looking for a rebound. That rebound is you. Get to work son.

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Before she can respect you, you need to respect yourself.

Update: I found out she probably likes another guy right now. What can I do to stay alpha or ahead. If she honestly is not going to be dating for several months I am hoping this whole thing between them 2 boils over.