Neither of us realized it at the time but Kitty saw- she saw the whole scene. Not that she brought it up right away. Sensing that I was constantly on the verge of tears, she drove us to an ice cream shop downtown. I ordered an M&M sundae while she got a banana split. Our ice cream was consumed in virtual silence, with Kitty periodically eying the bracelet still in my hand. She thought that the best time to probe was when we were two-thirds done our desserts.

"It's gonna be weird this summer, without Margot and Josh." I quietly responded with a nod. "At least Josh will only be gone for a month; he'll be back before you know it." No reply this time. Yet another pregnant pause followed. Kitty got this knowingly look on her face as she rested her chin on her folded hands. "You're in love with Josh, aren't you?"

This made me choke on the ice cream I was currently swallowing. Wiping my mouth, I blinked at her incredulously. "Of course I love him; he's my best friend." "No," she shook her smart-ackee head. "I mean you're "in love" with him. Like romantically, not platonically." "What? No! Margot just broke up with him. Even… if I was to develop those kinds of feelings for Josh, it wouldn't be right away. They're still mourning, like a lot." "Uh huh," of course she didn't look convinced. "I'm serious, Kitty. We're not in high school anymore; I respected his and Margot's relationship. I love him as my best friend- that's it." "If that's true, then why haven't you let go of his bracelet?"

My eyes had to blink several times as I digested what she just said. As if I needed proof, I gazed down to my hand- it was still clinging onto the black bead bracelet tightly. Huh, I didn't even realize that I was doing that…. It just sort of happened. Kitty smirked in victory, annoying me a little as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "See? You do love him." I sighed. "Holding onto this doesn't mean anything. I just… don't want to lose it." "If that's true then let me hold it," her hand reached out towards me. "No!" Acting on impulse, my own hand moved directly under the table- still clinging onto the beads. This only made Kitty's grin grow. "Oh, you're the only one who can hold it; is that right?" "Yes," I finally admitted. No one else was touching this bracelet; no one. Josh gave it to me- it's mine. Only mine.

But…. obviously this didn't help my case. "Why are you so in denial? Didn't Margot give you her blessing to go for it? Just tell him you love him, as more than a friend." "Because… I don't… I just don't know how I feel right now!" I said a little louder than I should have. "He's my best friend, Kitty. You can't just go from friends to dating like that; especially when he's still in love with Margot. He told me himself he's still in love with her." "He won't always be," she countered slyly. This girl…. I eyed her unimpressed.

"Look, Kitty. You're still young, so I don't expect you to understand this fully," I remarked a little condescendingly. Petty, I know; but I wasn't in the best of moods right now. "It would be morally wrong to develop feelings for Josh while he was with Margot, and I didn't. I wanted them to stay together! I supported their relationship whole-heartedly." "I know you did," she surprised me slightly with this. "But did you ever think why you did? You, who read and took all those psychology classes?" "What are you getting at?" My stare sharpened onto her. "Did it ever cross your mind that maybe you supported their relationship because it kept Josh close?"

My mouth shot open, but no words came out. That was….. alarmingly insightful, particularly for Kitty. She grinned before continuing. "Think about it. With him dating Margot, he was close to the family; he was always there. It was easy to be his best friend, right? But if he dated someone who wasn't your sister, he would slowly leave to go into her life. Besides, how many girls would be ok with their boyfriend having a female best friend?" Oh, that's very true; I never thought about that before. "Margot trusted you two completely, and you guys never betrayed that trust, right?" "No, absolutely not." "Exactly. Another woman- especially one who didn't know you- probably wouldn't be that trusting. With Josh dating Margot, you were free to be as close to him as you want while still respecting their relationship. That's why you wanted them to keep dating, am I right? So long as Margot loved him, and him her, he'd always be around- just like you wanted."

I merely stared at my younger sister with the widest eyes. Holy crap…. when did she get so smart?! I admit I have this slight prejudice against teenagers because I know how stupid I was as one. I mean I was embarrassed that I wrote my crushes each a love letter for pete's sake! I was under the assumption that anyone under the age of twenty-two was a total idiot, particularly on the matter of love. But here Kitty was… being utterly correct. She out-psychologized the senior university student, who studied in Europe! I still had my reservations on the thought that I could be "in love" with Josh in that way….. but damn. For the first since I turned sixteen, it felt like it might be possible. I gazed down at the bracelet in my palm. It could be…. maybe.