I first met Katie in seventh grade. We very quickly became best friends, and I truly mean best friends. "BFF 4 Life" kind of friends. She's the first person outside of my family that I'd say "I love you" to and actually mean it.

We were inseparable. We hung out after school almost every day, and definitely on the weekends. It was a rarity to go more than a week without one of us spending the night at the others'. We even swapped and shared clothing, all the way down to our underwear. Eventually, my boobs outgrew hers, so we couldn't really share bras, but other than that, anything that was mine was hers, and vice versa. Her body is very similar to mine. She's a touch taller than I am, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. While my bust did get bigger, she still filled out a C cup nicely.

We told each other absolutely everything. Every crush, every secret, every fantasy. She even knew that I had the occasional naughty thought about her dad, which always sent us into incessant giggles between her cries of "Ewww!" Our roles were reversed whenever she mentioned that Kevin, my younger brother, was cute.

Her parents divorced near the beginning of our sophomore year of high school. Katie was of course going through a lot at that time, and I supported her the best I could. I was also very sad because I thought I might lose my friend. Her mom had moved out of the house and got an apartment in another school district, and in the end, she had custody of Katie. The split wasn't totally disastrous, though. She stayed most weekends with her dad, and she got to use his address for school registration, so she stayed in the same school as me. Once she was driving, we'd usually go to her mom's place to hang out after school, and then my dad would pick me up on his way home from work.

When Brian dumped her on a Thursday in early February, she was devastated. As usual, we went to her mom's place after school. We sat on her bed, behind her bedroom's closed door, all afternoon. She was crying off and on. I was being a good friend, alternating between telling her that she was better off without him, spitting scorn and hatred for him on her behalf, and silently holding her as she wept.

I admit I felt guilty through a lot of this. Only about two weeks earlier, my boyfriend, Steve, had celebrated my eighteenth birthday with me, and I was still glowing from the experience. Steve and Brian were friends, and I had heard that Brian had been wanting more from the relationship lately. More physical stuff, that is. Katie and Brian had had sex several times, but Brian wanted more. I don't know if he wanted it more often, or if he wanted things that Katie wasn't willing to do, or what. That's not entirely true. I do know that he'd asked her about anal sex, just as Steve had asked me, and I know we both turned them down. I don't think that's what drove Brian to dump her, though.

I wasn't aware of how late in the afternoon it had gotten until I got a text from my dad saying he was on his way to pick me up. "I have to go soon," I told Katie.

She nodded and wiped some tears away. "I wish you didn't."

"I know," I said as I pulled her in for another hug. "You'll get through this."

Katie nodded against my neck.

Something seemed to shift at this point. I don't know what. It suddenly felt like I was consoling my boyfriend or something. That doesn't explain it well, but I don't know how else to say it. Her body suddenly felt very good against mine. That was weird. I'd never really been attracted to girls before. I appreciated the appearance of good-looking girls and found them beautiful and all, but I never had any physical or emotional desire for them. I felt that changing, and I was distracted as I pondered if it was something that was really changing or if I was just feeling the heavy emotion of the situation, or if maybe I'd always felt this way. I didn't think Katie was into girls at all, anyway. I almost wanted to slap myself. This was hardly the time to be having these thoughts, anyway!

I realized I'd missed something Katie had said or asked.

I took her face gently between my hands and leaned in, our foreheads resting on each other. "Listen," I said as I wiped her tears away. "You're beautiful, you're smart, you're strong." She nodded to each of the qualities as I listed them. "You're a badass chick who's too good for fuckwad Brian."

"Yeah." She sniffled.

I continued. "I love you, and I'm here for you, and nothing's gonna stop you once you set your mind to it. And that includes getting over that shithead. I'll even fuck him up for you if you want." She giggled. "I mean it. No one messes with my Katie Bee." That was a nickname I had for her, based on her last name.

Katie nodded and pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. "I love you, too."

"You better," I said, playing the tough guy.

A moment passed. We were still sitting next to each other on the bed, arms around each other, and our faces maybe an inch apart. And then that inch disappeared. I honestly don't know if I moved to kiss her or if she went to kiss me. All I know is that our lips very lightly touched. It was a brief, gentle, testing kiss. Neither one of us backed away. We kissed again, still very gentle, but we lingered a little longer. I thought I should say something, or maybe do something, but I couldn't do anything but kiss her.

I still held her face in my hands, and I felt her hand slide up my back to cradle the back of my head. We were both breathing heavily, just kissing and kissing each other. It was electrifying! I'd never put much thought into what it would be like to kiss a girl. I probably wouldn't have thought it would be much different from kissing a guy. I couldn't say that kissing a girl is better or worse than kissing a guy, but there is a distinct difference. Even now, it's hard to explain what that difference is. Her lips were soft and eager without being forceful in any way.

I put a hand on her thigh and squeezed. She pressed herself closer to me. Our breasts pressed together and I just knew my nipples were hard. What the fuck was happening?

There was a strange sound that snapped me out of it, and I pulled away. We stared at each other for a moment, blinking. Then I realized what the sound was. "My phone!"

Sure enough, there was a text message waiting. "Shit, my dad." I looked back at Katie. I'd never felt this awkward around her. I felt like I'd taken advantage of her vulnerability and tried to force myself on her. Even though I couldn't say who'd made the first move, and even though she seemed as into it as I was, I felt horrible. I also didn't know why I would do that, why I'd want to kiss her soft lips, to feel her against me, to slide my leg between hers, to make out with her.

"I gotta go," was all I managed to say before I basically fled out of her room and apartment, and to my dad's car.

I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. I retreated to my room immediately after dinner. I kept looking at my phone, wondering if I should call Katie. Wondering what I'd say. Wondering why she hadn't called me yet. I was only sure about one thing. I was fucking horny. I masturbated that night, and for the first time, I didn't think about being with a boy while I did.

The awkwardness continued the next day at school. We both seemed to be avoiding each other. I felt especially bad because I still felt like I should be consoling her through her breakup. The last thing she needed was to be abandoned by her best friend!

We finally met up after school. I'd had plans to go with Steve that afternoon and evening, but I had him wait while I checked in on her. I asked how she was doing and got a glum "ok" in response. She meekly asked if I was still planning on spending the night on Saturday. I told her I would if she wanted me to. She nodded. I turned to go, but she grabbed my wrist. "About yesterday...," she began and then trailed off.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about it," I told her. Her eyes lifted and met mine. "And I mean that in a good way."

Katie blushed and smiled. "Yeah. Me neither." Her smile got even bigger. It was nice seeing her smile again. "So tomorrow night, then?"

"Yeah. Definitely." I left her smiling. I was smiling, too. I spent the entire date with Steve distracted by thoughts of the previous afternoon, as well as what might happen the next night.

The next day, we met up at the mall. Katie needed some serious retail therapy to help with getting over Brian, and there were a few things I wanted, too. I found a cute bra in one store and held it up to my chest to get Katie's opinion. It's something we've both done many times, but as soon as I got her attention this time, it suddenly felt different. Was I seeking my friend's approval or my lover's approval?

We were staying the night at her dad's place, which was a nice place. It was a two-story house, but there were only three rooms upstairs. There was a bedroom, bathroom, and I don't know what the third would be called. It was bigger than a closet, but not big enough to be another bedroom or office or living room or anything else I could think of. Katie was an only child and had always had the entire upstairs as her personal domain. The master bedroom, now only occupied by her dad, the kitchen, living room, an office, and a few other rooms were downstairs.

Katie's dad had ordered pizza for us, and the three of us made idle conversation as we ate in the kitchen. Her dad rose as he finished and asked, "You girls want the den?" Their den was where the big TV and good sound system were. We'd often spend much of the night watching movies.

Katie looked at me. I shrugged. "No, that's okay," she told him. "I think we'll spend most of the night in my room."

"Alright, then. You girls have fun."

"We will," she called as he left. I leaned back in my chair to watch his butt as he walked away. There wasn't anything to really see in the slacks he was wearing. I did it mostly to mess with Katie. All it earned me was a slap in the arm and a glare from her. Then we both giggled. She really did hurt my arm, though.

Up in her room, with the door firmly closed, we found ourselves acting very awkwardly. Suddenly, we couldn't look each other in the eye. Neither of us could bring up what happened a few nights before. Normally, we'd be trying on the clothes we bought that day, modeling them for each other with lots of giggles. I found myself wanting to do that, just to bring back some normalcy, but I also knew it wouldn't be the same. Her eyes felt different on me.

We sat on the bed, a few feet apart. She asked if Steve had talked about her breakup with Brian. He hadn't. He'd avoided the topic every time I brought it up.

An hour or so passed before she finally muttered, "Fuck it." She turned to me and plainly stated, "I really enjoyed kissing you."

I licked my suddenly dry lips. "So did I."

What followed was dialogue that could have come right out of a sit-com:

"I'm not a lesbian or anything!"

"Oh, me neither!"

"I still like guys."

"Me, too!"

"I don't like girls like that."

"Me neither."

"But you're beautiful, though."

"I think you're gorgeous, too."

"I mean, I appreciate pretty girls."

"Yeah. But that doesn't mean I want to make out with them."

"Exactly!"

"But I liked making out with you."

"Oh yeah, I liked that!"

"I don't want to sleep with you, though."

"Oh no. Same here! I do love you, though."

"I love you, too! Absolutely!"

And so on. We probably talked around in circles like that for another hour or so, and we probably each said each of those things several times. Eventually, we ran out of steam and got quiet again.

Katie looked at me. "I'd kinda like to kiss you again." I could barely hear her voice.

I opened my mouth to say something. I honestly don't know what I was going to say. The words didn't come. Instead, I leaned toward her and pressed my lips against hers. We scooted towards each other as we kissed, and eventually our arms wrapped around each other. We kissed for several minutes. I touched my tongue to her lips between kisses, and sensing no resistance, I went a little farther and ran it along her lips.

Katie busted out giggling. I retreated and pulled away a bit. "No, no, no," she cooed, trying not to laugh at the same time. She took my face in her hands and turned my head back toward her. "I'm sorry, this is just... weird." She kissed me once, then looked into my eyes. "It's good, though, yeah?"

I kissed her and nodded. "Yeah." We began making out again, and soon our tongues were occasionally playing with each other.

That's how it went for a long time. Serious making out interrupted by giggles. First with my tongue, then when she touched my breast, and again when I touched hers. Soon her hand was under my top, over my bra, and squeezing my tit. I lifted off my top and cast it aside, but Katie had stopped.

She looked at me very seriously. "What about Steve?"

I slumped. "Shit."

"You really love him, don't you?"

I nodded. "But I love you, too."

The make-out session stopped here, and we did some serious talking. We came to an understanding and were remarkably very much on the same page. We both still considered ourselves straight, at least mostly so. She was the only girl I was interested in at all, and I was the only one she was. Besides, this whole thing was just two girls fooling around and having fun. We didn't even have to do anything. It was fun just making out! In the end, it would be our little secret. We wouldn't tell anybody. Even Steve wouldn't know.

Firm in our decision, we went right back to making out. Soon her top was off, but we both kept our bras on, and nothing below the waist came off. We watched some TV afterward before getting ready for bed. My usual overnight outfit when spending the night was just panties and an oversized t-shirt. She wore much the same. The only unusual thing about this night is we both fell asleep on her bed, snuggling together.