“Isn’t it!”
“You know, it’s wonderful to be able to talk like this to a girl. I couldn’t if you were really a—a woman in my mind. But I don’t feel that way about you at all. You’re my friend. You don’t appeal to me that way.”
She wonders vaguely if she likes that. But she answers quickly. “Thank you. I know you mean it. You know, a friendship like that is valuable to me, too. I need it. I used to think that no matter how much I tried, it was just impossible to have a man for a real friend.”
“Really? Then we’re square, because you mean a lot to me.”
Put your arm around her and look into the fire.
“That’s another thing,” she says, thoughtfully. “That’s another reason I wish I could be a man. You have an awfully easy time with that sort of thing, don’t you?”
“What? Gosh, no. I don’t see how anybody could think so.”
“Really? I always thought you did. I don’t know very much about it, but——”
“I’m glad you don’t!” you growl with such fervor that she is surprised.
“What’s the matter? You shouldn’t care anything about what I do—like that. Not if we’re friends the way you say.”