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Charlie glanced over. "For what?"

"For your bracelet. I'm making you a new one." Katie held up two strands. "Blue or green?"

"Both."

Katie smiled. "Good answer."

She worked on it through New Mexico and into Arizona, choosing the colors together. Blue and green for Charlie, a strand of gold because Katie said it reminded her of Charlie's hair, and a thin thread of red because Katie liked it and Charlie wasn't going to argue. Katie tied it onto Charlie's wrist at a gas station outside Flagstaff, double-knotting it the way Helen had taught her years ago, pulling it tight enough to hold but loose enough to be comfortable.

"Don't take it off," Katie said.

"I won't."

She never did.

When they got to California, they had to figure out a new plan for Katie. She would no longer be attending Purdue in the fall to become a teacher, a school and career Ed and Diane had chosen for her. This gave Katie a chance to choose her own path, and Charlie was all for it.

One of their first nights back in what was nowtheirapartment, Charlie asked what Katie was thinking.

"I actually already know what I want to study," Katie said, surprising Charlie.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I think I've known since listening to Helen's stories when you were always in the garage with Frank. The stories about Great Lakes and the boys who came through; the culturesthat held together when everything fell apart." She paused, considering her next words.

"That sounds fascinating," Charlie emphasized. She'd pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned forward, her whole body turned toward Katie, knowing she was about to tell Charlie something important. Charlie's eyes were wide and bright, and everything about her posture saidkeep going, I'm right here, this is yours.

"Cultural anthropology," Katie said. Charlie waited a beat. Katie looked at her expectantly, and Charlie realized she was waiting for her reaction.

"Whoa!" Charlie said with a bit too much drama. "That sounds... awesome?" Katie laughed at Charlie's quizzical look.

"Do you know what it is?"

"I mean," Charlie started. "Kinda?" She smiled sheepishly while raising her shoulders. "But tell me the full extent of it anyway. God knows you've heard me ramble on about engines and propulsion enough that I am more than willing to sit here and listen to you tell me what makes you excited." Katie smiled, pulling up her knees to sit cross-legged on Charlie's couch, already starting to talk with her hands.

"Well, it's officially the study of how people sustain themselves through crisis."

"That's something you can study?" Charlie asked, curious and secretly stunned in the best way possible.

"Yes, Doctor," Katie said with an eye roll.

"Don't jinx it!" Charlie whispered emphatically. "At least, not yet. But maybe soon." Charlie returned to her normal voice. "But enough about me! Continue." Katie rolled her eyes again, this time Charlie noticing her smile stretch wider before she began speaking again.

"Basically, I'd get to learn and study what people do when things change around them, of what holds and what doesn't, and why."

"So, kind of like that book you read and told me about last summer when you visited. The one about the Amazons, I think?" Charlie asked. Katie stared at her with a blank look.

"Yeah," she started. "You remember that?" Charlie scoffed.

"Of course I do! I remember everything about you." At that, Katie smiled at her, a real genuine smile, and she took Charlie's hand in hers. Charlie couldn't stop admiring her sister, whose eyes had come alive, sparkling in a way she hadn't seen since before Frank's death.

"That all sounds perfect," Charlie replied, Katie's grin sparking one of her own. Katie visibly relaxed and sank back into the couch. Charlie turned fully towards her now, sitting up straight.

"So, where do we start?"

Katie appliedto UCLA because of their incredible anthropology pedagogy, and got in. She was slated to start in the spring semester. They celebrated with cheap takeout in Charlie's apartment, and for one evening, things felt like they were going to be okay.

Then the tuition letter arrived.