text: did she really steal? one of my best friends has been staying at my house for over three months now because she got kicked out of her home. we share the same room and all and technically she is allowed to borrow my stuff, but she usually asks. except this one time. i had just bought this skirt and never worn it. i came up one day, trying to find it and asked my family if theyve seen it. they said she had left with it. here's the thing, when someone confronted her about it her excuse was that it was a joke. it's been a week and she never gave it back. i havent really seen her around because she's been at her bf and all. alot of people have been telling me she stole. and that the joke part was really just a coverup because i tend to forgive easily. many of my friends said you''re too nice and naive, you let people walk all over you and you cant get mad when you should be bad. is it possible that she might have stole and lied to me? what am i suppose to do? "just a joke" often means somebody covering themselves. in this case it doesn't sound like a joke.    but covering themselves doesn't necessarily mean she stole it.  she may have felt that she had your permission to borrow things, as you implied.  so if somebody confronted her about something she borrowed, her automatic response may well have been to become defensive and conver herself.    i'm a little confused about her not returning, though.  you share a bedroom.  do you share dressers and closets?  if she has her own set of clothes and stores it there, why not just take it back?  surely she hasn't been wearing it for the past two weeks.    talk to her about it, but don't accuse her.  if she felt she was allowed to borrow your stuff freely, it's not fair to accuse her of stealing simply because you hadn't worn the skirt yet, especially if she didn't know it was brand new or special.  good luck.