"So, did you make the team?" Ginger asked Dodie over the phone.

"Oh, Ginger, they loved me! I dazzled them with my triple-swirl pompom dance and they said I was in! All of my hard work paid off!"

"That's wonderful, Dode," Ginger said, smiling. "You waited your whole freshman year to try out."

"I know! I think my new look helped, too."

"You really think that helped?" Ginger said sternly.

"Why not? It had to help at least a little. Besides, who cares? I'm just happy about being part of the team now."

"Hey, Dodie? I've been meaning to ask you about something. Dodie? Dode."

Dodie had been busy admiring her reflection in the mirror. "Sorry. What?"

"I heard you got in a fight with Miranda at school. Is that true?"

Dodie began to put on lip gloss. Her cheeks were perfectly highlighted with blush now and she could properly put on makeup, thanks to Courtney's help. She hummed as she thought about her shiny, blonde hair. If only she had the perfect wardrobe, then she'd be even more beautiful. Maybe she could bribe her mom into giving her her allowance early so she could go shopping…

"Dodie, if you're too busy to talk, then I'll call you later." Ginger was angry now.

"I heard you, Ginger. It was an argument, not a physical fight," Dodie corrected, smoothing her lip gloss over with a finger.

"Well, what happened? What did she say?" Ginger inquired.

"It was nothing, Ginger. She said some things about me, like how I should go back to being unpopular and I told her how the friend she neglected, who is the most popular girl in school- again- gave me the makeover. Of course, she won't be as popular as me once I'm done..."

"Are you serious?" Ginger started.

"Yeah, Miranda really said that. Can you believe it?"

"No, Dodie, I'm talking about you. What happened between Miranda and Courtney is none of your business. You should have stayed out of it."

"That's what Miranda said, but then I said it was my business because Ginger Foutley helped Courtney when she was down and out and Miranda didn't."

Ginger became irritated. "Me helping Courtney had nothing to do with you, either."

"Yes, but you did tell me about it. What's the problem?"

"The problem, Dodie," Ginger said, pronouncing the syllables in "Dodie" harshly, "is that it wasn't very nice of you to bring that up. Not to mention you're making an enemy out of Miranda, who already hates me enough as it is."

"Well, she didn't say very nice things, either," Dodie huffed.

"Well, you didn't have to stoop to her level!" Ginger shouted. "I don't want to be involved in this. You're playing with a hornet's nest, Dodie."

"You don't have to be involved. The pep squad has my back. And soon, the rest of the school will, too. Why can't you just be happy that I'm finally becoming popular, after all these years waiting for it to happen?"

"Because you're acting stuck up," Ginger said. "Don't come crying to me when everything goes all wrong."

"I thought you'd be on my side," Dodie argued. "You're not being a good friend."

"Do you know how angry you make me!" Ginger shouted. "You were never a good friend! You were whiny and needy and I was always there for you! You even turned your back on me with Miranda so it's a miracle you two aren't good friends! Why shouldn't you be? That makeover made you as superficial as she is!"

There was silence on the other line. Dodie had stopped talking. Ginger had the awful feeling in her gut that she'd made Dodie cry. No, Dodie was on her own with this one.

"I gotta go, Dodie. Enjoy your new life."

Dear Diary,

It's true that I felt terrible about what I said to Dodie. I could almost hear her heart stop over the phone when I told her how I felt. I didn't mean to make it sound so mean, but she was acting so differently I lost my temper. All I want is my best friend back. She's turning into this person I don't know. I am really happy for her, more than she'll ever know. But I can't support her when she's being an egghead. I thought she was smarter than that.

The next day, Ginger and Macie sat alone at lunch. Dodie was sitting with the pep squad.

"It's like, she's turned into a complete jerk," Ginger spat out, shoving mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Easy there, Ginger," Macie said.

"I can't help it. She's letting the popularity get to her head."

"But that's not what's bothering you," Macie pointed out. "My parents say anger is just another emotion that helps cope with sadness and misunderstanding."

"Well I am sad for her, Macie. I don't want to see her get hurt. And Miranda is the worst person to pick a fight with. And what if she becomes someone else? What if we don't know her anymore?"

A few weeks went by and no phone calls from Dodie. She had become so popular that she could go in between the pep squad and the popular table at lunch. She was seen hanging out with Hope Rogers by Ginger several times in the halls. Another month went by and it was clear Ginger had been replaced with Hope. Rumor had it that they were planning a party together. While Macie was just as good a friend as Dodie had been, Ginger was beginning to miss their trio.

It only made her miss Dodie more when everyone talked about her in classes:

"Hope Rogers and Dodie Bishop are planning a party. Are you going?"

"Yeah, Dodie rocks. A year back, she used to be a nobody; now she's the most popular girl in school."

Courtney didn't even seem to care that Dodie was taking her spotlight, but Ginger suspected it was probably because Courtney was friends with the older, much cooler girls in school.

One day, Ginger and Dodie bumped into each other in the hallway- literally. Books flew everywhere, pencils strewn to the ground, papers shaken loose.

"Oh. Sorry," Ginger said, as if she had just met Dodie. She almost wished saying sorry about the argument was just as easy.

"It's ok," Dodie said.

"What are you doing out of class?" They asked each other at the same time.

"I had to run to the copy machine in the teacher's lounge for Ms. Z. Turns out she likes me as much as the old Ms. Zorski did. What about you?"

"I had to meet Courtney in the bathroom. She texted me from her cell phone in class; she forgot her pocket brush. It's kind of a fashion crisis."

"Wow, you're that close with Courtney now?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, it kind of happened. We hang out sometimes, not all the time. I remember when I would've killed to hang out with her."

"Yeah, haha…" Ginger agreed.

There was silence for a moment.

"You know, whenever she invites me over, I look inside her house and remember it was yours. And it makes me remember the good times we had… Is that silly?" Dodie looked sad.

Ginger was sad, too. "No, it's not. Dodie…it's not really a trio anymore without you."

"I know…" she trailed off. "You're always welcome to come sit with me. I don't know about Macie, though."

Ginger realized how much her friend changed. She didn't want it to be a duo, that's what she had been trying to tell Dodie.

"Well, I gotta go," Ginger said, "or Ms. Z will change her mind about me."

"See you later, Ginger. By the way, you're both invited to my party. Everyone's going to be there anyway."

Ginger walked to the teacher's lounge, half shocked, half enraged. How could she even disclude Macie like that? She never used to be that shallow. She never used to be worried about what her friends thought, because her friends were right there for her. They were there for her even when she was plain old unpopular Dodie; they would be ok even if she was a nobody. Then, she heard a noise around the corner. Someone was hanging out by the lockers, talking to another student. It was Miranda and Mipsy.