The next day, Ginger and the others were eating lunch outside the school as the weather was nice enough.
"So, they're going to publish your book?" asked Dodie.
"Yeah, I had to borrow some money from Courtney in order to cover the costs though," said Ginger.
"And I do plan to pay you back," she said.
"Or you can count it as a gift from me and forget it," said Courtney.
"No, because I don't want our relationship to feel like it's all about money or who can afford to do something or what we can't," said Ginger.
"You know that you're not going to persuade her so you had better give up," said Marcie.
"True, but that stubborness is one of the things that I like about her," said Courtney with a smile. Her attention was then grabbed by a distant hill side which was filled with reds, yellows, and oranges from the changing leaves.
"Is something wrong?" asked Ginger.
"I just love being in a place where I can see the fall colors in great amounts like now," said Courtney.
"Guess they don't get a lot of that in New York City," said Darren.
"They don't, you have to go out into the countryside if you want to be able to see any of it," said Courtney.
"But here I can see the beauty of fall from my bedroom windows," said Courtney.
"That's something I never really thought about," said Dodie.
"I'll tell you something I never thought would happen," said Ginger.
"Being at school and not having to worry about Miranda bullying us, now we can have a peaceful school life," she said.
"True," Marcie.
"Can't believe her parents actually let her transfer schools," said Darren who had just walked up in time to hear this part of the conversation.
"I bet she regrets it a little though, rumor has it that she's now at a private girls' school with a uniform and strict dress code," said Courtney.
"So much for all her stylish clothes," said Darren, which got them all to laugh.