| Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My daughter is a junior in high school, and she is a good kid. She’s on sports teams, does well in school, is a good big sister and so on. The issue? She has recently formed a “best friendship” with another girl, “Belle,” whom I just do not like. Belle is not trouble per se. Sure, there are the usual shenanigans — a bit of drinking, but nothing atypical. And while Belle is performatively polite, mostly, she acts like I am not there and will instead talk to my daughter about boys and TikTok and other teenage stuff if I happen to be the one picking them up. My main issue with Belle is that she has driven a wedge between my daughter and her former best friend, “Alice.” Alice is another great kid who not only was an incredibly positive influence on my daughter, she is also a mature, kind and considerate person. Since Belle arrived on the scene, my daughter and Alice barely speak. I asked my daughter about this, and she said it’s because she and Alice no longer have classes together and have grown apart, etc. But she has also implied to my husband that Belle does not like Alice, and that is why they are not friends anymore. It breaks my heart to see my daughter lose such an important friend. And I hate to see her putting so much energy into Belle, who is kind of a jerk. Obviously, I am just a mother and an observer, but I think my daughter will regret losing Alice. Do you have any ideas for how I could broach this conversation with her? — Mother and Observer | 
