I've fallen out with my best mate and hanging out with a girl I don't like

Me and my best mate have fallen out cuz of this girl and now im hanging round wif her but i dont wanna.

I want to hang around wif my best mate alone but i don wanna tell her cuz i dont wanna hurt her feelings plus she will b sooo annoying. Wat should i do???

becca, 14

Your thoughts:

When I was your age there was a huge social upheaval and change in all the social groups in my school and some people ended up with people they didnt understand or want to. I was in this situation, until I realised that the person who was new to my group was actually a really cool person.

If you really dont want to try to get to know them, just tell your friend that you still want to be friends but are not prepared to be a third wheel. If you want to spend alone time with your friend, invite her over for a meal or sleepover, then you can have quality time alone together, and the other girl cannot complain as you can only have a limited number of people round at a time.

But what I most advise is to try to get to know the girl, she may not be who she seems. Try to talk to her on her own, voice your concerns about her and try to work through them, as that way you can gain a valuable friend, and not lose your current best friend. :)

Effy, 16

Next week's question:

My mate is always round my house but I seem to think that she is only using me to just "doss" about and use it as a place to mess about.

Don't get me wrong, I have a laugh with her, but she keeps bringin loads of her mates round and I hate it because I know that they would rather be somewhere else.

How can I tell my mate to just go away and give me some time on my own, cause I have a horse to look after and I'm always tired and not feelin well because I have severe asmtha and I hate it when she turns up unannounced.

Please help - I don't want to lose my best friend.

Hannah