Sorry if this is bad. First fanfic EVER! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the How to Survive Middle School series. (I wish I did…) There will be no "middle school rules" in this chapter because it's just too hard. :-/

Chapter One: What HAPPENED?

Jenny POV

"BYE, MOM!" I yelled as I ran towards the school. Usually I took the school bus, but today I was finally back from Spring Break and, thanks to a nasty case of jet lag, I'd WAY overslept. I was back three days after school was officially back, so I was dying to see my friends.

I went to my locker and sprinted to my classroom. I slipped into my seat at the last minute and looked around the room.

Something was missing.

Addie and Dana weren't giggling over other people or calling out nasty insults. In fact, Dana wasn't even there! It was just Addie, miserably tapping at her new-looking cell phone.

Chloe ran up to me. "Jenny! You're finally back!" Then, noticing me eyeing Addie, she said, "You won't BELIEVE what happened while you were gone—"

Just then, Ms. Jaffe walked into the room and said, "Settle down, students." Then she began taking role. I guessed Chloe's news would just have to wait.

As Chloe and I were in the lunch line, I turned to her excitedly. "So what's your news?" I asked.

"Okay, so the Pops had this huge fight."

"Epically huge," said Mark, who had appeared on my other side, toting his camera as usual. "Any comments, Chloe?"

"Nope," she said, covering the lens with her hand. "I'm in the middle of a story here, Mark." She turned back to me. "So they were fighting in the middle of the cafeteria. They started throwing food and even lunch trays and stuff at each other—"

"I got it all on camera!" Mark piped up.

"Yeah," said Chloe. "We should watch that later. So they sided—Dana, Addie and this other girl against the rest of the Pops. Dana and Addie were easily defeated and the other girl switched sides in the argument. Dana was so ashamed that she actually switched schools, and Addie's just been eating alone for the past few days."

My eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Mark nodded. "Everyone in their lunch period knows."

"Wow," I said, picking up my tray and walking with them to our usual table. "That's so weird."

"Jenny! You're back!" said Marilyn and Carolyn in unison. They jumped up to hug me.

I smiled at them. "I missed you, too," I said.

Josh arrived, and soon we were all talking and laughing as usual. Suddenly the table grew silent as everyone stared at something behind me.

"Jenny?"

I turned to see Addie standing there, holding her lunch tray and smiling nervously at me. "Um, can I eat with you guys?"

Chloe stood up and started to say something, but I cut her off and said, "Sure, Addie. Just pull up a chair."

Everyone at the table exchanged glances and went back to eating. I bit my lip.

Addie sighed and set down her fork. "Listen, I know I've been really awful to you guys in the past, but now I realize I was wrong, and—"

Chloe glared at her and said, "Look, girl, you've always been mean to us. If you were really sorry, you'd never have been mean. Don't think you can just come running back to Jenny whenever you and your friends have a fight. It's not that easy. Jenny tried to keep being friends with you, but it didn't work. Now you've decided that you do want to be friends with her, right after you and your friends have a fight? Come on. We don't buy that."

Addie was staring at her tray. "Ok. But I really am sorry. They made me feel awful," she added sadly as she walked away. "I never should have acted like that."

I stared at her as she walked away.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been so harsh," said Marilyn to Chloe as we were messing around at my house after school.

"I second that," said Carolyn. "Chloe, people actually can have regrets."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I just don't believe people can change. Not that quickly, at least. Maybe she feels like she changed, but deep down, Addie is still Addie. Old habits die hard. If we accept her, maybe she'll just insult us and then say 'just kidding!'"

I shrugged as I flipped through the channels on my TV. "Still, maybe we could take her for a 'trial run' or something. Like friend probation."

"I don't know…" said Chloe. "At moments like this, there's only one thing to do. Middle-school-survival-guide-dot-com!"

We all laughed and ran to my computer. I clicked on the quiz section and found a perfect one.

IS YOUR "FRIEND" FOR REAL?

She's always making mean jokes about you and your friends. T F

"That's true," said Chloe. "And you can't deny it."

I sighed and clicked "T."

She can't ever hang out with you and just makes lame excuses. T F

"She never hangs out with me," I said. "But it's not like I ever ask her."

"Yeah, but still…" said Carolyn. "Maybe it's a T."

"I'll just skip it," I said, shrugging. (A/N: For the rest of the quiz I'll just put the answers they choose.)

She's always acting better than you. T

Whenever she apologizes, she never seems honest. F

She always seems to be spreading rumors about you all over school. F

She always seems like she's doing you a favor by hanging out with you, instead of just having fun. F

She has a bad past with you. F

Results:

You answered 2 trues and 4 falses.

5-7 True: Drop this friend fast. She's definitely just waiting to backstab you in a big way.

2-4 True: This could go either way. She could soften up, but only if you put her in her place. Otherwise you'll be stuck with a friend that seems bad forever.

1-0 True: Why are you even taking this quiz? She's definitely a true friend!

"Ha! See? She could go either way!" said Chloe triumphantly.

"But we only answered 6 questions," I pointed out. "Really, she's a 1-0."

"Whatever," said Chloe. "She is definitely one to watch out for."

"But just stop snapping at her," I said. "I think the old, old Addie really is buried in there somewhere."

"Maybe," said Marilyn. "We'll just have to see."

END

Hope it was good. R&R please! No flames! :)