From Geek To Chic To Total EEK!

Two years ago, my friend Nicole, the Martha Stewart of Tucson teenagers who made me a pillow for a graduation gift and a confetti cake for my birthday, met my friend Celinda.

We were all in Mr. Koppy's Advanced Journalism class our senior year. I had known Nicole since the good ol' days of middle school. We never really hung out in the same social circles, (she was in the ghetto fab, whereas I was in the fab) but after two years in the same journalism class, we became friends, and forgot about our petty middle school circles.

Celinda, on the other hand, became my friend after we were both assigned to work on the same story for the school newspaper. After a lengthly discussion on why The O.C. was by far the best show on TV, we discovered we had to stay after class, cuz we never actually got around to writing the story. A similiar situation happened to Nicole. One pepperoni pizza and three iced caramel frapps later, we all became really good friends.

Lately though, we've kinda seperated. Not in a bad way, but, not exactly in a good way either. We still keep in touch with phone calls, texts, and MySpace, but with work, school, and family stuff, we rarely see each other anymore. Except for Nicole and Celinda.

This past summer, it seems as though Nicole made it her personal goal to hang out with Celinda, the same way a groupie would hang out with a rock band, minus the drunken sex and shooting up. Kinda like Kate Hudson in Almost Famous and that whole Band Aid thing. Anyways, so yeah, she and Celinda have been hanging out and I mean, thats cool and all, I'm not jealous or anything, (really, I'm not!) but I feel like I'm losing a friend.

Back in highschool, Nicole was kinda a nerd. Instead of going to a party, she opted to stay at home and work on her scrapbooks or sew a hanging quilt. That was the thing that made Nicole special. She didnt think going to parties and getting trashed in the bathroom at 2 in the morning made her cool. It was the fact that she didnt do that, that made her cool.

But after hanging out with Celinda for a whole summer, it seems as if though all of Nicole's wholesome morals had gone out the window. Now, she party hardy's every weekend and even last week she told me, "I smoked my first dubee and am so stoked!" She's changed. Totally. The hemline on her skirts and tops, like her waist, are losing inches. Which, I'll admit, is pretty hot, but it's not Nicole. And I dont know what to say about it. I mean, on the one hand, I'm glad I have a new drinking buddy, but on the other, I miss the old Nicole.

But I dont think Nicole, misses the old Nicole. In fact, I think she likes the "New Nicole." Is it wrong to want the old Nicole back? And if so, is there anyway to talk to her about it without sounding totally selfish? I mean, how do you tell someone, that the "new them" isnt exactly all that and that you prefer the "old them," instead?