DEAR ABBY: I am a 12-year-old girl who has a lot of friends at school, but lately there has been some tension coming from one of them. "Belle" missed an event that was very important to her. She's usually easygoing, but since then she hasn't been herself, and it's starting to worry some of us. We have tried everything from talking about her favorite topic to trying to write a song for her. Sometimes she acts like herself, but other times she gives me and another friend the silent treatment and the cold shoulder. Is she a friend worth keeping? -- CONCERNED FRIEND IN ALABAMA
DEAR CONCERNED: You won't know what's causing Belle to act the way she is unless you ask her directly. There may be more going on in her life than you are aware of that has nothing to do with you. If she's doing it because she's hurt and you weren't at fault, clear the air so she knows it. But understand that the time to be a friend is when somebody needs one.