Everyone wants to be her friend, to be liked by her. When she sits down, people scramble to be next to her. She has amazing control over others that gets them to do things they would otherwise not have done.

We have all had a brush with her, or someone like her, at some point in our lives. It does not matter if you were in second grade or in college. You feel great because you are friends with the cool girl. Then just when life could not be going better, she moves on to someone new. She may have just gotten sick of you or you may have said or done the wrong thing. It doesn't matter.

I recently had an experience with the leader of the pack. She made me feel special, like I was the only person she wanted to be friends with. I was the one she wrote notes to and told her secrets to. I even blew off some of my best friends because of her. Like most though, I didn't care because I was friends with the cool girl.

Everyone knew enough not to say something bad about her in front of me. They knew if she was doing something on Friday then so was I. That's just the way we were.

Then it happened. She stopped calling and when I called her she was always busy. She stopped hanging around with me. She had moved on to someone new. Unfortunately, I had made the mistake of talking about other people to her and, of course, she told them. When I asked her what was the matter, she would not give me a straight answer.

I had no friends because if the leader of the pack did not want to be my friend, neither did anyone else. I felt like I was drowning because I could not get back on her good side. Every time I would get back near the surface, someone would push me back down. I would come home from school crying because she was making my life so miserable.

A couple of months have passed, and she has left me alone. But that experience changed me alot. I am stronger. Now I know enough to keep a safe distance from her. I don't have as many close friends now, but I know it is my fault.

Let my story serve as a warning. If there is a leader in your school, steer clear of her, or you will only end up like me: hurt and alone.