If you looked very carefully at the picture of Stacey, you might be able to see a certain glow. That’s because she has a boyfriend these days, named Robert. I'm happy for her, I really am. But I have to admit I'm also a little bit jealous. First, because I'd like a boyfriend, too. I've even gone so far as to advertise for one, in this personals column I run for our school paper! But also because Stacey has been spending a lot of time with Robert. We had a big fight about that recently, but of course we made up. We always do. That’s how best friends operate.

One thing you "wouldn't be able to tell about Stacey, just by looking at the picture, is that

she has diabetes. Diabetes is a lifetime thing, but it doesn't show. I would never have known if Stacey hadn't told us all. Diabetes is a complicated disease to explain, and since I'm not exactly Doctor Science, I'll just say that Stacey's body doesn't handle sugar well, so she has to be very careful about what she eats. Plus, she has to give herself shots (ouch!) of this stuff called insulin, just to keep things working right. Diabetes is a very serious disease, but Stacey handles it well.

For example, that afternoon, after she had stopped posing and flopped down on my bed, Stacey helped herself to a pretzel, ignoring the Jawbreakers and Fig Newtons. Then she smiled up at me. "Better focus on the door again," she said. "Somebody else is coming."

Sure enough, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Kristy, Stacey, and I listened for a second. The footsteps weren't as "thumpy" as Kristy’s had been. In fact, they sounded a bit tentative.

"Mary Anne!" we all said at the same time. I picked up the camera again and focused. When Mary Anne walked in and saw me looking at her through the camera, she immediately threw her hands over her face. Snap!