Best friends??

[skater_girl]

Hi I am a 17 year old thats in need of help for advice about my friends
I live in a small community so I go to a small school bascially an isolated area.  
I have issues with who is the real friend
Theres 3 girls in my class that I consider friends of mine
Carlee, Darcie and Raevin
darcie and raevin don't get along with carlee because she talks behind their backs.
haha carlee follows me around EVERYWHERE and its getting annoying
so I tried avoiding her to get my space but I'm the one who isn't the type to be mean. I'm easy going.
My boyfriend told me not to be caught in between
raevin and darcie told me to hang out with them more but i really
don't feel like I'm wanted with them just because
they love gossip and I don't matter of fact i hate drama
i tried so hard to avoid all of it and now i'm the 1 caught up in all of it
Raevin is the bestest friend i had since pre school
darcie wasn't my friend till grade 6
Carlee was my friend by grade 8 and she looks up 2 me as the best friend but I really hate being followed. I don't need a second shadow.
I feel stressed out. am i emotionally drained??
I have no idea what to do and how to solve things
they hate her and they don't want me around her (carlee) and they ignore her.
they make me feel like not going to school anymore.
I chill with different friends to avoid them all or work on my own time.
all i'm looking for is advise on wht to say to carlee
shes my main issue right now...

[RDVW]

I admire you, skater_girl! You have a question and you seek help online. Well done! Really, well done! You are miles ahead of your friends. Honestly speaking I didn't read your entire post (tl;dr), but I can tell you this: look up transactional analysis. Basically it explains *how* you interact with other people. Simple example: if an adult asks you a childish question; do you respond childish or as an adult? In your case: your friends are being childish here. How are you going to respond? Like a child or as an adult? Follow the two adult answers that were given before mine. And you won.

[mami1323]

I don't think you need to stop being friends with Carlee just because the other 2 don't like her.  You sound like a leader and not a follower.  So continue to be friends with all three and like imanaddict said, talk with the other 2 and make sure they know that you feel differently about her and want to remain her friend and to not speak bad about her.  Just one thing to remember, if they talk about her to you and they like to gossip, most likely they talk about you behind your back as well.  It's human nature.  I would try my hardest not to wind up in the middle of anything.

[imanaddict]

You need to have a talk with all 3 of them and let them know how you feel. If Carlee is your friend, you can simply tell the other 2 that you would appreciate them not talking about her in a negative way when you are with them, and vice versa. Your boyfriend is right about not getting caught up in the middle. That's a hard place to be and it is draining. There could be some jealousy going on with Darcie and Raevin and that could be the reason they don't like Carlee. Teen girls can be catty so just watch how you approach the subject, but a talk definitely needs to happen.