“Yes, but don’t you think that’s something a person has to learn for herself, without anyone to teach her, Marcia? I mean, there’s only one reason why she could be nice to us, and that’s because she likes us. And you can’t make her like us by punishing her for not liking us. You’ll only make her hate us more than ever.”
“She’ll behave herself, anyhow, Bessie. And that’s more than she did before.”
“That’s true enough. But really, it would be better, if she didn’t like us, for her to show it frankly than to go around with a grudge against us she’s afraid to show. Don’t you see that she’ll blame us for making trouble between you girls and her? She’ll think that we’ve set her own friends against her. Really, Marcia, I think all the trouble would be ended sooner, in the long run, if you just let her alone until she changed her mind. She’ll do it, sooner or later.”
“I guess Bessie’s right, Marcia,” said Dolly, thoughtfully. “I don’t see why Gladys acts this way, but I do think that the only thing that will make her act differently will be for her to feel differently, and nothing you can do will do that.”
“Well, it’s too late now, anyhow,” said Marcia. “I see what you mean, and I suppose you really are right. But it’s done. You’ll be nice to her, won’t you? She’s promised to be pleasant when she sees you–to talk to you, and all that. I don’t know how well she’ll manage, but I guess she’ll do her best.”
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be nice to her,” said Bessie. “She isn’t hurting us. I only hope that something will happen so that we can be good friends.”
“She really is a nice girl,” said Marcia, “and I’m awfully fond of her when she isn’t in one of her tantrums. But she is certainly hard to get along with when everything isn’t going just to suit her little whims.”
“Here she comes now,” said Dolly. “I’m going to meet her.”
“Well, you certainly did give us a surprise, Gladys,” cried Dolly. “You sinner, why didn’t you tell us what you were going to do?”
“Oh, hello, Dolly!” said Gladys, coolly. “I didn’t see much of you at Lake Dean, you know. You were too busy with your–new friends.”