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When I was little, friendships were uncomplicated. You  made bracelets out of beads or rubber bands (basically whatever was lying around), and exchanged them with your bestest buds on the playground.
Or you sat next to someone and swapped sandwiches (his tuna and mayonnaise to your chicken and mayonnaise), and were sworn siblings by the next lunchtime.
Then you grow up and all of a sudden, jealousy and competition gets into the equation. Suddenly a whole world of bitching, backstabbing and two-facedness opens up. So I, and many other girls before me, have had to learn the hard way that not all friendships last forever. The ones that stand the test of time may be with the most unexpected people of all. Here at nzgirl, we like sharing our wisdom, so we’ve come up with a guide to the different types of friends you’ll encounter throughout your life.
 The fair-weather friend (aka drinking buddy numero uno)
These are the friends you can call up at a moment’s notice to toss down a few bottles of champers at that new posh club. They’re there every pay day, willing to go out for dinner and a few laughs and always seem to be around when you’re spring cleaning and need to off-load some clothes to make more room in your closet. But send a text when you’re feeling blue, or if you’ve just had a fight with your man, and it seems they’re suddenly too busy to reply.
Best for: Good in small doses, but should be kept strictly to your outer circle of mates and only if you’re prepared not to expect anything more out of them than someone to drink cocktails with at a pool party.
 The one-upper
This is the friend who declares she loves you in public but secretly watches everything you do…and then tries to one-up you. Competition is not just a word, it’s their motto for life. For example, you’ve bought a fabulous new dress for work that shows off your figure…they’ll go one better and buy a new bag, from Dior, with matching shoes. Best for: The one-upper can be a good mirror to hold up and tell you how well you’re doing in the career or love ladder, but can get tiring once you realise how emotionally draining they are. Good for an occasional catch-up, or if you need to remind yourself why you stopped being friends in the first place.  The village gossip Gossip needn’t come from newpaper social pages, all you need to do is ring up the village gossip and they’ll have everything you never knew about all your other friends at their fingertips. Want to know what Andi’s doing (or who)? Call her up. But be careful, she knows everything about everyone…including you.
Best for: Catching up after a long trip, or if you’ve been out of the loop a while because of work or family commitments. They will hunt you down like a hound at the slightest sniff of gossip, so make sure your diary is squeaky clean before seeing them.
 The bestie (aka soulmate, my better half, sister I never had, etc)Loyalty, warmth, caring, wit and soul – that’s the pinnacle of every girl’s search for friendship. The best friend is someone you’ve known a while, or in those rare occasions, someone you may have just met but shared that instant 'click' with. It’s kind of like meeting a romantic soulmate, except that this is totally platonic and the feeling is mutual. You two adore each other, will speak or email every day and catch up at least a few times a month for lunch, coffee, shopping, a gasbag, drinks, dinner…you get the drift. Some people are lucky to have more than one bestie, but that kind of intimate connection is very hard to maintain over groups larger than say, three.
Best for: When you need a true friend, when you’re down, when you need to vent about the three other types of friends, when you need cheering up, when you need someone to be brutally honest about your party outfit or heck…when you need someone to fly with you at a moment’s notice to Mexico when you’ve just had your heart broken!
Sarah Lane
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