My take
First
I doubt Dolly is a ‘new friend’
I don’t know if the three best friends have known each other from first grade
Or more recently
It is clear that they have known each other for years
Also Mariko Tamaki
Takes a unique approach
To these three
She excludes all the other students, giving them at best a page of dialogue.
Most teen age movies are about status in high school or romantic relationships.
That is not the concern of Mariko Tamaki.
Except for the track team (of which we know nothing about the other girls on the team), school life barely exists for the three.
Two things here
Dolly is named for a famous singer.
This might be a shout out to
Cher and Dionne in the teen age movie Clueless
Dolly has made a choice.
Kara thinks you don’t have to.
Dolly has good instincts
Lee follows instructions … just because
Only panel involving school work. Other school scenes are mainly hall ways
Dolly knows
Kara is different
In some ways
But doesn’t care.
Dolly know what it means to be different
Putting
Dolly in danger
Forces Kara
To make a choice