My dd is 15. We are not in the UK so she still has 2 years at her school with her cohort. At the start of the year, she got to know 2 girls in class. As they just got to know each other, dd's bestie told her that she overheard the girls calling her a pick me and was plotting to trick my dd into playing a sex game. My dd dismissed it at first but the bestie kept on telling her it, which made her freak out. The bestie suggested going to the form teacher about it, and dd went with her as she was so scared it might actually happen to her. She didnt know the girls well then.
The form teacher instructed dd not to interact with the girls anymore, but somehow dd felt upset about the instruction and continued to gauge interaction with the girls. She had the feeling that something isnt quite right and she missed the girls but she couldnt dictate what exactly was the issue. After the holidays, in a class my dd was having a little bit of fun with the girls as she had finished her work. That afternoon, her bestie informed her that a friend of the girls sent her text messages about how the girls was saying a bunch of really mean comments about dd. dd was really angry and upset and got passive aggressive with the girls.
The bestie promised to send dd the screenshots as prove but still couldnt send it for a week. The day when dd was literally rushing her to give her the screenshot she suddenly lost access to everything that she could have screenshotted with. When she could finally give dd a screenshot it was very obviously fake.
The girls believed that dd was part of the plot and they dont trust dd anymore. Around the same time dd discovered that the bestie was also making ridiculous things up about her other friends, aiming to isolate her with everyone but the bestie herself.
Dd felt horrible that she falsely accused the girls of the stuff to the form teacher as the girls got into trouble. She wrote them an apology letter but now she feels like its cringe. The girls have been acting weird around her; we are on holidays now and they snap her less often and replaced with surroundings instead of their usual selfie.
I want to give dd insights of how to navigate the situation but I don't have much. Any insights will be appreciated. She misses the girls but she doesnt want to make them feel pressured into anything. She cut ties with the bestie but now she is scared of her as the bestie already made fake screenshots of her badmouthing her good friend, who doesnt know who to believe.