Courtney Claire Gripling, 12 years old and, is the most popular girl at Lucky Jr. High (although she have some difficulties to fit in high school). While not extremely book-smart, Courtney is not a typical ditzy blonde: she takes an advanced language class that Macie also attends and is very curious about the world around her, particularly the world outside the millionaire lifestyle her family maintains. She is also knowledgeable in fashion and in the complex code of conduct necessary to become and stay popular in middle school, though it is shown throughout the series that even Courtney can sometimes fail at this. She can be mean and shallow, judging people by their clothing (once even forgiving Ginger's avoidance of her because of a particularly well chosen outfit Ginger wore to school) and being insensitive to those who are less popular, but she can also be a caring and attentive friend. Courtney is very naive because of her sheltered upbringing, being puzzled as to how a vacuum cleaner works, what happens at regular summer camps, and sometimes even as to how genuine care and acceptance are like. This leads her to attach quickly to those who demonstrate an honest affection towards her. Courtney took a liking to Ginger early on in the series, wanting to see how Ginger would survive if put in an all-popular kids setting. To her surprise, Ginger could manage, and the two became real friends, and it is towards Ginger that Courtney's sincere affections are often directed. She notably drove to Ginger's home to thank her for stopping her lice infection from becoming public knowledge, travelled to Avalanche Arts to convince her to return, and alerted Ginger to a plan to separate her from boyfriend Darren, even though a few of her own close friends were part of the scheme.