the code

What's your stance on dating a friend's ex?

In high school, it's generally a big "no" -- unless, of course, you want your eyes clawed out by a couple really scary sets of fake nails.

Beyond that, things get a little trickier. Especially when you're associating with a very small pool of eligible males. Back in my sorority days, we used to hand out an award at our formal dances for the girl most likely to go home with someone else's date.

With real-life experience under my belt -- read: one too many episodes of "One Tree Hill" -- my first instinct is to point to exceptions to the rule.

Like, maybe it's OK to hook up with a guy if he and your friend only dated for two weeks.

Or maybe it's OK to hook up with a guy if your friend chose to break up with him.

Then again, people are territorial about their relationships -- even the ones that don't work, this columnist notes. So your exception to the rule might actually end up destroying a friendship.

Thoughts?