Who is Bonnie from Me Talk Pretty One Day and what is their importance?

Bonnie is the new friend of Alisha who is invited on Alisha's annual trip to New York City to visit Sedaris. Before her trip to New York, Bonnie had not been outside a fifty mile radius of her home town in Greensborough, North Carolina. She is unsure of herself in a big city like New York and is at first overly suspicious of every person she meets. Unlike Alisha, Bonnie arrives with a detailed itinerary of her plans, expecting Sedaris to play tour guide.