A New Friend

The new girl always sat alone at lunch. She was never picked during volleyball. Shaila wondered if the new girl would ever fit in. One Monday, while Shaila was sitting by herself at a lunch table, the new girl walked up to her. “Hi! My name is Chiku, what’s yours?”

Before Shaila could answer, Maya walked up and started making fun of Chiku’s freckles. During math that afternoon, Shaila noticed that Chiku kept fiddling with something behind her ear. Suddenly, she realized that Chiku had a hearing aid!

All that week, Chiku was teased, excluded, and left alone. On Friday it was Shaila’s turn to be a captain at volleyball. Her opponent was Maya. When it was her turn to pick her first player, Shaila held her breath. She knew what she had to do. “I pick Chiku!”

As the game progressed, Chiku scored one point after another! By the time recess was over Shaila’s team was in the lead!

While Chiku and Shaila were walking to class, Maya approached them in the hall. “Hey, Chiku!” she called. “I never knew you were that good at sports! Sorry I made fun of your freckles and hearing aid.”

“Thank you,” Chiku replied. “Can we all be friends now?”

Shaila and Maya looked at each other. “Sure!”

Moral: Never judge a book by its cover.