My Best Friend Bella

By Dooley Short

Illustrated by Helen Short

My Best Friend Bella

This is my best friend Bella. Bella wasn’t always my best friend though.

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I always wanted to be Bella’s best friend because she has the coolest pink

wheelchair with stickers all over it.

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When our teacher, Ms. Hudson, told us about peer praise notes, I knew I had to

send one to Bella to tell her how cool her wheelchair was. This is how me and

Bella became best friends.

Bella

Paige

I like your wheelchair! Pink is my favorite color too!!

Bella told me that she’s never had a best friend. Bella thinks that people don’t

want to be her friend because her wheelchair makes her different.

But Bella is just like me. We both like the color Pink, playing with babies, and

we both love pizza!

Bella misses class sometimes for something called physical therapy. I’m not

really sure what that is but I am sure that I miss Bella when she’s gone.

Since Bella misses class a lot, Ms. Hudson always gives her guided notes.

Guided notes tell Bella the most important stuff.

Bella always works so hard to get caught up in class. If I were Bella, I would be

mad that I have to work so much harder than everyone else but she always

stays so positive.

There was one time when Bella wasn’t so positive though.

Since Bella is in a wheelchair, it’s harder for her to move around. Bella can

move her arms, hands, and head, but she can’t move her legs.

One day in music class we were singing a song where we had to stomp our feet

with the beat. Bella got really sad that she couldn’t stomp her feet like all of us.

Mr. Taylor, our music teacher, told Bella that instead of stomping, she could

clap.

Bella didn’t really like that idea because she would be the only one doing

something different.

Then, Bella had an idea.

“What if we all had a choice?” Bella said to Mr. Taylor. “Everyone could choose

if they want to stomp or clap. That way I won’t be the only one that’s

different.”

Mr. Taylor loved Bella’s idea and so did everyone else!

The stomping and clapping sounded so good together, Mr. Taylor decided to

give all the other classes a choice too.

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Bella taught me that being different isn’t so bad. If everyone was the same,

then we wouldn’t have made such a good song!

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Bella still gets sad sometimes, but now she has all these ideas that Ms. Hudson

taught her that will help her make new friends, get caught up in class, and use

our differences to make something beautiful!

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