The Chair Beside the New Girl's Desk

Chapter 1The Empty Chair

The empty desk beside Libby belonged to the new girl.

Mrs. Frank had told their Bais Yaakov class her name was Adina. On Monday morning, Adina arrived carrying a blue pencil case and a stack of books.

Libby pulled the spare chair away from the desk so she could get past it.

"I'm Libby. I'll show you where everything is."

"Thank you," Adina said.

Libby began with the book cupboard, the paper tray, and which corridor led to the coat hooks.

Adina listened without asking a question.

Chapter 2The Whole Tour

By break, Libby had explained almost everything she could think of.

She offered to take Adina to the courtyard. Adina said she wanted to stay inside for a moment.

Libby offered to show her the class noticeboard instead.

"Maybe later."

Adina opened her pencil case and checked something written on a small card.

Libby returned to her friends with an uncomfortable thought.

Perhaps Adina had already decided she didn't like her.

That was a quick decision to make about someone who had barely spoken.

Chapter 3Another Offer

Libby wanted to fix the quietness.

She told Adina about two girls she might like to meet. Then she explained their usual lunchtime seats.

Adina closed the pencil case carefully.

"Can you say just the room number again?"

"Which one?"

"The next lesson."

Libby had given her three corridors, several names, and a lunch arrangement. The one number Adina needed was buried somewhere among them.

"Room six," Libby said.

Adina wrote it on her card.

Chapter 4What the Card Held

The card had a few short notes: coat hooks, room six, lunch hall.

Adina added the teacher's name beneath the number.

"I'm trying to remember where to go," she said. "At my old school we stayed in one room more."

Libby looked at the crowded card.

She had treated Adina's silence as an answer about herself. Adina had been sorting answers about the school.

"I told you a lot at once."

"A bit."

Libby stopped preparing another explanation.

For once, a pause didn't need her to fill it.

Chapter 5Two Choices

Before the next lesson, Libby asked whether Adina wanted to walk with her to room six or follow the signs on her own.

"Walk with you, please."

They took the corridor together.

Libby pointed out the door and did not add the history of every classroom they passed.

At lunchtime, she offered a seat beside her or the quieter end of the table.

Adina chose the quieter end.

Libby went to her usual seat. It was possible to offer a welcome without requiring every offered seat to be accepted.

Chapter 6The Small Question

On Tuesday, Adina asked Libby where spare paper was kept.

"The tray by the cupboard. Do you want me to come?"

"No, I can find it. Thank you."

Later she asked about an unfamiliar word on the noticeboard. Libby explained just that word.

They were not suddenly sharing every thought.

Adina still spent some breaks reading. Libby still talked with her other friends.

The questions were small, but they were real questions from a girl who had chosen to ask her.

Chapter 7A Different Lunch

On Thursday, Adina came to Libby's end of the lunch table.

"Is this seat free?"

Libby moved her bag.

She wanted to say she had saved the seat all week. She hadn't, and that would make Adina's choice sound overdue.

"Yes."

Adina told them about a crowded staircase at her old school.

Libby listened. When another girl asked a question, she let Adina answer it.

The new girl had a voice. It hadn't needed Libby to lend her one.

Chapter 8The Chair Stays

By the following week, Adina knew the corridors.

Sometimes she sat beside Libby. Sometimes she sat elsewhere.

Libby still liked being helpful, but she asked what was wanted before offering the whole school in one breath.

At their desks, Adina held out a sheet of spare paper.

"You dropped yours."

"Thanks."

Libby took it.

The chair beside the new girl's desk had become an ordinary chair beside a classmate's desk.

There was room to talk, and room to let an answer be quiet.