Kelsey was a timid little girl. She usually only played with her sister and a couple of friends in school. She has always wanted to have more friends to play with. Every day after Kelsey got home from school, she would hear the shouts and laughter from the other children who lived on her block playing outside. She liked to sit at her window and watch the other kids play. She was always too afraid to go outside and ask them to join.

    One day, while Kelsey watched the kids play from her window, another little girl noticed her. The little girl outside smiled and waved at Kelsey. Kelsey felt overwhelmed with emotions and ran away from her window. She ran to her mom to tell her what had happened. "Mom, one of the kids outside saw me and waved!" she said.

"That's great, Kelsey! Maybe you should go outside and play with them!" Kelsey's mom said. "Maybe I should.." said Kelsey, "but I am a little nervous." Kelsey's mom replied, "It's okay to be nervous. That is very normal. Most people get nervous when they try something new, but once you do it, you will feel great!" 

    After thinking about what her mom said, she finally decided to go outside. She thought about the little girl who smiled and waved at her. Kelsey was nervous but also very excited to talk to this potential friend. She saw the group of kids outside playing soccer, drawing with chalk and playing with jump ropes. Kelsey’s favorite thing to do is draw with chalk so she felt very excited. She took a deep breath and went outside. 

"Hi guys, I'm Kelsey. Can I play with you?" she said to the kids. The kids quickly stopped what they were doing and ran away, yelling. Kelsey felt so confused and upset. She turned to run back inside, but she heard a voice before she could. "Hi Kelsey, I'm Chloe. Do you want to play with my chalk?" Kelsey turned back and saw it was the girl who had waved at her a few days ago. Kelsey nodded yes and went over to Chloe. "Why did they run away from me?" Kelsey said with tears in her eyes. "I think they don't want to get sick, but I don't think you will get us sick unless you are too close." said Chloe.