Milla

One of the things I’ve always loved about Belle is her kindness and compassion toward others. She looked past the Beast’s scary outside to find his warm heart.

I often worry about how people will react to my scar when they meet me. So, like Belle, I try to go out of my way to be kind and treat everyone with respect, with the hope that others will see past the marks on my face and get to know me as a person. Sometimes you can’t see what’s going on with people on the inside (how someone looks usually has nothing to do with what’s going on under the surface of their skin). You never know what kinds of things people are dealing with in their personal lives.

Like Piper these past few weeks! I really wish she had told me she was having so much trouble in school. I can’t believe she’s fallen so far behind. She always makes it seem like everything is totally fine, but it’s not. And I’m sad she didn’t feel like she could talk to me about it. I thought we were best friends and could talk about anything, but I guess she felt like she had to hide her problems from me. Same goes for her dad’s job interview in Chicago. I wish she had told me about all the things she’s been worrying about so I could have been there for her.

You asked us to talk about one of our greatest fears in our journals this week, and here’s one of mine: that Piper will move! She’s been my best friend since we started elementary school, and she’s one of the only people who really, truly knows me. Other than my moms, she’s the only person who I’ve ever felt comfortable opening up to. Piper has always been able to bring out the brave and fearless version of me that I usually only write about in my stories (like at the fifth-grade overnight)! Having her there with me made that big adventure a lot less scary. I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life every day.

For a little while, I guess I was feeling kind of mad at her for not telling me about her dad’s job stuff and her school troubles. But now I’m just sad and afraid. I don’t know what I can do other than be here to support her and help her when she needs me. I guess I’ll remind her that she can always tell me the truth, and I’ll never judge her, no matter what. I’m pretty sure Belle would tell me that’s what friends are for.