Ellie

Allisen starts high school with four close friends: Kim, Shevea, Jack, and Stivre. A few days into the new school year, the five of them start eating lunch with Ellie. Ellie is extremely quiet and not particularly friendly. Stivre is pretty vocal on his opinion of, “Why are we even trying to be friends with her?” And after a few days of observing Ellie’s strange, unfriendly behavior, Allisen starts wondering the same thing.
But Shevea is determined to become friends with Ellie. Shevea empathizes with Ellie, because she has been in similar situations before. She knows from her own experience that even shy people want friends, and that some people feel less comfortable than others in social situations.
Allisen and her friends don’t give up on Ellie. They continue sitting with her, trying to include her in their conversations. They let her know that they don’t mind the fact that she stutters. And Shevea, drawing from her own experiences of feeling awkward talking with new people, takes a leadership role doing what she can to help Ellie not feel awkward.
It turns out that Ellie is hiding a secret. She didn’t want anyone to find out about her prosthetic leg because she was afraid of being made fun of. When she realizes that Allisen, Kim, Shevea, Jack, and Stivre aren’t going to make fun of her, she starts feeling more comfortable around them.
Of course, Ellie is still the new girl, and she’s still quiet—it’s just part of her personality. As a result, the others don’t know her as well as they know each other. Although they enthusiastically invite her to join them in the talent show and the Bible study group, they decide against inviting her to go skiing with them, because they’re not sure whether she can ski and don’t want to upset her by asking. Their decision turns out to be a mistake, because Ellie feels hurt and betrayed by the fact that they left her out. They apologize, and explain their reason for leaving her out, and Ellie does end up forgiving them. Later on, she trusts them enough to share that she was bullied back in elementary school for her stutter and prosthetic leg, which explains why she was so touchy and afraid when she first met them.
Ellie becomes an even closer friend with the rest of the group during Book #45, “Stand or Fall.” She is able to use the painful parts of her own life to help Stivre get through the painful parts of his.
But Shevea is determined to become friends with Ellie. Shevea empathizes with Ellie, because she has been in similar situations before. She knows from her own experience that even shy people want friends, and that some people feel less comfortable than others in social situations.
Allisen and her friends don’t give up on Ellie. They continue sitting with her, trying to include her in their conversations. They let her know that they don’t mind the fact that she stutters. And Shevea, drawing from her own experiences of feeling awkward talking with new people, takes a leadership role doing what she can to help Ellie not feel awkward.
It turns out that Ellie is hiding a secret. She didn’t want anyone to find out about her prosthetic leg because she was afraid of being made fun of. When she realizes that Allisen, Kim, Shevea, Jack, and Stivre aren’t going to make fun of her, she starts feeling more comfortable around them.
Of course, Ellie is still the new girl, and she’s still quiet—it’s just part of her personality. As a result, the others don’t know her as well as they know each other. Although they enthusiastically invite her to join them in the talent show and the Bible study group, they decide against inviting her to go skiing with them, because they’re not sure whether she can ski and don’t want to upset her by asking. Their decision turns out to be a mistake, because Ellie feels hurt and betrayed by the fact that they left her out. They apologize, and explain their reason for leaving her out, and Ellie does end up forgiving them. Later on, she trusts them enough to share that she was bullied back in elementary school for her stutter and prosthetic leg, which explains why she was so touchy and afraid when she first met them.
Ellie becomes an even closer friend with the rest of the group during Book #45, “Stand or Fall.” She is able to use the painful parts of her own life to help Stivre get through the painful parts of his.