My latest invention, the Practically Perfect Pen, glided across my page.  With a bang, the classroom door opened.

    “Sorry I’m late,” Emily said to our teacher.

    Ms. Rocha asked me, “Jenna, will you please help Emily get settled?”

    I helped Emily, then placed her walker in the side aisle.  She seemed frustrated.  “Are you okay?” I whispered.

    Emily muttered, “I’m fine.”

    Maybe it was that creaky walker that frustrated Emily.  Who could blame her?  It squeaked and groaned as she shuffled through the halls.  Maybe it bothered her that the other students had to separate like a zipper when she walked anywhere on campus.  Teachers would nod and smile, giving her the we’re here for you look.  How embarrassing was that?  I wondered, what could I invent to improve her walker?

    At home in my workshop, I created a solution.  I restructured two pairs of pink bootie socks.  I cut the heels off, leaving the toes in place.  On the insides I spread cotton balls, leaving a soft center.  At the ends, I threaded through white yarn, making a pull-string closure.  “This is the greatest invention ever,” I said.

    The next morning, I waited for Emily in the hall.  I heard the clank and squeak before I saw her.  “Emily, I made something for you!” I said.  “I call them the Never Noisy Wheel Slippers.”

    She looked wary as I slipped the booties over each wheel, pulling the strings tight.  “Now you can walk in style and it won’t be as noisy,” I said.

    “Um, thanks,” she said.  But not in the excited, over the top way I thought she would.  She pushed forward, looking around at the other students.  They watched her, then went back to talking with each other.

    I was excited because my invention definitely cut down on the noise.  But after a short, bumpy distance the booties slipped off the wheels one at a time.  The cotton stuffing fluffed out on the floor, and the yarn tangled in the wheels.  If possible, Emily looked even more embarrassed than before.

    I ran up to her, “I’m so sorry Emily.  I thought it would hold.”

    She looked ready to cry.  “Please untangle the yarn and let me go.”

    I did as she asked, then watched her shuffle away.

    Okay, my invention was a dud, and I’d made things worse for Emily.

    That night, I tried something else.  Instead of stinky spray oil that my dad used for squeaks, I invented my own.  In a spray bottle I poured a little vegetable oil, and scented it with my favorite perfume.  “This is the greatest invention ever.”

    The next day at school, I caught up with Emily. “Can I try this on your walker?  I call it Scented Squeak Squelcher.”  I squirted the wheels and joints before Emily could say no.  Curious students looked our way, shook their heads, and laughed.

    “Jenna, just give it up, I’m fine,” Emily said.  She pushed away from me, leaving an oily trail. 

    That night at dinner, I told Mom and Dad what had happened with my inventions. 

    “Now she’s upset with me, and I’ve made things worse,” I confessed. 

    “Don’t be hard on yourself,” Mom said.  “You were trying to be a good friend.”

    Was I?  The more I thought about it, I wasn’t actually trying to be a friend.  My plan was to fix things for Emily, then leave her alone. 

    Alone.  When Emily walked down the halls, she was alone.  While at lunch, she was alone.  While waiting to be picked up after school, she was alone. 

    I wanted to do the right thing.  But how can you do the right thing, when you don’t know which right is right?

    The next day at school, Emily rolled her eyes as I approached her.  “Hey Jenna, what’s the trick for today?” she asked.

    “No tricks.  I thought we could walk to class together.”

    She look suspicious.  “You don’t have to do that.”

    “I don’t have to do it, I want to.  And how about lunch?  Will you sit with me?”

    She didn’t sit with me at lunch.  I grabbed my tray and moved to her table.  She ignored me.  The second day, she ignored me again.  The third day, she cracked a smile.

    “You’re a pain,” she said.

    “That’s what I hear.”

    Emily smiled, then we talked about silly things.  We disagreed about which boys were cute.  We agreed that last weeks math test was crazy hard.  We even laughed about my inventions. 

    I wasn’t trying to solve her problems, or make the greatest invention ever.  In my opinion, the greatest invention was created long ago.

    Friendship.