May Belle Aarons

May Belle Aarons is the tritagonist of the movie Bridge to Terabitha and the book it's based off of. She is the younger sister of Jess Aarons who idolizes him. In the film she's played by Bailee Madison.

Bridge to Terabithia
May Belle is the second youngest sibling in the Aarons family, which mostly consists of sisters save for Jess. May Belle always looked up to Jess but he found her annoying sometimes. Jess didn't have any friends and tended to isolate himself before meeting Leslie Burke, who helped him open his eyes and his mind and heart. Jess and Leslie made a kingdom called Terabithia, a place just for them and May Belle wanted to join them but Jess wouldn't let her. Leslie befriends May Belle by giving her some of her old Barbie dolls.

Despite this, May Belle played a big role in the story. She was being bullied by a girl named Janice Avery and asks Jess to beat her up, but Jess refuses, because he'll get in trouble for beating up a girl, but Jess and Leslie get back at Janice by forging a love letter from a boy she likes to humiliate her. After feeling bad for Janice, Leslie befriends her and learns about her family life. Later, Leslie joins the Aarons family on a trip to church, and May Belle warns Leslie that if she doesn't believe in the bible, God will damn her to hell. Leslie says God doesn't go around damning people, as he has a beautiful world to run. Jess and Leslie's first encounter with their villain, the Dark Master, happened because May Belle gave Leslie her fathers keys to his hardware store, and Leslie not knowing what they are for, brought them into Terabithia.

Sadly, Leslie is killed the next day in a freak accident. Jess was on a trip to a museum with a teacher he had a crush on, and didn't invite Leslie so he can have Miss Edmunds to himself. Jess felt angry and depressed over Leslie's death, even going through denial, but especially blamed himself for what happened as he never invited Leslie to the museum and wasn't there to save her. Jess goes to Terabithia alone and thinks he hears Leslie's voice calling for him, only to find May Belle holding onto a log she was trying to cross but slipped. Jess helps May Belle get to safety but lashes out at her and pushes her away. After May Belle runs away crying, their father, Jack finds Jess himself breaking down over Leslie's death. Jack helps Jess accept what happened wasn't his fault and assures him that Leslie isn't in hell and encourages Jess to hold onto their friendship and her memory.

At the end of the story, Jess, noticing the log May Bell tried to cross, and uses it, plus lumber and tree branches to make the titular Bridge to Terabithia, adding a sign saying "Nothing crushes us" in Leslie's memory. After saying sorry to May Belle, Jess takes her to Terabithia, and encourages her to look with her mind and heart. May Belle sees the world Jess and Leslie created and see's the Terabithians clapping as they enter. May Belle asks Jess if he's their king and Jess replies "Only if you're the princess" which May Belle happily accepts.