Asking the new kid to sit with you is a risk for you too. That’s what makes it kind.

Kindness that costs nothing is really just politeness, and everyone can tell the difference. Pulling out a chair for someone with no standing in the room puts a little of your own standing behind them, which is exactly what the new person feels and exactly why it is hard to do. The risk is the content of the gesture, not an unfortunate side effect of it.

Ask once, then ask again the next day. One invitation reads as a rescue and two reads as an actual place to sit. Learn one thing about them that is not about being new.