Lucas sat in the back seat and held his backpack tight.
Today was the playdate. At Theo's house. He knew Theo from school. They built a rocket ship out of blocks once. But that was at school, where Lucas knew where the bathroom was and where the cups were and which door went outside.
Theo's house was not school.
The car stopped. Lucas looked out the window. Theo's house was yellow. It had a big red door.
"Ready?" said Mom.
Lucas held his backpack tighter.
Mom knocked. The big red door opened. There was Theo's mom, smiling. And behind her — way behind her — was Theo, standing in socks on a wood floor.
"Hi, Lucas!" said Theo's mom.
"Hi," said Lucas. But it came out small.
Mom kissed his head and said, "I'll be back after snack time." And then Mom walked to the car. And the car drove away. And the big red door closed.
Lucas stood in the hallway. His shoes were still on.
Theo was already down the hall. "Come on!" he yelled. "I wanna show you something!"
Lucas looked down at his shoes. At school, you kept your shoes on. But Theo was in socks. He didn't know the rules.
He stood there.
Theo's mom looked at his feet. "Oh — shoes off is great, right by the door."
Lucas pulled off his shoes and lined them up neat. Then he walked in his socks down the wood floor, sliding a little.
Theo's room was not like Lucas's room. Theo had a huge bin of dinosaurs. Lucas had cars. Theo had a bunk bed. Lucas had a regular bed. Theo had a poster of a whale.
Theo dumped the whole bin of dinosaurs on the rug. CRASH. A hundred dinosaurs everywhere.
"Let's play volcano!" said Theo.
Lucas didn't know volcano.
Theo was already stacking dinosaurs on a pillow. "This is the volcano and these guys have to escape!"
Lucas picked up a triceratops. He held it. He didn't know if the triceratops was a good guy or a bad guy. He didn't know which dinosaurs were Theo's favorites, the ones you weren't supposed to touch.
His tummy felt tight, like his backpack straps were wrapped around it.
Theo grabbed a T. rex and made it roar. "RAAAH! The lava's coming!"
Lucas looked at his triceratops. He took a breath.
"Can my triceratops be on the escape team?" he said.
Theo looked up. "Yeah! He can be the leader. Triceratops are SO fast."
Lucas didn't think triceratops were really that fast. But he smiled. The tight feeling in his tummy got a little smaller.
"RAAAH!" said Lucas. He smashed his triceratops right through the pillow volcano and dinosaurs flew everywhere and Theo laughed so hard he fell sideways.
At snack time, Theo's mom put out apple slices and crackers. Lucas didn't know which chair to sit in. There were four chairs. He just stood there.
"Where should I sit?" he said.
It was such a small question. But asking it felt big.
"Anywhere you want!" said Theo's mom.
Lucas sat down. He ate a cracker. It was the same kind he had at home.
After snack, Theo said, "Wanna see the backyard?"
They ran outside. Theo had a dog! A big drooly one named Biscuit who knocked Lucas right onto the grass. Theo pulled him up. They were both covered in dog slobber and laughing.
When Mom came back, the big red door opened again. Lucas was standing in the hallway with his socks dirty and his backpack on and a tiny plastic triceratops in his hand.
"Theo said I could borrow it," said Lucas.
In the car, he held the triceratops up to the window so it could see the whole ride home.
"Mom," he said. "I asked where to sit. And it was fine."
Mom looked at him in the mirror.
"That's a brave thing to do," she said.
Lucas nodded. He already knew.
