THE INVITATION
The Invitation
Alex wants to go to Sam's house. He doesn't know exactly what will happen when he gets there.
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The Invitation
Sam had only just gone home, but Alex could still hear his laugh in his head.
He smiled as he remembered the afternoon. They had played, joked, and made biscuits.
Then he remembered the important part. Next Saturday.
He was going to Sam’s house.
Alex smiled again.
He wanted to go. He really did. Then a thought appeared.
What will we do when I get there?
Maybe they would play football.
Alex pictured himself kicking the ball across Sam’s garden while Sam shouted for him to pass.
That would be fun.
Then another thought arrived. But what if Sam doesn’t want to play football?
Alex frowned.
Maybe they’d play a game. Or build something.
Suddenly, Saturday seemed to have a lot of possibilities.
Alex carried his cup into the kitchen.
Mum was sitting at the kitchen table with the family planner open in front of her. A pen was tucked behind her ear, and two more were lying beside the planner.
“Saturday,” Alex said.
Mum looked up. “Yes?”
“I’m going to Sam’s.”
“I know.” She smiled and wrote something in the little square marked Saturday. “It’ll be nice for you to go over.”
“Yeah.” Alex looked at the square.
It was very small.
Just one word.
Sam’s.
His head had somehow made it much bigger.
“What should I take?”
Mum glanced at him. “You don’t have to take anything.”
“I know.” Alex stood there. “But maybe I should.”
He went into the hallway and picked up his football. He liked football. He could take that.
Then the thought arrived. What if Sam doesn’t want to play?
Alex put the ball down.
He spotted one of his favourite games on the shelf.
I could take this. It is a fun game. I really like it. So does Dad. But what if Sam doesn’t like it?
He picked it up.
What if he doesn’t want to play that?
Alex looked at the football.
Then the game.
Maybe he should take both.
He picked up the football. Then the game. He looked at them.
What if I take too much?
He sighed and put them down.
Mum glanced over. “Everything all right?”
“Yes.” Alex picked up the football again. “What if I take something Sam doesn’t want?”
“You could take something you enjoy.”
Alex thought about that. “But what if Sam doesn’t want to do that?”
“You could ask him.”
Alex nodded.
That made sense. For about three seconds. Then another question appeared.
Ask him what? Alex put the football down.
What if Sam didn’t know? What if he wanted to do something Alex hadn’t thought of? What if Alex chose the wrong thing?
He looked at the football.
It seemed like such a small decision. Why was it suddenly so difficult?
“Alex?”
He looked up.
Mum was watching him now.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said.
Mum waited.
“And I don’t know what I should take. And I don’t know what Sam will want to do.” He hesitated. “And what if he doesn’t enjoy having me there?”
Mum didn’t say everything would be fine. She didn’t tell him what Sam would think. She just stayed where she was.
Alex looked down at his hands.
Sam had invited him. That was true. And he’d enjoyed the afternoon.
But his mind found another possibility. What if next Saturday isn’t like that?
Alex glanced through the kitchen window.
The garden was damp from the rain. The football they had been playing with earlier was lying near the fence. He watched a drop of water slide down the glass.
Then he remembered another afternoon at Sam’s house. They had been playing football. Sam had decided he could kick the ball over the fence.
Alex watched him take three steps backwards.
Then two.
Then one.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting the angle right.”
“You’ve been getting the angle right for two minutes.”
“I know.”
Sam looked at the fence. Then at the ball. Then back at the fence.
He took another step backwards.
“Does that help?”
“Obviously.”
Sam kicked the ball.
It travelled about three feet, bounced once and disappeared into the hedge.
Sam stared at it.
There was a long silence.
“I meant to do that.”
Alex had laughed so hard he’d fallen against the garden chair.
Sam had laughed too. Then he crawled into the hedge to get the ball. When he came back out, there was a leaf stuck to his hair.
Alex pointed.
“What?”
“You’ve got a leaf.”
“Where?”
“On your head.”
Sam reached up. He missed it. “Here?”
“No.”
He tried again. “Here?”
“No.”
Sam somehow pushed the leaf further into his hair.
Alex laughed. “You’re making it worse.”
“I’m trying to get it.”
“I know.”
“Then help.”
Alex pulled the leaf free.
Sam looked at it. “That was there the whole time?”
Alex nodded.
Sam looked towards the hedge. “Maybe it was meant to be there.”
Alex laughed again.
He could still see Sam’s completely serious face.
The wet grass. The football in the hedge. The leaf. None of it had been planned.
Alex hadn’t known any of it was going to happen. He’d just been there.
Mum turned a page in the planner. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know exactly what you were going to do before you went?”
Alex thought about it. “No.”
He remembered standing outside Sam’s house before one of his visits.
He’d wondered what they would do. He’d wondered whether it would be fun. He’d felt that uncomfortable flutter in his stomach.
He hadn’t liked not knowing.
He’d known what was behind Sam’s front door. He just hadn’t known what would happen after he went through it. But he’d gone inside.
Then they’d played football. They’d played games. They’d had snacks. They’d gone outside. They’d laughed.
He’d come home tired and happy.
Alex sat down at the table. “I was worried before.”
Mum looked at him. “You were?”
“Yeah.” He looked at the planner. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“No.”
“But I still went.”
Mum nodded.
Alex was quiet.
He had been worried. He had gone. And he’d had a good time.
He looked towards the football by the back door. The thought returned. This time could be different.
Alex considered it. It could.
Mum hadn’t said it couldn’t.
Saturday might be different from every other visit.
Sam might want to do something completely different. They might not play football at all. Alex might arrive and have no idea what to do for the first few minutes.
He still didn’t know.
But the feeling was familiar.
The wondering. The flutter in his stomach. The urge to work out what came next.
He’d felt all of that before. And it hadn’t stopped him.
Alex stood up and walked to the hallway.
He picked up the football. For a moment, he looked at the game on the shelf. He could take that too.
He imagined arriving at Sam’s with the football under one arm and the game under the other.
Then perhaps he’d need something else.
A book? A snack? Another game?
Alex almost laughed. He put the game back.
Mum looked up. “Decision made?”
“I think so.”
Alex held up the football. “I’ll take this.”
“Okay.”
“And if Sam wants to do something else, we can.”
“Sounds good.”
Alex put the football beside his bag.
He didn’t add the game. He didn’t search his room for something else. He didn’t ask Mum another question.
Dad appeared in the doorway.
“What time is Alex going next Saturday?”
Mum told him.
Dad nodded.
“I can take you.”
“And collect me?”
“Of course.”
Alex listened.
Those parts were easy.
He knew when he would leave. He knew when he would come home. The rest was still unknown.
Alex looked at the football. “I think I’m still a bit worried.”
Mum nodded. “I know.”
She didn’t tell him not to be worried. She didn’t promise Saturday would be perfect. Alex liked that.
He carried his bag upstairs and put it beside his bed.
The football sat next to it.
For a moment, everything felt settled.
Then another thought appeared. What if Saturday doesn’t go the way I expect?
Alex waited. Then questions gathered.
What if they didn’t play football? What if Sam wanted to do something else? What if Alex didn’t know what to say?
Alex looked at his bag.
Before today, he might have started another list.
He might have found another game. He might have asked Mum another question. He might have tried to work out every possible version of Saturday.
He didn’t.
He looked at the football.
He remembered the hedge. Sam’s serious face. The leaf in his hair.
The ball disappearing where neither of them had expected it to go. He smiled. He couldn’t have planned any of it.
Alex picked up the football and bounced it once.
It landed on the carpet with a soft thump. He caught it. Then he put it back beside his bag.
Saturday would come. He would go to Sam’s. After that, he would find out.
Alex sat on the edge of his bed.
The questions were still there.
He could feel them waiting. He didn’t need to answer them tonight. That was enough.
Alex looked at the football. “Goodnight, football.”
Mum laughed from downstairs.
Alex smiled.
He was still a little worried.
He still wanted to go.
And he was going anyway.
Jump to the next story: Sam’s House