THE PLAY DATE

The Play Date

Alex is looking forward to a play date. Then things don't quite go the way he imagined.

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Chapter One - Sam Arrives

Alex checked the clock again.

Sam was coming at two o’clock.

It was only ten minutes until two, but Alex had already checked the clock three times.

His LEGO was ready. His football was by the back door. The board game was on the shelf, and he had even put the remote-control car somewhere he could find it.

Just in case.

He looked around his room.

What should they do first?

LEGO, probably. Then football. Then maybe the board game.

Unless Sam wanted to do something else.

What if Sam got bored?

Alex glanced at the board game.

Maybe they needed another game. He opened the cupboard, looked at the games inside and closed it again. They had enough.

Probably.

The doorbell rang.

Alex's stomach gave a happy little flip. "Sam!"

He hurried downstairs, trying not to run the last three steps.

Mum was already opening the front door. "Hello, Sam!" she said.

"Hi, Mrs Carter."

"Come in. Your shoes can go there."

Sam stepped inside and grinned at Alex. "Hey!"

"Hey."

"You've still got that massive dinosaur thing?" Sam pointed towards the living room.

Alex laughed. "It's not massive."

"It is."

"It's medium-sized."

Mum shook her head. "You two haven't changed."

"Can we go upstairs?" Alex asked. "Of course. Have fun."

Sam was already halfway up the stairs.

Alex followed.

At the top, Sam stopped. "So, what are we doing?"

Alex had an answer ready. "First, we could build LEGO. Then we could play football for a bit. Then there's this game Mum got—"

He stopped.

Sam was looking out of the window.

Down in the garden, the football sat beside the back door.

"Football first?" Sam asked.

Alex glanced at the football, then at the LEGO box. "Let's do LEGO first," he said. "We are here now."

"Okay." Sam followed him into his room.

Alex opened the biggest LEGO box. "Right," he said. "We need these bits first."

Sam sat beside him. "How do you know?"

Alex looked up. "What?"

"Which bits go where?"

Alex grinned. "You just sort them."

He tipped a handful onto the carpet. "See? Small ones here. Flat ones there. Windows over there."

Sam picked up a red piece. "Like this?"

"Yeah. No, wait. That's for the wheels."

"Oh."

Alex reached across. "I'll show you."

He clipped three pieces together. "Then you put this here, and this one goes underneath, and…"

He stopped.

Sam was staring at the pile of LEGO.

Alex frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You don't like it?"

Sam shrugged.

Alex's thoughts started racing. Maybe Sam was bored. Maybe LEGO had been a bad idea. "We could build the spaceship instead."

"Okay."

"The spaceship's really good. It's got moving wings."

Sam nodded.

Alex began building faster. "This bit folds down, and then you've got the engine here. And if you put these on the side, it can land without falling over."

Sam watched. "How do you make yours stay up?"

Alex paused. "What?"

"That." Sam pointed at Alex's half-built machine.

Alex looked at it. "Oh. You need to connect it properly." He showed Sam where the pieces fitted. "Like this. See?"

Sam tried.

The pieces fell apart.

"Again," Alex said.

Sam tried again. This time, one side stayed together. "Got it!"

Alex smiled.

Then Sam added a blue piece to the top.

Alex stared. "That's not where that goes."

Sam looked at it. "Oh."

Alex swapped the pieces.

Soon he had built a complicated vehicle with six wheels, two wings and a little seat in the middle. "Look."

Sam smiled. "That's cool."

"Yeah."

Alex waited.

Sam didn't say anything else. Alex looked at the vehicle, then at Sam. "What do you want to make?"

Sam looked down. "I don't know."

Alex blinked. "You don't know?"

"I never know what to build." He picked up a green block. "Yours always look like they're supposed to be something."

Alex looked at his vehicle. Then at Sam. "Oh."

Sam put two green blocks together. Then another. "This is going to be a..."

He paused.

"...thing."

"A thing?"

"Yeah."

The thing became taller, then wider, then slightly lopsided.

Sam added a yellow piece to the top. "It needs a roof."

Alex laughed. "What kind of thing needs a roof?"

"I don't know."

Sam added another piece.

Alex watched.

The thing made absolutely no sense.

But Sam was smiling. "Can it have wheels?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Alex pushed the wheel box towards him.

Sam chose four.

They worked side by side.

This time, Alex didn't tell him where the pieces should go.

Sam's machine grew stranger, then wider, then somehow stayed together. Sam pushed it across the carpet. "It works!"

Alex laughed. "It actually works."

Sam grinned. Then he looked towards the garden.

Alex followed his eyes. "The football?"

Sam nodded.

Alex glanced at the LEGO scattered across the carpet.

The spaceship wasn't finished. Neither was the vehicle. The board game was still waiting on the shelf.

Chapter Two - Football

"Do you want to go outside?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

They ran downstairs.

At the back door, Alex picked up the football. "I'll be goalie first," he said.

"Why?"

"Because you're better at shooting."

Sam looked at him. "Am I?"

"Yeah."

Sam grinned. "Okay."

They went into the garden.

For the first few minutes, everything went exactly as Alex expected.

Sam shot.

Alex saved.

Alex kicked it back.

Sam chased it.

Then Sam took a shot. The ball bounced off the fence. Sam ran after it.

"Again!" Alex smiled. "That wasn't even close."

"I was aiming for the fence."

"You weren't."

"I was."

"You definitely weren't."

Sam kicked the ball. It flew over Alex's head and landed in the flower bed. They both stared at it.

"I'll get it," Alex said.

Sam was already climbing carefully between the plants.

"Don't step on Mum's flowers!"

"I'm not!"

"You nearly did."

"I know." Sam reached the ball and picked it up. Then he looked towards the shed. "Wait."

He ran over to the old washing basket. "I've got an idea." He put the basket on its side. "Goal!"

"That's tiny."

"We can make it harder." Sam moved it further away. "There."

Alex looked at the basket, then at the football. "First to five?"

Sam grinned. "First to five."

They played until both of them were out of breath. The basket fell over, and they put it back. The ball disappeared behind the shed, and they found it.

At one point, Sam kicked it straight into the basket. They both cheered. When they finally stopped, they dropped onto the grass.

Alex looked back at the house.

The LEGO was still upstairs. The board game was still on the shelf. The remote-control car was still exactly where he'd left it.

They hadn't done any of the things he'd planned.

Sam lay back on the grass. "That was good."

"Yeah."

"We should do that again."

Alex nodded. "Definitely."

Sam sat up. "Can we make the goal bigger next time?"

Alex laughed. "Why?"

"So I can score more."

"That defeats the point."

"It makes it more fun."

Alex thought about it. Then shrugged. "Okay."

Sam grinned.

They sat quietly for a moment. Then Sam said, "I liked your LEGO thing."

Alex looked at him. "My thing?"

"The car."

"It was a vehicle."

"It had wings."

"Vehicles can have wings."

Sam smiled. "Can we make another thing next time?"

Alex looked towards the house.

The LEGO box was still upstairs. He could already imagine the pieces spread across the carpet. "Yeah," he said. "We can."

Sam nodded. Then he picked up the football. "Race you to the door."

"What?"

Sam was already running.

"Hey!" Alex jumped up and chased him.

He didn't know what they were doing next.

And, for once, he didn't need to.

Alex kicked the ball across the garden.

Sam stopped it with his foot. "Again."

Alex kicked it back. Sam passed it to him. Alex kicked it again.

The ball rolled towards the fence.

Sam ran after it. "Come on!"

Alex followed.

They had been playing for nearly twenty minutes, but Alex wasn't really thinking about football. He was thinking about LEGO.

He could still see the pieces scattered across his bedroom floor.

The spaceship. The half-built vehicle. Sam's strange little thing with the roof and four wheels.

Why hadn't Sam liked the LEGO?

They'd built LEGO together before. At Sam's house, they'd once spent nearly an entire afternoon building a huge space station. Sam had loved it then.

So why had today been different?

Alex kicked the ball. Sam passed it back. Alex stopped it under his shoe.

Sam was watching him.

"What?"

"You're quiet."

"I'm playing."

"I know." Sam waited.

Alex kicked the ball. It rolled slowly across the grass.

"You don't really want to play football, do you?"

Alex looked up. "I do."

Sam shrugged. "Okay."

He ran after the ball.

"Wait."

Sam stopped.

Alex looked down at the grass. "I'm still thinking about the LEGO."

"What about it?"

"I thought you were bored."

Sam stared at him. "I wasn't."

"You weren't?"

"No."

"But you were really quiet."

"I didn't know what to build."

Alex stared at him. "Oh."

Sam shrugged. "I never know what to build."

Alex thought about the red piece. The wheels. All the times he'd shown Sam where things were supposed to go.

Then the strange little machine. The lopsided roof. The four wheels.

"It worked," Alex said.

"What did?"

"Your thing."

Sam grinned. "I know."

Alex smiled. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

Sam shrugged. "You were busy showing me everything."

Alex stopped. "Oh."

Sam picked up the ball. "You know what you should do?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Alex laughed. "Nothing?"

"Sometimes."

Sam dropped the ball.

It bounced once. Then twice. He kicked it past Alex.

"Hey!" Alex chased after him.

"Come back!"

"No chance!" Sam turned and kicked the ball between Alex's legs.

"Hey!"

They ran until they were both out of breath.

Eventually Sam dropped onto the grass. Alex sat beside him. For a while, neither of them said anything.

Then Sam pointed towards the house. "Biscuits?"

“Biscuits?”

"The ones you were talking about?"

Alex smiled. "I was saving them."

"For what?"

"I don't know."

Sam stood up. "For eating?"

Alex laughed. "Probably."

They went inside.

Chapter Three - The Biscuits

In the kitchen, Alex knew exactly what he was doing.

"We need flour first," he said, pulling the bag from the cupboard. "Then butter. Then sugar. Then we mix it."

Sam nodded seriously. "How much flour?"

Alex showed him the measuring cup. "That much."

Sam poured.

A little too much.

Alex reached out. "Stop."

Sam stopped. "Is that bad?"

"No. It's just more than we need." Alex scooped some back into the bag. "Right. Now sugar."

Sam tipped it in.

A cloud of flour puffed up from the bowl. They stared at it. Sam started laughing.

Alex tried not to. "You've got flour on your nose."

"So do you."

Alex wiped his nose. His hand came away white. "Oh."

They laughed again.

For a while, everything went the way Alex expected.

Then Sam added the butter.

"Wait."

Sam froze. "What?"

"You're supposed to put it in like this." Alex showed him.

Sam tried again. The spoon slipped. A blob of dough landed on the worktop. "Oops."

Alex sighed.

His eyes went to the clock. They still had the whole afternoon. But the biscuits were already getting messy.

He looked at the flour scattered across the worktop. "What if they don't turn out?"

Sam looked at him. "Does it matter?"

Alex frowned. "I want them to be good."

"They will be."

"But what if they're not?"

Sam shrugged. "We can eat them anyway."

Alex looked at the dough. Then at Sam. He wasn't convinced.

A few minutes later, Mum appeared at the kitchen door.

"What are you two making?"

"Biscuits," Alex said.

Mum looked at the flour. "I can see that."

She came back with a box of coloured icing tubes.

Sam's eyes widened. "Icing!" He grabbed the red tube.

"Not yet," Alex said.

Sam stopped. "What?"

"We have to bake them first."

"Oh."

"About twelve minutes."

"That's ages."

Alex smiled. "It'll be fine." He put the tray into the oven.

When the timer beeped, Sam was waiting by the door. "Now?"

"Now."

Alex took the tray out. The biscuits were warm and golden.

Sam grabbed the red icing. "This one's a robot."

He squeezed a red line across one biscuit. Then blue. Then yellow.

"Look!"

Alex stared. It looked like a rainbow had crashed into a biscuit. "That's... colourful."

Sam added two dots for eyes.

Alex began decorating his own.

Small lines. Neat circles. Even colours.

It looked exactly how he'd imagined it.

He looked at Sam's biscuit.

It didn't.

Sam added a green stripe. Then a yellow one. Then a blob of blue across the middle.

Alex looked at it. "It's a bit messy."

Sam smiled. "It's a robot."

"Robots aren't usually that messy."

"This one is." Sam picked up another biscuit. "Can I eat this one?"

"It's not finished."

Sam looked at it. "It tastes finished."

Before Alex could answer, Sam took a bite.

Alex stared at him. "You ate it!"

"It's good."

"But we haven't decorated it."

Sam shrugged.

Alex opened his mouth to argue. Then he saw the grin on Sam's face. There was icing on his cheek.

Alex laughed. "You're impossible."

Sam laughed too.

Alex picked up a lopsided biscuit. The icing had run down one side. It looked nothing like the biscuit he'd imagined making.

Sam pointed at it. "I like that one."

"Why?"

"Because it's funny."

Alex turned it around. The icing did look a bit like a face. He smiled. "Yeah."

Sam picked up the robot biscuit. "It needs arms."

"Biscuits don't have arms."

"This one does," Sam said as he added two long lines.

Alex watched. Then he picked up another biscuit. He drew two uneven circles on it.

Sam looked at him. "What's that?"

"I don't know."

Sam grinned. "Mine's better."

Alex laughed. "Probably."

Alex looked at his biscuit again.

The circles weren't even. The icing wasn't neat. It wasn't what he'd planned.

But he liked it.

They put the biscuits on a plate.

Some were neat. Some were ridiculous. One had a robot face.

Another had so much icing on it that the biscuit was almost impossible to see.

Alex picked up his biscuit. "Not bad."

Sam nodded. "Not bad."

They started tidying the kitchen.

Sam picked up the cloth.

Alex reached for the dustpan.

There was flour on the worktop. Flour on the floor. Somehow, there was even flour on the fridge handle.

Sam wiped the worktop. He missed a patch.

Alex saw it.

For a moment, he almost pointed it out.

Then Sam wiped another patch and made an even bigger mess.

Alex laughed. "You're making it worse."

"I know." Sam handed him the cloth. "You do it."

Alex took it.

Then shook his head. "No. We'll do it together."

Sam grinned.

They cleaned the kitchen. Mostly.

Then Sam picked up the plate. "Garden?"

Alex looked at the biscuits. Then at Sam. "Yeah."

They carried the plate outside.

Sam sat on the grass. Alex sat beside him. The robot biscuit was already missing one arm.

Sam took a bite. "Still good."

Alex laughed. "Still good."

Sam looked towards the football. "Race you."

Alex stood up. "You're on."

Sam ran.

Alex chased him.

Chapter Four - The Fort

The garden felt better.

There was room to move around, no flour on the floor, and nobody had to worry about icing getting on their sleeves.

Sam dropped the football beside the back door. "What now?"

Alex looked around.

He could have suggested another game. He could have got the remote-control car. Instead, he looked at the old sheet Mum used for painting. "We could build a fort."

Sam's face brightened. "With that?"

"Yeah."

They dragged two garden chairs onto the grass.

Alex held one end of the sheet. Sam held the other.

"Put it over here," Alex said.

Sam moved his chair.

"No, the other way."

"This way?"

"Yeah."

They draped the sheet over the chairs. It fell down immediately. They stared at it.

"That's not a fort," Sam said.

"It's the roof."

"It's a roof on the floor."

Alex laughed. "Okay." He picked up the sheet. "Maybe your way."

Sam dragged one chair closer to the wall.

Alex looked at it. "Actually, that's better."

They moved the second chair. Sam found two cushions. Alex found a garden peg.

They used the peg to hold one corner of the sheet down. It worked. Mostly.

The sheet still sagged in the middle.

Sam crawled underneath. "Come in."

Alex ducked inside. It was darker than he'd expected. The sheet made a little roof above their heads.

"We need a door," Sam said.

Alex looked around. "There isn't one."

Sam lifted one side of the sheet. "Now there is."

Alex laughed. "That's just a hole."

"It's a door."

"Okay."

Sam put a cushion against one side. Alex added another. Then he moved the chair slightly.

"That'll make it bigger."

Sam looked around. "Yeah."

They kept adding things.

A cushion became a seat. A garden peg became a flagpole. Sam found a small blanket and spread it across the grass.

Alex brought out two bottles of water.

They crawled back inside.

The fort wasn't straight. One side was higher than the other. The sheet sagged in the middle. The cushions didn't match. But it stayed up.

Sam smiled. "It's good."

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

They had made it together.

Not Alex showing Sam how. Not Sam trying to copy Alex. Both of them had added things.

Neither of them had known exactly what they were doing. And somehow, it worked.

Alex leaned back against a cushion.

For a while, they listened to the garden. A bird called somewhere near the fence. A car went past on the road.

Sam picked up the football and rolled it between his hands.

Then he looked at Alex. "You know what this could be?"

Alex watched him. "What?"

Sam's eyes brightened. "A football goal." Sam pointed at the fort.

Alex stared at it.

The doorway was just wide enough for a football. Almost.

"No."

Sam blinked. "Why not?"

"Because it's a fort."

"I know."

"We just built it."

"Yeah."

Sam bounced the football against his foot. "That's why we should use it."

Alex looked at the fort. Use it. He hadn't thought of that.

They had made it together. It had taken ages to get the sheet to stay up. If they kicked a football at it, the whole thing could fall down.

What if it did?

Alex folded his arms. "We can't kick a ball at it."

"Why?"

"Because it'll wreck it."

"It might."

"Exactly."

"But it might not."

Alex didn't like that answer.

Sam pointed towards the other end of the garden. "We could play over there and kick the ball through here."

Alex imagined it.

The ball rolling through the doorway. The sheet shaking. The chairs wobbling. Then falling.

"No."

Sam lowered the football. "Okay."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Alex looked at the fort. He didn't want Sam to think he was being difficult. He just didn't want to lose what they'd made.

Sam picked up the ball. "What if it falls?"

Alex shrugged. "Then it falls."

"And we build it again."

Alex looked up. "Again?"

"Yeah."

"It took ages."

"We know how now." Sam smiled. "We could make it different."

Alex looked at the fort. Different?

He wasn't sure he wanted different. He liked it the way it was.

Sam put the football down. "We don't have to."

Alex looked at him.

"We can do something else."

Alex glanced at the fort. Then at the ball.

They had been having fun. They had built the fort together. Maybe this would work. Maybe it wouldn't.

Alex didn't know. That was the problem.

Sam picked up the football. "Just one?"

Alex took a breath. He looked at the fort one more time. His mind was already imagining what might happen.

The chairs could move. The sheet could fall. The whole thing could come down.

But this time, Alex didn't need to know what would happen. He just needed to find out. "One."

Sam grinned. "Ready?"

Alex looked at the fort.

Then at the ball.

"Ready."

Chapter Five - The Goal

Alex stood beside Sam.

The fort waited at the other end of the garden.

"One shot," Alex said.

Sam grinned. "One shot."

He placed the ball on the grass.

Alex watched the fort.

His mind immediately supplied several possibilities. It could fall. They might not be able to rebuild it. It might never look the same.

Maybe agreeing had been a mistake.

Sam ran up and kicked the ball. It rolled straight through the doorway.

The fort wobbled.

Alex froze.

Nothing happened.

Sam turned around. "See?"

Alex let out a breath. "Again?"

Sam nodded.

The second shot hit one of the chairs.

The sheet slipped sideways.

"Careful!" Alex shouted.

Sam grabbed the ball. "Sorry."

Alex walked over and tucked the sheet back into place. "It needs to stay like this."

Sam nodded. "Okay."

They tried again.

This time the ball bounced off a cushion. Sam laughed.

Alex smiled despite himself. "That was nearly a goal."

"Nearly?"

"It didn't go through."

"It touched it."

"That doesn't count."

"It definitely counts."

Alex laughed. They played again. And again.

Soon Alex was running after the ball instead of watching the fort.

He forgot about the sheet. He forgot about the chairs. He forgot to wonder whether Sam was enjoying himself.

He was enjoying himself.

Sam kicked the ball.

Alex blocked it.

"Goal!"

"No, it wasn't."

"Definitely."

"You missed."

Sam chased the ball across the grass.

Alex followed.

For a while, the fort wasn't something they were protecting. It was part of the game. Then Sam kicked harder.

The ball flew towards the doorway.

It hit the chair. The chair moved.

The sheet pulled tight. There was a sudden rustle. Then…

Crash.

The fort collapsed.

The sheet dropped onto the grass. One chair tipped sideways. The cushions spilled out.

The football rolled underneath the fallen sheet and stopped.

Neither boy moved.

Alex stared at the remains. His chest felt tight. "I told you."

Sam looked at him.

Alex lifted the sheet.

He looked at the chairs.

Sam was quiet.

Alex kicked at the grass. "We shouldn't have done this."

His mind was already racing.

They had ruined it. They couldn't make it the same again. They'd spent ages building it.

And now it was just a pile of blankets and chairs.

Sam picked up a cushion. "We can build it again."

Alex shook his head. "It won't be the same."

"I know."

Alex looked at him.

Sam wasn't angry.

He wasn't blaming Alex. He was looking at the pieces. Thinking.

"What?" Alex asked.

Sam pointed to the chairs. "We could make it bigger."

Alex frowned. "Bigger?"

"Yeah."

Sam moved one chair. "And put the doorway here."

Alex watched. "It took ages last time."

"We know how now." Sam picked up the sheet.

Alex looked at the grass. Part of him still wanted to put everything back exactly as it had been. But that wasn't possible.

The fort was gone.

Sam waited.

Alex reached down and picked up the other chair. "Okay."

Sam smiled.

They began moving things.

The new fort was already different. The entrance was wider. One side was longer.

He looked at Sam. Then at what they were building.

It wasn't the same.

But he didn't know yet whether that meant it was worse.

So he kept building.

Chapter Six - Build It Again

The new fort was harder to build.

The chairs kept slipping. The blanket wouldn't stretch far enough, and the doorway was too small.

"That's not going to work," Alex said.

Sam moved one of the chairs. "What about this?"

Alex looked. "Maybe."

They tried it. The blanket stayed.

Alex crawled inside.

The new fort was different. The entrance was wider, one side was longer, and Sam had made a little opening at the back.

"Secret window," he said.

Alex looked at it. It was really just a gap between two cushions. He liked it anyway.

"Should we put the football here?" Sam asked.

"Why?"

"So we can score."

Alex looked at the fort. Then at the ball. "Okay."

Sam kicked. The ball rolled through the opening. "Goal!"

Alex laughed.

They played again.

This time the ball caught the edge of a chair.

The fort wobbled.

For a second, Alex's mind jumped ahead. It's going to fall.

But Sam was already laughing.

Alex looked at the fort.

It was still standing.

"Nearly," he said.

Sam kicked again. The ball hit the blanket.

The whole thing collapsed.

They both stared.

Then Sam burst out laughing.

Alex looked at the heap of cushions.

A moment passed.

Then he laughed too.

"Again?" Sam asked.

Alex looked at him.

The first time the fort had fallen, it had felt like the end. Now it was just a pile of blankets and chairs. A pile they knew how to rebuild.

"Again," Alex said.

They started moving the chairs. This time they made the doorway wider. Sam added another blanket. Alex found a cushion for the secret window.

Soon they had another fort.

Then another.

One was too small. One fell down immediately. One had a roof that was almost completely sideways.

They laughed until Alex's stomach hurt.

At some point, Alex realised he hadn't checked whether Sam was having fun for ages.

He hadn't needed to.

They were both having fun.

Dad called from the house. "Alex! Sam! Dinner!"

"Coming!"

They carried the biscuits inside.

Some were neat. Some were covered in strange icing patterns. One had a bite missing.

Sam picked it up. "This one's mine."

Alex looked at him. "Of course it is."

Sam took another bite.

Alex laughed.

At the table, Mum asked, "Did you boys have a good afternoon?"

"Yes!" Sam said.

Alex smiled. "Yeah."

Later, when Sam's mum arrived, the two boys stood by the front door.

"See you," Sam said.

"See you."

"Next time we'll make a bigger fort."

"Definitely."

Sam ran down the path.

Alex watched until he disappeared around the corner.

The house felt quiet.

Mum came into the hallway. "That looked like a good afternoon."

Alex nodded. "It was."

Mum smiled. "Oh, Sam's mum asked if you'd like to go to their house next Saturday."

Alex looked up. "Next Saturday?"

"Yes."

Alex thought about it.

The questions began. What would they do? Who would be there? What if…

Alex stopped.

He didn't know yet.

But he had time to find out.

"Okay," he said.

"Sounds good."

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