Work Text:
Friday, May 5, 1978
“Alright, class,” called Ms. Coleman, standing up from her desk with a stack of blue papers in her hand. Most of the class groaned. “More worksheets?” called out Greg. “The day’s almost over!”
Lucas rolled his eyes, first at the fact that obviously they weren’t worksheets – why would she print worksheets on blue paper for the first time ever? – and then at the way Mike’s and Will’s eyes lit up. He cuffed Mike on the shoulder. “They’re not worksheets,” he muttered. “Nerd,” he added as an afterthought.
“Yeah,” Will chimed in, “They’re blue, so it’s something we gotta bring home.”
“Oh.” Mike’s eyes dimmed a bit, but then brightened again. “Maybe it’s –”
“No, Greg, not more worksheets,” Ms. Coleman interrupted, waiting for the murmur to subside. “I have some exciting news.”
“Maybe we’re gonna get a class pet,” whispered Mike, leaning in, “Or a telescope, or we can read comic books in class, or –” Lucas couldn’t quite tell, but from the way Mike jerked, he was pretty sure Will had kicked him under the desks. Mike frowned, but Will jerked his head towards the stack of papers.
“Permission form, Mike,” he whispered.
Mike’s eyes widened – “Ooh, a field trip! Maybe we’re going to the city, or the planetarium, or –”
Suddenly, everything clicked in Lucas’s mind, as he tuned Mike out. Every year, the first grade classes went to the Indianapolis Zoo, but the blizzard earlier in the year had messed everything up schedulewise. The rumor mill said that they probably couldn’t go this year since they had to make up hours or something stupid like that. But clearly the powers-that-be had figured everything out. “The zoo!” he cut in
Will’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know? Are you sure?”
Lucas shrugged, palms out. “What else would it be?”
Will’s eyes lit up. “Oh man, I hope it is. I’ve never been before! They have lions!”
Mike’s eyes narrowed threateningly. Lucas suppressed a sigh. He and Mike were real friends now, and these moments were getting fewer and farther between, but sometimes he still managed to trigger “Protective Mike Mode”, as he called it in his head (and once accidentally out loud… that hadn’t gone over well).
Ms. Coleman was just smiling as she waited for everyone to quiet down. Clearly she wasn’t in any rush. Once everyone was done talking, she took in a deep breath. “We’re going on a field trip!” she shouted.
Lucas gave a little “whoo”, but it’s not like he was surprised. It was obvious, and it was also obvious where they were going, even if Mike doubted him. Will was bouncing in his seat in excitement, eyes wide and bright. Mike’s mouth was pinched, hand hovering near Will, ready to comfort him if needed.
“And we’re going…” Ms. Coleman continued, talking over them this time, “To the zoo!”
Lucas let out a breath, although he would have denied it if anyone asked. Obviously he knew he was right, and no part of him was nervous he was wrong. Men don’t doubt themselves. He watched the tension drain from Mike’s shoulders too as Will actually squealed with excitement and grabbed Mike’s hovering hand, squeezing it with his own. Mike flushed a bit as he turned and smiled at Will.
After a long moment, Will turned to Lucas. “What are you most excited for?” he asked.
“Do you think they have elephants?” Lucas asked, “Or tigers? Dad saw them in Vietnam and I wanna see them too.”
“I bet they do!” chimed in Mike. “Nancy saw all sorts of things when she went! She mostly liked the monkeys, though.”
“Yeah, ‘cause they remind her of you,” Will teased, pulling his ears and making a monkey face. Mike used his newly-released hand to poke Will in the side, both of them dissolving in a fit of giggles.
Meanwhile, Ms. Coleman had started circulating around the room, leaving one blue form on everyone’s desk. “Give these to your parents tonight and get them signed for Monday,” she said. Lucas got his first and bent down to put it away in his take-home folder. Mike tried to shove his straight into his backpack before Will stopped him, then grudgingly shoved it into a folder instead, still crumpling it in the process. Will took a moment to glance over the form and a shadow passed across his face before he placed his neatly in his folder.
“So what did Jonathan think?” asked Mike as they walked out to the bus.
“Huh?” asked Will, “Of what?”
“Of the zoo!”
“Oh. Uh…” Will slowed down as he thought. Mike slung an arm around his shoulders to keep him moving. Will’s brows furrowed. “I dunno. He must have gone, but I don’t remember him saying anything about it. I’ll have to ask him later.”
“Yeah, tomorrow,” smirked Lucas. It was Friday, which meant they were all hanging out after school – at Mike’s this week – and invariably Will would end up sleeping over. Lucas would usually stay at least through dinner, and sometimes would stay over too, but his house was so close and his bed was so much nicer than Mike’s hard floor.
“Yeah, tomorrow,” agreed Mike without a hint of embarrassment. “Hey, there’s Nancy. Nancy!” he called out.
Nancy was walking with one of her friends – Ally, maybe? – and glanced back, rolling her eyes when she saw Mike. They looked so alike when they did that. Lucas would have to save that observation to use at the right time – Mike would deny it, but Will would know he was right.
“Hey, Nancy!” Mike called again, undeterred, “Sit near us on the bus! Will wants to know about the zoo!” At that, Nancy’s face softened, like everyone’s did when it came to Will.
“Okay,” she called over her shoulder, then turned back to Ally to finish their conversation.
Mike, Will, and Lucas sat in a row like normal – Will and Mike sharing a seat with Mike on the aisle and Lucas right across from Mike – and Mike slung his backpack to reserve the seat behind Lucas for Nancy. “Here,” he said, and he and Will executed a complex maneuver that ended up with Will on the aisle, so he could talk to Nancy.
Nancy finally got on the bus a couple minutes later and dutifully sat in the seat they’d saved for her. Lucas zoned out as Will peppered her with questions – apparently the zoo had lions, elephants, tigers, and more. Mike leaned over Will to ask a few questions and eventually just stayed in that position, half-lying across Will’s lap. Lucas flicked him in the ear. “Get up.”
“Why?” Mike frowned.
“So Will’s legs don’t fall asleep from your fat body,” he teased.
Sure enough, Will sighed in relief as Mike shot up, reaching down to rub some feelings back into his legs. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Mike demanded.
Will shrugged. “I didn’t mind.”
* * *
Friday, May 12, 1978
“What.” Mike stared at Will, slack jawed. As soon as Ms. Coleman said they needed to choose bus buddies for the field trip it was obvious to Lucas that Mike and Will would ride together. He’d find Greg or someone else to ride with and make sure they were in the same Zoo Group. But apparently not all was well on the other side of the desks. “What do you mean, you don’t know if we can be bus buddies?” Mike continued, breathing heavily. “Who else am I gonna ride with?”- which, ouch, Lucas was right there, but whatever. Mike looked close to tears, which was certainly the more pressing matter.
“Hey.” Will reached out and started rubbing Mike’s arm. “I’m not – I wouldn’t – I’m not gonna ride with anyone else. I just don’t know if I’m going.”
“What?” Mike immediately flipped into Problem-Solving Mike. “Why not?”
“My mom isn’t sure about –”
“Let me talk to her!” Mike interrupted. “She loves me! I’ll keep you safe and make sure the lions don’t eat you up!” He formed his hands into claws and pretended to attack Will, chomping at his arm. Will just pushed him away, giggling, but then sobered up quickly.
“It’s not that,” said Will, “I just – don’t know if I can go yet. If I can, I’ll totally ride with you!” He plastered on a fake smile to try to redirect the conversation.
“But why not?” needled Mike. “I can convince her! Promise! You’re gonna see so many cool things and we’ll get to hang out all day and –”
“Are you gonna let Will talk or not?” Lucas interrupted.
Will, however, didn’t seem to be in any rush to continue the conversation. He kept his lips pressed firmly together.
“Willllll,” whined Mike, reaching over again, “Why notttt.” Instead of leaning in to Mike like usual, Will just hunched up into himself instead. To his credit, Mike wasn’t a bumbling idiot for once and actually backed off. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked softly. “I’m sorry,” he added reflexively, “I don’t know what for, but I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
Will still didn’t say anything but made a small noise in the back of his throat and leaned a little towards Mike. He grabbed Mike’s hand and started doodling a little lion in blue ink on the back.
Mike stared over at Lucas, eyes wide with confusion. Lucas just shrugged in response. No one spoke Will as well as Mike did. “Sorry?” he offered again.
Will rolled his eyes and bumped his side lightly against Mike’s. “You’re fine, dummy,” he said finally, “ ‘s not your fault. I’ll just – tell you later, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Mike said immediately. Will relaxed, but Mike still seemed tenser than normal the rest of the day, through lunch and recess and the afternoon and the bus ride back to Lucas’s. It was his turn to host, which meant both Mike and Will would probably sleep over, especially since school was almost out.
“So why doesn’t your mom want you to go to the zoo?” Mike asked as soon as they got off the bus. Will shot him a glare. “What?” Mike retorted, “You said later. It’s later! I’ve been patient!”
“…Dude,” Lucas cut in, “seriously?”
“What, Lucas.” Mike turned to glare at him. “Do you have something to add?”
“Yeah, I do,” Lucas replied, “Maybe let him tell us when he’s ready? Obviously it’s not something he’s comfortable talking about, and bothering him about it isn’t gonna make it any better. Let’s just –” he shrugged his backpack off and left it on the front step – “Tag!” he shouted, slapping Mike on the back and running off. “You’re it!” he called over his shoulder.
Will was quick on the uptake, shucking off his bag and giggling as he ran away. That left Mike alone on the front step. “Guys, seriously?” he called out, sighing, before he too tossed his bag down and ran to the backyard.
Half an hour later, they were all seriously exhausted. Fortunately, Lucas’s mom was waiting inside with cold lemonade at the ready. “How was school?” she asked.
Lucas shrugged. “It was school.”
“It was good,” Will added, “We talked about tadpoles!” He turned to Mike and Lucas, eyes wide. “We should look for frogs tonight!”
Mike chuckled. “Yeah, sure,” he agreed easily.
“Are you excited for the zoo?” his mom asked.
Will’s smile froze. “Yeah, of course,” he said lightly. Lucas was relieved to see that Mike didn’t comment further.
“Well, you boys sure smell like wild animals,” she continued. “Go on up and wash up before dinner.”
“But Mommm,” groaned Lucas.
“No butts, young man, unless they’re in the shower. Now on with you!” She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him towards the stairs.
“Who wants first shower?” he asked when they made it up to his room.
Will lifted his arm to smell. “Uh, maybe I should?” he joked.
“Nah, you smell fine,” Mike chimed in, leaning over to take a whiff himself. “Guess we need a tiebreaker,” he said, looking over at Lucas.
Lucas gave a long-suffering sigh. “You guys are idiots,” he complained, but nevertheless leaned closer to Will’s armpit. He wrinkled his nose. “You reek, Byers! Go take a shower.”
Will tossed his head in vindication and cuffed Mike on the arm as he headed off to the bathroom. Once the bathroom door shut, Mike immediately turned to Lucas.
“Am I doing okay?” he asked urgently. “Am I making things worse?”
Lucas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Right on cue, here was Overthinking Mike. “You’re fine, dude. Just be patient.”
“But what if I did something wrong and –”
“You didn’t.”
“But what if –”
“You didn’t.”
“But what if I did?”
“Then Will would forgive you. Duh.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Yes, actually, I do.”
“How?” Mike looked disbelieving, but also like he desperately needed reassurance of this obvious fact.
“It’s Will. First off, he would forgive Troy if he punched him in the face because he’s just that good of a person. But also, it’s – you.”
“Huh?”
“God, you’re such an idiot sometimes.”
“Hey, rude.”
“Do you see the way he looks at you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just like – always checking in with you, making sure you’re okay. He likes you. A lot. I don’t think you could do anything to make him hate you.”
Mike made a noncommittal noise. “I dunno. Will’s just – so good. All the time. And I feel like one day he’s gonna get tired of me or realize that I’m not a good person like him and I just – I don’t know what I’d do, Lucas. I’ve known Will for forever –”
“Two years,” Lucas interrupted.
“– For forever,” Mike continued, glaring. “And I – I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“And you won’t ever have to.”
“But what if Will –”
“But what if Will what?” interrupted Will, stepping back into the room. Mike, the idiot that he is, clammed up. “It’s your turn, Lucas,” Will continued blithely. “I left the water running. Do I smell okay now?” he asked, shoving his armpit in Mike’s face.
“Like roses, Byers,” Mike replied. Lucas fake-retched as he grabbed some clean clothes from his dresser and exited the room. He left the bathroom door cracked slightly so he could hear Will and Mike talk next door. His mom knew better than to walk in on him in the shower. Usually he hated how thin the walls were because he could hear Erica crying from literally everywhere in the house, but for once it came in handy.
“Hey,” said Mike softly.
“Hey,” replied Will. “Sorry about earlier. I wanna sit with you, I wanna go, I just – Mom just – two dollars is a lot for us right now.”
“I can ask my mom to –”
“No, Mike,” Will interrupted. “You shouldn’t have to do that. Mom said she’ll find a way to make it work. You know we don’t have as much money as you do.”
“My parents don’t need it!” Mike protested. “And we share everything anyway.”
“It’s just – different. Anyways, I’m like 95% sure it’s gonna happen. Just give it a few days, okay?”
“…yeah, okay,” Mike conceded.
Lucas stepped into the shower. All would be well.
* * *
Tuesday, May 16, 1978
Lucas liked his friends, he really did, but sometimes Mike was – a lot. Sometimes he had to rein Mike in; other times, he preferred to let things play out and see how they ended up. This latter inclination was why he found himself riding in the back of Mike’s car after dinner, Mrs. Wheeler at the wheel.
“Remind me again why we’re going to Melvald’s?” she called back from the front seat.
“I told you, Mom, Will said his mom said they have these cool new comic books on sale! For like half price!”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. If you weren’t looking at Mike, maybe it was plausible, but he was fidgeting way too much to be believed. Fortunately, Mrs. Wheeler seemed to believe him. When they got there, Mike bolted out of the car, Lucas hot on his heels.
Mike dashed for the back of the store, where there were indeed some half-price comic books – old editions that weren’t selling. “New, huh?” Lucas quipped.
Mike shot him a glare. “Whatever, man. My mom won’t know the difference. And that’s not why we’re here anyways.”
“Are you gonna tell me why we’re here?”
“For Will. Duh.”
Lucas made a show of looking around the store, empty save for them, Mrs. Wheeler, and Mr. Melvald at the register. “Will’s not here. You know Tuesday’s his family dinner night.”
“And?”
“You could just tell me why we’re here.”
Mike shook his head stubbornly.
“Why not? I’ll find out soon enough.”
“Because you’d say it’s dumb and try to stop – Go! Now! My mom’s distracted!” He grabbed Lucas’s wrist and pulled him to the checkout counter. “I’ll have these,” he said, slapping the two random comics he grabbed onto the counter. Lucas wrinkled his nose. He was pretty sure Mike already owned at least one of them.
Mr. Melvald looked down at them, bemused. “That’ll be thirty-five cents, boys.”
Mike put down the change he’d gotten from his mom – thirty-five cents exactly – and then rooted around in his pocket. Lucas’s eyes widened as he put an extra two dollar bills on the counter. Where had he gotten that kind of money?
Mike leaned over the counter, or tried to at least. “This is for Mrs. By – Joyce,” he whispered. Mr. Melvald looked very confused. Mike sighed and rolled his eyes. “She can’t know it’s from me, okay? Just say it’s a bonus for – the end of school or something –”
“Or for Mother’s Day!” Lucas interjected quickly.
“Yeah, for Mother’s Day!” Mike agreed.
Mr. Melvald now looked more amused than confused. “I think I can do that for you boys. Is this Friday’s paycheck soon enough?”
“No!” Mike was torn between a shout and a whisper and it came out all funny. “I mean – could you just give it to her tomorrow? Since it’s already past Mother’s Day?”
Mr. Melvald chuckled. “Sure, that’s fine. Pleasure doing business with you gentlemen.”
“Yeah, you too,” Mike replied absently. “Mom!” he called over his shoulder, “We’re ready to go!”
“Just a minute, honey,” Mrs. Wheeler called back. “Since we’re here already, I’m just going to pick up a few things we need.”
Mike sighed and Lucas used the opportunity to pull him outside. “Dude,” he hissed when they were out of earshot, “Where’d you get that money?”
“From my allowance!” Mike protested. “I didn’t steal it or anything!” Lucas shrugged innocently. He hadn’t thought that, but he hadn’t not thought it either. “Yeah I buy comic books sometimes, but I save up too. For emergencies.”
“Emergencies?”
“Yes,” Mike replied stubbornly, “Emergencies.”
Lucas shrugged again. No skin off his back – or money out of his wallet. “Is it worth it?” he asked.
Mike smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, he is.”
* * *
Friday, May 19, 1978
It was finally field trip day! It looked like Mr. Melvald had come through because, to no one’s surprise and certainly not to Lucas’s, Mike and Will were sitting cozily side-by-side in their bus seat. It looked like Mike had brought one of the random comics he’d bought for them to read together, but as Lucas passed by them, Mike was leaning in and whispering something to Will, who burst out in laughter. Lucas slid into the seat behind them, making room for Greg to sit next to him. Greg’s mom was chaperoning their Zoo Group; he certainly didn’t want to make Greg’s life any harder.
The bus ride was long – supposedly about an hour and a half, however long that was. He talked a bit with Greg. Occasionally Will or Mike would pop over the seat in front of him and they’d interact for a bit. Mostly he watched the fields pass by out the window. Man, Indiana was so boring. Why couldn’t they have mountains or volcanoes or jungles? But nope. Just corn and soybeans.
He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, Greg was shaking his shoulder. “C’mon, Luke, let’s go!” Greg was the kind of kid that always had a mysterious amount of energy. Lucas blinked at him, still waking up. “C’mon! There’s so much to see! We’re gonna be late!” Lucas groaned and let himself be pulled up.
He rubbed his eyes as he stumbled off the bus and followed Greg over to their Zoo Group – Mrs. McCorkle, Greg, Mike, Will, and him – and the final pair, Logan and Zach. They weren’t bad kids, not exactly, but they weren’t good kids either. They didn’t mean to be bad, but ended up being agents of chaos regardless – like the time they opened the butterfly cage and let them out into the classroom, or when Zach somehow got so tangled in the soccer net during gym class that Mr. Kennedy had to stop the game to get him out. When he zoned back in, Mike of course had already taken charge.
“So Logan, you want to see the reptile house, Zach you… want to ride the train.” He looked a little pained, then moved on. “Greg, you want to see the elephants, I want to see the giraffes, Will wants to see the lions –” he paused to smile back at Will – “And Lucas, what’s your top choice?”
“Elephants,” Lucas blurted out, before he remembered someone had already said that – “I mean, tigers.”
“Okay.” Mike peered down at the map. “Let’s see what the best route is.” He and Will hunched down ands tarted pointing around the map.
“Remember we need to eat partway through,” Mrs. McCorkle reminded them.
“Mm-hmm,” Mike replied absentmindedly. “I know.” After another thirty seconds or so, he came back up for air. “Okay. The elephants are right there –” he pointed left from the zoo entrance – “so we’ll start there first. Then we can loop around to see the reptiles and tigers and end up by the train station for lunch. Then at the end we can head to the back to see the giraffes and lions. Sound good?” he asked, looking around.
Lucas shrugged. “Works for me, man.” Will and Greg nodded their assent. Logan and Zach were already starting to wander off.
“Boys!” called Mrs. McCorkle, “Stay with the group!”
“Zoo Group,” Greg corrected.
“…stay with the Zoo Group,” Mrs. McCorkle amended.
“Zoo Group, Zoo Group, Zoo Group,” Zach and Logan started chanting. Will joined in briefly before dissolving in a fit of giggles.
“C’mon,” said Mike impatiently, “Let’s go.” He reached out and took Will’s hand automatically. Lucas stiffened, but then relaxed when no one else said anything. Greg, Zach, and Logan weren’t mouthbreathers.
The tickets they’d gotten from Ms. Coleman got them through the entrance gate just fine, and sure enough, Elephant-Rama was on the left. Greg started to take off, but his mom held him back. “Boys, if you can’t stay together, we’ll just have to go back to the bus early and you won’t get to see everything you want to see!”
Greg promptly stopped struggling. “Lemme go, I’ll stay with the Zoo Group.”
“Zoo Group, Zoo Group,” chorused Zach, Logan, and Will. Mike just rolled his eyes.
As they got closer to the elephant pit, Lucas narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t elephants supposed to be big? Why are these ones so tiny?”
“They might be babies,” replied Greg, “Or –” he craned his neck – “Nope, they’re Indian elephants. African elephants are the big ones. The Indian elephants have smaller ears, see?”
“Yeah,” agreed Will, “The African elephant ears look like Africa, remember?” That sounded at last vaguely familiar.
“Yeah, yeah,” added Mike, not to be outdone, “And only male Asian elephants have tusks.” Will and Greg nodded approvingly and Mike beamed.
After a few minutes, they wandered over to the reptile house. Or – reptile and amphibian house, since Logan correctly pointed out that frogs weren’t actually reptiles. Lucas was busy trying (and failing) to find a boa constrictor in its cage when a giggling Will caught his attention. Will beckoned him over.
“…What,” he asked. Will was doubled over in laughter while Mike’s face was caught halfway between mildly amused and violently offended.
Will took a moment to calm down and finally managed, “Look at the frog.”
Lucas looked at the frog. He raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“Look –” Will was almost hiccupping as he tried to bring himself under control – “Look at Mike.”
Lucas looked at Mike. He looked at the frog. He looked at Mike. He burst out laughing. “Oh my god, Will’s right. It does look like you!”
“That’s mean,” Mike pouted.
“Oh come on, you can take a joke,” Lucas countered.
“This isn’t a joke. It’s mean,” Mike replied, crossing his arms.
Will adopted a serious face, reaching out to Mike. He stood on tip-toes to match Mike’s height. “It’s a very beautiful frog,” he said, deadpan. It took a moment, but Mike finally cracked and started laughing, pulling Will in to give him a noogie. Lucas shook his head. His friends were dorks.
Lucas got his tiger time and lunch was uneventful. But then they got to the train. There was a bit of a line, which was fine, but Mike kept glancing at the clock above the station, rocking back and forth. It’d be a bit tight, but they’d get on the next train and still have time to see the giraffes and lions. No sweat. Zach also couldn’t keep still, which could have something to do with how much he loved trains and could also have something to do with the lunch he’d just consumed that inexplicably had consisted entirely of marshmallows. He was practically vibrating and sweating up a storm by the time they got on the train. They paired up with their bus buddies so Lucas was sitting with Greg again. Mike and Will were to his left, across the aisle, Zach and Logan were in front of them, and Mrs. McCorkle was a few seats further up, evidently trusting them on their own near the back of the train.
They were just getting near the lion exhibit – Mike had his arm around Will’s shoulders, pointing up ahead – when Zach bent over suddenly and threw up a pile of half-digested marshmallow in the aisle. All things considered, it was pretty tidy. It didn’t even splash on Mike’s shoes at all, and Zach just wiped up his mouth, swallowed, sat back up, and seemed fine. Mrs. McCorkle, however, didn’t seem to share this view. She’d gotten up at the first sound of retching and headed back.
“Zach! What happened?”
Zach gestured vaguely at his mouth. “Uh. I hurled?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I felt weird before, but now I’m fine! I’m on a train! Plus I’m with my Zoo Group!” Only Logan joined in this time. Mike and Will just looked mildly horrified.
“Well, this won’t do at all,” Mrs. McCorkle continued. “As soon as we get back to the station, we’re going straight back to the bus to rest. It’s basically time to head back anyways.”
Mike sucked in a breath, eyes wide. “No! We can’t!”
“And why not, young man?”
“It’s not fair! Everyone else got to see their animals!”
“And I saw you and Will having a great time in the reptile house.”
Mike started breathing harder, tears welling up in his eyes. “But Will’s been wanting to see the lions all day and we might never come back here again!”
Mrs. McCorkle hemmed and hawed for a moment as tears continued falling down his face. Then Will activated his puppy-dog eyes and Lucas knew it was over.
“Can I trust the two of you to stay together and not get lost?”
Lucas snorted. “Could you possibly keep them apart?” he quipped.
“And Mike’s been navigating all day!” Greg chimed in.
“Okay,” Mrs. McCorkle conceded. “We’ll head back to the bus as a Zoo Group –”
“Zoo Group, Zoo Group!” chorused Zach and Logan weakly. Mike glared at them.
“– and Mike and Will can quickly swing by the lions and giraffes and meet us at the bus. Does that work for everyone?” she asked in a tone that strongly suggested it had very well better work for everyone. Mike and Will nodded vigorously, Mike’s tears having seemingly dried up.
Once the train got back to the station, Lucas gingerly stepped over the pile of half-digested marshmallow. As soon as they were off the train, Mike and Will took off like a rocket. Will offered a half-hearted wave behind him, but they were soon out of sight.
Mrs. McCorkle insisted Zach stop by the bathroom and Lucas took the opportunity to pee as well.
“That was crazy, wasn’t it?” asked Greg once he got back outside.
“Yeah, man,” Lucas agreed. “I’m glad Will still gets to see his lions.”
“And Mike gets to see the giraffes,” Greg added.
Lucas shrugged. “Maybe.”
Greg looked confused. “But aren’t they on the way?”
“If Will’s happy, Mike’s happy,” Lucas explained. “That’s just how it goes.”
Indeed, by the time everyone met back at the bus, Mike and Will showed up hand-in-hand, matching broad grins adorning their faces. “Best day ever!” exclaimed Will.
“Yeah,” Mike agreed easily, grinning down at Will. “Best day ever.”
“Told you,” Lucas whispered to Greg.