Milo stood at the school gate. His yellow backpack straps were wrapped tightly around his arms.
He tried to loosen one strap, but it only got more tangled. Laughter spilled from the doorway.
Milo peeked inside. A line of children held teachers' hands. He backed away — ding!
His backpack bumped the bicycle. A girl with a blue backpack looked up and dropped her juice box.
She offered the juice box. Milo shook his head. She patted the curb beside her. He sat.
Milo kept his yellow backpack between them. She unzipped her blue bag and showed a shiny star sticker.
He showed her a dinosaur patch on his bag. "A dinosaur! I love dinosaurs!"
His fingers uncurled from the straps. When she reached out her hand, he placed his in hers.
Together, they walked through the doorway into the noisy classroom.
They found two empty chairs by the window and sat side by side, still holding hands.
The teacher called their names. Milo turned to the girl and smiled. She smiled back.
The bell rang again. But this time it sounded like music.