Shiloh looked in the brown paper bag that his mom left on the kitchen table and wasn't surprised to see that she had packed him a lunch filled with all of his favorite things - A sandwich (probably turkey with mayo, and not Miracle Whip like his dad liked to put on his sandwiches. What even was that?), a bag of Bon Ton potato chips, an apple, and one of those new Capri Sun fruit punch juice pouches. Shiloh hoped that she hadn't forgotten about the special treat he had asked for. He knew she was confused by his request, and hoped that she didn't think he was being greedy since she always packed his lunch for field trips so generously. At the bottom of the bag, he found a note that read, "Have a great day on top of the world, my sweet boy!" surrounded by smiley faces and hearts and a pack of watermelon Now and Laters, even though his flavor was Tropical Punch.
The jingle of his dad's belt from his parents' bedroom told him that his dad was almost finished getting dressed. Shiloh would have gone and thanked his mom right away, except she had already left for work before he woke up.
"You ready, Little Man?" Tony asked as he came out of the room and grabbed his keys from the hook near the door. Shiloh was the spitting image of his father - dark brown curly hair with ends that transitioned into a caramel color that matched his skin, dimpled cheeks, and a freckled nose. When Shiloh was older, they were sure to be mistaken as brothers instead of father and son.
"Yep," Shiloh said, grinning up at his dad, showing that the Tooth Fairy must've been a recent guest in their home.
When it was time to get on the school bus to go to the World Trade Center with the other second graders, Shiloh was too nervous to sit next to her, even though the seat next to her was empty.
He wasn't too scared to sit behind her while she was looking out of the window on the observation deck. Primus was his best friend, but he wanted to kill him. He couldn't believe that he called him a chicken in front of her. She didn't seem to care, though.
Shiloh worked up the courage to sit next to her on the bus on the way back to school. She wasn't crying anymore, and he felt proud that he was able to help her feel better. Thankfully Primus sat next to someone else and didn't bother them. They got back to school after all the other kids were gone, and he could see his father in front of the school waiting for him through the window as the bus approached the school.
Just before the bus pulled up to the building, Shiloh took a deep breath, reached into his pocket and pulled out the pack of watermelon Now and Laters.
"Here," he said, putting them in her hand.
She looked up at him and smiled. "These are my favorite!"
"I know," he said. He grabbed his bag and yelled, "See you tomorrow!" over his shoulder as he ran off of the bus. Primus looked over at him, and Shiloh gave him a quick wave. He knew Primus had questions for him, but they'd have to wait until tomorrow.
"How was the trip, Little Man?" Shiloh's dad asked.
"Great!" he said, looking back to watch as she climbed down the bus stairs. It didn't look like anyone was there waiting for her, and his chest tightened a bit.
Shiloh liked to draw before going to sleep each night, but that night he wanted to write. Not much. One thing, just to see if it looked as pretty as it sounded. Typically, he rushed when he wrote, but this time he took his time with every letter. He didn't want to mistakenly write a "d" instead of a "b" as he sometimes did. S-u-b-r-i-a. He said it out loud - Soo-BREE-ah - and it sounded beautiful.
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