Eighty-Four
before
Shiloh had found a wide-brimmed hat at the thrift shop. It was old, not just made to look old, and it had a black, gauzy bow.
She wore it one day to school, even though she couldn’t wear it in school. She carried it around all day. Mikey thought it was cool, but Cary thought it was ridiculous.
A bunch of them stayed late that day to work on the yearbook, and when they walked out the front door, Shiloh immediately
put on her hat.
The wind blew it right off her head.
It went rolling down the sidewalk, flying up into the air, then touching ground again.
Shiloh was too shocked to react until it was already too far away for her to chase.
Cary took off after it.
He ran all the way to Ames Street and around the corner.
Tanya and Becky laughed. “He’ll never catch it,” Tanya said. After a few minutes, the two of them walked to their cars.
That left Mikey and Shiloh. Mikey looked at her, with an eyebrow raised.
Shiloh ignored him. She watched the street.
After another few minutes, Mikey said, “Should we go after him?”
Shiloh looked down. It was colder than she’d expected. She wasn’t wearing a coat.
They kept waiting.
“Holy shit,” Mikey said.
Shiloh looked up.
Cary was walking up the hill of the parking lot. He was panting. He was holding Shiloh’s hat.
“There’s your man,” Mikey said.