𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑. | 𝐎.𝐃. 𝐱 𝐑.𝐌.

𝐎𝐍𝐄 - 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐔𝐓.

Shifting positions, the small boy laid on his side, his injured arm propped up on one of the twins stuffed animals. He reached up under his pillow with his other arm and grabbed the small box that was carefully wrapped in purple colored paper. A weak smile spread upon his face as he examined the gift, his salty tears running down his cheeks and into the crease of his lips. He stared into the distance after parting ways with the box, his face saddening. Just holding it in his hands brought back memories, Olivia's angelic-like voice drowning out his thoughts.

"I don't want you to get me anything else, Ruby, you've already done so much. But if you do, just make it simple. Something small but meaningful."

Ruby remembered struggling to find the perfect gift for Olivia just weeks ago, spending hours of his time dedicated to just that. From searching Amazon top to bottom, to even dragging Monse to stores like Forever 21 to help him find Olivia a nice outfit to complimented her style. He remembered Olivia's obsession with clothes and thought that a new outfit would be just what she needed, but even after finding what him and Monse deemed to be "thee outfit", he still wasn't satisfied. By no means did he wanna let his best friend down, and honestly, he thought that he could do better.

As Ruby was shopping for a gift, he kept hearing Olivia repeating the word meaningful over and over again, dragging him back to the cute little pocket sized English-Spanish dictionary he saw on Amazon. Olivia may have been Mexican, but her Spanish wasn't that great, she understood it more than she could speak it. And being that her parents spoke broken English, it could be a little difficult for them to communicate at times, so Ruby bought her the dictionary instead. Although Olivia's parents were way back in Mexico, it was the thought that counted, and Ruby definitely put in a lot of that. He knew that they'd be reunited one day, and when that day came, he wanted Olivia to be able to fully communicate with her parents.

"So much for that." Ruby's mind began to drift back off to Olivia and how she didn't even make it through her Quienceañera, nor will she ever get to graduate, or turn eighteen, or go to prom, or simply get to see the light of day again. He knew Olivia had a full, promising life ahead of her that she'll never get to experience. She was so much more than just a pretty face, and he wished more people knew that. She had dreams, big dreams, and she deserved better than to be stuffed into a painted box that'll be full of maggots and worms within a few weeks.

Just when Ruby probably would have bursted into sobs, he was interrupted by his brother Mario. "Ruby! Mom said she's leaving and-" Mario paused, face softening once he laid eyes on his little brother, who looked completely out of it. "hey, you alright, mano?"

"I'm just thinking how crazy it is that someone's whole life can fit inside of a box." Ruby's voice was very monotone-like. He stared off to the side, his perfect brows furrowing every once in a while as a spoke, as if he was trying to process what was going on at the same time.

Not knowing what to say, Mario cleared his throat and sat on the edge of Ruby's bed, deciding to change the subject. His eyes traveling to the present in his hands. "is that..."

"I never got to give it to her." Ruby spoke softly, never looking up at Mario. His voice shook more than usual due to him trying to keep from crying, which he oddly hadn't done much of. Mario didn't say anything. He honestly still didn't what what to say, so he just listened. It killed him to see his little brother like this, no matter how annoying he was, but the older boy wasn't good at things like this. "It feels pointless to send it to her parents now, right?" he asked, finally looking up at Mario.