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Hayden's party started at six, but Jonathan was ready two hours in advance. With his hair neatly combed and sporting a button-up, the polished boy stood outside Newgate, waiting for Sherwin to finish detention. A gentle breeze promised good weather, and he closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the cool air against his skin.

"Uh, Jon?" He opened his eyes to see Sherwin standing on the front steps, looking at him strangely. "Why are you dressed up so nice? It's only 4:03."

Jonathan shrugged. "Wanted to be prepared," he answered as they began to walk. He noticed that his friend was still in his school uniform, then his eyes caught on the papers he was holding. "What're those?"

"Oh, these?" Sherwin replied, holding them up. "I just doodled a bit to pass the time. I'll probably throw them away." Jonathan held out his hand.

"Can I look?" he asked, wondering what kind of things Sherwin liked to doodle. All he could draw were baseballs...and apparently sloppy hearts, too. Sherwin blushed slightly, and reluctantly passed them over.

"Sure, I guess," he said, shrugging. As Jonathan flipped through them, his eyes almost popped out of his head. On one page, Sherwin had drawn a comic of their vice principal, Mr. Churchill, yelling at some girl. He laughed. "Sherwin, your art skills are...awesome! Who's that girl in the picture?"

"Her name's Jay. I met her in detention," he told him. Then he continued hesitantly, "She got in trouble for kissing a girl." Jonathan raised his eyebrows.

"That's just stupid," he muttered, and before giving the paper back, he saw something in the corner.

"Hey, is that me?" Jonathan questioned with a grin. "I look great!" Sherwin's face turned a deep red as he hastily took his drawings back.

"Ye-yeah," he croaked, his voice cracking. They continued strolling in silence, leaving Jon to his thoughts.

Did Sherwin still like him, even after last year? It was highly probable, given his flustered behavior whenever he was around. But for some reason, Jonathan found that it didn't bother him. He was taking quite a liking to the freckled boy, he suddenly realized. Stealing a glance at Sherwin, he inspected his friend's features. Warm, brown eyes lined with thick lashes that flittered with each gust of wind. Ginger hair that shone golden whenever the sun peeked out.

Jonathan didn't like the feeling that suddenly creeped into his gut, slowly crawling up his stomach and thrashing about. He focused his gaze on the leaves scattered across the sidewalk, trying to forget the thoughts that'd flown through his head a few moments ago. Thoughts that could make his life a lot more complicated than it already was. He was spared more agonizing silence when Sherwin spoke.

"Can we stop by my place, first?" he suggested, "I gotta change out of my uniform before we go."

"Uh, yeah," Jon replied, shaking his head to clear his mind. "Sure, I don't mind."

When they reached Sherwin's house, Jonathan was slightly surprised when he requested him not to go in, and instead wait outside. "May I ask why?" he inquired as Sherwin nervously rocked on his toes.

"Well," the ginger drawled, "the other day my mom saw us dancing. W-when you showed me the hustle, I mean."

"And?"

"She was kind of...weird about it," Sherwin muttered, obviously uncomfortable. Jonathan understood what he meant and told him to go change into something nice for the party, then sat down on the porch to wait.

The sun was gradually making its way downward, and as the shadows grew, Jonathan wondered what was taking Sherwin so long. By the time the sun was barely shining over the treetops, Sherwin stepped out through his front door in a dark red sweater over a white undershirt.

"Nice choice," Jonathan complimented, much to Sherwin's embarrassment. He wasn't going to question what took his friend twenty minutes to change shirts; he had the feeling it was probably family related. "Let's bounce."

They reached Hayden's two-story house at 5:48. "Are we too early?" Sherwin asked, peeking at the closed blinds and dark porch. It looks like no one's home, Jonathan thought. That's odd. They walked up to the front door, and Jon reached out to ring the doorbell.

Suddenly, hands wrapped around his torso and clamped over his mouth, dragging him backwards. Jon tried to yell, but all that came out were muffled sounds. The arms pulled him over the grass, towards the left side of the house, and he could see Sherwin being hauled to the right and out of view. Jonathan kicked and thrashed about, and when his attacker's grip lessened, he sprung to his feet and whipped around, only to be met with the cackling laughter of his friend, Bryan.

"Dude, come on!" Jon groaned, but he started laughing as well. He had to admit, that was pretty good. Then he stopped as he remembered Sherwin on the other side.

"Where you going, Jon?" Bryan called as he jogged across the yard and around the fence. There, by the side of the shed, was Hayden cracking up and pointing at Sherwin, who was in a terrified heap on the ground.

"Not cool, Hayden," Jonathan scolded him, kneeling down to help Sherwin up.

"Ain't my fault he can't take a good joke," Hayden snorted and went around the corner, presumably to go inside. Jonathan took Sherwin's hand, which was trembling, and pulled him to his feet. Sherwin's breath was coming in short gasps.

"H-he sc-cared...m-me..." he sputtered, and Jonathan wrapped his arms comfortingly around him.

"It's okay," he said, holding Sherwin there until he stopped shaking. His friend exhaled deeply, then lightly pushed Jonathan's arms off.

"I'm fine now," the ginger stated quietly, and Jon nodded. As they went inside the house, he couldn't ignore the strange feeling from earlier that returned to his gut, now tingling throughout his whole body. There was no denying it now, no pushing it away.

He liked Sherwin. A lot.

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