•••

Sherwin didn't know any of the other boys in his history class except Hayden and Norman, unfortunately. There were still six nameless others that could have written the note. He sighed and looked out the window, watching as dark grey clouds tumbled restlessly across the sky.

Next period during band, Sherwin bumped into someone when he went to retrieve the marimbas. "Hey, watch it!" a familiar voice snapped. He turned to see the girl he met while in detention a couple weeks before. "Oh, it's you," Jay said upon seeing him. "What's up, Sherwin?"

"Just, uh, marimbas. Getting them. Over there," he sputtered, pointing to the percussion closet.

"Oh cool, you play drums?" she asked, pulling her dark hair away from her face. "I do french horn."

"Percussion, not necessarily drums," Sherwin corrected, and Jay rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, same difference," she joked, and headed in the opposite direction. "Catch ya later, Sherwinny." He raised an eyebrow at the strange nickname, but shrugged and went to grab his instrument.

•••

Science class eventually rolled around, but when Sherwin arrived, Jonathan wasn't already sitting at their table like he usually was. Anxiously, Sherwin waited, hoping that his friend would show up for class, but the final bell rang, marking Jonathan absent. He was here this morning, Sherwin thought, trying to calm down. And he didn't seem sick.

It was hard to focus on Mr. Gregg's instructions during the lab, and Sherwin accidentally mixed in a tablespoon of vinegar with the baking soda instead of a teaspoon, resulting in the substance overflowing its bubbly contents all over the table. "Good job, pumpkin head," someone muttered, but Sherwin didn't smile; it only made Jon's absence feel worse.

It was like that for the rest of the day, too. He couldn't stop worrying, especially when Jonathan didn't meet up with him before fifth period or after school. As Sherwin walked home, he decided to stop by Jon's place and check if he was there.

Knock knock. No answer. Knock knock knock knock. Still nothing. Sherwin stood on his toes and peeked through the windows, only to see all the lights were off. No one was home.

Now almost on the edge of panic, Sherwin dropped his stuff off at his own house, gave his dad some explanation of "having errands", and ran off in the direction of Newgate. When he got to the campus, he searched the entire grounds. Sherwin checked every tree, every corner, every bush. After an anxiety-filled twenty minutes, the exhausted ginger sat down on one of the picnic benches and buried his face in his hands. Then, he remembered a place he could still check.

Nervously, Sherwin walked around the side of the building and headed across the open grass that led to the baseball field. He felt exposed without anything to hide behind, but there wasn't anyone around to see him, either. Upon reaching the stands, he was about to give up, when he noticed a book lying on the ground. Sherwin inspected it carefully, and found an apple stem wedged between one of the pages. It definitely belonged to Jonathan.

"Jon!" Sherwin suddenly called out, looking around for his friend's blue eyes and perfect hair to appear before him. "Jonathan!"

A noise sounded by the batting cage, and Sherwin raced over, his heart pounding. A door stood slightly ajar, and he pushed it open to see Jonathan propping himself up on one arm and squinting his eyes at the sudden light. "Sh-Sherwin?" Jon questioned, looking around. "Oh...oh my god. Shit!" He suddenly leapt to his feet, then winced.

"Are you okay?" Sherwin asked, worry etched across his features as he helped him up. "What happened?"

Jonathan groaned. "I'm sorry, Sherwin. I couldn't tell who it was," he apologized, leaning onto him for support.

"Who...who what was?" They began to walk home, Sherwin still carrying Jonathan, along with his book.

"It was during gym class," he explained between coughs. "We came out here to...to practice. Someone jumped me, Sherwin! They pulled me in that storage closet and asked me all sorts of crap, like...like, where I lived, where you lived, what classes we had together." Sherwin's eyes widened, and he continued.

"I didn't answer anything, of course. They got really mad, dude," Jon said, a scared look on his face. "I couldn't tell who it was. I didn't recognize their voice. Then...coach's whistle blew, and...that's all I remember." Sherwin's stomach dropped. Why hadn't he looked for Jon earlier?? He should've known something was wrong. Glancing at his friend, he saw a couple bruises beginning to blossom on his upper arms and face.

"I-I'm s-so sorry," he told Jonathan, his breathing coming in short bursts. "If I-I h-had known–" His lower lip trembled, and he bit it to stop himself from breaking down.

"Oh! Oh, no, it's okay," Jon reassured him. He stopped walking and wrapped his arms around Sherwin, holding him as he gasped for breath. "It's okay, Pumpkin. I'm alright." Sherwin buried his face into Jonathan's chest, trying to control the flood of emotions storming behind his eyes.

It took a few minutes, but he finally calmed down with the help of Jon, who comfortingly stroked his back. Sherwin exhaled shakily. "Why is it so hard?" he whispered into Jonathan's shoulder. "Why can't they just leave us alone?"

Jonathan sighed. "I don't know. But, at least we have each other." He took Sherwin's hand and lightly kissed it. They continued walking with their fingers interlocked, but Sherwin didn't care anymore what everyone else thought. Nothing could split them apart.

•••