Jonathan hit Ethan on his back, congratulating him on making the swimming team. He had no idea how he managed it, being as he was as thin as a noodle, but he did know that he was fast.
"Thanks," Ethan murmured, walking away.
Jonathan caught up. "Did you know you look like a noodle?" He ruffled Ethan's light brown hair, which was dyed with strands of pink. Jonathan didn't see him flinch away, but he did catch the way his shoulders tensed over ever so slightly.
Ethan walked away, faster this time. And Jonathan let him. He cursed. Was he too weird?
It wasn't like he had a crush on Ethan. He just wanted to befriend him - that was all there was to it. When Jonathan had first met Ethan, he was, to say the very least, dull. He shrugged off Jonathan every chance he could, and he almost gave up, himself. But as Jonathan kept persisting on befriending him, he realized that there was a whole different side to Ethan. An artistic side, a music side, a writing side, and a swimming side. He was the whole package, and Jonathan wanted Ethan to show him.
Oh no, he didn't have a crush on him.
But he had a feeling that Ethan thought that he did.
He didn't like to admit it, but Jonathan was lonely. Sure, he had his team mates from swim, but otherwise he didn't hang out with anybody. He just didn't click with anyone, and nobody appreciated his somewhat dry sense of humor. Maybe that was why he wanted to befriend Ethan so much, it felt like he understood him more than anybody else.
But nobody truly understood him, in all honesty. Jonathan was a collection of hard and tailored edges, he could be soft, or he could be sharp. He could completely blank out for five minutes and then act like nothing had happened. He would have the most random of thoughts filtering through his brain, and then forget them in a moments passing.
To say the very least, Jonathan was weird. Nobody actually took the time to decipher his cryptic sense of humor, or the lack thereof.
Actually, there was one person.
Sherwin. The boy that had plagued his mind for the past five years ever since he moved away.
Jonathan smiled, remembering that damn boy that had stormed into his life with his adorable freckles and hair so soft he wished he could run his hand through them, even now. He wondered what he would look like, now. He wondered if he still scratched the back of his neck when he was nervous, or if he still bit and licked his lips as a habit. He wondered if he was still the same as ever - if he was still curious about everything and everyone. If he was still a nerd for all things Pokemon. If he was still adorable.
Even if they hadn't had enough (any, for the matter) closure, Jonathan still felt like he had gotten his closure. It was incredibly hard for him to go through life when he left - being as he was still so young. Dark thoughts had plagued his mind, and he had even wish he had even wished he had never met Sherwin in the first place.
But after a while, the pain had faded away. The wounds had mended. The scars had healed. Jonathan wondered where he was now - probably living the life he had always wanted, being out in the wilderness. Whether it was being a park ranger or a geologist, Sherwin was always fond of nature. It was one of the many aspects that made Jonathan fall for him, hard.
Either way, whatever and wherever he may be, Sherwin would always have an apartment situated in his heart. Sherwin would always be the one to open him up to the real world, ironic as it may sound.
Shaking his head at his own thoughts, he ran a hand through his hair and walked towards the school parking lot, getting into his white ford truck. He drove home, dreading the amount of homework that he had to complete. It was the first day of senior year, and the teachers had the audacity to pile them with homework.
Once he reached his house, he trudged his way upstairs and fell backwards on his bed, dropping his bag on the floor in the process. He really didn't want to do homework.
Jonathan smiled as he felt a small lick on his left cheek. He turned on his side and a grin broke out onto his face as he faced his puppy, barely five months old, that he didn't notice hiding under his blankets.
"Are you trying to scare me?" Jonathan cooed as Holly pawed at his cheek fondly. He grinned and rolled Holly so that he was on his back. He rubbed his stomach.
"I don't know why Luka decided to call you Holly, you obviously have a dick," he scoffed.
Just then, Jonathan's mother walked into his room.
"Jeez mom, don't you knock?" Jonathan mumbled, sitting up and holding Holly up with one hand. He inspected his lower region. "Yep, definitely a boy," he muttered.
"We have guests over for dinner," Jonathan's mother, Claire, said, an annoyed tone in her voice. "And put Holly down, she'll get sick," she snorted and left.
Jonathan frowned. He took another peek at Holly's undersides. "Holly's definitely a boy, mother dear - and how would he get sick anyway?"
Sighing, Jonathan put Holly down and (gently) tapped him with his foot, causing Holly to growl at his foot in a menacing yet adorable way. He stood up and fixed his clothes, not bothering to look at himself in the mirror.
Approving himself to face the masses, he walked down the stairs to meet the supposed guests they had for dinner - and promptly stopped like a bullet had just passed by his ear.
"Oh my, Jonathan. You've grown so much! Sherwin, don't you agree?"
Jonathan looked at him, them. He found the two pairs of chocolate brown eyes that bore into his soul, the same eyes that had captivated him the moment he saw him in middle school, when he had grabbed his hand on accident.
"Yeah," Sherwin said, nodding. "I agree. A lot, actually," he smiled, and his knees felt weak - he wanted to faint.
