•••
At 6:15 A.M, on Friday, Jonathan's alarm didn't ring. It also didn't ring thirty minutes later, when the bus arrived to pick him up. Or anytime at all that morning. When the clock struck 9:30 that morning, Jon rolled over and fell off his bed, waking up on the cold, bare floor of his bedroom.
Upon seeing bright sunlight shining through the window, he leapt to his feet and checked the time. One swear after another, the usually-clean-kept teenager haphazardly threw on his school uniform and shoes, grabbed his notebook, and walked to school.
If his mom didn't have to leave for work at five, she would have been there to wake him up. But being a waitress at a breakfast cafe kept her on her toes all the time.
(concept art drawn by me)
It was a bit past ten by the time Jonathan finally arrived at Newgate. Shoot, it's already third period, he cursed to himself. Grabbing a tardy slip from the office, he raced down to the science lab, opened the door and walked in, slightly panting. Every face immediately turned to look at him.
"Oh, there you are, Jonathan," Mr. Gregg said, relieved. "I was just about to finish taking attendance." Jon handed his slip over gratefully and sat down in his spot next to Sherwin, who was trying his best not to look utterly pleased.
"I was worr- wondering that you might've been home sick," Sherwin stumbled over his words. His curious brown eyes traced their way up to Jonathan's hair, which he then realized he had completely forgotten about in his morning rush.
Hands flying up to his head, Jon felt around and was absolutely mortified to feel half of it sticking up, and the other half flat as a board. "Dear god," he mumbled, blushing slightly. Sherwin gave a lopsided smile and reached up to fix his hair.
"Here, I got it," the ginger snickered, combing the strands back into their usual place. Jonathan took this moment to glance at his friend, who was intensely focused on the task at hand. Sherwin's eyes were squinted, and a tiny portion of his tongue stuck out as he worked away. Suddenly, Sherwin caught him staring.
"W-what?" he asked, turning red. Jonathan chuckled.
"Nothing. I finally know how it feels to have unkept hair, though," he joked, satisfied at the sound of Sherwin's laugh. When he finished fixing it, he turned back to his work, and Jonathan reluctantly did the same.
•••
After english later that day, Jonathan took a different route to his last period, history. Serendipitously, he bumped into Sherwin in one of the hallways.
"Hey, where you headed?" Jon asked curiously, adjusting the straps on his bag.
"English," Sherwin answered. "I've got Mrs. Williams."
"Cool, I just had her!" Jonathan said. "Well, have fun learning about poetry. We read The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. It was pretty far out." Sherwin groaned.
"Ugh, I hate poetry," he complained. Jon raised an eyebrow, but before he could reply, the minute bell rang.
"Catch you on the flip side," he said jokingly, and they both went to their fifth classes. Maybe he would take that hallway from now on.
In Miss Kelly's class, they discussed the history of Halloween traditions. History was Jonathan's favorite subject, his second being english. He loved reading about the culture and arts of the past and found it quite fascinating.
"Did you know," Miss Kelly started, "that Halloween used to be only trick, and no treat?" The class tittered to each other, and she continued, "In fact, during the night, rebellious kids would play horrid pranks on their neighbors. Examples include breaking windows, releasing livestock, throwing eggs, and tipping over outhouses."
Kylee raised her hand. Jon was somewhat astonished at how she managed to make the gesture seem elegant, almost. It was ridiculous.
"Yes, Kylee?" the teacher asked, looking at her expectantly.
"I remember learning that Halloween used to be called Devil's night," she stated with an air of regality. "People believed that demons came out of the spirit world to walk around with mortals, so they'd put up Jack-o-Lanterns to scare them away." Miss Kelly nodded, and Kylee had such a look of pride on her face, Jonathan wanted to reach over and slap it off.
After a few more interesting, fact-filled discussions, class was dismissed by the bell. "Remember to be safe on Saturday night!" Miss Kelly called out as they filed out of the classroom.
"Yeah, don't let the monsters get you," Kylee whispered into Ginny's ear, who in return shrieked, much to Kylee's amusement. She turned to Jonathan. "Are you going to Hayden's party tomorrow?" she questioned, curling her hair around one finger.
"Yeah, I was gonna bring Sh-"
"Okay great! See you there!" Kylee waved and sauntered away with her friends. Jonathan shrugged. He'd tried to tell her, but it was probably best if she didn't know Sherwin was going. She'd most likely try to screw him over somehow.
Out by the gate, his redheaded friend was waiting, his Walkman and two pairs of earphones in his hands. "Wanna listen?" he asked, passing one over to Jon, who nodded. Sharing music with Sherwin was always fun. He felt like each song was a kind of perspective into his friend's life. A way of getting to know Sherwin through lyrics and guitar tunes.
Today, they listened to The Beatles' album, Abbey Road as they walked. Come Together played first, and Sherwin tapped his hand a bit to the beat while humming, but by the time they got to Octopus's Garden, the freckled boy was actually singing. Jon grinned. He had to admit, Sherwin had a pretty good voice.
Taking off his earphones, he turned to his friend and said, "Hey, you can sing. But can you dance?" Sherwin stopped mid-song and looked away shyly, then broke into laughter as Jonathan started to do the "Funky Chicken".
"You sure got some moves there," he said between laughs. Jon shrugged and winked, the busted out with "The Hustle". He didn't notice they had reached Sherwin's house as he took off his bag and grabbed Sherwin's hand.
"C'mon, do it with me!" he exclaimed, moving his feet to an invisible rhythm and grinning like a maniac. Sherwin's eyes went wide and he shook his head in protest, but still smiled as Jonathan spun him around.
After a moment, they realized where they were, and Jon let go. "See you tomorrow? After detention?" he said, picking up his stuff.
"Yeah," Sherwin exhaled, then turned away and walked up to his house. Before he left, Jonathan noticed a slight bounce in Sherwin's step that wasn't usually there.
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