Sunlight pokes through the trees canopy, their body's are hot, their palms sweat. A light breeze blows past them, Jonathan's well-kept black hair sway's in the wind as leaves and twigs are dislodged from Sherwin's disheveled red hair.
Jonathan was the first to speak being a bit more confident than Sherwin. "Hey, ah I think we have the same lunch period, do you want to eat together? It's Sherwin right?" He asks, gingerly placing a couple of fingers over Sherwin's, looking at the bashful boy with a tender smile.
Sherwin can barely make eye contact, his cheeks burn a crimson hue, his mind races a mile a minute. "Oh my god he knows my name and he's inviting me to eat lunch with him!" Repeating this internal dialog over and over again in near disbelief this is so surreal for Sherwin. "Yes I would love too." He responds, perhaps a bit to quickly, as his voice cracks, while also mentally kicking himself for his choice of words "love" embarrassed his blush deepens to a darker red .
A reaction that Jonathan only finds to be more endearing and cute. Getting up he extends his hand helping the other up, walking back to school hand in hand. Sherwin can't be more overjoyed.
As they walk back to school Sherwin's joy and happinesses is quickly replaced by fear and anxiety as the reality of the situation sets in. Having to face his cruel and hurtful classmates, there wasn't a doubt in Sherwin's mind that he would be bullied and harassed for his orientation.
Sherwin stops, looking down as Jonathan keeps walking, their arms stretch out horizontally, taught with tension and apprehension.
They pause just before the stairs.
Jonathan turns around, seeing his new crush clearly in distress, concerned he asks. "What's wrong?"
Sherwin's lungs are paralyzed with the same anxiety that stopped him in his tracks, struggling to get the words out. "I-I'm scared, I don't want to face them." He whimpers, nervously stuttering.
Jonathan steels himself with a confident conviction. "Don't worry I'm afraid too," Jonathan squeezes Sherwin's hand firmly in an act of solidarity. "We can get through this together." He reassures, trying not to let his own nervousness seep through for Sherwin's sake.
Sherwin looks up, his lips curl into his dopey lovestruck smile, as if Jonathan's words could melt all his worries away.
They break the threshold of the school doors, still holding hands as a declaration of their new relationship, which even they weren't fully sure what it is, yet. Stares and comments are thrown at them like knives as Sherwin and Jonathan make their way to their lockers.
Walking down a long seemingly infinite hallway the gray marble floor stretches on and on, they pass what seems like hundreds of thousands of light brown lockers, in a sense it is almost like torturous hell made only infinitely better by the other at their side, finally reaching their lockers, which are rather close to each other considering the size of their school.
They get their books for their classes and exchange parting words.
"I'll see you at lunch."
"Y-Yea, see you then."
For them both the monotony of school was again torturous, although they had different faces every student at their boarding school wore the same clothes, the same uniform a light, blue sweater with grey slacks, they both glance at the clock ticking life away waiting for lunch. It could not come soon enough.