Soft Hearts | In A Heartbeat Fanfiction

1: Sherwithan

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It was the first day of eighth grade at Newgate Junior High, and Sherwin was a nervous wreck. Last year had been a total disaster, what with his slip-ups at the spring band concert, others constantly teasing him, and not to mention his accidental outing to the entire school on the final day of seventh grade.

Hopefully, everyone forgot about that last part, and he could go back to being the geeky, quiet kid sitting unnoticed in the corner.

Over the whole summer, Sherwin's thoughts had centered around pretty much one thing: the most popular guy in school, Jonathan. He'd fallen headfirst for him ever since he first transferred to Newgate from public school. Images of Jon's perfect face, hair, and well, everything, floated around Sherwin's mind as he walked. He pushed them away.

This year, he was determined to forget about his cru- no, former crush and not make a fool of himself. Gay or not gay, Sherwin couldn't let pretty heartthrobs distract him from his grades.

Eventually, his school's grey exterior loomed above him as he approached. Students milled about, some hanging on the front steps, others tossing a football in the shade. The bell hadn't rung yet, thankfully. One more thing to cross off the list of a billion possible situations that could go wrong.

So far, so good. No one seemed to notice Sherwin and his unruly, ginger hair as he strolled up to the wooden front doors. Well, no one except one person.

"Hey, Sherwin!" a voice greeted from behind him. Sherwin's face went red. He'd know that voice anywhere.

Jonathan jogged to catch up to him, and Sherwin finally turned around to come face to face with someone he spent all summer trying to forget.

And boy, was he gorgeous as ever.

Blushing furiously, Sherwin managed to cough out a feeble, "hey," before he tripped over his own feet. Jonathan smiled and let out a short chuckle, but before he could say anything, a shrill squeal announced the presence of Sherwin's worst nightmare. Her name was Kylee Pratt.

"Ew, Jon, what are you doing near that faggot?" Kylee exclaimed, her lip curling with disgust. "C'mon, I checked your schedule. We have first period together, let's go." She grabbed Jonathan's shoulder and pulled him inside. He gave Sherwin an apologetic look and followed her.

Sighing in defeat, Sherwin grabbed his bag and heading to his first class, which happened to be history. His least favorite subject. What was the point of memorizing all those dates and names? Who cares about famous people or stupid treaties? He didn't see any reason, but went to the classroom anyway and sat down near the back. Time for another horrible year.

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After his first couple periods, Sherwin headed down to his third class, science. This had always been one of his favorites after math, but when he showed up to Mr. Gregg's room, his heart sank and imploded simultaneously.

There, sitting by himself, was Jonathan. Was there really no one else in this class that Jon knew? As far as Sherwin was aware, everyone in the entire eighth grade was his friend. Much to his surprise, Jon's face lit up when he spotted him, and he beckoned Sherwin over. Glancing around nervously, Sherwin took a seat next to him and desperately tried to hide his deeply flushed cheeks.

"Dude, I'm so glad you're in this class, too! I barely know anyone here," Jonathan whispered to Sherwin, who grinned awkwardly.

Stupid, you look stup-

"Good morning, everyone!" Mr. Gregg greeted with a friendly wave, "Welcome back to school! Today, I wanted to start the year off with a bang, so you'll get to watch some real cool sciency stuff pretty soon, here." He quickly took attendance, then proceeded to set his hand on fire.

All the students erupted in roars as the flames flew up, then died just as quickly. Their teacher held up a perfectly untarnished hand. Sherwin's eyes almost popped out of his head, and he noticed Jonathan's jaw was slightly ajar.

Mr. Gregg was really, really awesome.

After the bell rang for lunch, Sherwin was about to leave on his own when Jonathan tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come eat lunch with me," he said warmly, causing Sherwin's insides to flip.

"I-I don't know," he replied, "I was thinking maybe I'd eat in the library..." Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"It's the first day of school. Socialize, for once, Sherwin," he grinned, tilting his head. Sherwin shivered at hearing his name. Before he could protest, Jon was gently tugging his arm towards the cafeteria, and he had no choice but to go with him.

At the table, Sherwin couldn't help but notice people glancing in his direction. He tried to make himself smaller, but to no avail. Bright, orange hair was easy to spot.

Jonathan had sat him down in a group with some of his friends, which fortunately didn't include Kylee. Unfortunately, most of them were half as bad. One of the jocks, Dante, was seated next to his preppy girlfriend, Ginny. Along with them were best friends Hayden and Bryan, who both had identical undercuts and name brand tennis shoes. And then there was Jonathan.

Sherwin was a fish out of water, so to speak. That didn't keep Jon from trying his best to get him to interact with the others.

"Hey guys, this is Sherwin," he said, drawing his fingers through his black hair.

Hayden responded bluntly, "Yeah, we know." Sherwin wasn't sure if his face could get any redder. Why does everyone hate me? He thought, looking down. Jonathan caught his eye and gave his hand a small squeeze. Sherwin's palm tingled after the touch, and as much as he tried to deny it, he was in love all over again.

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