Soft Hearts | In A Heartbeat Fanfiction

23: Jellybeans are gr8

I'll be including both POVs in this chapter, btw.
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•Sherwin's POV•

Band was excruciating the next day. Sherwin's director, Mr. Willoughby, had everyone marching outside in the near freezing temperatures. Clutching the heavy mallets, his eyes watered as he played the occasional note or two on his tiny, portable marimba. The cold straps dug into the sides of his neck in the most uncomfortable way possible.

Finally, after an hour, they went back inside to pack away their instruments. Sherwin exhaled in relief as the heated air conditioning washed over his numb face, and he walked over to the percussion closet, ready to dump the marimba and leave. As the exhausted ginger pushed it onto its designated shelf, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Yeah?" he said, turning around. Jay was standing there, still holding her french horn. She had a nervous expression, and her gaze kept flickering over her shoulder.

"Sherwin," she whispered, leaning in. "Did you see my note yesterday?" For a moment, Sherwin was dumbstruck, then he gasped in realization.

"That...that was you?" he asked, dropping his mallets. Jay quickly glanced behind her again as she shushed him. Sherwin lowered his voice. "But, what did you mean, usual route? You didn't explain what it meant."

The dark-haired girl hit her palm against her forehead. "It should have been obvious! I meant the route you took to get home. Did you and Jon walk together?" Jay's eyebrows scrunched in worry.

"Uh, yeah...?" Sherwin trailed off. "What's so wrong abou-"

"They were going to follow you!" Jay cut him off. "I don't know what the full plan was, but they wanted to prove something or whatever." Sherwin didn't like where this was headed.

"Okay, first off, what plan?" he questioned. "And secondly, who are you talking about?" Jay looked over her shoulder once more before answering in a low voice:

"I was in the girl's bathroom before school started, and I heard a couple of chicks talking about it. They must not have known I was there."

"And?"

"And, they said something about someone following you and Jon home and getting evidence." Sherwin's breath caught in his throat.

"I thought they already had evidence..." he muttered to himself. Jay raised an eyebrow.

"What...what do you mean?" she asked. "Is something going on?"

Sherwin nodded, then told her everything about the note he'd gotten earlier, and Jonathan getting jumped the previous Wednesday. Her jaw dropped farther with each sentence.

"Oh my god, Sherwin," she whispered. "You...you and Jon need to be really careful. I don't know who's doing this and what they plan to do, but...it sounds hella dangerous." The bell rung, and she dashed off with her french horn, leaving Sherwin to ponder everything she had said.

•••

•Jonathan's POV•

During science class, Sherwin filled Jonathan in on everything that had happened to him during band. Jon couldn't believe his ears when his friend informed him that somebody had been following them yesterday. "Dude, that's freaking stalker level," he said, rubbing his eyes. "What...what do we even do?"