Haven

"What on earth are you wearing, Haven?" Tara pulled a face as her eyes lingered on my outfit, a slight frown visible on her forehead.

Glancing at the short sleeved, wide legged jumpsuit I was wearing, I held up my shoulders, finding her dark brown eyes. "Uh, a jumpsuit?" I removed a tiny fluff that flew and got stuck to the buttons of the decent v-neck.

"Wide legged and ankle- length. Only you would wear this," Tara chuckled, tugging at the linen belt that belonged to the jumpsuit, which I had tied around my waist. "Very, very.. you."

Norah looked up from where she was sitting, a soft smile appearing on her face. "Very Haven, indeed. It looks good on you, especially the yellow colour! I wish I could wear yellow, but it makes me look pale." She groaned, softly touching the fabric of my clothing.

"Oh, goodness." Tara rolled her eyes, them suddenly lingering on my jumpsuit again. "Let me guess, Zephaniah told you he likes yellow, and you just want to impress him."

"What?" I frowned, not understanding what she was talking about. Glancing at the white with ocher yellow vertical stripes, my eyes found hers again after that. "What do you mean? He never told me that."

Tara's eyes widened, "He didn't? Oh, how things have changed." She chuckled, shaking her head. "When he was little he had trouble talking to strange people, still has, by the way. His parents told him he could tell anything he wanted, as example, his favourite colour. He'd never said otherwise after that because he takes things literal. 'Hi, what's your name? Zephaniah, yellow', he'd whisper."

I thought that was pure, but I kept my mouth shut. "He hasn't told me that, and I spent quite some time with him."

"You did? What the heck, why?" Tara questioned, Norah curiously listening to our conversation.

Sighing, I sat down on the grass, the early morning sun already giving away much warmth that was expected today. Class would start in some time, so we still had space to enjoy ourselves in this very likable spring weather. "I helped him with his homework, at his house because the library was closed, of course, so Hannah had suggested to go to his house. His dad was home too, he resembles him like a lot, by the way, and-"

"Okay, Haven, it's barely nine am." Tara groaned, pressing her hand to my mouth. "You were at his house? His structure must've been all messed up. Let me guess, he was upset."

Other than the incidents with the gumballs and the drinking, I didn't think he was upset. But, how could I be sure about that? He talked, but he didn't say much. "Actually, he was just fine. Bit quiet, but when isn't he?"

"Fair point," Tara laughed, plucking a few blades of grass and randomly throwing them at me.

Norah sighed, her eyes lingering a specific direction. "Kinda jealous, Haven. He's handsome, got a great sense of fashion too."

I fixed my gaze upon what she was looking at, noticing Zephaniah standing near the steps that would lead you towards the main entrance of the building. He was clearly waiting for the busiest crowd to get inside first, his eyes constantly checking his phone, numbing headphones on his head.

"He's checking the time," Tara mumbled as she lied down on the grass, staring at the sky. "Anxious person, I told you."

His slim and rather tall legs moved as he took a step to the left with his left foot, then back to his previous place with his right foot. The sight made me feel rather warm, but also wonder how he was doing at this very moment. I hadn't talked to him in a while. Due to the library being closed, we hadn't done the homework thing last week.

Perhaps, he didn't want to do it at home anymore.

"He's got something.." I trailed off, not wanting to finish my sentence.

Tara gave me a warning look, shaking her head. "You'll never fully get into his life, Haven. He doesn't do that. Don't get your hopes up. He's harder to handle than you think he is. Anyway, guys, I need to tell you something."

Her comment made me frown. Would he always hold something back so people wouldn't get too close to him? I couldn't imagine that. Sure, autism was complexed, but letting people in once you fully trusted them was a process no one could really stop. Perhaps, I had to find out.

"What? What do you need to tell us?" Norah sounded impatient, I wanted to glance at Zephaniah again, but he was already gone.

"I kinda went on a date with Luke," Tara said dreamily, her eyes almost closing. "He's so handsome, so muscular too, did you know? He works out three times a week and is part of a football team."

"Jock," I whispered, nudging her shoulder.

Norah grinned, though, her face showed nothing but jealousy. "Seriously, guys, what about me? You're ditching me for your boyfriends."

Tara scoffed, rapidly shaking her head. "I might go with Luke, but Haven will never go with Zephaniah. He cannot handle chatty persons like that, and Haven will never be able to handle his strange behaviour. Unless you like boyfriends that suddenly explode and hit you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I frowned, genuinely not understanding why she felt the need to make a comment like that.

Before the conversation could be continued, the bell rang loudly, the three of us standing up and silently making our way over to the building. "You can go with Abel. He'd fit you," Tara grinned, but I couldn't even bring myself to smile. Her behaviour was irritating to me lately.

"He's sweet, but okayish." Norah shrugged, our ways splitting as Tara and I sat together, Norah searching for Abel. That did make me chuckle.

The class remained silent after William entered the room, greeting us with a wave and an enthusiastic hello. "What a warmth today, and the day's barely even started. At what time are you all dismissed today?"

"Three thirty," Luke groaned loudly, wiggling his eyebrow at Tara as he glanced at her. Stay mature, Haven, do not roll your eyes.

"Haha! I'm out at twelve." William grinned, cleaning the whiteboard with his sleeve as the paper towel didn't seem to work. People groaned and huffed, letting him know that it wasn't fair, though, I didn't really mind.

I glanced sideways from me, noticing Zephaniah, who was intensely watching how William cleaned the board, his lips parted slightly, dark eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I wondered if he'd even heard what William had said, as he was too focused on the board.

"Anyway, I've got some very excited news to share with you all! Especially with you, Haven." William said, Zephaniah's green eyes suddenly flickering towards me. I wanted to smile at him, but Tara roughly nudged my arm, motioning to William.

"What? Why?" I couldn't help but let out a weird laugh, covering my mouth with my hand after that as I turned my attention towards our Professor.

He grinned, wiping his black curls away, "Well, as some of you may know, we usually have a so called 'Philosophical Trip' each year, and as we have been to Germany last year, we decided on the Netherlands, Amsterdam this year."

No way. No, no way. "What?!" I exclaimed, hopefully looking up at William, who grinned still. "Seriously? Like, for real?"

"For real," he confirmed, a sudden soft smile on his face. "Consisting out of a week, two journey days included, we will orientate ourselves into the Dutch philosophy, as in, we just made the trip boring with philosophical assignments that you, somehow, have to connect to the activities we do."

But, I didn't even mind that. I was over the moon, I was sure people could see the stars blinking in my eyes at this very moment. Amsterdam had always been a dream, and it would become reality very soon.

"Haven!" Tara exclaimed happily, shaking my shoulders in order to get me out of my dreamland. "Amsterdam! Your city!"

"I know!" I exclaimed back, giddiness appearing. The information that came after that was a slight blur, my mind couldn't comprehend what was happening at this very moment. Amsterdam.

The feeling was indescribable, as if someone you missed finally came home, as if the present you'd be longing for ever since you were little was suddenly standing at your doorstep. I was happier than I had been in a while, expressing it into a happy dance.

"Prices were included in tuition fees, so no one has to worry about that." William smiled at all the enthusiastic comments, most of the class cheering, dancing or clapping hands.

Except, Zephaniah.

My own enthusiastic behaviour became slightly less, though, my small smile never fully faded. I stared at Zephaniah, who had pulled his beanie further over his ears, probably because of the loud and busy noises, remembering our first day of Uni when he sat aside due to the popping balloons.

His cheek was resting in his hand, his elbow propped upon the table. He was simply staring into the distance, I wondered why. Wouldn't he be excited about school trips?

The rest of the classes had been a daze, I was simply too excited to function properly. Tara and Norah couldn't stop laughing at me, though, they were pretty excited themselves. After we had been dismissed for lunch, we went outside to eat, the good weather inviting everyone there.

It was crowded, the picnic tables were occupied. Having decided to sit on the grass, I felt how Zephaniah sat down in between Tara and I, though, closest to Tara. It surprised me, however, I understood when I noticed Luke seated beside Tara on the other side.

"Hey," I said quietly, feeling like a small talk with him as we hadn't ever since the last time I helped him with his homework at home. I'd wanted to talk to him, but he was on his own a lot last week, not seeming as if he wanted any social contact.

Zephaniah swallowed his mouthful, glancing at me. "Hi, Haven."

"How have you been? We haven't talked since.." I trailed off, wondering if he was okay. He looked tired, eyes rather puffy and dark circles seen underneath.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You don't have to say sorry," I interrupted, giving him a soft smile. "I mean, I hadn't really talked either. I was just wondering if you were doing okay? You seem a bit tired.. there's nothing wrong with that, but are you okay?"

Zephaniah stayed silent for a while, his eyes roaming over the grass beneath us, either processing mine, or searching for his own words. "Cooper and mum-"

"Are those samosas, made by your dad?!" Tara interrupted Zephaniah, who frowned in response, watching how Tara snatched something out of his lunchbox, stuffing it inside her own mouth. "Luke, Louis, you've got to try this."

Tara snatched more out of his lunchbox, clearly upsetting him. "Tara, stop, they're mine."

"Didn't your parents teach you how to share?" Tara scoffed, nonchalantly handing everyone a so called samosa, but I declined.

"Tara, they're not yours. Maybe you need to ask him before taking them out of his lunchbox and handing them out." I said, snatching them out of her hands and giving them back to Zephaniah, who sheepishly dropped them back into his lunchbox.

"Shut up, Haven." She rolled her eyes at me, glaring at Zephaniah as she turned her back to the both of us, talking to Luke.

Zephaniah shoved his lunchbox away and propped his knees up, resting his arms on them. He felt uncomfortable, I could tell.

"Zephaniah, you don't have to share, you know? It's not right for her to just take things out without asking," I tried, searching for eye contact. "You can tell her that, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it."

Zephaniah didn't really answer, though, parted his lips to speak up, eventually. "Some things are easier said than done," he whispered, his gaze trained onto the grass beneath him, his bright eyes staring up at the sky and soaring birds after that.

It made me realise that he probably knew what he struggled with, making the situation even harder for himself.

Perhaps, he didn't need guidance for his homework only.

~~~
Little bit of Zavennn.

They're going to Amsterdam!! Cant wait to see what happens thereeeee :D

If you have any questions about or for Haven/ Zephaniah/ Tara/ me, don't hesitate to ask!

Vote, comment, if you liked it ❤️ feedback has been lacking lately and usually I don't mind but it has been really demotivating :( please don't be shy to give me feedback! I really want to know what you think of the story so far and what youd like to read while it continues.