Haven

Everything will be fine, everything will be fine. You've already met people, they thought you were nice. I told myself, completely ignoring the fact that almost no one wanted to shake my hand at the introduction evening.

Chuckling, a frown formed on my face instead as I stared into the mirror, raking a hand through my wavy hair, that was barely resting on my shoulders. Impulsive, that's what my mother called me, but I didn't mind. Chopping off inches of my hair was probably a right decision, as I didn't think it looked too bad.

My blueish, or greyish eyes, (I couldn't decide, mum and dad said they were blue, but one of my brothers, Jude, had chuckled and said they were simply grey), looked tired, as sleep was far away from me last night.

Because although I was usually very optimistic about things, I couldn't help but worry lightly about the new lifestyle I had yet to adapt. University, who would've thought. Mum and dad were more than happy that I had decided to keep living at home, instead of dorms or student houses, though Jude was slightly disappointed, telling me how I would be missing out on the whole 'University Experience', I thought he just wanted me gone.

Adjusting my, now decorated with ink, Herschel backpack on my back, I nibbled on my bottom lip as I stared into the mirror, sighing. "Why does it look like it is my first day of Middle School, instead of University?"

"Because, Haven, your always rosy cheeks make you look like a child," Jude snickered, pulling at my cheeks as he stood in front of me, blocking the view of myself through the mirror.

"Shut up," I mumbled, shoving my, two years older brother, away. "I thought once I turned eighteen, you'd let me breathe." Totally got that wrong, as I had been eighteen for a few months. "I've got to go now."

"Hey, I was just kidding. Have fun, yeah? And don't be too.. over-enthusiastic," he teased, waving at me.

I simply rolled my eyes, then gave him a small smile, the nerves probably visible through it. "Bye, Jude."

Strolling through my own neighborhood for a few minutes, I reached the bus stop not much later, sitting down when it arrived after three minutes. Running my fingers through my hair, I stared outside the window, my tired eyes barely keeping up with the trees that passed by way too fast.

We stopped a few times, more, clearly nervous or excited, new students stepping inside, talking about what they expected University to be. I recognized none of them, sighing a little. I was relieved when we arrived not much later, the nerves, bumpy road and therefore- bus and loud chatting had made me nauseous.

Stepping outside, I re-adjusted the bag on my back and smiled while staring at the huge building in front of me again. This was it. A new, fresh start.

Or well, that's what I thought, because the moment I took a step forward, my foot made me trip over the small step I hadn't noticed, causing me to fall into a mud puddle.

Dark drops splattered all around, people shrieking and taking steps aside, none bothering to help me. Quickly standing up, I was relieved when I found out my hands and knees were the only things looking black. The damage wasn't too bad.

Rosiness crept upon my cheeks again, and I sheepishly smiled at the students that walked past me with either a grin, or frown on their faces.

Excellent, Haven. Just, great!

"I blame gravity," I told them, quickly taking a large step over the puddle, hurrying my way inside of the building.

Luckily for me, nobody really bothered to look at me anymore after the small incident, making me sigh in relief. After washing my hands in the washrooms, I ran my fingers through my hair and I took my timetable out of my backpack, feeling relieved that I had already searched everything up.

Checking the right room I had to go to, I turned to my left and got completely engulfed into the massive crowd of students, trying to find the right classroom. It made me feel a little warm and uneasy, like we were all crawling bugs trying to find some refreshing water, in the heat of summer.

Eventually, I had arrived at the right room and walked inside, along with three other students, who clearly knew each other already as they were laughing loudly, not acknowledging the smile I passed them.

Looking around the room, I noticed the professor had placed all of the chairs in a neat circle, a few students already sitting down. I sat down as well after I had greeted the professor, who's last name apparently was Everson.

Once every student was settled, I allowed myself to look around, but before I had eyed everyone- professor Everson started talking.

"Alright, alright. I guess we've got every student that belongs in this class, here. Welcome, everybody, on your first day of University!" The brown man smiled widely, his black curls moving around his face as he nodded in amazement. "It's great to see you all here. Who's nervous?"

A few hands went up, and although I had been feeling nervous this morning, it had ebbed away already as I felt comfortable, the professor, who would be our mentor, seeming like a laid back man.

"I see, I see. It's only introduction for today. We'll start with getting to know each other through a game, and after that you'll go to your classes, probably only get introduction there too. Real work starts next week," He said, a soft smile visible on his face.

"I'll start. My name is William Everson, high on cafeïne every day, watches movies with my wife and two daughters in the weekend, and you can wake me up for vanilla custard." He pointed at another classmate, "Your turn, Ma'am."

My eyes followed the direction he was pointing at, and I noticed Ittarah, automatically smiling as I felt relieved she was in my class. I mean, it wasn't like I knew her that well, as she seemed to turn away from me each time I tried a small talk, but she seemed nice.

"Uhm, Ittarah Malik, eighteen years old. Coffee over tea, all the way, like to spend time with friends or family in the weekend and you can wake me for.. chocolate? I mean, who doesn't relate?" She suddenly smiled, sounding confident.

"You!" William said eventually, pointing at me after he had randomly chosen five other students.

"Haven Sparks." I started, trying to make eye contact with some of my peers. "Eighteen. I've got a guinea pig called Cookie, I love books, animals, watermelon and, vintage clothes." I shrugged, looking at William, who simply smiled at me.

"That's great! Alright, seeing we only have one hour, I decided for a game. The game is called Pop A Question. Each of you will receive a balloon and a question written on a paper. Stuff the question inside, blow the balloon and play volleyball to mix up the questions. Let's go!" He handed out the balloons and questions and as everyone started to blow their balloons, the room became colorful not much later.

Everyone stood up and started to slam the balloons away, one getting stuck to my hair because of it becoming static. Once I had fixed my hair, William stopped us and instructed us to grab the nearest balloon.

"Alright, you, on the left, pop your balloon with your foot and tell me your name and answer the question." William pointed at a guy with blonde hair, messily styled into a long quiff.

He jumped onto the balloon, making a few students laugh and he ran his hand through his hair before eying some of us. "I'm Luke, and the question is, what if you could eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?" He swallowed, chuckling as he stared at some of the girls. "Pizza, do I even have to explain why?"

William laughed, "Good one, alright, next!" Soon after, loads of popping sounds were heard, and it eventually became so loud that I noticed someone sitting down on the tables William had shoved towards the side.

"Hey, you alright?" William asked quietly, while other students kept popping the balloons in order to get out their question.

The guy, who sat down on the table, nibbled on the skin around his nail on his pinky, briefly looking at William. I stared at him, oddly thinking the guy seemed familiar. The guy pulled his dark grey beanie further over his ears, quietly saying something to William I couldn't quite hear.

His eyes roamed over the floor as William said something back, walking away only to come back later with something that looked like foam earplugs. The guy stuffed them inside his ears, covering his beanie over them again, and it was only when he looked up and briefly made eye contact with me, that it finally dawned to me.

Those bright and strange colour of green eyes. Ittarah's cousin, the one with Epilepsy. I wanted to smile at him, but he had quickly moved his gaze onto the floor, cheeks coloring pink.

"Sorry, guys. Sensory processing difficulties." He mumbled quietly, smiling. "You're next," he pointed at me, but I hadn't noticed as I thought about his words. Sensory processing difficulties, did the guy suffer from that?

"Haven," William kept smiling, pointing at my balloon.

"Oh," I smiled sheepishly, cringing at the sound myself as I popped the balloon with my foot. "Uhm, if you could travel to one city in the world, where would you want to go and why?" I read aloud, smiling. "Amsterdam, definitely. I don't really know why, though? It seems beautiful. I've always had a thing for it."

"Then I'm sure you're going to be very happy with what we have in store for you this year," William grinned, pointing to the guy that was now wearing earplugs, nervously fiddling with the hem of his black sweater. "Your turn, bud."

The guy briefly looked up, then went back to staring at his nails. "Zephaniah," He said quietly, captivating me as I hadn't known anyone with that name before. And the name was beautiful, powerful in some ways.

"Why did you chose to go to this Uni-University," He read off his paper, nibbling on his bottom lip as he looked up, not making eye contact with any of his peers, staring outside the window instead. "Uhm, my mum works in the library, here." He said honestly, making me smile a little.

Though, Ittarah shoved his shoulder, rolling her eyes. "Why would you say that?! Just tell them why you signed up besides that, Zeph. Or didn't you have another reason, always staying in your comfort zone," she huffed, rolling her eyes once again.

Zephaniah looked at her, confusion, and something that looked like hurt, visible on his face for a split second, rosiness creeping upon his cheeks after that. Honestly, I felt for him, having picked up that she always had something to say about him.

"It's fine, Ittarah. Nice to know, Zephaniah!" William smiled as softly as ever, moving on to another person.

And as people continued to pop their balloons and answer the questions that were stuffed inside, I couldn't help but stare at Zephaniah, wondering why he was, once again, captivating me.

His black, messy, hair peeked out at several places, from underneath his beanie. A feathered looking fringe stuck at the height of his dark eyebrows, his bright green eyes surrounded by thick, black eyelashes. Cheekbones and a jawline were visible, though he still looked rather soft, probably because his appearance was portrait that way. Calm, reserved, soft.

His lips were pink, the bottom lip lightly plumper than his upper one, which curled lightly as one of our peers said something funny, though, I couldn't quite hear what.

How come I had only noticed him when he sat down on one of the tables in the back?

~~~

Their first day.. what are your opinions on Haven so far?

Zephaniah?

Sensory processing- in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.

Think of the jigsaw pieces I had explained earlier, he needs time to process, and in this situation things go too fast- too many and loud sounds of the many balloons popping.