Macy and Tina arrived at Dr. Kerrigan's Introduction to Literature class with plenty of time to spare. Macy made a quick glance around the large lecture room as they made their way to the front. She didn't see Gretchen, but there were already so many people there that she could have easily missed her.

The roommates took a seat in the front row, which was already packed to near capacity with over eager Columbia freshmen. Macy dug out her notebook and a pen, tapping it idly on the desk. She didn't know why, but she was nervous.

An elegant woman, dressed in an expensive pantsuit and armed with a briefcase, entered the lecture room and a silence fell over the students. She made her way to the front of the room and took out a stack of papers, setting them on the front table.

"Come get a syllabus while I set up. I advise you not to lose it, as all of your assignments for the year are covered in this document."

Dr. Kerrigan took out a piece of chalk and began writing on the board. Macy, along with the rest of the students, raced to the front of the classroom to get a syllabus.

After returning to her seat, the syllabus in her hands, Macy glanced at the board.

What is Literature?

"Welcome to Introduction to Literature. My name is Regina Kerrigan, and I'll be your professor for this semester. My contact information and office hours are in the syllabus, so I won't waste time going over it all with you." Dr. Kerrigan offered a polite smile as she looked over her students. "I look forward to a great semester, and I hope I can teach you a thing or two."

Macy looked over at Tina, who was already doodling on the syllabus.

"I know you all hate syllabus week, and to be honest, I do too," Dr. Kerrigan said. "So let's skip it, shall we? If you look to the chalkboard, I have written an important philosophical question for you. What is literature?"

Dr. Kerrigan looked to her students, as if expecting a response. No one said a word.

"Come on now, this isn't hard. There's no right or wrong answer, and I promise I'm not as scary as you might think," Dr. Kerrigan said, a flicker of a smirk filling her elegant face. "Anyone? Someone? What is literature to you?"

Before Macy could process what was happening, her arm was in the air.

"Yes, you in the front," Dr. Kerrigan said, pointing at Macy. "Introduce yourself first, please. Your name, your major, where you're from. I won't learn all of your names, but I hope to learn as many as possible."

Macy's cheeks turned red and she glanced around the room, seeing all three hundred some students had focused their attention directly on her.  She was suddenly nervous.

"Uhh yeah, hi. My name is Macy O'Hara. I'm from Greenwich, Connecticut. I'm majoring in political science."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. O'Hara," Dr. Kerrigan smiled. "How would you define literature?"

"Well, I guess I would say that literature constitutes anything written. Maybe not everything written, because my grocery lists probably don't count, but anything written that is meant to be shared, or preserved," Macy said. "Writers write because they have a story to tell. Fiction or non-fiction, it's a story written to be shared."

Dr. Kerrigan nodded, seemingly impressed, and wrote "written to be shared or preserved" on the board. "Great answer. I would agree. Anyone else want to share?"

"I would." A young man on the other side of the lecture hall raised his hand. Macy turned to get a look at him. He had chiseled cheekbones, a mop of dark hair, and a cocky look on his face that made Macy want to punch him in it.

"Okay, go ahead," Dr. Kerrigan said.

"I'm Stephen Strange. I'm pre-med, from here in Manhattan."

"Pleasure, Mr. Strange. What are your thoughts on literature?"

Macy shared a smirk with Tina. Was this guy serious? What kind of last name was "Strange?"

"Well, no offense to Ms. O'Hara, but I think that's a load of bullshit."

Macy's eyes widened and she turned in her seat, as did most of the class. Stephen Strange stared back with a smirk.

Dr. Kerrigan did not seem fazed by his language. "Care to elaborate, Mr. Strange?"

"Literature is just a fancy term for the endless ramblings of humanity over centuries of incessant human bullshit. For some reason, we put special emphasis on writing when it sounds nice. It's just a jumble of words that happen to flow well together. Who cares? Writers don't write to share a story, they write because they have a vast superiority complex and think what they have to say is more important than the next person's."

Stephen Strange, lounged in his seat with his feet propped up on the chair in front of him, stared defiantly back at Dr. Kerrigan, and Macy.

Macy wondered if Mr. Strange knew that Dr. Kerrigan was an esteemed author with many awards.

He'd just called their professor a narcissist.

Dr. Kerrigan chuckled, clearly amused. "One man's opinion," she said, going back to the board.

She scribbled the words "incessant human bullshit" under Macy's description of literature. "Ms. O'Hara, care to add anything else?"

"I stand firm with my description," Macy said, shooting a glare in Strange's direction. "Though it's amusing to see a man who clearly considers himself to be the smartest person in the room to say that someone else has an ego problem."

Dr. Kerrigan nodded, smiling slightly. "Does anyone else have anything to share?"

The lecture hall remained silent as the students glanced back and forth between Macy and Stephen.

"Why would you say that I have an ego problem?" Stephen Strange called from his side of the room. "I mean, I would say I am overly confident, yes, but I have plenty of reasons to back up my behavior. Would you care to see my ACT score? High school transcripts? IQ score? Maybe you would like to see a scan of my brain."

Macy laughed and shook her head. "I think you've just provided all the evidence I needed."

"What an asshole," Macy heard Tina mutter under her breath.

"Please, Mr. Strange, let's leave the pissing contest to the men's washroom, shall we? Ms. O'Hara and the rest of your classmates are here to discuss literature. Now, onto our first assigned reading: Kate Chopin's The Awakening."

A smile filled Macy's face, and she momentarily forgot about her mid-lecture exchange with Stephen Strange.

"You can pick up copies of what is arguably Chopin's most important novel in the campus bookstore, or really any store in the city. I don't care where you get it, just make sure that you do, and read the first fifty pages before our next class on Wednesday."

Macy jotted down the assignment details in her notebook. She had a personal copy of The Awakening, as she was a huge fan of Kate Chopin, and had read it many times over. The assignment would be a great refresher.

"I also advise you all to do some research on Ms. Chopin before class on Wednesday. Because I know most of you won't bother on account of my advice, it will also be an assignment. Please bring a one-page biography on Chopin with you on Wednesday, in addition to your reading." After hearing some groans from the back of the room, Dr. Kerrigan added, "To understand Kate Chopin's work, one must first understand Kate Chopin. The same can be said with many authors. It's imperative to understand the source of a piece's meaning."

When class was over, Macy and Tina loitered in the hallway, discussing their first-ever college class and the pending assignment.

"This assignment must be your wet dream," Tina teased, nudging Macy with her arm.

Macy rolled her eyes. "Please. I could write that biography in my sleep. Besides, you'll love Chopin."

"I've read Chopin," Tina said. "And I do love her. Are you surprised?"

Macy's cheeks flushed. "Sorry, you just don't seem like the type to read Chopin."

Tina laughed. "What, my fondness for those of the same sex and uterus posters aren't enough of an indication that I would be into Kate Chopin?"

Macy laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

A group of men pushed past them, exiting the lecture room they'd just come from.

"Hey, it's that asshat from class," Macy said, pointing to the back of Stephen Strange's head.

"You're right," Tina grinned and grabbed her bag before chasing after them. "Hey, Strange!"

"Tina!" Macy groaned and raced after her.

Strange and his group of friends turned around, attempting to locate their caller. They all looked somewhat surprised to see Tina running after them.

"You know, you're quite the cocky asshole, for someone with arguably the worst name I've ever heard," Tina said, stopping inches away from Strange's face.

Intimidated, uncomfortable, or a combination of both, Stephen Strange took a step back. "Boundaries, perhaps?" His eyes shifted to Macy, who came to a rest at Tina's side. "O'Hara, right? Macy?"

"You're the one with the 'eidetic memory,'" Macy said with an eye roll. "You tell me."

"Just testing you," he replied.

"You know, that was awfully bold of you, calling authors narcissists. Tell me, Stephen Strange, is your photographic brain aware of the fact that our professor, Dr. Regina Kerrigan, is one of the most prolific writers of this decade?" Macy asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "And that she happens to have not one, but two Pulitzer Prizes?"

"I'm well aware of Dr. Kerrigan's merits," Strange chuckled. "College professors want students that provide their honest opinions, not a teacher's pet. This isn't high school anymore, O'Hara."

Macy's mouth fell open. Never in her life had she been referred to as a teacher's pet -- that was her sister's forte. For as intolerable as Gretchen was, she was adored by all of their high school teachers. Macy, on the other hand, had her fair share of detentions and visits to the principal's office for arguing with teachers a little too intensely.

"Trust me, I'm extremely familiar with giving my honest opinion. What I said in class was my honest opinion. If you're curious as to what my honest opinion is on you, Strange, I would be happy to give it to you," Macy said, taking a step forward to point a finger squarely at his chest.

"I think you've said more than enough already," Strange replied. He studied the girls, a smirk on his face. "We're having a party at our apartment this weekend. You two should come."

Tina scoffed. "Why in the hell would we want to go to a party that you are hosting?"

"A party?" Gretchen's voice called out from behind them. Macy's sister arrived with a flirty grin. "Count me in." She waved to the three boys. "Hi, I'm Gretchen. Macy's sister."

Strange raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Sister? Well, we look forward to seeing you Friday night then, Gretchen. Jack, give her our address, would you?" He said, turning to one of his cronies. It was the first time he had even acknowledged them since Tina and Macy showed up.

Jack, Macy realized, was built like a model. His jawbones put Strange's to shame, and he had thick, glossy hair that fell over his dark eyes. Dressed in a leather jacket and a rock band shirt, Macy could already see the hearts forming in her sister's eyes as he scribbled down their address on a piece of notebook paper.

"Here you are, Gretchen," Jack said, a smirk on his face.

"I hope we can see you two there as well," Strange's other friend said with a smile. "I'm Sam, by the way."

Sam was attractive, too, with warm, brown eyes, dark skin, and a friendly smile.

It made Macy infuriatingly angry that beautiful people were allowed to be such douchebags.

"Free booze?" Tina asked, and Macy could see her being drawn in. She gave her a frantic look, silently pleading for her to say no.

"Naturally," Strange replied.

"Fine," Tina said, rolling her eyes. "I'll be there too, I guess."

The rest of them turned to Macy. "What about you, O'Hara?" Strange asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not a chance."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

aaand here's chapter two! we've finally met the infamous stephen strange. thoughts? he's kind of a douche. let's hope that changes.

i've discovered that i really like writing college stuff. for those of you that read my young tony stark fic, GIRL GENIUS, you know that the first part of that fic takes place in college, too. maybe bc i'm in college currently? idk. also, party scenes are my favorite -- probably because parties are one of the sole things that give me joy in college. so yeah, i'm looking forward to writing the party chapter.

are any of you in college? if so, what do you study? or, if you're not in college, do you hope to go? what do you want to study?

thanks for reading :)

xx,
madi