The Doors to Newhaven

Chapter 2: Paper Napkins

The next day was my first day of school, The university wasn't far from the apartments so I woke up a little later than usual, and ended up underestimating how much time I had. Rushing suddenly with only ten minutes left to get to my first class I ran downstairs to find Sophie in the kitchen eating a bagel. 

"Well hello lazy bones. With the time you took getting out of bed I could found Rose Calverts necklace at the bottom of the ocean." I just rolled my eyes at her and went to the fridge to grab something fast from one of the shelves. I ended up with an apple which I bit into like a horse, finishing it off it in nearly two bites. 

"I'm going to be late for Literature class, I'll be back around noon." With a mouth full of bagel Sophie merely waved me goodbye as I stepped out the door into the cold morning air. 

The streets of Newhaven looked different in the day than at night. This morning the streets were covered in freshly fallen snow and the once quiet sidewalks were now alive with people. 

I reached into my back pocket for my phone, and looked up the map I had already downloaded. It said that the University was just around the corner, so I instinctively headed that way.

Sure enough when I turned on the corner up ahead Newhaven University came into view. College students bustled around campus, and I weaved my way inside the large grey building to room 403.  Literature with Mr. Edmunds. 

I stepped inside and the class had luckily not started yet. Slowing down a bit, I let myself relax in the doorway and search the room for a place to sit. Every seat looked to be filled except for one in the back next to a tall dark haired boy. Finding no other choice I hustled over to the empty seat and sat down quickly. 

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked as I seated myself. The guy next to me turned his head and a pair of familiar blue eyes met mine. I couldn't stop the gasp from escaping my throat. 

"Gage?" He smiled looking surprised to see me as well. 

"Hey Anabelle, what are you doing here?" I set my bag down, and took a seat beside him all the while trying to look like I wasn't disoriented by running into him. 

"I'm taking Literature." He chuckled a low, attractive laugh and didn't take his eyes from me. "I see, so are you here for fun, or for requirement." I looked him in the eyes sort of reluctantly not wanting to get lost in them. 

"Um, for fun I guess. I'm studying to be a writer so..." His eyebrows raised."A writer huh?" I pursed my lips not knowing what else to say. 

"What about you why are you here?" He leaned back in his chair putting his hands behind his head. 

"I'm here because i'm required." I simpered, knowing just by a glance he was a very athletic guy and would most likely rather be doing something else with his time than reading things like Romeo and Juliet.

"I'm sorry." He gave me a crooked half grin.

"I don't mind it, now that you're here." I blushed furiously and was luckily saved when the bell rang for class to begin. What was that supposed to mean? I don't mind now that you're here? Shaking the comment away I locked my eyes on the front of the room,and watched as Mr. Edmunds walked in. He was a man looking to be in his young thirties, dressed in a nice dress shirt and slacks. The minute he made it to his desk he began the lecture for that day. 

"Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. Written between October 1845 and June 1846.Although Wuthering Heights is now widely regarded as a classic of English literature, contemporary reviews for the novel were deeply polarized; it was considered controversial because its depiction of mental and physical cruelty was unusually stark, and it challenged strict Victorian ideals of the day, including religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality. The English poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti referred to it as"A fiend of a book - an incredible monster ... The action is laid in hell, - only it seems places and people have English names there." I'd never read Wuthering Heights, but I assumed now would be my chance. Listening to Mr. Edmunds speak I tuned out Gage's presence beside me and lost myself in the words of the summary