Bloom

5. plastic fruit

Haven

The first few weeks of University weren't as bad as I secretly thought they would be. Making friends was quite easy, as the study groups William had formed for us, were a great first step. The study group consisted out of six peers.

Haven, Luke, Zephaniah, Abel, Louis and Norah. Norah and I had some nice conversations, we could quite get along. The boys had found each other in no time, except for one of them, who was more on his own.

Ittarah used to be in our group, but William didn't think it would be a good idea to put Ittarah in the same group as her cousin. She hadn't minded, he clearly had.

It made me rather disappointed, as after the first few days, me and Ittarah became friends, the Herschel bag being an important detail to the start of our friendship.

"Here you go," Ittarah gave me a small smile, placing a brand new Herschel bag on the table I was sitting at.

I frowned, an unsure look on my face as I eyed the bag, looking up. "What? Why?"

"Because I can't stand looking at those ink dots for a second longer. The guilt is eating me up from the inside, every time I see your bag. And since it was my fault, I bought you a new one." Tara chuckled nonchalantly, playing with a long strand of her black hair.

I couldn't help but laugh softly, though, I pushed the bag away. "No way, I'm going to take this from you. Do you know how expensive the bag was?" I wondered, staring at her dark brown eyes.

"Yes! And that's exactly why I had to make it up to you. Please, just take it, because I can't return it." She chuckled again, shoving the brand new bag back towards me, slightly raising her eyebrow.

"I really can't do that, Ittarah," I shook my head, nibbling on my bottom lip. "I really don't mind that it happened, I promise!"

Ittarah smiled cheekily, grabbing my bag, which I had placed next to my chair on the floor. "I told you, I can't bear looking at those ink spots, I somehow created. Kinda artistic, eh? My elder cousin, Zayn, would be proud of me. Now, trade."

She held up my bag, carefully removing all of its content and placing it onto the table, trading my bag for the brand new one. "Give this one to me, if that makes you feel any better."

"I don't know what to say," I gulped, sheepishly placing my water bottle, lunchbox and a few textbooks into the brand new bag.

Ittarah shrugged, and sat down beside me, stretching out her hand. "Haven, right? Nice to meet you, my friend."

I smiled widely, shaking her hand. "Haven, indeed. Hi, Ittarah."

"Call me Tara, please. What were you up to?" She wondered, glancing at the notebook I was writing in.

Shrugging, I simply showed her some of my notes. "Just writing down what's due, for next week."

Tara smiled, shaking her head. "You're just like my cousin. He almost makes lists for lists. I should probably take notes, though. No pun intended."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, already liking her, despite her previous behaviour towards her cousin. But then again, I didn't know him, so how could I judge what was right or wrong? I had no right to.

"He does?" I wondered, my eyes searching for the dark haired boy.

Ittarah sighed, her eyes motioning in the direction of Zephaniah. "He's such an anxious person, putting sticky notes upon his wall, writing it down in his notebook and also setting an alarm if he has something important to do or make. Scared he'll forget it. Gosh, he gives me anxiety sometimes."