Gwen sighed, really considering dropping out before her first class even started. "I could probably just ask Cecil to hack into ESU and give me whatever degree I want… ugh but then I'll be missing out on all the fun tropes that come from being a student and a hero. Come on Gwen, we got this. We do one semester and if it's totally boring, we'll transfer one of Tony's dozen PhD's to me." Gwen took one last look back at the street before making her way onto the campus grounds. Keystone State University was a lot more scenic than Empire State University, and a lot older. The buildings were made of weathered brick and looked closer to a museum than a school, and the courtyards were huge with trees that looked like they were older than the country.
"Maybe I'll find a sect of evil vampires here? I'd have to call Blade again. Or maybe the whole school is a front for HYDRA recruitment? I could probably handle that myself, HYDRA guys are pretty dumb if it isn't a Captain America comic." She whistled the Spectacular Spider-Man opening theme as she searched for her classroom, positive that she wouldn't have to pass through more than a couple of panels before finding her destination regardless of the time. Only five minutes late, she opened the door to classroom 301 and was surprised to see a familiar face.
"Ah, you must be Miss Poole? Take a syllabus and find a seat next to Miss… Bretton?"
"Benton, sir." Andi had narrowed her eyes at Gwen the moment she'd arrived, trying to figure out the odds of this woman being the same person she'd met a few days ago. She'd never got to see the face under her mask, but the long, pale legs and bouncy gait were dead giveaways. Gwen waved at her excitedly and that was all the confirmation she'd needed. "Perfect," she thought to herself, barely containing her groan.
"Of course, of course, my apologies. I hope to have you guys all memorized by the end of the week. Now, as I was saying-" The professor went into a speech about preparedness and searching for help when needed. Andi wanted to pay attention, but concentrating at all was a chore around her hyperactive classmate.
"Hey! Remember me?" Gwen whispered softly, not even bothering to even take a glance at her syllabus.
"Gwenpool. Is there a reason you're in my lit class?" Andi wasn't exactly thrilled about having a superhero in her school. Superheroes normally brought super problems along with them and she really just didn't want to get involved with interdimensional time travel or whatever the hell heroes were doing these days.
"Oh, I go here now! I have a dorm and everything. But I didn't expect to see you here too. Unless… is this a crossover?" She looked around excitedly, hoping to find something.
"You have a dorm here? Lemme guess. Room-"
"Room 704!"
Andi held her face in her hands. This year wasn't going to be as easy as she'd initially thought it would be.
"This is a crossover! Hi roomie!" Gwen playfully blew a kiss at her new friend, who was desperately trying to add teleporting to her repertoire of superpowers. Andi did her best to pay attention during class, but Gwen was distracting. She was so colorful and animated, it must've looked hilarious to anyone else. The goth chick with piercings dressed in all black desperately trying to focus on her work sitting next to the colorful, hyperactive girl who could hardly afford to pay attention.
With class dismissed, Andi was the first to leave. She didn't want to spend the rest of the day thinking about this- she'd handle it when her classes were over for the day. Thankfully she'd already met their other roommate- a tiny, sporty Japanese girl named Himawari Tokage. Or Tokage Himawari? She still wasn't sure about the cultural differences there. Time couldn't move slow enough and her last class was over before she knew it. Rushing to their dorm, she hoped to get there and speak to Himawari before Gwen could. It was clear that the other woman wasn't too big on the whole secret identity thing considering she'd named her superhero persona after herself, and the last thing she wanted was for her to get dragged into whatever drama Gwen would bring with her. She power walked through the residence hall and quickly unlocked her room door. Her heart sank instantly.
"Hey, Andi." Himawari looked up from her homework and nodded at her before turning her attention back towards Gwen and her homework.
"Hi Andi! Look, we have another roommate! This is gonna be great, I-"
"Gwen. Can I speak with you? Privately." Andi held the door open, wanting to put some distance between the two women before someone said something they wouldn't be able to unhear.
"Someone's in trouble," Himawari chuckled, looking back to her notebook as Gwen sprung to her feet and followed Andi out of the room.
"What's wrong, partner?" Gwen never stopped moving, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she spoke. How anyone could possibly have this much energy was beyond Andi.
"What did you tell her," Andi hissed under her breath.
"Well we were talking about life in New York City for a bit and then she started working on her homework so I-"
"You know what I'm talking about." Andi had grabbed the front of Gwen's shirt without even meaning to. She looked down and saw her Hell-Mark was glowing on her chest and quickly let her roommate go. She'd just blown her own cover on the first day! She took a couple of deep breaths, grounding herself as she remembered her anger management classes. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it, I'm not scared of a little soul corruption. Happens all the time. Anyway, no, I haven't told her about your demonic possession. I don't know anything about her so she's probably just an extra, anyway," Gwen explained nonchalantly, not even missing a beat after Andi's manhandling.
"I thought you knew everything about everyone," Andi asked accusingly, arms crossed over her chest. That idea had kept her up late the night they'd met. If Gwenpool really did know everything about everyone then she knew things Andi would rather keep secret.
"Everyone important. Like superheroes and people they're related to. Not random extras," Gwen explained, as if this should've been obvious. Andi rolled her eyes, still straddling the fence between not believing her and seeing her as a threat.
"Anyway, I promise I won't tell anyone about you being next in line to rule hell. And I'll keep a low profile about being a superhero, too." Gwen put a hand over her heart as she spoke, the highest form of promise she could make. It would've been endearing to Andi if she wasn't so skeptical of her.
"And how are you gonna make sure no one finds out about you when you're Gwen Poole and your hero name is Gwenpool?" She still couldn't believe anyone would do something so obvious. Why even wear a mask at that point?
"Nobody knew Dr. Stephen Strange was Doctor Strange for a really long time. I think I'll be alright," Gwen laughed to herself before leaning back against the door to their dorm. "Just as a head's up, though. We're definitely going to get into some hijinks together. So you should think about a mask. Or a costume altogether." Gwen suspected that it'd be less than a day before the next plot arc would show itself. Marvel writers hardly ever did slice of life series, and considering she was paired with another active hero, there was no way this wasn't the first issue of a new experimental run between the two.
"No way. I'm just here for classes, Gwen. I promised someone important to me no more superheroing." Andi remembered her promise to Coach Thompson, how she told him she'd keep the use of her Hell-Mark to a minimum. She didn't hate the idea of just being a civilian again, especially after all the blood she'd seen while the demon had been in charge.
"Flash Thompson? Yeah, he's probably not going to mind you doing superhero stuff at all. Especially considering what he's been up to recently. Also if you've got his number tell him Agent Anti-Venom is a dumb name." Gwen tucked some of her pink-and-blonde hair behind her ear, pouting slightly as she remembered how the man had lost his symbiote. "Flash and Venom were cute together," she remembered, reminiscing about the end of such a fun partnership.
Andi finally allowed herself to laugh. Maybe- just maybe- Gwen wouldn't be too bad after all.
The door creaked open and Gwen fell backwards into their dorm, her head landing an inch from Himawari's toes. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. Was gonna ask if you guys wanted to get some food. I'm starving." She extended a hand to try to help Gwen off the floor, but the energetic woman lithely kipped up on her own and dusted herself off.
"Sure. I could grab a bite. Come on, Andi, we gotta get this plot moving or the readers'll get bored."