It took me a couple of minutes to reach my apartment. I pushed open the door to my apartment and got in.
The studio was exactly how I'd left it that morning. Bed against one wall, couch facing a TV I barely used, kitchenette that saw more beer than cooking. The kind of place you crash in, not live in.
I kicked off my shoes, tossed my jacket on the couch, and fell face-first onto the bed without bothering to take off my jeans.
My body sank into the mattress. Every muscle loosened. I could still feel the ghost of MJ's thighs around my head.
A nap. That's what I needed—just twenty minutes to reset before I did something else and later had to get ready for the bar shift at seven.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
I almost drifted off before my phone buzzed.
I groaned into the pillow, debating whether to ignore it. Could be MJ texting something filthy. It could be Marco asking me to cover a shift. Could be—
It buzzed again.
"Fuck's sake," I muttered, rolling over and fishing the phone out of my pocket.
The screen lit up.
Gwen Stacy.
I blinked, sitting up slightly. Gwen texts very often.
Most of her texts were related to random stuff. Some of them were related to our study schedules or exam tips from her. She sometimes sends some physics-related memes, which I pretend to understand.
I unlocked the phone and read the message.
Gwen: REX!! Results are out!! I got in! Full scholarship too! Check yours right now and TELL ME!!
I stared at the text.
Empire State University and the entrance exam results.
I'd almost forgotten about them.
But yeah. ESU. The exam I'd spent four months preparing for. The reason I'd been pulling double shifts and studying during every spare minute I had.
Gwen Stacy.
I met her two months ago at the library—the same library where I met the hookup with whom the system activated. Different day, though. I'd been sitting in one of those long reading tables, textbooks spread out in front of me, trying to make sense of organic chemistry.
She'd been sitting across from me, scribbling notes in a notebook, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, glasses perched on her nose. I hadn't paid much attention at first. Just another college student grinding through coursework.
Then she'd looked up, caught me staring at my textbook with what I'm sure was a murderous expression, and laughed.
"Organic chem?" she'd asked.
"Unfortunately."
"Want help?"
I'd raised an eyebrow. "Are you any good at it?"
"Good? I am great at it!"
And just like that, we started talking.
Turned out she was also prepping for ESU's entrance exams—hers were for a biology program, mine for... honestly, I hadn't decided yet. Something in the sciences. Something that paid well. Gwen had already aced her exams and was waiting for results, but she offered to help me prep for mine.
We'd been meeting at the library twice a week ever since. She'd explain complicated topics in ways that actually made sense. Broke down formulas. Walked me through problem sets. Made the whole thing feel less like drowning and more like... manageable.
She was smart. Way smarter than me. The kind of smart that made you feel like an idiot and impressed at the same time.
And yeah, she was hot.
Extremely hot.
Blonde hair that caught the light just right. Blue eyes that always seemed a little too focused, a little too intense when she was explaining something. A body that her conservative sweaters and jeans couldn't quite hide. The kind of girl who probably didn't realize how many guys stared at her when she walked past.
I'd thought about making a move more than once.
Imagined grabbing that blonde ponytail while she was on her knees. Pictured her looking up at me with those blue eyes, lips wrapped around my cock, that smart-girl energy completely undone.
But I hadn't.
Because Gwen wasn't like the other girls I hooked up with.
She was one of the very few people I could actually call a friend. And I knew—knew—that if I made a move, things would get messy.
She wasn't into casual sex. Wasn't into hookups. She was the kind of girl who wanted a relationship. Someone who'd text her good morning. Someone to lose her virginity to and never regret doing that.
And I wasn't that guy.
I didn't pretend to be, either.
Gwen knew about my habits. Knew I hooked up around. I'd been upfront about it from the start because I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Didn't want her seeing me as some innocent nice guy and turning whatever small attraction she might have into something more.
Because yeah, she was attracted to me. I could tell.
The way she'd laugh a little too hard at my jokes. The way her eyes would linger on me when she thought I wasn't looking. The way she'd lean in just a bit too close when explaining something, close enough that I could smell her shampoo.
But she never pushed it. Never made a move. And I respected that.
I'd hooked up with girls like her before. Sweet. A little naive. Introverted. The type who'd fall for you after one night and then spend the next week texting you paragraphs about their feelings.
I'd broken hearts like that. More than once.
I wasn't doing that to Gwen.
So I stayed in my lane. Kept things friendly. Let her see the real me—the guy who worked two shitty jobs, hooked up with random women, and had zero interest in a serious relationship.
And you know what? It worked.
We were friends. Actual friends.
Turns out I could stay just friends with a hot girl. The fact that I still thought about fucking her didn't count.
I read her message again, then opened the ESU website on my phone.
The page loaded slowly. Too slow. My shitty apartment wifi struggling under the weight of what was probably hundreds of other students checking their results at the same time.
I tapped my thumb against the side of the phone, waiting.
Finally, the page loaded.
I navigated to the results portal. Entered my information. Hit submit.
The page lagged for another agonizing minute.
Then it loaded.
Congratulations! You have been accepted into Empire State University.
I exhaled.
Got in.
I scrolled down.
Merit-Based Scholarship: 50% Tuition Coverage
I groaned.
Fifty percent.
Half.
Not full.
Don't get me wrong—I'd worked hard for this. Studied my ass off for months while juggling two jobs and a system that rewarded me for getting laid. I'd earned this acceptance.
But I'd been hoping—really hoping—for a full ride like Gwen's.
ESU wasn't cheap.
Four-year program? Three hundred total. Even with the scholarship covering half, I was still on the hook for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That's just tuition. Not counting books, housing, food, all the other stuff that comes with college.
I had about forty thousand in the bank. My parents' life insurance payout, what little they'd left behind. It was supposed to last me through my uni.
It wasn't going to.
Not even close.
I stared at the screen, doing the math in my head.
First year alone would cost me nearly forty grand after the scholarship. Which meant I'd burn through my savings in one year and have three more to go.
"Fuck," I muttered.
I wasn't stupid. I knew what this meant.
More shifts. More hours. Less sleep. Or I'd have to take out loans, which meant spending the next decade paying off debt while trying to survive in a world where supervillains could blow up my neighborhood on a Tuesday.
I leaned back against the headboard, rubbing my face with both hands.
Don't doubt me just because I'm a fuckboy.
I'm smart. Always have been.
Back in my hometown, I topped my class every year. Got into ESU with only a few months of prep while working two jobs. That's not luck—that's putting in the work.
Gwen was smarter, sure. Way smarter. But I could hold my own.
Still.
University was going to be brutal.
'Can't wait to get a skill that makes me smart,' I thought, half-joking. 'Or else I'm not surviving four years without burying myself in books instead of pussy.'
The system better come through on that front.
ESU was worth it, though. I'd done my research.
It wasn't just a good university—it was THE university in New York. A research university backed by tech giants. Stark Industries. Oscorp. Hammer Tech. All the big players funneled money into ESU because they wanted first pick of the next gen of smart humans.
The average starting salary for an ESU grad was ninety grand a year.
Ninety thousand dollars.
That was the dream six months ago when I first moved to Queens. Get into ESU. Get a degree. Get a high-paying job. Stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Then the system happened.
And for a hot second, I'd thought about dropping the whole college idea.
Why spend four years and so much money on a degree when I had a system that could turn sex into superpowers? When I could unlock abilities that'd let me do... whatever the hell I wanted?
But I didn't drop it.
Because my mom had always wanted to see me graduate.
She used to talk about it all the time. How proud she'd be. How she'd frame my degree and put it on the wall. How she'd tell everyone she knew that her son made something of himself.
She never got to see it.
But I could still do it for her.
Plus, the motivation shifted after the system was activated.
Maybe it'd give me skills that'd make me brilliant in some field. Chemistry. Physics. Engineering. Something that'd catch the attention of Stark or Oscorp. Maybe I'd land a research position. Work on something groundbreaking. Get funding. Publish. Make a name for myself.
And if it worked out?
I'd be set for life.
That was the long game.
But right now?
Right now, I was staring at a tuition bill I couldn't afford and wondering how the hell I was going to make this work.
'System,' I thought, half-praying to the blue screen in my head. 'Give me some skills to earn money. I barely have enough to pay for my first year.'
No response. Of course.
The system wasn't sentient. Even if it was, it wouldn't care about my financial problems.
I sighed, took a screenshot of my acceptance letter, and opened my messages.
Rex: Got in, too.
I hit send.
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
Gwen: REX!! YESSS!! The Stacy-Thrustmore Alliance is OFFICIALLY at ESU now!! We're gonna dominate!! 🎉🎉
I snorted.
The Stacy-Thrustmore Alliance.
She'd been calling us that for the past month. Some stupid nickname she'd come up with during a late-night study session when we were both delirious from caffeine and textbooks.
I hated it.
She loved it.
Rex: Ugh. I told you so many times to drop that cringeworthy name.
Gwen: NEVER. It's iconic. You're just mad you didn't come up with it first.
Rex: I'm mad it exists at all.
Gwen: Too bad!! You're stuck with it now 😎
I shook my head, grinning despite myself.
Rex: Fine. Whatever. We're celebrating, or what?
Gwen: YES!! Tomorrow evening? Dad's taking me, Mom, and my grandparents out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Big family thing.
Rex: Tomorrow works. Where?
Gwen: I'll find a place!! Something fun. Not too expensive tho cause I know you're broke lol.
Rex: Wow. Rude.
Gwen: True tho 😏
Rex: ...Yeah, okay, fair.
Gwen: See you tomorrow then!! Byeee~
Rex: Bye, Gwen.
I tossed my phone onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
Gwen.
She was full of energy once you got to know her. Quiet and reserved at first, sure, but once she warmed up to you? She never shut up. Always texting. Always making jokes. Always coming up with ridiculous nicknames and dragging you into her chaos.
It was exhausting sometimes.
But in a good way.
I glanced at the time. Still had a few hours before my bar shift.
The acceptance letter was pulled up on my phone screen, the amount I would have to pay glaring at me like a reminder of all the shit I still had to figure out.
But you know what?
I'd deal with it later.
Right now, I'm just going to be happy I got in.
I closed my eyes.
And finally—finally—let myself take a quick nap.
.....
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