The Wall and the Flower

Chapter 1: Move-In Day (Wanda's POV)

"You're sure you got everything?" I asked Pietro as I closed the trunk of his car and walked around to the front passenger seat. His light blonde hair glistened in the early afternoon sun as he waved me off, opening his door.

"Oh hell yeah, I got everything. And if I missed something, I can always just run to the store and get it." He got into the truck and started engine. I continued to stand beside the truck, staring back at our apartment, the building that had been my home for the past few years.

Touching the gold locket around my neck, I wiped away the small tear that ran down my cheek. Momma and Papa would be proud of you. This is what they always wanted for you. I was pulled out of my thoughts with the blaring noise of Pietro's hand slamming down on the horn. I groaned and cursed in Sokovian under my breath and opened the door, getting into the truck.

The drive was long, partly because of traffic and largely because of Pietro's black-hole of a stomach. By the time we got to campus, it was packed. Cars were parked all along the streets (some even going out of their way to create their own spots so they could be close to the dorms) and students walked the different paths lugging large boxes and bins while shouting directions at their family members. Loud music blared from the speakers of some guy's boombox that sat outside of a dorm and people huddled around it, jamming out to the music and presumably making friends.

I leaned against the window of Pietro's truck, feeling overwhelmed by the chaotic atmosphere of the campus that did nothing for my anxiety, and had to tell myself (many times) that it would only be like this for the first few days, two weeks max. Once classes started and the workload started to pile up, things would settle down. I hoped.

Pietro parked in front of the administration building and helped me out, leading me down to where we had to register and where we would be given our housing information. I knew it was unlikely, but I prayed that Pietro and I were given the same room, or at the very least the same building. We've been joined at the hip since our birth and very rarely did I do anything without him. Pietro was always the adventurous and social one that made a ton of friends and went out and did fun things. I, on the other hand, stayed cooped up in the apartment reading or writing or watching TV. That's not to say that I didn't go out and have fun, because I did. It was just with Pietro and his friends; I didn't have friends of my own.

Nervously, I grasped at my dark auburn hair and tied it in a high ponytail and played with the many rings on my fingers. Pietro looked over at me as we stood in line and moved his hand to hold onto mine, stopping my nervous habit. Looking into my green eyes, he gave me a small smile. He always knew how to calm me down. The line moved fast, and before I knew it we were next. Pietro and I filled out all the paperwork that was given to us as we moved down the table, until we got to the end.

"Alright and who do we have here?" the Resident Life administrator said, more to herself than as a genuine question. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins?"

"That's right," Pietro said, a smirk on his stubbled face. The woman smiled at us and filled out her part of the paperwork before digging through another pile of papers.

"Okay, here we go. Pietro you're gonna be in Simmons Hall room 234. Here's your combination." She gave Pietro his room combination as well as a map of the campus, a list of upcoming campus events, a calendar, a list of all available clubs, and his student ID. He smiled and thanked her and stepped out of the way. The woman once more started to shuffle through the pile again before stopping at my name. "And Wanda—that's a very pretty name, Wanda—you'll be in Ivy House room 304 and here is your room combination."

The woman proceeded to give me my combination and the same packet of information that Pietro got and gave us a smile as we started to walk out of the room.