Mastering the Art of Social Networking
Title: Mastering the Art of Social Networking
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: As long as you're current
Word Count: 2000
Disclaimer: I own Community ... merchandise. But that's it.
A/N: For the sake of this fic, the cafeteria and the library are located in the same building. Just go with it :)
A HUGE thanks goes out to judykim97 for the amazing beta job. This fic would be much worse without her eye for detail and awesome advice. Thank you!!!
The group grumbled and shifted closer together as the seventh and final member squeezed into the corner booth they had managed to secure. It was noon and the cafeteria was packed because-by way of apology for “Dress as Your Favorite Dinosaur Day,” which was an obvious disaster resulting in two broken arms, a pulled fire alarm and Starburns tripping acid dressed as Godzilla-the Dean decided a little mid-semester pick-me-up was in order and brought back the legendary chicken fingers. Of course the first fifty people in line hoarded them all and everyone else, including the study group, was left with last week’s meatloaf. Annie, the only lucky one of the group, managed to snag the last deli sandwich.
Now settled happily in the booth, she carefully squeezed the mustard packet along the bun before closing the sandwich with satisfaction. Lifting it to her mouth slowly, being careful not to spill, she took a hearty bite. Mustard gushed out and dribbled down her chin, and as she lowered the sandwich to grab a napkin, she heard the most dreadful, awful sound in the entire world.
The cheerful click of a camera phone.
Her stomach dropped immediately. Glancing across the booth in wide-eyed panic, she was met with the shit-eating grin that could only belong to Jeff Winger, making her sputter and choke over the large bite. Struggling to chew and swallow, she made a fumbled grab for his phone, but he was too quick. Dangling it tauntingly over his head, he smirked at her as the rest of the group watched the exchange with rapt attention, barely breathing as they looked on to see how Annie would react.
"Thanks for the photo op, Annie. I needed something new to post on my Twitter account."
Annie let out a strangled whine, unable to speak due to the now-regretted gluttonous bite. Jeff just smirked at her again and lowered the phone to his face, working to upload the picture.
And then he saw it. Her huge, watery doe eyes flashed with something dark. The panic and dread he had previously witnessed were replaced by indignation and anger.
Anger directed towards him.
He dropped the smirk.
In a split second, he was out of the booth and tearing across the cafeteria, Annie hot on his heels. The rest of the group stared dumbfounded, except for Abed, who nodded his head appreciatively, muttering something about chase scenes while shooting a finger gun at their swiftly retreating backs.
Jeff may have had long legs, but he was also bigger, which made it harder for him to navigate the crowded hallways as students made their way to the cafeteria and classes. Annie, although short, could dart and weave her way around people like a silent ninja assassin. Jeff would have been impressed if it wasn't him she was chasing.
He rounded a corner and almost took out Leonard (which he wouldn't have minded so much) but the old pain-in-the-ass dodged him at the last minute, simultaneously pivoting, flipping him off, and blowing a raspberry with the physical dexterity of someone a quarter of his age. And, seriously? Was everyone more coordinated than him today?
Risking a glance over his shoulder, he watched Annie effortlessly vault over Garret who was on his knees, wobbling to reach for a Snickers bar on the floor. He knew he needed to think of something quickly. And, no, really, seriously? How was this happening? He worked out every day. Rounding another corner, he spotted the study room up ahead. If he could just get to it before Annie caught up to him …
Reaching the study room, he shoved through the doors, his relief short-lived as Annie latched onto his waist and clung to him. Dragging her feet, her dead weight pulled him down, and he fell forwards into the room as his phone slipped out of his sweaty grip and went skittering across the dingy blue carpet. Wasting no time, Annie sprang up and zipped past him, grabbing the phone and moving to put the study table between them as she smiled triumphantly and waved his phone in front of him teasingly when he finally regained his footing.
"Annie. Give me my phone," he spoke calmly, wheezing a bit from all the running and the being tackled to the ground by a girl in a pink, pearl-button cardigan.
"I will ... just as soon as I delete that horrible picture you took of me," she replied back, just as calmly, but with an intensity in her eyes that set his pulse pounding for reasons other than physical exertion.
When she took her eyes off him to access his phone's photo album, he seized the opportunity and struck quickly, darting around the table to grab the phone ... or her ... whichever was easier at this point. But Annie swiftly overturned a chair to block his path and darted of his reach again, and when exactly did she learn how to do all this awesome action-movie stuff? He hadn't seen her like this since paintball.
He liked it. Probably too much.
Amused and totally into the little game they had going, he moved slowly around the table and she did as well, circling and circling, holding her gaze as she held his. He rounded the table patiently, planning his next move.
A sudden noise-a hacky sack against the window-jolted Annie out of their intense stalemate. Distracted, she instinctively turned towards the sound and Jeff cut around the table quickly. Realizing her mistake, she yelped and jumped up onto the table, aiming to move out of his reach, but he was too quick. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her from the tabletop as she squealed and squirmed in his arms, kicking out and holding the phone high in her outstretched hand. With her free hand she dug her short nails into his shoulder, bracing herself against his chest as she tried desperately not to let him put her down, knowing if she touched ground he would wrestle the phone from her and it would all be over.
Suddenly, this all became way more serious than just a gross picture of her stuffing her face. It was Annie versus Jeff in some weird, unnamed challenge. She hadn’t had this much carefree fun with him since their night-school conspiracy. She wasn’t quite sure what it all meant-the picture, the chase, the fluttering in her stomach, the excitement of it all-but she knew one thing: whatever it was they were doing, whatever game this was, she was going to win.
Annie kept her grip on his shoulder as she braced herself above him, accessing his photos one-handed to find the offending picture and delete it. She laughed despite herself as she squirmed and twisted against him, using her legs to push herself higher and keep Jeff from reaching his coveted phone.
"Jesus, Annie. What are you, part spider monkey?" Jeff laughed as he tightened his grip-one arm around her waist and the other gripping the backs of her thighs-giving up all attempts at retrieving his phone to instead support Annie's weight and keep her from losing balance and falling. He was tall after all. It would probably hurt a lot if she fell from that height.
"Ha! Deleted!" she cried in victory, smiling widely down at him as he looked up and grinned back. As the moment stretched longer than what would be deemed “appropriate” and “platonic,” Annie delicately cleared her throat and asked, "Can you please let me down now?"
Jeff smirked and lowered her to the floor. She handed him his phone and he took it graciously, tilting his head forward in acknowledgement of his defeat. "Milady." Slowly, the smirk faded and was replaced by the soft smile he seemed to reserve for her and her alone.
Annie hummed happily and smiled back. "Thank you, milord," she said as she straightened her cardigan and smoothed out her pleated miniskirt.
"You're welcome."
Suddenly, Annie took a step forward, into his personal space, and looked up at him through long, thick eyelashes. For a second, Jeff thought she was about to turn into flirty Annie. Maybe even kiss him.
He was very much mistaken.
He watched her mouth tighten into a firm line before he felt her tiny fist connect sharply with his stomach as she sucker punched him with a strength that exceeded her size. He “ooph”ed as all the air was expelled from his lungs, doubling over and focusing on the floor, one hand braced on his knee as the other flew to clutch his precious abs. He didn't look up again until he felt a small, warm hand on each of his shoulders and saw Annie bent forward slightly to meet his eyes, determination in her gaze.
"Jeff. Winger. Don't you ever take an unflattering picture of me again and threaten to post it on the Internet, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," he managed as he cleared his throat and took a deep breath, equal parts intimidated and impressed with this tougher side of Annie that he didn’t get to see very often.
"Good!" Annie squeezed his shoulders encouragingly, in a show of mutual understanding, before letting go and smiling brightly at him like she hadn't just knocked his masculinity down a notch … or twelve. "See you in class,” she chirped as she made her way out of the study room.
It's possible she may have been skipping.
Jeff shook his head, laughing to himself in amused disbelief-not for the first time today-and straightened to leave the room as well. How was it possible she had this kind of effect on him? He should’ve been pissed that she dared to maim his perfectly sculpted torso … so why was he smiling? Look, when it came to Annie, there were a lot of things Jeff preferred to just not think about. And this was one of those times when it would be easier to tuck what just transpired between them into the filing cabinet in the back of his mind labeled “Annie” and “Feelings” and covered in question marks. Unfortunately, this filing cabinet had the tendency to open, of its own accord, and spill its contents into the forefront of his mind at the most inconvenient of times. Shaking his head to clear it, he’d worry about that particular problem tomorrow.
He turned towards the door and was met with a sight that made him stop dead in his tracks. Troy and Abed were standing just inside the glass doors-Abed staring at him, expressionless, and Troy with the biggest, stupidest grin on his stupid, stupid face as he held his phone up in front of him, pointed right at Jeff.
Jeff scowled.
"Troy, how long have you been recording me?"
"Long enough to watch the famous Jeff Winger get his ass handed to him by a girl half his size," Troy laughed.
"Troy, I really think it'd be in everyone's best interest if you just deleted that video, okay?" Jeff took a step towards them, but Troy just stood there grinning, still recording.
“Abed, what do you think,” Troy asked gleefully. “Should I post this video to Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube? Oh, who am I kidding,” he laughed, “I'm posting to all three.”
Jeff's jaw tightened as he narrowed his eyes, hands clenching angrily at his sides.
Abed took a step back and reached around, grasping the door handle behind him. "Troy, I think it'd be in our best interest if we ran away now. Jeff is looking like he did the time he took an axe to the study table … minus the monkey gas and drywall dust."
Troy looked up from his phone and caught Jeff's expression. He laughed awkwardly and waved goodbye before suddenly hightailing it with Abed out of the study room.
"Damnit," Jeff sighed tiredly and took off running after them.