Fic: Teenage Dream 2/2
Fandom: Community AU
Rating: PG
Characters: Jeff/Annie, Annie/Abed friendship, Annie/Troy friendship
Disclaimer: I don't own Community.
Summary: He moved on. She could too.
Author's Note:One month later...THE CONCLUSION OF TEENAGE DREAM. Sorry it took so long!
A quick refresher since it has been a while. Previously on Teenage Dream: Annie discovers she has feelings for Mr. Winger. Mr. Winger obviously reciprocates these feelings. But before anything can happen, they are interrupted by Mr. Hawthorne and Senor Chang and the supposed "Sausage Fest" they had planned with Mr. Winger. Annie exits stage left, in a hurry.
And if that's not enough, Here's Part One.
Annie ran up the stairs of her house to her bedroom, threw her backpack on the floor, and collapsed face down on her bed.
Did that just happen? Oh my God. Mr. Winger was her teacher. Her teacher! This couldn't be happening. How was she going to face him tomorrow?
Although, it was pretty nice...
Annie sat up suddenly. No. She wasn't going to do this. She had a serious problem, and she had to take it seriously. This was no time to fall into a mess of teenage feelings. She needed to sort everything out. There was a perfectly logical reason to what happened between her and Mr. Winger in the darkroom.
It was all Troy's fault.
He just had to call Mr. Winger a douchebag. He knew that Annie would tell Mr. Winger about it, and he knew that they would share a...moment. Annie huffed angrily. Troy probably thought he was so clever, making her feel...something...for Mr. Winger.
Well, she'd show him.
* * *
Mr. Winger didn't show up for school the next day. Senor Chang ended up subbing for their class, and he spent half of the time yelling that he was a Spanish genius and the other half talking about how great Mr. Winger's pecs were to lay on when you were crying.
Annie was too consumed with Operation Troy to be irritated about Senor Chang and his lack of teaching skills, or to even think about how Mr. Winger was mysteriously gone today, and wonder if maybe she flustered him...and she was ignoring that feeling in her chest. Operation Troy. Operation Troy.
Troy was sitting in the desk in front of her, writing 'T-Bone wuz here' on the desktop. Annie clenched her fists. Look at him, casually defacing school property.
He had no idea what was coming to him.
The bell rang. Troy yawned, and stood up and stretched.
Abed stood up as well, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder. "Troy, I got some more tin foil. Do you want to help me wrap it onto our Kickpuncher costumes today?"
Troy's eyes lit up, but then he glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Nah, not today. I promised Ms. Perry that I would help her with something."
Annie casually slipped her books into her bag and stood up to join the two. "Really, Troy? The Vegetarian Awareness Fair is long over."
Troy looked nervous. "Yeah. But there's...other stuff. Other...vegetables." He stood there awkwardly for a minute before waving goodbye to Annie and Abed and rushing out the door. Abed shrugged his shoulders, waved goodbye to Annie and left as well.
Annie stayed in the classroom. She asked Senor Chang if it was okay if she stayed after school and worked in the darkroom, and Senor Chang waved an approval as he walked out the door, telling her to make sure to turn off all the lights in the room when she left.
Annie loitered in the darkroom and made a few contact sheets. After twenty minutes, she tucked all her work into her backpack, turned off all the lights and headed towards Ms. Perry's classroom. The halls were empty; a couple of the classrooms were filled with students serving detentions or having meetings for extracurricular activities. When she got to Ms. Perry's classroom it was locked--and empty. Annie let out a frustrated sigh. Where were they? Maybe they were in the cafeteria, or the auditorium.
A quick glance through the large windows of the cafeteria showed no one, so Annie walked to the front entrance of the school, where the auditorium was. She pulled on the handle; the door was locked. Puzzled, Annie went around the side and tried the door that opened closest to the stage. Also locked.
Annie pressed her ear against the door and tried to see if she could hear Troy's voice. Nothing. Annie pulled at the handle a couple more times, dejectedly, before giving up.
Annie walked out the front doors of the school. She was about to head home when she remembered the emergency exit door behind the stage that led straight outside. Sometimes the drama students would prop the door open so they could nip outside and smoke instead of walking around to the school's front doors to get outside. Annie rushed over to the side of the building and grinned when saw a fairy wand propping the door open. She crept up to the door slowly, pausing just outside the crack to listen inside.
She heard Troy. And Ms. Perry. But they were too far in for Annie to understand what they were saying. Annie stepped back from the door and took a deep breath. She went over Operation Troy in her head:
Step One: Discover Troy and Ms. Perry in an illicit teacher/student relationship.
Step Two: Once discovered, point at them and yell "A-ha!"
Annie smiled to herself. Now Troy would know what it felt like to be confronted with an onslaught of feelings! He would never recover.
Annie pulled the door open.
It was really dark inside, so she couldn't see anything at first. She stood just inside of the door for a minute to allow her eyes to adjust, and then slowly crept down the dressing room hallway. She stopped just outside the doorway that led out onto the main stage. She could hear Troy and Ms. Perry much clearer now and...what were they doing? They were gasping and grunting like...no.
They weren't.
Annie let out a small shriek. She clasped her hands over her mouth but the damage was done--the gasping and grunting (eww!) stopped. Then she heard Troy nervously call out "Who's there?"
And before Annie realized what she was doing, she ran out onto the main stage, one hand over her eyes, and yelled out "A-HA!"
A minute passed. Troy and Ms. Perry didn't say or do anything. Annie had to see what was going on. She moved her fingers and peered through them.
Troy was wearing a leotard. Annie dropped her hand from her eyes. Troy and Ms. Perry were both wearing black leotards.
Troy screamed at the top of his lungs.
* * *
Ms. Perry had ducked out the emergency exit to smoke. Troy and Annie sat at the edge of the stage, their feet dangling down into the orchestra pit.
"She's teaching you interpretive dance?"
Troy wiggled his feet. "Yeah. Coach said it would help playing football, and I found out Ms. Perry used to be a tap dancer so..." he shrugged. "It's fun. Ms. Perry is a good teacher."
Annie looked down at her feet. "Does Abed know?"
"NO. And don't tell him. This is between me and Ms. Perry. And now you."
"He won't care, you know. He's your best friend. His reaction is going to be ten times better than mine."
Troy laughed. "Yeah. About that. If you didn't know I was taking dance, what was with the 'A-ha!'?"
Annie tensed. Should she tell him? She did stumble on Troy's big secret. And she'd already made a huge fool of herself.
And Troy was her...friend. Annie smiled to herself. Yeah, he was her friend.
"I thought...that you and Ms. Perry were having a teacher/student affair."
Troy's eyes widened. "Dude," he said in a high pitched voice. "That's AWESOME."
Annie laughed. "But you're not...right?"
Troy shook his head. "But still...AWESOME."
Annie laughed again and stood up, dusting off her skirt. "I better go."
Troy stood up as well. "Yeah."
"Bye, Troy."
He waved. Annie walked towards the exit.
"Hey, Annie."
She turned around.
"You're a good friend."
Annie smiled. "You too, Troy."
Annie smiled all the way home. When she got up to her room, she took down the picture of Troy taped to her mirror.
* * *
Troy ended up telling Abed about his dance lessons a few days later, after Home Ec. Abed immediately launched into a spastic dance routine, right in the middle of the hall. Annie wanted to laugh, but Troy looked so touched (there were tears in his eyes and everything) that she kept it in. Troy gave Abed a huge hug after his dance and they both started planning for their new film Kickpuncher: The Musical.
Mr. Winger was still missing. Annie didn't know when he'd be back. She also didn't know what she was going to do once she saw him.
Annie walked into his classroom at the end of the day and took her usual spot next to Troy and Abed. Mr. Winger wasn't in the classroom. Maybe he wasn't here. Maybe he would never come back. Maybe Annie would never have to be confronted with her feelings for Mr. Winger ever again in her whole life.
Mr. Winger walked through the door. Crap.
He hadn't shaved, for a couple of days at least. And his voice kept going out, and he was coughing. Huh. Maybe he was sick after all. Annie felt a mixture of relief and disappointment.
After a quick review of everyone's tasks, Mr. Winger shooed the class off to do their respective jobs. As everyone in the class split up to get cameras, go in the darkroom, or get hall passes, Annie stayed in her seat and watched Mr. Winger. So this was how it was going to be. They were both going to totally ignore what happened. Well, it was for the best. He was her teacher after all...
Mr. Winger looked up and locked eyes with Annie. She fidgeted in her seat. What was he going to do? Run out screaming? Publicly shame her? Roll his eyes? What?
But Mr. Winger just stared at her. And then slowly, he smiled at her. Annie stared at him in shock.
But then she slowly smiled back.
Mr. Winger gathered up some papers and walked towards her desk.
"Darkroom, Edison?"
Annie stood up next to him. "Of course."
* * *
After that, things fell back into a normal routine.
Well, almost normal.
Mr. Winger and Annie continued on with their 'We're just very good friends for a student and a teacher' relationship. Annie was inspired by Troy's relationship with Ms. Perry, although that was more 'student looks up to awesome teacher'.
But there were these moments...
Like how close Mr. Winger stood behind her when he looked over her shoulder at her prints. Or how Annie would always find some way to brush past him, her hands lightly touching his sides as she passed him.
If she actually thought about it, Annie would have probably thought all of this was pretty pathetic.
But she didn't think about it. So she just enjoyed herself.
* * *
It was the night before prom. Abed had decided that they should all go stag to the dance because it would free them up for the multiple plot twists Abed was confident were going to happen.
Abed wanted the plot twists to be as genuine as possible. So the night before the dance, Annie and Troy went over to Abed's house to work on their plot twist drills--drills that would help them effectively dismiss cliched plot twists and encourage real ones.
Annie and Troy were sitting on the couch in Abed's living room. Abed paced back and forth in front of them, a hand on his chin. Behind him was a markerboard with the words 'Plots Twists and YOU' written on it.
Abed stopped pacing. Troy and Annie straightened in their seats.
Abed pointed at Annie. "Troy tells you that he realized he's been in love with you all along."
Annie answered immediately. "I tell Troy that I love him only as a friend and that he's the Duckie to my Andie."
Abed nodded, then pointed at Troy. "You discover that your "lost time" incidents are because you're a werewolf. What do you say?"
Troy dropped to his knees. "WHHHHYYYYY? YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE, GOD!"
Abed nodded again. "We're ready."
* * *
Despite all their plot twist drills, the dance was pretty mellow. No confessions. No werewolves.
Annie could tell Abed was disappointed.
Mr. Winger was there, of course. He was across the gym, talking to Ms. Bennett. Annie wanted to go up and talk to him, but she didn't know what to say.
Mr. Winger saw her staring at him from across the gym and waved at her. She shook herself out of her thoughts and waved back. He smiled, then turned back towards Ms. Bennett. After a few minutes, he excused himself from Ms. Bennett's company and walked outside.
Annie smiled and turned away, looking for Troy and Abed. They were having a dance off in the middle of the dance floor. Annie took a couple of steps towards her friends, then stopped. She looked over her shoulder towards the exit.
Well, why not. Besides, Abed would be really upset if she passed up the possibility of a plot twist.
She turned around and walked out the exit, looking for Mr. Winger. She didn't have to look far. He was standing just outside the gym, facing the football field.
"Hey," she said.
Mr. Winger turned around. "Hey Edison," he said with a smile.
They both stood there in silence. Annie shuffled her feet awkwardly; Mr. Winger fiddled with the buttons on his suit jacket.
"So," they both said in unison. They laughed nervously.
"So," Annie continued, trying to move past their awkward moment. "I just wanted to say I'm really glad you took over for Mrs. White. You're my favorite teacher, you know."
Mr. Winger slid his hands into his pockets and smiled. "I know. You told me before, remember?"
"I know. It's worth repeating. I'm sure all your students next year will love you."
Mr. Winger's smile faded. "Actually...I'm not coming back to Greendale High."
Annie was shocked. "You're not?"
"No...I'm actually heading back to Denver. Job opportunity. Pretty lucrative. Actually, very lucrative. I'm leaving next week."
"Oh," Annie said. "Wait...then you won't be at Commencement?"
Mr. Winger looked guilty. "No."
Annie's heart sank. "So this is goodbye, then."
"Yeah," Mr. Winger whispered.
"Plot twist," Annie muttered.
"What?"
Annie shook her head. "Nothing." She took a deep breath and gave Mr. Winger her biggest smile. "I'm really happy for you, Mr. Winger. And if this is goodbye..." she held out her hand. "Goodbye."
Mr. Winger smiled again. He shook her hand. "Goodbye, Edison."
Annie wasn't quite sure what happened next. One minute she was shaking Mr. Winger's hand and the next...she was hugging him.
Stupid plot twist emotions!
But before Annie could make an excuse for why she hugged him, Mr. Winger wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.
"I'll miss you," he whispered. Tears stung in her eyes, so she just nodded against his chest.
They broke apart. Mr. Winger sighed, and gave her an apologetic smile.
Annie wanted to kiss him.
But instead, she took a step back. "Well. Umm...bye."
"Bye."
She turned back around and walked towards the gym.
Well. That almost got stupid. Besides, it was better that she didn't kiss him. Annie didn't want to ruin a good thing.
Right?
Right.
She wanted to make it better.
Annie turned back around. Mr. Winger was still facing her. She walked back over, stopping just in front of him.
She grabbed onto his jacket lapels. "Goodbye, Mr. Winger." Then she pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. He reciprocated immediately, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her back.
After a few (wonderful) moments, they broke apart. Mr. Winger rested his forehead against hers. Annie kept her eyes closed for another beat, a small smile on her lips. Mr. Winger pulled back a little, his hands slipping down to her neck.
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "So."
Annie opened her eyes. "So."
They pulled apart.
"Goodbye, Edison."
She bit her lip and nodded. And then she turned around and walked away.
* * *
Annie walked back inside the gym and sat down on the bleachers. Troy and Abed were still having their dance off. She saw Ms. Perry in the crowd around them, cheering Troy on.
Annie sighed and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes.
A voice piped in beside her. "What happened?"
Annie dropped her hands to her lap. Abed was sitting next to her. She looked back to the dance floor; Ms. Perry had taken Abed's place and was doing some crazy interpretive dance with Troy. She turned back towards Abed, who was looking at her expectantly.
"A plot twist. I'm sorry you missed it."
"You and Mr. Winger? That's not a plot twist."
Annie looked surprised. "How do you---wait. It isn't a plot twist?"
Abed shook his head. "Nope. You and Mr. Winger had chemistry all year. It wasn't as overt as his fling with Ms. Perry, but it was there. You acted on feelings you had for Mr. Winger. You're just completing your storyline. Season Finale style." Abed rested his hand on top of Annie's. "I'm proud of you." Then he stood up and offered an arm towards her.
Completing her storyline. Annie liked that. She stood up and looped her arm through Abed's.
"So if this is the Season Finale...what happens next Season?"
Abed shrugged. "For me? I find true love. For you? I don't know. But knowing you...it'll be epic."
Annie smiled. "Thanks, Abed."
"Yep."
And they walked back onto the dance floor.
* * *
College was fun. But not in the way Annie originally envisioned.
First, her fabulous university ended up being...Greendale Community College. It was her safety school, but even with that fact she never expected she'd actually go there. But Troy and Abed were going there, and it was very affordable...and she really loved Troy and Abed. So Greendale it was.
Someone else got Troy, her former "soulmate", to be their long term guy: Abed. They had actually hidden their relationship from her all summer, but they finally came clean before school started. Actually, Troy just blurted out 'ANNIE, I'M IN LOVE WITH ABED' when they were all hanging out in Abed's dorm room the night before classes started. Annie had just stared at Troy, then turned towards Abed and said: "You did find true love." Abed just nodded.
And that was that.
But Annie did get to date her rebel fantasy guy, the one she imagined wouldn't wear shirts indoors. And he actually didn't wear shirts indoors, either! That didn't last--Annie realized that a guy who spent most of his time without a shirt in public wasn't as cool as it was in her head. They went out on one date only, which apparently was enough for her Rebel Fantasy Guy to write a song about how Annie broke his heart. Ugh. Rebel Nightmare Guy was a more appropriate name.
Every once in a while, something would remind Annie of Mr. Winger. She tried not to think about him too often. There were so many things that made her happy---Troy and Abed, her Journalism classes, and her black backpack with ten (ten!) pockets to store supplies---that she didn't want to dwell on Mr. Winger for too long.
He moved on. She could too.
* * *
Annie, Abed and Troy had one class together: French 101. (Senor Chang pretty much ruined Spanish for them in high school.)
They were walking out of class on Friday afternoon when Troy let out a girlish gasp.
Annie laughed. "Troy, you sounded like some girl in a horror movie--"
But Troy cut her off. "HOLY CRAP IT'S MR. WINGER AND HE LOOKS HOT."
Annie froze. She followed Troy's gaze to the opposite side of the hall. Mr. Winger was standing there, wearing jeans and a brown checkered button up shirt.
He did look hot.
Abed took a step forward. "Oh, would you look at that? Mr. Winger is here. What a coincidence that he would be standing right here in the hallway after our class ended." He looked at his bare wrist. "Would you look at the time? Troy and I are going to be late for our very important thing." Abed looped an arm through Troy's. "Let's go Troy. See you later, Annie." He leaned in close to Annie's ear. "This Season's going to be pretty good, I think."
Annie watched Abed drag Troy away. She heard Troy cry out 'Why didn't you tell me?' Abed responded with a simple 'You have a big mouth. It's a good thing, but not in this case.'
Slowly, Annie turned back towards Mr. Winger, who was staring at her.
She didn't know what to do with her hands. She didn't know what to do, period.
But she had to do something. So Annie took a small step towards him.
"Hi." She clasped her hands behind her back.
Mr. Winger smiled. "Hi."
They stood there for a minute, just smiling at each other.
Finally, Annie broke their smile spell. She cleared her throat. "So...what're you doing here?"
"Taking night classes. I'm back at Greendale High, actually."
Annie looked down at her feet, then slowly looked back up at Mr. Winger. "So...Denver didn't work out?"
He shook his head. "It was good in Denver. Great, even. But I...well...I think Greendale is where I belong, you know?"
Annie nodded happily. "I know."
He smiled. "Anyway. Do you want to take a walk? Kinda crowded in here."
"Actually, I was just going to lunch." Annie said. "Care to join me?"
"Of course. Lead the way...Annie."
"Okay...Jeff."
They walked a few steps before stopping simultaneously.
"Okay, calling you Annie feels weird. Is it weird calling me Jeff?"
Annie nodded. "But I'm not going to call you Mr. Winger. That just sounds kinky now."
He smiled suggestively. "Maybe I like that." He frowned immediately. "Okay, that was creepy."
Annie laughed.
He cleared his throat. "Alright, how's this?" He straightened his shoulders and held his arm out. "Milady?"
Annie looked at his arm and then up at his face. She looped her arm through his, and they shared a smile.
"Milord."
The End
Rating: PG
Characters: Jeff/Annie, Annie/Abed friendship, Annie/Troy friendship
Disclaimer: I don't own Community.
Summary: He moved on. She could too.
Author's Note:One month later...THE CONCLUSION OF TEENAGE DREAM. Sorry it took so long!
A quick refresher since it has been a while. Previously on Teenage Dream: Annie discovers she has feelings for Mr. Winger. Mr. Winger obviously reciprocates these feelings. But before anything can happen, they are interrupted by Mr. Hawthorne and Senor Chang and the supposed "Sausage Fest" they had planned with Mr. Winger. Annie exits stage left, in a hurry.
And if that's not enough, Here's Part One.
Annie ran up the stairs of her house to her bedroom, threw her backpack on the floor, and collapsed face down on her bed.
Did that just happen? Oh my God. Mr. Winger was her teacher. Her teacher! This couldn't be happening. How was she going to face him tomorrow?
Although, it was pretty nice...
Annie sat up suddenly. No. She wasn't going to do this. She had a serious problem, and she had to take it seriously. This was no time to fall into a mess of teenage feelings. She needed to sort everything out. There was a perfectly logical reason to what happened between her and Mr. Winger in the darkroom.
It was all Troy's fault.
He just had to call Mr. Winger a douchebag. He knew that Annie would tell Mr. Winger about it, and he knew that they would share a...moment. Annie huffed angrily. Troy probably thought he was so clever, making her feel...something...for Mr. Winger.
Well, she'd show him.
* * *
Mr. Winger didn't show up for school the next day. Senor Chang ended up subbing for their class, and he spent half of the time yelling that he was a Spanish genius and the other half talking about how great Mr. Winger's pecs were to lay on when you were crying.
Annie was too consumed with Operation Troy to be irritated about Senor Chang and his lack of teaching skills, or to even think about how Mr. Winger was mysteriously gone today, and wonder if maybe she flustered him...and she was ignoring that feeling in her chest. Operation Troy. Operation Troy.
Troy was sitting in the desk in front of her, writing 'T-Bone wuz here' on the desktop. Annie clenched her fists. Look at him, casually defacing school property.
He had no idea what was coming to him.
The bell rang. Troy yawned, and stood up and stretched.
Abed stood up as well, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder. "Troy, I got some more tin foil. Do you want to help me wrap it onto our Kickpuncher costumes today?"
Troy's eyes lit up, but then he glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Nah, not today. I promised Ms. Perry that I would help her with something."
Annie casually slipped her books into her bag and stood up to join the two. "Really, Troy? The Vegetarian Awareness Fair is long over."
Troy looked nervous. "Yeah. But there's...other stuff. Other...vegetables." He stood there awkwardly for a minute before waving goodbye to Annie and Abed and rushing out the door. Abed shrugged his shoulders, waved goodbye to Annie and left as well.
Annie stayed in the classroom. She asked Senor Chang if it was okay if she stayed after school and worked in the darkroom, and Senor Chang waved an approval as he walked out the door, telling her to make sure to turn off all the lights in the room when she left.
Annie loitered in the darkroom and made a few contact sheets. After twenty minutes, she tucked all her work into her backpack, turned off all the lights and headed towards Ms. Perry's classroom. The halls were empty; a couple of the classrooms were filled with students serving detentions or having meetings for extracurricular activities. When she got to Ms. Perry's classroom it was locked--and empty. Annie let out a frustrated sigh. Where were they? Maybe they were in the cafeteria, or the auditorium.
A quick glance through the large windows of the cafeteria showed no one, so Annie walked to the front entrance of the school, where the auditorium was. She pulled on the handle; the door was locked. Puzzled, Annie went around the side and tried the door that opened closest to the stage. Also locked.
Annie pressed her ear against the door and tried to see if she could hear Troy's voice. Nothing. Annie pulled at the handle a couple more times, dejectedly, before giving up.
Annie walked out the front doors of the school. She was about to head home when she remembered the emergency exit door behind the stage that led straight outside. Sometimes the drama students would prop the door open so they could nip outside and smoke instead of walking around to the school's front doors to get outside. Annie rushed over to the side of the building and grinned when saw a fairy wand propping the door open. She crept up to the door slowly, pausing just outside the crack to listen inside.
She heard Troy. And Ms. Perry. But they were too far in for Annie to understand what they were saying. Annie stepped back from the door and took a deep breath. She went over Operation Troy in her head:
Step One: Discover Troy and Ms. Perry in an illicit teacher/student relationship.
Step Two: Once discovered, point at them and yell "A-ha!"
Annie smiled to herself. Now Troy would know what it felt like to be confronted with an onslaught of feelings! He would never recover.
Annie pulled the door open.
It was really dark inside, so she couldn't see anything at first. She stood just inside of the door for a minute to allow her eyes to adjust, and then slowly crept down the dressing room hallway. She stopped just outside the doorway that led out onto the main stage. She could hear Troy and Ms. Perry much clearer now and...what were they doing? They were gasping and grunting like...no.
They weren't.
Annie let out a small shriek. She clasped her hands over her mouth but the damage was done--the gasping and grunting (eww!) stopped. Then she heard Troy nervously call out "Who's there?"
And before Annie realized what she was doing, she ran out onto the main stage, one hand over her eyes, and yelled out "A-HA!"
A minute passed. Troy and Ms. Perry didn't say or do anything. Annie had to see what was going on. She moved her fingers and peered through them.
Troy was wearing a leotard. Annie dropped her hand from her eyes. Troy and Ms. Perry were both wearing black leotards.
Troy screamed at the top of his lungs.
* * *
Ms. Perry had ducked out the emergency exit to smoke. Troy and Annie sat at the edge of the stage, their feet dangling down into the orchestra pit.
"She's teaching you interpretive dance?"
Troy wiggled his feet. "Yeah. Coach said it would help playing football, and I found out Ms. Perry used to be a tap dancer so..." he shrugged. "It's fun. Ms. Perry is a good teacher."
Annie looked down at her feet. "Does Abed know?"
"NO. And don't tell him. This is between me and Ms. Perry. And now you."
"He won't care, you know. He's your best friend. His reaction is going to be ten times better than mine."
Troy laughed. "Yeah. About that. If you didn't know I was taking dance, what was with the 'A-ha!'?"
Annie tensed. Should she tell him? She did stumble on Troy's big secret. And she'd already made a huge fool of herself.
And Troy was her...friend. Annie smiled to herself. Yeah, he was her friend.
"I thought...that you and Ms. Perry were having a teacher/student affair."
Troy's eyes widened. "Dude," he said in a high pitched voice. "That's AWESOME."
Annie laughed. "But you're not...right?"
Troy shook his head. "But still...AWESOME."
Annie laughed again and stood up, dusting off her skirt. "I better go."
Troy stood up as well. "Yeah."
"Bye, Troy."
He waved. Annie walked towards the exit.
"Hey, Annie."
She turned around.
"You're a good friend."
Annie smiled. "You too, Troy."
Annie smiled all the way home. When she got up to her room, she took down the picture of Troy taped to her mirror.
* * *
Troy ended up telling Abed about his dance lessons a few days later, after Home Ec. Abed immediately launched into a spastic dance routine, right in the middle of the hall. Annie wanted to laugh, but Troy looked so touched (there were tears in his eyes and everything) that she kept it in. Troy gave Abed a huge hug after his dance and they both started planning for their new film Kickpuncher: The Musical.
Mr. Winger was still missing. Annie didn't know when he'd be back. She also didn't know what she was going to do once she saw him.
Annie walked into his classroom at the end of the day and took her usual spot next to Troy and Abed. Mr. Winger wasn't in the classroom. Maybe he wasn't here. Maybe he would never come back. Maybe Annie would never have to be confronted with her feelings for Mr. Winger ever again in her whole life.
Mr. Winger walked through the door. Crap.
He hadn't shaved, for a couple of days at least. And his voice kept going out, and he was coughing. Huh. Maybe he was sick after all. Annie felt a mixture of relief and disappointment.
After a quick review of everyone's tasks, Mr. Winger shooed the class off to do their respective jobs. As everyone in the class split up to get cameras, go in the darkroom, or get hall passes, Annie stayed in her seat and watched Mr. Winger. So this was how it was going to be. They were both going to totally ignore what happened. Well, it was for the best. He was her teacher after all...
Mr. Winger looked up and locked eyes with Annie. She fidgeted in her seat. What was he going to do? Run out screaming? Publicly shame her? Roll his eyes? What?
But Mr. Winger just stared at her. And then slowly, he smiled at her. Annie stared at him in shock.
But then she slowly smiled back.
Mr. Winger gathered up some papers and walked towards her desk.
"Darkroom, Edison?"
Annie stood up next to him. "Of course."
* * *
After that, things fell back into a normal routine.
Well, almost normal.
Mr. Winger and Annie continued on with their 'We're just very good friends for a student and a teacher' relationship. Annie was inspired by Troy's relationship with Ms. Perry, although that was more 'student looks up to awesome teacher'.
But there were these moments...
Like how close Mr. Winger stood behind her when he looked over her shoulder at her prints. Or how Annie would always find some way to brush past him, her hands lightly touching his sides as she passed him.
If she actually thought about it, Annie would have probably thought all of this was pretty pathetic.
But she didn't think about it. So she just enjoyed herself.
* * *
It was the night before prom. Abed had decided that they should all go stag to the dance because it would free them up for the multiple plot twists Abed was confident were going to happen.
Abed wanted the plot twists to be as genuine as possible. So the night before the dance, Annie and Troy went over to Abed's house to work on their plot twist drills--drills that would help them effectively dismiss cliched plot twists and encourage real ones.
Annie and Troy were sitting on the couch in Abed's living room. Abed paced back and forth in front of them, a hand on his chin. Behind him was a markerboard with the words 'Plots Twists and YOU' written on it.
Abed stopped pacing. Troy and Annie straightened in their seats.
Abed pointed at Annie. "Troy tells you that he realized he's been in love with you all along."
Annie answered immediately. "I tell Troy that I love him only as a friend and that he's the Duckie to my Andie."
Abed nodded, then pointed at Troy. "You discover that your "lost time" incidents are because you're a werewolf. What do you say?"
Troy dropped to his knees. "WHHHHYYYYY? YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE, GOD!"
Abed nodded again. "We're ready."
* * *
Despite all their plot twist drills, the dance was pretty mellow. No confessions. No werewolves.
Annie could tell Abed was disappointed.
Mr. Winger was there, of course. He was across the gym, talking to Ms. Bennett. Annie wanted to go up and talk to him, but she didn't know what to say.
Mr. Winger saw her staring at him from across the gym and waved at her. She shook herself out of her thoughts and waved back. He smiled, then turned back towards Ms. Bennett. After a few minutes, he excused himself from Ms. Bennett's company and walked outside.
Annie smiled and turned away, looking for Troy and Abed. They were having a dance off in the middle of the dance floor. Annie took a couple of steps towards her friends, then stopped. She looked over her shoulder towards the exit.
Well, why not. Besides, Abed would be really upset if she passed up the possibility of a plot twist.
She turned around and walked out the exit, looking for Mr. Winger. She didn't have to look far. He was standing just outside the gym, facing the football field.
"Hey," she said.
Mr. Winger turned around. "Hey Edison," he said with a smile.
They both stood there in silence. Annie shuffled her feet awkwardly; Mr. Winger fiddled with the buttons on his suit jacket.
"So," they both said in unison. They laughed nervously.
"So," Annie continued, trying to move past their awkward moment. "I just wanted to say I'm really glad you took over for Mrs. White. You're my favorite teacher, you know."
Mr. Winger slid his hands into his pockets and smiled. "I know. You told me before, remember?"
"I know. It's worth repeating. I'm sure all your students next year will love you."
Mr. Winger's smile faded. "Actually...I'm not coming back to Greendale High."
Annie was shocked. "You're not?"
"No...I'm actually heading back to Denver. Job opportunity. Pretty lucrative. Actually, very lucrative. I'm leaving next week."
"Oh," Annie said. "Wait...then you won't be at Commencement?"
Mr. Winger looked guilty. "No."
Annie's heart sank. "So this is goodbye, then."
"Yeah," Mr. Winger whispered.
"Plot twist," Annie muttered.
"What?"
Annie shook her head. "Nothing." She took a deep breath and gave Mr. Winger her biggest smile. "I'm really happy for you, Mr. Winger. And if this is goodbye..." she held out her hand. "Goodbye."
Mr. Winger smiled again. He shook her hand. "Goodbye, Edison."
Annie wasn't quite sure what happened next. One minute she was shaking Mr. Winger's hand and the next...she was hugging him.
Stupid plot twist emotions!
But before Annie could make an excuse for why she hugged him, Mr. Winger wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.
"I'll miss you," he whispered. Tears stung in her eyes, so she just nodded against his chest.
They broke apart. Mr. Winger sighed, and gave her an apologetic smile.
Annie wanted to kiss him.
But instead, she took a step back. "Well. Umm...bye."
"Bye."
She turned back around and walked towards the gym.
Well. That almost got stupid. Besides, it was better that she didn't kiss him. Annie didn't want to ruin a good thing.
Right?
Right.
She wanted to make it better.
Annie turned back around. Mr. Winger was still facing her. She walked back over, stopping just in front of him.
She grabbed onto his jacket lapels. "Goodbye, Mr. Winger." Then she pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. He reciprocated immediately, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her back.
After a few (wonderful) moments, they broke apart. Mr. Winger rested his forehead against hers. Annie kept her eyes closed for another beat, a small smile on her lips. Mr. Winger pulled back a little, his hands slipping down to her neck.
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "So."
Annie opened her eyes. "So."
They pulled apart.
"Goodbye, Edison."
She bit her lip and nodded. And then she turned around and walked away.
* * *
Annie walked back inside the gym and sat down on the bleachers. Troy and Abed were still having their dance off. She saw Ms. Perry in the crowd around them, cheering Troy on.
Annie sighed and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes.
A voice piped in beside her. "What happened?"
Annie dropped her hands to her lap. Abed was sitting next to her. She looked back to the dance floor; Ms. Perry had taken Abed's place and was doing some crazy interpretive dance with Troy. She turned back towards Abed, who was looking at her expectantly.
"A plot twist. I'm sorry you missed it."
"You and Mr. Winger? That's not a plot twist."
Annie looked surprised. "How do you---wait. It isn't a plot twist?"
Abed shook his head. "Nope. You and Mr. Winger had chemistry all year. It wasn't as overt as his fling with Ms. Perry, but it was there. You acted on feelings you had for Mr. Winger. You're just completing your storyline. Season Finale style." Abed rested his hand on top of Annie's. "I'm proud of you." Then he stood up and offered an arm towards her.
Completing her storyline. Annie liked that. She stood up and looped her arm through Abed's.
"So if this is the Season Finale...what happens next Season?"
Abed shrugged. "For me? I find true love. For you? I don't know. But knowing you...it'll be epic."
Annie smiled. "Thanks, Abed."
"Yep."
And they walked back onto the dance floor.
* * *
College was fun. But not in the way Annie originally envisioned.
First, her fabulous university ended up being...Greendale Community College. It was her safety school, but even with that fact she never expected she'd actually go there. But Troy and Abed were going there, and it was very affordable...and she really loved Troy and Abed. So Greendale it was.
Someone else got Troy, her former "soulmate", to be their long term guy: Abed. They had actually hidden their relationship from her all summer, but they finally came clean before school started. Actually, Troy just blurted out 'ANNIE, I'M IN LOVE WITH ABED' when they were all hanging out in Abed's dorm room the night before classes started. Annie had just stared at Troy, then turned towards Abed and said: "You did find true love." Abed just nodded.
And that was that.
But Annie did get to date her rebel fantasy guy, the one she imagined wouldn't wear shirts indoors. And he actually didn't wear shirts indoors, either! That didn't last--Annie realized that a guy who spent most of his time without a shirt in public wasn't as cool as it was in her head. They went out on one date only, which apparently was enough for her Rebel Fantasy Guy to write a song about how Annie broke his heart. Ugh. Rebel Nightmare Guy was a more appropriate name.
Every once in a while, something would remind Annie of Mr. Winger. She tried not to think about him too often. There were so many things that made her happy---Troy and Abed, her Journalism classes, and her black backpack with ten (ten!) pockets to store supplies---that she didn't want to dwell on Mr. Winger for too long.
He moved on. She could too.
* * *
Annie, Abed and Troy had one class together: French 101. (Senor Chang pretty much ruined Spanish for them in high school.)
They were walking out of class on Friday afternoon when Troy let out a girlish gasp.
Annie laughed. "Troy, you sounded like some girl in a horror movie--"
But Troy cut her off. "HOLY CRAP IT'S MR. WINGER AND HE LOOKS HOT."
Annie froze. She followed Troy's gaze to the opposite side of the hall. Mr. Winger was standing there, wearing jeans and a brown checkered button up shirt.
He did look hot.
Abed took a step forward. "Oh, would you look at that? Mr. Winger is here. What a coincidence that he would be standing right here in the hallway after our class ended." He looked at his bare wrist. "Would you look at the time? Troy and I are going to be late for our very important thing." Abed looped an arm through Troy's. "Let's go Troy. See you later, Annie." He leaned in close to Annie's ear. "This Season's going to be pretty good, I think."
Annie watched Abed drag Troy away. She heard Troy cry out 'Why didn't you tell me?' Abed responded with a simple 'You have a big mouth. It's a good thing, but not in this case.'
Slowly, Annie turned back towards Mr. Winger, who was staring at her.
She didn't know what to do with her hands. She didn't know what to do, period.
But she had to do something. So Annie took a small step towards him.
"Hi." She clasped her hands behind her back.
Mr. Winger smiled. "Hi."
They stood there for a minute, just smiling at each other.
Finally, Annie broke their smile spell. She cleared her throat. "So...what're you doing here?"
"Taking night classes. I'm back at Greendale High, actually."
Annie looked down at her feet, then slowly looked back up at Mr. Winger. "So...Denver didn't work out?"
He shook his head. "It was good in Denver. Great, even. But I...well...I think Greendale is where I belong, you know?"
Annie nodded happily. "I know."
He smiled. "Anyway. Do you want to take a walk? Kinda crowded in here."
"Actually, I was just going to lunch." Annie said. "Care to join me?"
"Of course. Lead the way...Annie."
"Okay...Jeff."
They walked a few steps before stopping simultaneously.
"Okay, calling you Annie feels weird. Is it weird calling me Jeff?"
Annie nodded. "But I'm not going to call you Mr. Winger. That just sounds kinky now."
He smiled suggestively. "Maybe I like that." He frowned immediately. "Okay, that was creepy."
Annie laughed.
He cleared his throat. "Alright, how's this?" He straightened his shoulders and held his arm out. "Milady?"
Annie looked at his arm and then up at his face. She looped her arm through his, and they shared a smile.
"Milord."
The End