Spoilers: Critical Film Studies & Pulp Fiction
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Prompt from khan81 with help from teruel_a_witch at Milady_Milord
"So I'll meet up with Abed and bring him to the diner at eight. Everyone has their costumes prepared?" Jeff looked around the room as everyone nodded.
Pierce said, "I was lucky I had already had an outfit that worked." As everyone stared at him, he amended, "I mean that I could easily buy one that worked. Rent! Rent. I rented it for this occasion."
"We were less disgusted when you said you already had it," Jeff said. "And on that note, I'll see you all tomorrow night."
"Wait!" Annie stopped everyone. "I wanted to research my role, but the closest video store to my place only has Pulp Friction, and I know that won't help me. Does anyone have a copy of Pulp Fiction I can borrow?"
"Annie, you don't need to prepare for your role. Abed will just be glad to see us all dressed up. Or his version of glad anyway," Jeff answered.
"Excuse me, but I would like to put all my effort into this. I think Abed deserves that."
"I wish I could help, sweetie, but I only saw it once on a plane. It was great though. Your character is very sweet. She loves her boyfriend." Shirley said.
Britta answered next, "I don't believe in watching a movie more than once. It ruins the nuance and experience from the initial viewing. People become desensitized to…" She was cut off by the groans of the group.
"Sorry. I've only watched Abed's copy, and he won't even let me borrow his DVDs now," Troy said with a sharp glance at Pierce.
Before Pierce could answer and subject Annie to whatever offer he would make, Jeff said, "I have a copy on Blu-ray you can borrow."
"Thanks, Jeff, but I don't have a Blu-ray player. I don't like to leave really expensive things alone in my apartment."
"That's not a problem. You can stop by my place tonight and watch."
Before Annie could answer, Troy interrupted. "Oooh Jeff and Annie are going to be watching a movie alone in his apartment. You know 'watching a movie' is code for 'pants off,' right?"
Britta scoffed, "Says who?"
"Says Grey's Anatomy."
Sensing the chance to avert the attention away from him and the way Annie was blushing, Jeff balked at Troy, "You watch Grey's Anatomy?"
Troy turned on him, "Hey! You haven't known real love until you've known the love of MerDer! They are OTP! Do you have no respect for relationships that are meant to be?" He left the room barely restraining his tears.
Shirley was the first to speak in the wake of Troy's outburst. "Well, Annie, enjoy the movie," she said in a sweet tone, then switching to her mother tone. "Jeffrey, I trust you will be a perfect gentleman." Britta laughed at this but it was laced with a stare that said he better do as Shirley said if he knew what was good for him. Britta and Shirley left together discussing how to best apply Shirley's make up for her costume.
"Well, I have a costume to pick up from the dry cleaner's. Annie, if you encounter any problems tonight, call me. Jeff." After an awkward stare down that Jeff didn't thoroughly understand, Pierce left the room.
After a moment, Jeff and Annie finally consented to look at each other. Annie spoke first, "So is six okay to stop by?"
Jeff stumbled in his reply, "Se..six is no good for me. Make it seven."
Annie agreed and they quickly left the room in opposite directions.
By the time Annie had arrived at Jeff's apartment at seven sharp, the tension from earlier seemed to have disappeared. They had both silently agreed not to acknowledge Troy's comment from earlier. Annie looked around before asking, "Where's Chang?"
"I convinced him taking Lamaze classes would make him more prepared and helpful when Shirley gives birth."
"He does know that Shirley's been through labor twice and has no intentions of letting him in the delivery room, right?"
"Yes to the first, and as long as it keeps him out of my apartment once a week, he's never going to learn about the second."
Annie rolled her eyes, and moved to the sofa. She retrieved a notebook, set of pens, and highlighters from her bag. When Jeff saw what she was doing, he reached to grab the items from her. "Annie, no, this not how you watch a movie."
"But how else am I going to study my character?"
"This is not how you study a movie either. You watch the movie first and let it sink in. Then you watch it again and again. After the fifth time you've seen it, then you can start take notes. For a movie like Pulp Fiction, you should really wait until the tenth viewing, but I know that's asking a lot from you."
"You're starting to sound like Britta."
"This is different. Britta's rule is stupid. This is common movie viewing sense. Abed would agree with me."
"Fine." Annie said reluctantly. She put her things back in her bag. At which point, he picked up the bag, disregarded her complaints, and said "You'll get it back after the movie." He placed the bag in his closest and moved into the kitchen. "You should probably use the bathroom before we start."
"I know. You don't want to stop a movie once you've started it. That one, I agree with." Annie said as she moved toward the direction Jeff pointed toward. She knew it was wrong to snoop, but it was practically a rule of life to peek into a person's medicine closet if given the chance. She noted that Jeff owned more hair care products and moisturizers than she did. Not surprising.
When she returned, Jeff was sitting on the sofa with bowls of popcorn and chips on the coffee table. He handed her a bottle of her favorite cherry soda. He was drinking water, probably not wanting to drink beer when he wouldn't feel right offering her one. She guessed he felt less guilty about being an accessory to corrupting a minor than actually corrupting one.
Jeff reached for the remote, but he didn't press play yet. "Before we start. You can't talk during a movie unless everyone watching has seen the movie at least once, and only if the person you are watching it with is okay about talking during movies. Which I am, but since this is your first time, we can't talk."
"What if I have questions?"
"You'll have to save them for the end. It's the only way or you'll miss something good while I'm answering your question. The only exception is when you can't control your reaction, like laughing, gasping, shrieking, or…crying." He said the last part reluctantly.
"Will I need to cry during this movie?"
"I don't think so, but I wouldn't expect anyone to cry during It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and Troy proved me wrong, didn't he?"
"Anything else I should know?"
"When watching a movie you've seen and someone else hasn't, don't look at them during the important parts. It ruins the surprise, but you don't have to worry about that. I promise not to give anything away."
"Can I ask one thing about the movie first?"
"Go ahead."
"How long do I have to wait until my character appears?"
"She's in the very beginning. Ready?"
Annie nodded and he started the movie. Her reactions were predictable. He wasn't terribly surprised to notice Annie's excitement at Honey Bunny's actions. He'd been on the receiving end of some of her most dangerous moments. She jumped in surprise during the parts where Mia had been revived and when Jules and Vincent were riding around with Marvin. She turned into Jeff's shoulder during most of Butch's storyline, keeping one eye on the screen. She seemed to be having trouble making up her mind about whether or not she wanted to watch. For his part, Jeff spent his effort trying to pretend her closeness was not having an effect on him.
Jeff had been true to his word and didn't give away any expression to alert Annie to what would happen. He was surprised to note she became more alert when Harvey Keitel appeared onscreen. He almost asked her what that was about before remembering his rule.
When the movie was over, Jeff flipped off the Blu-ray player and took in Annie's expression. Awe was the only word he could think of to describe it. "Any questions? Or do you need a moment?"
"That was…wow." Then she turned to him and smiled. "I'm going to have a lot of fun playing Yolanda." Jeff laughed. Glad to see he made the right choice when he picked the part out for her. He had enough trouble thinking of Annie as the forbidden fruit like Mia Wallace. She would work better as the crazy, but loyal girlfriend.
"So are going to where your hair long, like Vincent?"
"No," he said adamantly.
"Why not? I think you could make it work, and I know Abed would…"
Jeff cut her off. "I said I won't do it." When Annie looked away hurt, he said "I'm sorry…I just…I have this thing…there was this time when…it would take a lot of work, and I'm not a fan of the greasy look. Even for Abed."
"I understand."
Wanting to move on, Jeff asked, "So what is it about Harvey Keitel? I mean I noticed you were very happy when he appeared."
"I've always liked him. Not many men can pull off a character nicknamed 'The Wolf.'"
"Yeah, but he's not very attractive."
"He has a commanding presence, and that's all that matters to me. Good looks and attraction are all about perception. I find Harvey Keitel to be a compelling person, therefore I find him attractive." Annie stated as though there could be no other answer. Knowing Annie, if she had discovered the perfect answer, then there probably wasn't another one.
Jeff didn't want to dwell on how much Annie's answer meant to him or ask her the follow up question he really wanted to ask, so he moved on. "Is there anything else you need to ask to prepare for you role?"
"Not really. Though I do wonder what you think about what's in that briefcase. I mean, isn't a part of you just dying to know?"
He gave it some serious thought, and then looked at her. "I know a large part of me really wants to know, but then another part is worried that once I know everything will change…for how I see the movie." He added quickly. "I think, for now, it's best I don't know."
Annie nodded. "But if you could be certain knowing wouldn't ruin the movie for you?"
Jeff answered. "Then I would definitely want to know."
"You shouldn't wait too long to make choice. You never know when some sequel will come along and take the chance of knowing away from you."
"Noted, but keep in mind, sequels are never as good as the original."
"I don't know about that. I always liked Back to the Future II more than Back to the Future."
"Well, that's part of a trilogy, so it doesn't count. I mean, you wouldn't say the same about Ghostbusters II."
"Actually…"
"Don't finish that sentence."
Annie laughed quietly. "Well, it's getting late. I should probably go."
"Are you going to be okay getting back? I can drive you."
"It's fine. I've got my car, and I driven home late at night plenty of times."
The knowledge did less to comfort him, but he knew Annie would be insistent that she could take care of herself, so instead he asked her to call him as soon as she arrived home. He retrieved her bag from the closet. Then he remembered, "Wait a second, I got something for you." He handed her a DVD copy of Pulp Fiction. "You do have a DVD player at least, right?"
"I can watch it on my laptop. Thanks, Jeff. This is really nice of you."
"I'm giving you this on the condition that you'll promise to adhere to my rule about waiting to take notes until after the fifth viewing."
She shifted uncomfortably, so he amended, "Third viewing at least."
Annie smiled and thanked him again before hugging him. As she pulled back, she said, "I have just one last question."
"Go ahead."
"You wanted to be Vincent just so you could wear a suit, didn't you?"
Jeff smiled and nodded, "No one gets me like you do."
The End.