Disclaimer: I don't own Community, yo
Response to ror123's prompt: Jeff and Annie are secretly dating. Write a story using all the words. Must be less than 1000 words.
Words that must be used:
woman, canvas, neck, sound, like, shirt, west, fire, judge, boat, weight, offer, school, moon, screw, every, book, free, step, spring, cold, pocket, foot, push, narrow.
The Boat Captain
Somehow it always ended up like this when it came time in the school year to add or drop classes. The group always wound up split down the same line: Jeff with Annie and Abed, and Britta with Troy, Shirley and Pierce.
Occasionally it bothered Britta. It wasn't that she didn't like her group, or that she particularly wanted to be in Jeff's—it just irked her that Annie always was.
She peeked over her canvas, past the bowl of fruit in the middle of the art room, and out the window to the boat docked in the middle of the parking lot. She had to crane her neck to see Jeff and Annie. Abed was right in front, hoisting... something. She'd forgotten everything she'd learned during her sailing class within a week.
Annie and Jeff were somewhere behind the sail, blocked from her vision.
It irritated her. The woman returned her gaze to the bowl of fruit.
Annie and Jeff had been acting strange lately... stranger than usual. He'd offered to carry her biology book the other day for no other reason than just to be nice; she'd gone out of her way to push her foot out to stop the door from closing before Jeff could reach it; he'd offered her his coat when she got cold; she'd complimented his hair; he'd said he liked her shirt; she'd smiled at him; he'd smiled at her; they'd smiled at each other—a secret smile that neither had ever directed at Britta.
According to Abed, Jeff had let Annie be the boat captain.
Something weird was going on.
Britta looked back at the window, her eyes focused in narrow slits at the scene before her. She could see Annie and Jeff now. Every time he did anything she giggled like a moron. It was enough to set the feminist movement back to the dark ages.
Something was happening on the boat. All three started racing around quickly, obviously tending to an emergency. That's when Britta noticed smoke coming out of the cabin. Annie had been standing close to it, and Britta watched Jeff spring into motion and step toward her, lifting her like she had all the weight of a feather and placing her a safe distance from the flames.
The only time Jeff ever lifted Britta, he was just trying to get her out of his way.
She looked again—the fire seemed to be out. The professor came out of the cabin holding a frying pan with a charred payload—Abed had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.
Britta tore her eyes away again and looked at the bowl of fruit. She had to finish this painting before the art professor came by to judge her work. She'd spent most of the class thinking about Jeff and Annie and whether or not he'd like to screw her (or if he already had), and had only just barely started on the banana.
She heard a sound come from next to her—Shirley gasped and pointed toward the window. Britta looked just quick enough to see Jeff point west (yes, she knew her compass directions) to distract Abed and the professor before giving Annie a quick peck on the lips. He pulled away seconds before the two men could turn back to them.
Britta crossed her arms, accidentally wiping a thread of yellow paint on her canvas. She frowned when she saw her mistake, and began trying to work the now destroyed piece into something workable.
Next to her, Shirley was alternating between hyperventilating and muttering, "Dear Lord, forgive them," over and over again. Britta sighed and reached down into a pocket in Shirley's purse, extracting a brownie and handing it to the older woman. Shirley took a bite, but continued to stare wide-eyed at the scene in front of them.
"Ms. Perry," said the professor as he made his way behind her. "What is that?" he gestured to her paint mishap that was now vaguely in the shape of a circle.
"It's... aaaaa...moon?" she attempted. He raised an eyebrow and rested his chin on his fist as he contemplated this.
"It's inspired," he said after a long moment. Britta sighed with relief as he walked away, leaving her free and clear to continue overanalyzing what she'd just witnessed.
Out on the boat, Jeff and Annie had returned to saving the crew from the storm of the century, acting as nonchalant as Britta had ever seen them.
She looked back at the blotch of yellow on her once promising piece of artwork.
Jeff and Annie... Britta thought to herself, returning her brush to the canvas... should think about starting a ruiners club.
End
Still loving these word list prompts. Thanks ror123!