Greendale's Oddest Human Beings

Their Own Little World

Ruth arrived at the library at 5:45 PM with Abed. He was supposed to meet Troy at 6:15, so they decided to get there early and hangout before Ruth had to deal with Sam (who she was not looking forward to interacting with again). Ruth sat in a chair, taking one of the same weird positions that she always did (one leg tucked against her chest and the other on the floor). Abed, on the other hand, preferred to sit on tables.
"Abed?", Ruth asked after getting situated. "Hm?", Abed replied. "What's your reading on Sam? I feel like I don't have enough notes to understand him yet. He's like an obnoxiously bright human question mark," Ruth said as she fiddled with her pencil. Abed tilted his head in thought for a short moment before responding. "Well, maybe that's his role," he suggested, "maybe he's like Gunther from Friends. No real storyline, but everyone just accepts him because he's there." Ruth pondered what her friend said for a moment. "Maybe you're right," she said with a shrug, "but I refuse to accept that anyone doesn't have a story line. It's sad to think that anyone is a Gunther."
Abed didn't show many emotions, but he was clearly in deep thought. "I've never thought about that," he said. "Probably because it strays from the basic TV formula," Ruth said, looking up at her friend. Abed nodded. "Yes," he said, "I don't like it very much." The man paused. "Let's not talk about it anymore," the two said at the same time, causing them to smile at each other.
The nice moment between the two friends was cut short when Sam entered the library, clearly out of breath. "I'm—," the young man began, but had to stop to catch his breath, "—I'm sorry that I'm a bit late." Both Ruth and Abed were visibly a bit confused. Ruth checked her watch. "It's 6:04," she said, "it's not a problem." Sam, having (mostly) captured his breath smiled at the young woman and tilted his head a bit; she wasn't being cold or brutal. 'Interesting,' he thought.
Abed hopped of the table and shook his hand. "I'm Abed," he stated. Sam smiled at him. "Yeah, I've seen you before," he said. "You're in Spanish, right? And you hangout with Ruth a lot." "Mhm," Abed said to the man in front of him with a little nod. "Wait," Ruth chimed in, "I thought you had never noticed me before," she inquired with suspicion. Sam chuckled a bit and studied her face to see if she was serious. "Why wouldn't I have noticed you?", he responded. "She thinks she's a Gunther," Abed stated.
Sam looked between the two in confusion. "It's true," Ruth added, not helping Sam figure out what was going on at all. "Well," Sam said, pushing aside his curiosity and confusion, "I'm here, so we should probably get started on our homework, right?" He sat down next to Ruth (maybe a bit too close), which made Ruth scoot away slightly. Sam seemed offended for a millisecond, but automatically went back to smiling. He put his backpack on the table and took out his Spanish book and notebook. "Is Abed going to be staying here?", he asked after realizing that Abed had not moved.
"He kind of does his thing," Ruth said with a shrug. Abed didn't appear to being paying attention to what was being said, but rather observing the new man. "Abed?", Ruth said, grabbing the man's attention and causing him to look at her. "Hm?", Abed responded. "Are you going to hang around for a bit?", the young woman asked, secretly hoping that he wouldn't leave her alone with the strange new man. "No," he responded quickly, then left.
'Is he upset?', Ruth thought. Though Abed didn't show much emotion, Ruth somehow seemed to be able to pick up when he was upset. Why would he be upset about Sam though? Abed liked (or at least didn't dislike) nearly everyone, so why didn't he seem to like Sam?
"You two are in your own little world, aren't you?", Sam asked, cutting into Ruth's moment of thought. "What?", she asked, not having picked up on what he said the first time. "You and Abed," Sam explained, "you two seem to be in your own little world." Ruth studied the young man's face for a moment before looking back down at her pencil. Sam waited for a response, but she didn't give one, so he moved along to the homework.

Meanwhile, in a hallway not far from the library, Abed had just found Troy and they were on their way to Abed's dorm (which was on campus). "What do you think about Ruth?", Abed asked Troy flatly (as that was his usual tone). Troy shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "she kind of freaks me out, to be honest. I mean, she dresses in all black and she watches everyone, but doesn't speak to anyone." Abed nodded, taking in his friend's words.
Troy stopped and looked at Abed, causing Abed to stop as well. "Why'd you ask?", Troy inquired. Abed shrugged at the young man in front of him. "I don't understand her," Abed stated. "Abed," Troy said, "you don't understand anyone." Abed cocked his head. "That's the problem," he said, "I don't understand people, but I understand her." The man paused, then added, "And she understands me." With that, he began walking again, Troy following his friend.
Troy was visibly confused for a moment (as he often was), then suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. "Abed?", he asked slowly. "Hm?", Abed responded. "Do you like Ruth?", Troy inquired. The pair stopped again. "I'd say that we are good friends," Abed responded. Troy shook his head a bit and sighed. "That's not what I mean." Abed tilted his head in confusion. After a moment, Troy realized that Abed was truly oblivious to what he meant. "I mean like like," Troy clarified, but Abed remained confused. Troy sighed, giving up. "Whatever," he said and began walking again. Abed stood still for a moment longer in thought, then caught up with his friend.