Prompt from The Fanfiction Writers' Club on Facebook: Bad Luck Comes In Threes

Jeff Winger knew this particular day was going to test him in ways he couldn't begin to imagine the moment he regained consciousness.

Mostly because the manner in which he awoke was sudden, ungraceful, and slightly painful; he fell out of bed, grazing his skull on his bedside table and landing on his left shoulder.

Fan freaking tastic, he thought. I should stay home today.

Against his better judgement he got up, showered, and drove to Greendale.

A couple of hours and a class later things were almost starting to look up. Then he opened the cafeteria doors to what looked like a full scale food riot.

Abed noticed his arrival immediately and skirted the situation quickly. There was a ketchup running down the side of his face like blood and crumbs in his hair.

"Jeff! Thank god you're here. It's a mess. They ran out of chicken fingers and everyone went crazy. Leonard threw his scoop of mashed potatoes at one of the lunch ladies but missed and hit Starburns. That was fifteen minutes ago."

Jeff noticed what looked like chocolate pudding was soaring toward Abed's back and his eyes widened.

"Abed, look out!" he yelled and grabbed his arm, yanking him down and out of the pudding's trajectory.

Although they couldn't see him, they heard Leonard say "Damn, missed again."

Purely on instinct, Jeff yelled back, "Shut up, Leonard, you can't even digest any of this!"

The only response was the faint sound of a raspberry.

"I knew I should have stayed home," Jeff told the floor, eyes pressed closed tightly. He was starting to get a headache. "First I wake up by falling out of bed, now this? They better not ask me to help clean up."

Abed looked at him as close to sympathetically as he could get. "I'm sorry, Jeff. But they say bad luck comes in threes. If I were you I'd be on guard the rest of the day."

Jeff couldn't even muster the energy to glare efficiently.

Finally, his day in Hell was over. The Dean had tried to get him to help clean up, but Jeff had argued, saying that since there wasn't a scrap of food on him, he obviously wasn't a participant and couldn't be persuaded to help clean something of which he wasn't a part.

He was on his way home, contemplating Abed's words, when he hit a pot hole and blew a tire. Of course he knew how to change a tire, and he had a spare and a jack in his trunk. But he had to get on the dirty ground in his expensive clothes in order to do it. And he'd probably break a sweat and stain his shirt.

Abed was right. Bad luck does come in threes. This really was the worst day ever.

He sat in his car and checked his phone, debating whether to just call a wrecker or actually do it himself, when it rang. It was Annie.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Abed told be about the day you'd had and I thought I'd call and check up on you. You know, just in case."

He smirked, self-depricated. "Well, you have perfect timing. I just blew a tire and was trying to decide wheter to call a wrecker or risk damaging my clothes by changing it myself."

"Oh my god, Jeff, that's awful! Where are you? Do you want me to come pick you up? It's getting late, are you sure you're okay?"

Jeff laughed at her panic. "Annie! Calm down. It's a flat tire, not a drunken hit-and-run. I'm fine. Although I wouldn't say no to a little company while I wait for the wrecker I just decided to call. I'm on 7th street by that vegan ice cream shop Britta won't shut up about."

"Sweet Action Ice Cream?"

"That's the one."

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes. I've just gotta let Abed know."

"Then I'll see you in a bit."

Jeff Googled a reputable wrecker and gave them a call. He was considering trying the vegan ice cream when he saw Annie pull up in his rear-view mirror. He got out of the car and met her on the sidewalk, answering her apologetic smile with one of his own.

"How about we try this lame excuse for ice cream and if it sucks we can shove it in Britta's face later?"

Annie laughed and nodded. "Why not?"

All in all, the day had been terrible, and while the so called 'ice cream' was definitely not ice cream, it was a passable frozen treat. And the company wasn't bad either.