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Art history was supposed to be a great way to meet girls. That’s what Brady said when Sam was looking at classes to take the next quarter. He didn’t really need it for anything, but Stanford encouraged taking classes for no reason other than curiosity about the subject, and you never knew when something might come in handy. Hunting or law, either way. A cursed painting or whatever was hardly out of the realm of possibility.
The class itself was more interesting than Sam had expected. He’d hated art classes in school, but when no one was asking him to make any art, it was so much better. Breaking art down to look at specific elements, learning to identify when a piece was probably made, various artists’ distinctive styles… he could do that. It wasn’t that different from literary analysis, just with visual elements instead of words.
He had almost completely forgotten Brady’s reason for suggesting the class in the first place when he found himself assigned a group project with two girls. “Hi. Jessica Moore, sophomore, art major. You can call me Jess.”
The other girl smiled and took her hand. “Sarah Blake, Art History. Hope you don’t mind being stuck with a freshman.”
“Nah. At least you’ll take this seriously if you’re planning on majoring in it!” Jess turned to Sam. “What about you?”
“Sam Winchester, still haven’t decided for sure on my major but I’m planning on going to law school.”
Both girls made a face. “So… you’re just taking this class because it was there and it worked with your schedule?” Jess asked.
“Pretty much, yeah.” Sam couldn’t blame her for the skepticism. “I’m not going to have the background you two do, but I promise, I take this class seriously and I will do my share of the work on this project.”
“Uh-huh.” Jess and Sarah exchanged a look that very clearly said they didn’t believe him. Sam didn’t mind. He’d gotten burned his fair share by horrible group members. “When can you guys meet up to go over this and figure out what we’re doing?”
“I’m out of class at three tomorrow,” Sarah said. “Any time after that’s good for me.”
“I don’t get out until three-thirty, but tomorrow afternoon or evening are fine for me,” Sam said. Sarah raised an eyebrow and then they both turned to Jess.
Jess shook her head. “I’ve got class until six…”
“Meet for dinner at six-thirty to talk about ideas, and then head to the library to start looking into them?” Sam suggested.
“Sam? Thoughts on our topic?” was the first thing out of Jess’s mouth at the meeting.
“Yeah. You’re an artist, Sarah’s an art history major, you know what you’re doing and should be able to find a topic relevant to both of your interests, so I’ll go along with just about anything.”
Jess and Sarah exchanged eyerolls. “Right. Of course.” Sarah cut into her chicken. “My dad runs an auction house that specializes in art and I’m going into the family business. We get a wide collection of artwork, estate sales and such, but most of it is American. What kind of art do you do, Jess?”
“I’m a painter, mostly, but I do a lot of things.”
Sam furrowed his brow. “How do they prove that a painting is authentic? Is there a way of tracking ownership?”
“Provenance,” Sarah supplied. “It’s a certificate of authenticity, and it records ownership and sales to verify that. Why?”
“That seems like something likely to be relevant to my interests, too. Auction house, Jess knowing how her work is tracked, me learning about a resource that I may need in law…”
This time, the look Jess and Sarah exchanged was one of pleased surprise. “Sounds good to me. Looking at cases of fraud?” Jess said.
Their professor was impressed by their unusual choice of topics, and so far in his time at Stanford, this was the best project he’d ever worked on. He was kind of sorry to realize that he would probably never see either Jess or Sarah again.
After they got the official notice that they’d aced the project, the three of them went out to dinner again to celebrate. The three of them had a good time talking about their project and their class and their plans for the future. Sam got quiet there – he didn’t like the thought that his future might not include these two.
“Hey, Sam,” Sarah said, cutting into his thoughts. “Jess and I have been talking, and we’ve got something we need you to settle for us.”
“Oh no. That sounds scary.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Jess promised. “Sarah and I have been talking, and we can’t quite decide. Which of us do you want to ask out?”
“Wh-what?” Sam’s eyes went wide. What the hell kind of question was that?
“We’re both convinced that you’re interested in one of us. The thing is, Jess is sure it’s me, and I’m pretty well certain you’re into her. We’ve agreed that whichever of us it is, she’s a lucky girl and the other one is happy to be your friend.” Sarah reached out and patted his hand. “Project’s over, class is almost over, neither of us will say no, neither of us will be upset that you asked the other out, so… go for it. Whichever way you’re leaning.” Jess nodded her agreement.
“Um.” Sam blushed hard and stared at his hands. “I… I mean, you’re both… I like both of you. It’s hard to pick one. And I… I don’t… I didn’t think either of you would be interested in me. So I haven’t…”
Jess and Sarah both started giggling. “You didn’t think we’d be interested in you? You’re cute, you’re smart, you’re a hard worker…” Jess started.
“And at least your obliviousness is adorable,” Sarah finished. “Jess? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That a cute, respectful, hardworking guy like Sam is the kind of guy who could keep two women happy, if they were both willing to share?” Jess said. “I sure hope so, Sarah.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking, Jess. What do you think, Sam?”
Sam’s brain had shut down, but he did have nineteen years of survival training that had served him well despite having been out for over a year. “I think that sounds too good to be true, but I’m willing to give it a try if you two are.”
"Great! One more question... is it okay with you if Jess and I..."
"Yes. Absolutely. That's... a large part of the reason I didn't think either of you would be interested in me, because you liked each other. So I'm good. Especially if you'll let me watch sometimes."