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Abed Nadir has a reputation for being mean. Well... he isn’t necessarily mean , he just has a tendency to be brutally honest, and most people perceive that as mean . People would abandon him, or stuff him into lockers, or yell slurs at him just because he was being honest . Which, in return, is the real mean behavior. Abed had thought that he’s doomed to live his life that way forever, but that all changed on his first day at Greendale Community College.
Abed sits down at a desk in his new Spanish class. Next to him was a dark-skinned young man in a letterman jacket practicing glaring at his new classmates. “Odd thing to do to your classmates on the first day of school,” Abed retorts.
The young man goes red. “Yeah, I guess,” he replies, blushing.
Abed smiles. In truth, there’s nothing wrong with his new classmate. Sure, he’s a dummy, but he’s a lovable dummy . “My name’s Abed, by the way,” Abed says, introducing himself and extending his hand.
“My name’s Troy,” the young man, Troy, replies, shaking Abed’s hand and smiling back. And so they go on to become good friends. The first few months of their friendship is usually Troy saying something ignorant, Abed being honest, and Troy realizing how dumb he is. Troy isn’t like others. Troy didn’t mind Abed being honest. In fact, that’s what Troy likes most about Abed. And it made Abed physically unable to hurt Troy in any way.
***
Troy didn’t understand. One might say that it’s because he’s kinda dumb, which isn’t wrong , but that’s not why. Troy didn’t understand why everyone thought Abed was so mean. A few weeks ago, Pierce had whined about how Abed mentioned that he hopes everyone congratulates Pierce’s kids at Pierce’s funeral, and Troy had brushed it off. Hoping that doesn’t make Abed a bad person, because everyone should congratulate Pierce’s kids at Pierce’s funeral, because Pierce sucks . But Troy had brushed it off, because Pierce is the kind of person who gets sad when something good happens and cheers when something bad happens. Last week, Jeff had complained that Abed said his shoes were like metal crocs. Troy didn’t understand why Jeff felt so sad. Abed wasn’t wrong. Troy had assumed that it’s because Jeff has a fragile ego, so Troy had convinced Jeff that Abed was just complimenting him, but just a few days ago, Britta had complained that Abed called her hair wet noodles. Once again, it’s not like Abed was wrong, but what confused Troy is that a person like Britta would be offended by something like that. Troy had then consoled her, saying that Abed loves noodles and therefore it must’ve been a compliment. But that didn’t solve Troy’s confusion. Just yesterday, Shirley had complained about how Abed said that her loyalty to her religion is beautiful, except everything she said about it was wrong. Troy didn’t understand why that was so bad. I mean, someone had to call Shirley out on her bigotry. Sure, she’s a lovely person, but if Shirley fixes her bigotry, she’d be a lovelier person.
Troy had wanted to talk to Abed about this, because Troy always wanted to talk to Abed about everything, but he had gotten too busy. He and Jeff had discovered a secret trampoline, and gosh was it the best. Whenever he jumps on it, he feels like he’s in paradise. But then stupid Pierce had ruined it by forcing Troy to double bounce him. And then Pierce broke his legs, the trampoline got discovered, and the person hiding the trampoline turned out to be racist. Over the course of this, apparently Abed had teamed up with Britta, Annie, and Shirley to get rid of all the bitches in their school by being brutally honest. And when Britta, Annie, and Shirley became the exact kind of people they vowed to destroy, Abed had decided to be brutally honest to them, to which Annie had said that everyone is a bitch. Abed had then been brutally honest to everyone and now everyone hates him.
Troy never understood that cycle. Abed would be brutally honest, and then everyone would hate him. Two seconds later, they’d start worshipping him, and the cycle would repeat. It definitely beats the way people treated Abed when Abed was in high school, but that doesn’t make the Greendale cycle any better or make it make any more sense.
Troy sits next to Abed. “Hey buddy,” Troy says. “I’m sorry for everything that’s happening.”
Abed tilts his head, looking confused. “How is any of this your fault?” Abed asks. “It’s really my fault. I don’t really think about what I say. I just say what I think. Apparently that can hurt people. Maybe I deserve to be stuffed into lockers.”
“You’re just being honest,” Troy replies, consoling Abed. “None of this is your fault. People just can’t accept the truth. You’re not being mean, you’re just telling the truth. By stuffing you into lockers, or hating you, or ignoring you, everyone else is being mean to you. That’s the real mean behavior.”
“True,” Abed replies, sighing. “Sometimes I wish I could think of social cues before I speak, though. But social cues are so dumb. What even is the point?”
Troy laughs. “I’m with you.” Troy nods in agreement. “Screw society. It’s dumb. All we need is each other.”
Troy and Abed look at each other, until it gets awkward. “We should go to class,” Abed replies, breaking the awkward silence.
Troy nervously chuckles. “Yeah… we should…”
***
“Troy and Abed in the morning!” Troy and Abed cheerfully sing together. Today, they’re joined by Rich, who’s teaching them how to make kettle corn. Rich is nice. He’s the first guest on there that actually enjoys their little bit. Also, his kettle corn is awesome . Eventually, Jeff barges in, obviously upset. Jeff doesn’t seem to understand them. He thinks that their fake morning show is pointless, since it’s fake, but does that really matter? Who cares if something is real or not? Rich invites Jeff to make kettle corn with him, but Jeff rejects the offer and leaves. And the bit is over. Rich leaves, letting Troy and Abed eat the kettle corn, and Troy and Abed grin at each other. There are still people outside, like always, holding signs. While Troy and Abed munch on kettle corn, one particular sign catches their eyes.
“‘Dump Troy Marry me’?” Abed reads.
Troy blushes. “Th-that’s such a weird sign, it’s not like we’re dating or anything,” he stammers.
Abed’s face falls. “Yeah. Anyway, I better head to class.”
“Want me to come?” Troy asks.
Abed shakes his head. “I can go on my own.”
Something is wrong with Abed. Abed would never say that. They spend all their time together, unless they have different classes. In that case, they take turns walking each other to class.
Abed walks out of the study room. Most people are gone, except one person. Meghan. Abed recognizes her from when he was mean to everyone. Or as he and Troy like to refer it, when he was brutally honest to everyone. Meghan is holding a sign. The same sign Troy and Abed read from inside the study room.
“So you were the one who wrote the sign?” Abed asks.
“Yeah,” Meghan replies. “It’s just not fair. You’re mean to everyone on campus, except Troy? Why?”
“I’m not mean, I’m just being honest,” Abed snaps.
Meghan rolls her eyes. “Sure, call it whatever you want. But I want an answer.”
“Troy’s the only one who listens. Everyone else gets so hurt when I point out their flaws, displaying how fragile their egos are. Like how when I called you a clown. But Troy isn’t like that. He listens and changes,” Abed explains.
“That’s lame,” Meghan grumbles. “Look, I’m a great girl. Literally everyone wants me. Why don’t you?”
“I do like you,” Abed replies.
“Yesterday you said my hair looked like it was melting”.
“Melting is good!”
Meghan looks at him, completely confused. “Fine, whatever,” Meghan mumbles, running off.
Troy walks out. “That was weird,” he mutters.
“Yeah,” Abed replies in agreement. “Anyway, wanna walk to class? I don’t want to be late.”
Troy smiles. “Always,” he replies.
***
Annie nervously twitches in her bedroom. Could she tell Troy and Abed? Of course she could, right? They were supportive friends, and they wouldn’t tell anyone. She nervously walks out of her bedroom. Troy and Abed are watching Inspector Spacetime in the living room. “Uh, hey guys,” Annie says.
Abed turns around. “Hey, Annie,” he says back. “Wanna watch Inspector Spacetime ?”
“Um, later,” Annie replies. “I have something I need to talk to you guys about first.”
“Okay,” Troy replies, pausing the TV. “What do you want to talk about?”
Annie hesitates. “I’m… a lesbian,” she finally says.
“Cool,” Abed replies, smiling. “Cool, cool, cool.”
“We’re glad you trusted us enough to tell us,” Troy replies.
“I’d like to say something too,” Abed mumbles. “I’m bisexual.”
Abed is bisexual . Maybe Troy could have a chance with him. “I’m- uh, gay,” Troy mutters. Troy looks at Abed and Abed looks back at him.
“This is awesome!” Annie squeals. “It’s nice how me coming out inspired both of you to come out, too. We’re queer buddies!” Troy and Abed smile. “Oh, by the way, I’m thinking of coming out to the study group tomorrow. What do you think?”
“That seems like a good idea,” Abed replies. “Although I’d recommend doing it without Pierce.” Annie smiles.
Later, Annie goes back into her room to study and Troy and Abed decide to render imaginative landscapes in the Dreamatorium. “It’s funny how much we’ve hidden from each other, huh?” Abed asks after a while.
“What are you talking about, Inspector?” Troy asks. Although he has a feeling that Abed isn’t playing a character anymore.
Abed sighs. “Stop simulation,” Abed mutters. Abed turns to Troy. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Are you blaming me?” Troy squeaks.
“I’m not blaming you. We’re both at fault,” Abed replies. “I just want to talk about it. I’ll start with some basic questions, and you can ask me questions, too. So, to start off with, how’d you find out you were gay?”
“More than me actually being attracted to women, I’ve more often thought I was obligated to be attracted to women,” Troy mumbles. “And then I fell in love with a friend.”
“Jeff?” Abed asks.
“No,” Troy mutters.
“Okay, c’mon, it can’t be Pierce ,” Abed groans.
“Ew no!” Troy exclaims. “It was… someone outside of the study group.”
“You don’t have any friends outside of the study group,” Abed murmurs suspiciously. “It was me, wasn’t it?”
Troy blushes. “Maybe.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to answer that,” Abed replies. “Now, ask me a question.”
“How did you find out you were bi?” Troy asks.
“I’ve had female crushes over the years, and I’ve had male crushes,” Abed replies. “I’ve always known I was bi, I just hid it because of homophobia.”
“Do you… like someone now?” Troy asks.
Abed looks at Troy. “If you admit that you like me, I’ll tell you who I like,” Abed answers.
“Before I answer that, promise me that we’ll always be friends,” Troy replies. “No matter what.”
“Always,” Abed replies, smiling. They do their handshake.
“I do like you,” Troy admits. “It’s fine if you don’t… I understand, because why would a person as awesome as you like—”
Abed interrupts him with a kiss. “I like you, too. I always have.”
***
The next day, Troy, Abed, and Annie constantly glance at each other in the study room. At one point, Shirley had asked what was up with them, to which Abed had retorted, “None of your business”. Finally, Pierce leaves and Annie uses this opportunity to come out.
“I have something to say,” Annie announces. “I’m a lesbian.”
Suddenly, Pierce comes back in. “Aha! I knew something was up with you three!”
“Pierce, what are you doing?” Shirley snaps.
“I always thought the lesbian in the group was Britta,” Pierce snickers, using “lesbian” in a derogatory tone. “Turns out I got my calculations wrong. Next thing you know, Troy is going to be the gay person of the group instead of Jeff.” Troy blushes. Annie is shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
“I have something to say, too,” Abed says, shutting Pierce up. “I’m bisexual.”
Pierce snickers. “What does that even mean?” he snarls. “Pick a sexuality. Are you straight or gay?”
“I’m bisexual, I thought that was very clear from my sentence,” Abed retorts. “Anyone with half a brain cell would know that being bisexual means that I’m attracted to men and women.”
“Oh, so you’re half normal?” Pierce snickers. The rest of the group looks appalled.
“Pierce, that is so homophobic! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Britta shrieks.
“Like I care so much,” Pierce snickers.
“I’m gay,” Troy replies, ignoring Pierce. “And Abed and I are dating.”
Everyone, except Pierce, cheers. “We’re so proud of you,” Shirley replies. “I know that I’ve been homophobic in the past, but I want you to know that the Bible teaches love, not hate, and as a Christian, I should be supportive of you two.”
“This is getting really gross,” Pierce mutters.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Abed mutters. He kicks Pierce out of the study room and closes the door. “There, that should be better.”
Abed sits down. The rest of the study group looks proud of him, and it makes him smile. He’s finally himself. Troy gives him a kiss, and the rest of the group cheers.
Later, when Troy, Abed, and Annie are alone, Annie smiles. “Thanks for having my back,” she says. “I didn’t expect for you two to come out, especially just to support me.”
“Well we are queer buddies,” Troy replies, grinning.
“And you and Abed are dating? You two didn’t even tell me,” Annie squeals.
“We only sorted it out last night,” Abed explains. “We thought we could tell you today. Didn’t exactly happen in the way we expected.”
“It all worked out in the end,” Annie replies, smiling. “I’m just happy we’re all happy.”
***
Abed Nadir used to have a reputation for being mean. Now everyone knows he isn’t being mean, he’s just being alternatively nice . Abed doesn’t see the world the same way as others. But now, it’s finally fine that he’s different, because at Greendale, he’s already accepted .