[Hyde POV]
Kelso and Fez left after Eric went to pick up Donna. They asked me to hang out, but I said no since I had some work to do.
I bite the end of my pen while scribbling down some ideas. I even watched TV while trying to get hit by the dose of creativity.
Suddenly, the phone rang. I ignored it at first and it died down. Then, it rang again.
I picked up the call and asked with annoyance, "Who's this?"
"It's… Jackie. Is Donna there? I've been trying her house, but she didn't answer." Jackie said, her voice sounds deflated.
"She went to do it in the car with Eric." I replied.
"Ew." Jackie grimaced with disgust. Then, she asked, "What are you doing then?"
"I'm trying to find an idea for a regional commercial." I replied casually. "What comes to mind when you think of Wisconsin?" I asked her.
"It sucks." Jackie replied.
"It sure does, but I need something positive." I said flatly.
Jackie went silent for a bit before answering. "What about the lake?"
"The lake. That's a good idea." I wrote it down in the notebook. "Skinny dipping. Doing it in the water. Catching an eel."
"No." Jackie scolded me. "That's not what the lake is all about!"
I ignored her and said, "But if I'm trying to insert a tech store, a lake setting will be quite hard."
"What about roller disco?" Jackie replied, her voice seemed quite cheerful now.
"That's good too. Even though I hate it." I scowled slightly. "I have to admit a lot of people love it. So hear me out. I have two suggestions here."
"First, about the lake. Two people, a man and a woman living across from each other on the lake."
"They communicated with paper, wrote everything down, and were falling in love."
Jackie squealed lightly, absorbed by the plot.
"Then, the man fell down the balcony after the wind blew his papers away."
"WHY!?" Jackie was shocked.
"He got out of the hospital, and his friend already put a phone in his house. He used that and called the girl across the lake and talked to her instead." I added.
Jackie grumbled and said, "The first part is so romantic! Why did you have to ruin that?!"
"It's a commercial. How else do I put the phone into the thing? Okay, another one. Roller rink. People were dancing to ABBA. Suddenly, a fat kid rolled straight to the deejay booth. The music stopped. The deejay had to go to the store to get a new cable and save the party."
"This is fine." Jackie sighed. "Not the first one though. That'll be better as a movie."
"Okay. Fat kid on skates it is. Anyway, why are you calling again?"
"I'm… trying to find Donna." She was taken aback.
"Oh. She's not here." I said flatly.
Jackie went silent for a bit before saying, "Okay then." She cut the call.
"Weirdo." I muttered before going to smooth everything out with my laptop.
While I was working, I realized that the recording had begun again. It was just for a couple minutes before it paused.
"Damn. I can't go out this weekend then."
…
The next morning, during breakfast, the family decided to go to visit the old Aunt Pearl.
Mrs Forman trapped Red and Laurie by making Swedish pancakes and they couldn't say no to her request.
Since I wasn't part of the family, I wasn't implicated and could stay home.
However, when the breakfast was finished, Mrs Forman spoke to me privately.
"Now, with Micheal and Jackie breaking up… did you try to comfort Jackie?"
"Jackie?" I was confused. "Kelso's my friend."
"Now." Mrs Forman was taken aback. "If anyone knows what she's going through, it's you. So why don't you help her? Don't leave her alone."
I sighed and said. "Fine. If she shows up, I won't kick her out. That's the best you're getting."
Mrs Forman giggled and said, "You're a good boy."
Eric stayed behind since he had an earlier appointment with Kelso and Fez. But he had to go visit the old aunt tomorrow.
In the basement, all of us guys sat around in a circle and lit up a blunt.
Kelso sat right in front of me, Fez on my right, and Eric on my left.
Kelso's face was horrendous. He looked gaunt, had patchy stubble on his chin, and he smelt kinda funny.
"God I miss Jackie. I can't sleep, I can't think,.." Kelso looked around and said, "I can still eat, but I mean my life has no meaning. I'm dead inside."
"Oh, so that's what smells." Fez said teasingly.
I grimaced, "Yeah Mr. Brokenheart, when was the last time you took a bath man? Woo, you're getting gamey."
Eric was eating a fudgesickle and snickered. "Man, I am so glad Donna's not Jackie, but I'll tell you what, I'm even more glad I'm not you." He laughed and said seriously. "No offense."
Kelso looked downcast. "I gotta win Jackie back. I got it! I'll write her a song."
Fez looked at Kelso carefully and said, "Maybe the best way to get Jackie back is to let her date other people … foreign exchange people."
Fez was dying to make a move on Jackie. It was only his surgery that made him hold back.
I snorted at Fez and looked at Kelso. "No man, I think a song is a really great idea. How 'bout this one "You don't love me anymore. Caught me cheatin with a whore."
I laughed and added, "See cause Laurie's the whοre, you get it?"
Eric burst into laughter. "Yeah, my sister is such a whore."
Kelso's chin quivered. "Yeah, I'm gonna write Jackie a song. I gotta win her back because I can't stop the tears man." He began sobbing really hard.
All of us stared at him with displeasure.
"Kelso, we've been over this. There's no crying in the circle." Eric scolded him.
"I'm actually cool with it." I said.
"What? Why?" Eric turned to me in shock.
"I don't know. Watching a guy self-destroy like this… makes me feel all happy and warm inside." I smirked.
"You're a monster." Eric hissed slightly.
"Yeah. Let's go to the Hub and get away from this monster now." Fez joked before he turned to me and apologized sincerely. "Sorry Hyde. You're not a monster. I'm just joking."
"It's fine Fez. It's fine." I comforted him before saying, "Hey. You know what would be a great ice breaker for girls?"
"What?" Fez asked desperately.
"Do you want to see my surgery scar?" I said, pretending to be Fez.
He gasped and said, "That's amazing. And I can make them touch it too."
"No FEZ! Don't make them touch it!" Eric snapped at him, quickly bringing them all away. He turned to me and asked, "Hyde. You sure you don't want to come?"
"I have a mountain of laundry to do. So not really. Anything Kelso thought of in order to get Jackie back, I'm pretty sure it'll be stupid."
Eric laughed and went outside with the rest. I wasn't kidding about the laundry. There were a lot of them.
So I put the whites in first, and worked on the commercial while I was waiting for the cycle to end. And then, I did the colors.
I sat down on my spot with the warm white laundry in front of me and folded them nicely. Suddenly the basement door opened and a petite young girl walked in.
"Hey. Steven. Where is everyone?" Jackie asked. She wore a brown sweater and tied her hair into a ponytail.
I looked at her with disbelief as I was folding my shirts. "They are at the hub. Why are you here?"
Donna walked into the basement too and greeted me. "Hey Hyde. Doing laundry?"
"No. I'm reading a book." I replied sarcastically.
Donna frowned and said, "You could've just replied nicely."
"And you could've, not ask dumb questions." I smiled teasingly.
"Just for that, I'm going to put Jackie here while I go to the Hub. I need to talk to Eric about something."
I widened my eyes in surprise and said, "Wait."
"See you later." Donna left in a hurry.
Jackie said to me, "She's going to tell Eric that he's taking her for granted."
"That's stupid. Eric worships her." I grimaced.
Jackie was taken aback and said, "Well. He told her he's going to hang out with the guys today and that she can come… if she wants."
I snorted and said, "Well. That's stupid on Eric's part. But I don't realize that Donna's a dumbass too."
"What– What do you mean by that?" Jackie sat on the couch, intrigued.
"Kelso is sobbing and sniffling. He's trying to… Well, I won't say anything. But he's a mess right now. So Eric went to cheer him up. He took a day off Donna to check on his friend, but she already thought the worse of him. Donna has her issues too."
"She- She's not the problem here. Eric is the problem." Jackie argued, taken aback when I pointed it out.
"No. In this case, Eric is less of a problem than Donna." I argued back.
"Well, that may be true. But she's… she's…"
"Valid?" I helped her find the words.
"Yes!" Jackie was excited. "Her boyfriend told her that he's going out with the guys. So… wait."
Jackie finally got what I've been saying. The dryer finished the cycle, and I took out the colored shirts from it.
Jackie sat on the fridge and told me, "You know it's weird, I thought that after me and Michael broke up I wouldn't want to hang out here anymore."
"Yup, that's what we're hoping." I replied casually as I folded my clothes.
"But I think if I left you'd really miss me." She smiled, then became serious, "Right?"
I faked a cough and said, "Not really. No."
She gasped and said, "You take that back right now. Say that you'll miss me!"
"You know I'm a contrarian. Now that you forced me to do something, you won't get it even if you die."
She gasped again. "You jerk. I'm just a fragile.. cute girl who just got her heart broken. And guess who's the one who's been holding the secret from me for a really long time? You!"
I paused for a beat.
"Don't try to guilt-trip me. I kept up the end of my bargain. I kept slapping the back of Kelso's head, I swear that's why he got dumber."
She snorted slightly and laughed. "Okay. I forgave you. Now, let's go to the mall."
"Why?" I was confused. I picked up my folded clothes and walked to my room to put it down. She followed me closely from behind.
"I noticed you're alone a lot and I'm alone a lot, so let's be alone together." She said cheerfully. And suddenly, we ended up in my room alone.
She battered her eyes at me, which made me shudder. "Look, we're alone right now."
I rushed out of the room and said, "That's not really a very good reason for us to…"
She stopped me, "Wait. Let's go to Sizzler." She put her hands behind her back, and tried to tempt me. "They've got a salad bar, it's all you can eat plus five different colors of Jello."
I was almost hooked by it. While I was conflicted, she added with an eyeroll, "I'll buy."
I faked a sympathetic expression and said, "You've been through a rough time, let's go."
…
At Sizzler. I ordered a burger and fries while she ate only salads. Then, she tried to grab my fries.
I slapped the back of her hand and said, "Get your own god damn fries."
"Ow! I just want one!" She argued, rubbing her sore hand. "Can't you share one fries with me?"
"Newsflash lady. There's never only wanting one fries. If I surrender one fries to you now, what's stopping you from doing it again?"
She looked at me with disbelief, anger in her eyes. "Fine! I'll grab my own fries!"
I smiled and said casually, "See. I know you had it in you."
She rolled her eyes and called the waiter.
I would've shared the food with her if it wasn't for what happened while we were ordering. I told her a lot of times to get some real food. But she insisted on only getting the salad.
"Yeah, can I get a side of fries–"
I interjected Jackie while she's ordering and said, "Bring us the shrimp plate. And the chocolate cake. Ooh, there's also the strawberry cake. Jackie, want to go half-half on that?"
She looked at me weirdly and said sarcastically, "Now you want to share?"
"Fine then. I'll have both cakes myself." I told the waiter.
The waiter smiled and said, "You seem a lot better than the other guy."
Jackie blushed a bit and stammered hard. "What– You– That didn't–"
"So you came here a lot with Kelso huh?" I laughed at her.
She was deflated and slumped her shoulders. "Here. Have some fries." I offered her by pushing the plate towards her since she looked so sad.
Biting off the fries angrily, Jackie asked, "Why are you like this?"
"I don't know." I laughed. "Also, I'm counting how much you're taking. I'll take it back when your fries come."
She got pissed off and she grabbed a handful of the fries before munching on it angrily. "Count this you jerk!"
"57." I replied.
She was shocked and said, "There's no way that's 57! My mouth is small! It won't go over 15!"
"Then, I'll take fifteen." I joked again.
"Be nicer!" She threw fries at me.
"Why? We aren't on a date." I shrugged in confusion.
She was taken aback and froze for a few seconds. "Wait. You're right."
"See." I ate my fries and said, "The burgers sure are late."
She offered, "Want my salad–"
"Hell no."
Jackie laughed and asked me about the commercial. She didn't come to school after she broke up with Kelso, so she only heard from Donna about it.
"You should've casted me!" Jackie admonished me. "If you can see how my cuteness is perfect to act in a commercial, then you're a horrible casting director!"
I grumbled and said, "Donna's the one who did the casting."
She gasped in shock. I laughed and propped my head lazily with my elbow on the table.
"That red headed tramp." Jackie cursed.
"Add jiggly to it. Jiggly red headed tramp." I helped her, but she got mad at me.
"Stop it! Don't make me angrier."
"You look cute when you're angry." I said teasingly. Stunned, Jackie looked at me with expectation.
"You're like an angry hamster. With your nose twitching. There's even salad in front of you right now." I teased again.
She fumed in anger.
I was doing this on purpose. When I got cheated on, I didn't need comfort. I need distraction.
After we finished eating, we walked in the mall together.
"You should've let me pay." Jackie grumbled.
I picked up the check even though she said she'd buy the food.
Since she only ordered the salad and the fries, I felt bad because I've been gorging on the shrimp, burger and the cake slices. I even ate two plates of jello and their salads.
"I don't want to owe you anything. That's a recipe for a ghost. Or worse, you might try to get me to help drive you to the airport."
She grumbled and her eyes lit up as she saw a shoe store.
"Now that I think about it, I don't want to owe you too. So I'm going to buy you a boot."
"What– Jackie, you don't have too–"
She held my hand and dragged me to the store before I could reject her.
Dinner cost 47 dollars. She bought me a tan colored boot for 39 dollars.
Surprisingly, the boots felt quite nice. I had three boots I bought online from Thursday Boots, but I didn't have one in the tan color.
Jackie forced me to wear the boots right away and put my sneakers into the bag. She wanted to throw the old ones away, then I told her it cost 200 bucks.
Even the staff at the store was shocked when they heard about the price of the sneaker.
I still wore the boots since it was quite comfortable.
We went back to the car, and as we entered, she said, "Hyde. Those boots look nice on you
I smiled and said, "Jackie. You buying me boots is just wrong. You should've let me shoplift them."
She smiled and said, " No Hyde, I want you to have them. You paid for lunch. Besides, I'm saving a fortune now that I don't have to feed and clothe Michael."
"Feed and clothe? What are you, his mom?" I furrowed my eyebrows and said with disdain.
Jackie was taken aback and went into a deep thought for a bit.
"Don't mind that. So, I was thinking tomorrow night we should… you know…"
I realized what she was doing and stopped her immediately, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, ok alright come on now Jackie, this was a one time only thing alright? And if you're trying to bribe me with these boots man, you can just take them back."
"I see." She turned her face away.
"What are you going to do now, cry?" I taunted her jokingly. Then, my face froze as I saw the tears coming from her eyes.
"Oh man, you're crying." I leaned in close and comforted her. "Hey Jackie, come on man, it's going to be fine ok?" I fixed her hair from her face and said calmly, "This whole thing is going to be fine alright?"
Jackie turned to me and suddenly leaned in. She kissed me on the lips.
I widened my eyes, startled and pulled away hurriedly. (
"No!! Bad Jackie!" I fumed and scolded her instantly, moving my index finger as if I was trying to discipline a mischievous pet.
She said with a shaky voice, "But Hyde, I thought we agreed that you were alone and I was alone…"
I sighed since I understood her feelings. " Jackie, I'm trying to help you out here, so you've gotta just listen to me. You have to know that you can do better than Kelso."
She was worried. "But what if I never find anybody else?"
"Oh you will man, you'll find somebody great." I paused, letting her take a second before saying. "See I myself don't like you."
Her face shook around as she was flabbergasted by the sudden confession.
"I find you abrasive," I added, which made her do a double take.
"But if I didn't know you and I'd never talked to you, I'd think you were totally hot." I said comfortingly.
"Aww. Thank you Hyde." She was touched and felt a bit better.
"Anything for you, doll." I said and turned on the car keys immediately. As she looked away, I huffed in relief. Relief from the fact that she wasn't falling for me.
Jackie stole a glance at me as I drove the car.
"What?" I asked with annoyance.
"Nothing," She looked straight ahead instead.
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