[Hyde POV]
Kelso and I hung out in the basement after everyone else left. He kept glancing at me as I was reading a magazine.
Suddenly, Laurie walked down the stairs giddily.
"Kelso." She called sweetly. "It's good that you're here. Hyde. Why don't you leave us alone?"
"No." I replied casually. "And don't do it on the couch either."
"I'm not going to do it on the puke couch." Laurie grimaced. "I just want to fool around a bit. Just like how you fooled around with Jackie."
I didn't reply. Laurie snickered, glancing at the fuming Kelso.
"Okay. Bye!" She left after causing trouble. Kelso watched her leave and turned to me.
"So, did you kiss her?" Kelso asked abruptly, a manic look on his face.
I grimaced. "No."
"That's good. Because I'm going to kick your ass if you kiss her," he warned.
"I didn't kiss her. But she kissed me. Twice," I said casually, flipping through a magazine.
"What?" Kelso stared at me in shock.
"With tongue, too. She's not even trying to hide it."
"You bastard—"
He lunged at me, but I reacted quickly and put him into a headlock.
"Ow—Hyde! HYDE!"
He flailed wildly, grabbing at anything he could reach. His hand slipped under my shirt and twisted my left nipple.
"AH! You dumbass!" I shoved him onto the couch and jumped on him, punching his arm repeatedly.
"Ow—stop—Hyde—I give up!"
Kitty and Red hurried down into the basement.
"Steven, that's enough." Mrs. Forman gently pulled me away from Kelso.
"Kelso. Your dad wants you home," Red said, diverting Kelso's attention elsewhere.
"Fine." Kelso pointed at me. "This is not over." He stormed out.
"Man, you should carry a plant around to replace all the oxygen you waste." I insulted him.
"I don't even know what that means." He looked at me angrily before slamming the door.
"What's that all about?" Mrs. Forman asked, worried.
"He got mad because Jackie kissed me," I said casually.
"Why would she kiss you?" Red asked, clearly annoyed.
I shrugged. "I've got that kind of aura. The kind that tells girls they can use me to get revenge on their boyfriend."
Mrs. Forman smiled wryly, while Red just looked at me with irritation.
I laughed. "I should brush my teeth and get ready for bed."
Inside my room, I took out my laptop and started jotting down ideas for my next project.
'That idiot Kelso. He's literally dating someone else right now.' I was fuming inside.
The work slowly took me out of my anger as I became fixated on the numbers.
"The cafe… That's the weak point of my whole operation… But it is earning me a profit of 7-9 thousand a month."
"I sold two million bulbs to New York alone. The company made 3.9 million this week. After salaries and bonuses… I cleared around three million. Another five hundred thousand in cash… I'll need to launder that too."
I currently have around six hundred fifty thousand dollars in cash stored in my system.
"Maybe I should open a bank account?"
It's the '70s. I could forge some identification, go to another state, open an account, and funnel everything into a 2025 account. That would be the quickest way to clean it.
Or I could make a movie.
Movies cost a lot in the '70s. I could easily inflate the budget if I handled the accounting myself.
"If I put everything into a PayPal account in the future… I could only use it to buy things from 2025. That's over three million dollars sitting there…"
I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my chin as I weighed my options.
But I couldn't come to a decision. Mainly because I was still pissed at Kelso for twisting my nipple. It still hurts.
…
The next morning at breakfast, Mrs. Forman made French toast, eggs, and bacon.
"Why aren't you going to school?" Red asked, his gaze questioning my audacity.
"It's tradition," I replied casually.
"The tradition of me putting a foot up your ass?" Red shot back.
Mrs. Forman paused and glared at him.
Eric jumped in, still chewing. "It's actually his thing. He skipped the last day of school when we moved up to middle school."
"Why?" Mrs. Forman asked curiously.
I grimaced. "It's so… sappy. Cringey. People act like we're best friends even though they never talked to me all year."
Eric laughed. "And the worst part—Lisa Picklebottom."
"Heh." I snorted. "Pick her bottom."
Eric cracked up. Red frowned. "What about her?"
"Oh," Eric said, remembering. "She cried and hugged Hyde for an hour."
"Why?" Mrs. Forman asked. "Does she have a crush on him?"
"Of course not. I was the victim," I muttered.
Eric snickered. "Her family was moving. Hyde asked what was wrong, and then all hell broke loose."
"That taught me to mind my own business."
Red grimaced. "Fine. It's not like it's going to change anything."
Eric perked up. "So… can I not go too?"
"You're going," Red said firmly.
I laughed at Eric's misery, grabbed my bag from the basement, and headed out to meet Leslie, my music festival organizer.
Taking my Chevelle out of the garage, I went to grab some coffee and pastries from my cafe before going to Leslie's building.
In Leslie's office, towering stacks of documents covered her desk, some already leaning dangerously. The printer was running nonstop, spitting out page after page.
"We got the permit," she said, sliding it toward me without looking up from her laptop.
I checked it. We had approval to use the park.
She walked over to the printer, grabbed a fresh sheet, and handed the performer's roster to me.
— Band and Cost —
Supporting:
Van Halen — $3,000
Cheap Trick — $5,000
Blondie — $2,000
The Cars — $4,000
Main:
Blue Öyster Cult — $20,000
Staff — 100 people — $45,000
Stage:
Rental — $10,000 (3 days)
— — — — —
Van Halen was still starting. My future knowledge worked really well here, since I managed to get a lot of these bands before they got their big break.
"Why is the staff fee so high? And why do we need a hundred people?" I asked.
Leslie sighed. "The staging company brings their own crew. Specialists. They won't go below twenty-five grand. I listed them, but I haven't hired them yet."
I nodded. "They're scamming us."
"To be fair, it does take a lot of technical skill to build a stage," she said, frowning slightly. "But… you're right. It's too much."
It mostly cost around 4-5 grand. Maybe because it was a small town. They thought we were all hicks, so they were trying to scam us.
I checked online while we were talking.
There were companies selling full stage setups. The smallest ones started around thirty grand.
If I wanted something capable of handling fifteen thousand people, I'd need a larger setup, plus additional stages and proper speaker arrays. With lighting, wiring, and everything else, it climbed to around one hundred twenty thousand.
"Sir?" Leslie called.
"Huh? What? Sorry—I was thinking."
I looked back at her. "What if I just buy a stage?"
"You mean, own one?" she asked. "You could rent it out… but it'll take time to recover the cost." She started punching numbers into her calculator.
"I can get the structure for thirty. Add sound, lights, wiring… still cheaper in the long run. I just need an engineer to set it up."
Leslie nodded slowly. "Can you get it ready in three weeks?"
"I can," I said casually.
Then I added, "And it'd be better if we had our own land. Turn it into a permanent venue instead of dealing with park permits every time."
Leslie paused mid-calculation, clearly taken aback.
"…Okay. That might be feasible."
"That's it? You agree that easily?" I raised an eyebrow.
She smiled faintly. "I've learned it's easier to just go along with you. But I do want a salary increase."
"Okay. Deal."
Her current salary was $1,500 a month. I bumped it to $3,000.
After taxes, she'd be left with about $27,000 a year—$36,000 before taxes.
That was a massive jump from her previous $9,000 annually, pushing her into a proper operations manager level.
"With that kind of money, you could probably buy a house soon," I teased.
She smiled, clearly pleased. "It'd be even better if we could move somewhere bigger. But I just worked for two months. I couldn't qualify for a mortgage yet."
"Why don't we make a deal?"
"What deal?" She was taken aback.
I smirked and said, "I, too, am looking for properties to buy right now. So, how about, I buy and renovate it. Then, you can buy it from me on a rent-to-own deal, so you don't need a mortgage?"
She was quite shocked.
I added, "Once you're stable enough and could qualify for the loan, I'll deduct the amount you paid as rent from the house price."
"Stop– That's… That's generous, but I can't take the deal. It's highly disadvantageous to you."
"It's fine." I waved my hand casually. "I have a lot of money. Besides, once your mortgage is finalized, I don't really need to do anything else."
She went silent for a bit. "Give me some time to think about it."
"I'm going to wait for your decision. But I'm not going to wait on buying the houses." I checked my watch and said, "In fact, I'm going to meet a realtor right now."
After a ten-minute drive to the real estate office, I met with Larry– the fat, always sweaty, kind-looking man who had helped me finalize the purchase of my house before. He was a bit of a pushover in the office.
"So, I want these properties." I gave him a list.
"Are you sure?" Larry was hesitant. "All of these are either condemned or nobody wants them for a very long time."
"It's fine. I have a budget of one hundred twenty thousand. You're getting a commission, right?" I smiled.
He laughed. "I'll get something. But it won't be much. These are all unwanted properties."
"I also need your help buying some land. I'm looking for about ten acres near town."
"Commercial?" he asked.
"For music festivals. So… yeah, I guess commercial."
"Okay." Larry nodded, adjusting his half-moon glasses. "I can handle that for you."
Suddenly, a man with slicked-back hair, wearing a sharp suit and an expensive watch, approached us.
"Hello. Are you Mr. Hyde? The director?" he asked cheerfully.
I nodded. "Yup."
"Oh, I'm a huge fan of yours. Can I shake your hand?" He reached out. I took it casually.
"I'm Kingston—one of the senior agents here." He glanced at Larry, then back at me. "Why are you sitting out here? Larry, you should've told us an important guest was here. We have a proper waiting room. Why don't we head there?"
He tried to guide me away, but I stopped him.
"I'm fine right here. I don't need the hassle."
Kingston froze for a second, then let out a polite, slightly forced laugh. "Ah… I understand."
"Just leave me with Larry," I said. "He helped me before, so he's helping me again."
The message landed. He lingered for a moment, said a few more polite words, then backed off.
Larry smiled awkwardly. "You could've gone with him. He might've gotten you a better deal."
"I'm not buying houses to live in." I paused. "Do you handle sales too? If I renovate and sell, can I list them through you?"
"Sure," he said quickly. "Once you're done, just give me a call."
I smiled. "Good."
We agreed to meet at my office later, after he gathered all the details on the properties.
Since I was paying cash, the process would be simpler. He just needed to check for liens, title issues, and any hidden problems before closing.
Between commissions and closing fees, he'd make around six thousand dollars. Add the land deal, and it would push closer to seven.
That explained why Kingston came over.
Seven thousand dollars from a single client was a big deal in a small-town office. Larry would absolutely be pressured by the other agents after this.
But they couldn't force him to give up his clients. It's the rule of the game. The customer was the one who decided on the agents he was working with.
"Now. I'm done with my work today."
It was barely lunch time. I went to the auto shop after eating at a restaurant alone, and ordered a few more cars to flip.
Then, I went back home.
…
In the basement, Eric told me something weird.
"Kelso went hiking with Laurie."
"That's just code," I said casually, sniffling as I sat on my couch. My soft, green couch.
"Code for?" Eric asked, leaning in.
"Doing it in the forest." I smirked.
"Ugh." He shuddered in disgust and pulled away.
Suddenly, Fez came into the basement carrying a board game.
"Who wants to play Monopoly?"
"Someone who doesn't have a life?" I replied.
Eric laughed and high-fived me. Fez grimaced, clearly humiliated.
"Oh, hanging out in the basement again with Eric. That's really a good life," Fez said sarcastically.
"Fez, we're just messing around. Let's play," Eric said giddily, taking the box from him.
We set up our pieces and played a round. Not long after, Jackie came down into the basement.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Playing Monopoly. Do you want to join?" Fez asked.
"No!" Eric snapped at him.
Jackie ignored Eric and bounced happily. "Sure. I'll sit next to Steven."
She pushed Fez aside and sat next to me, resting her hand on my knee.
I sighed inwardly. "Let's just play."
The game went on for a while, and Fez landed in jail for the fourth time. Suddenly, he flipped the board.
"Oops. I slipped—"
"Fez. Sit next to me," I ordered.
He switched places with Jackie, still smiling.
I punched him in the arm immediately. "Fez! I was winning!"
"Ayy!" he whined, rubbing his arm.
"You're sitting here so I can keep an eye on you."
Jackie was forced to sit in the middle. Eric shot me a dirty look, sighing as we reset the board.
Eric clearly didn't like Jackie being here. Out of everyone, he was still the only one who hadn't accepted her into the group.
We started another game, and this time Jackie was leading.
"Oh! Now I've got Park Place and Boardwalk. This game is just like life! I am the richest of all." She counted her money proudly.
Eric counted his cash and snapped, "Jackie, I've got nine hundred and seventy dollars here—it's all yours if you just GO AWAY!"
"Relax, Forman. It's better than having Laurie down here. She's like a big cancerous tumor. And Jackie… she's like a tiny benign cyst," I said, trying to calm him down.
Jackie looked touched. "Thank you, Hyde!" She handed me some money. "Here, buy yourself a hotel."
I accepted it with a grin.
Fez whined, "Why are you giving him money? I'm the one in jail! Does Hyde punch me in the arm? Why can't we start over?"
"Because—" I punched him again.
"Ayy!" he cried.
"And don't try flipping the board again either," I warned.
Kelso and Laurie walked in. Kelso was wearing a tank top, and Laurie had on short shorts. It was summer—everyone was showing a lot of skin.
Laurie leaned toward Kelso near the door. "Next time we go hiking, bring a blanket. I think I have a twig in my shorts…"
I took the opportunity. "What a coincidence. So does Kelso."
Jackie turned to me, eyes lighting up. "BURN!"
Kelso pretended it didn't bother him. "Okay, okay. Nice burn. Hi, Jackie."
Jackie straightened up and fired back, "Oh look, it's Michael and his community chest."
I laughed. "Nice!"
Jackie laughed too, sneaking a glance at me.
Laurie wasn't about to lose.
"So, Michael, when you come over for dinner tonight, don't wear that stupid unicorn tie."
Jackie gasped. "OH!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jackie. Was that a gift?" Laurie asked sweetly.
Jackie stumbled, losing her composure. "Oh yeah?! Well, were those shoes a gift? Because they're ugly!"
"Ugh…" I groaned at Jackie's retaliation. It sucked.
Laurie laughed condescendingly. "What are you even doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be off playing with ribbons and ponies?"
"Better than what you were off playing with. Her hobbies don't need penicillin," I cut in.
Jackie gasped, smiling at me, touched that I was taking her side.
Laurie frowned. "Do you want to mess with me too, Steven?"
"I'm sure you've had hundreds of guys say yes to that. Let me be the first to say no," I smirked.
Eric laughed and added, "Thousands."
I laughed too, agreeing with Eric. Laurie felt humiliated.
"Yeah! You… you slut!" Jackie added, though her delivery lacked impact.
Laurie seized the moment. "Oh, I made the little girl say a bad word!" She said sarcastically.
She kissed Kelso right in front of Jackie, knowing it would mess with her and whispered, "See you tonight…" before slapping his butt and leaving.
All of us stared at Kelso—the source of the chaos in the basement. He brought the blight into our fortress of solitude. No one looked happy about it.
Kelso just shrugged, taking zero responsibility.
Fez took the chance while everyone was distracted and flipped the board again.
"Whoops. Guess we'll have to start over." He grinned.
I stared at him in disbelief and leaned my head back with a long sigh.
"I'm going to play basketball," Eric said, heading out.
Kelso followed him. "I'll come with you."
Fez stood up as well. "I'm leaving too. I don't think I can take another punch today."
That left just Jackie and me in the basement.
She glanced at me, looking extremely discontent.
I sighed and asked, "What's wrong now?"
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