A/N - Ok, people please don't kill me. I know I have no business starting a new story while I'm working on three others, but I promise those are receiving top priority. I just couldn't get this one off my brain and it was preventing me from focusing on the others. That being said, this one won't be updated as frequently as the other three until they are almost finished. I just went ahead and posted the prologue, I guess to see if anyone other than myself was interested in the idea.

So, I've read quite a few stories where Jackie is new to Point Place and they all take place around season 5, so I guess mine does as well. Although I couldn't remember what grades they were in during that season so in my story Jackie's a sophomore and everyone else juniors in high school. Also, in my story Hyde still found out about WB. Either way, I'm taking a new twist on the Jackie as new girl story. Let me know if I should continue.

Disclaimer - don't own That 70s Show or the song American Girl by Tom Petty.

PROLOGUE

Jackie awoke with a forward jerk as the bus rolled to a stop at the Point Place Greyhound terminal. Her back and neck cracked as she fully stretched for the first time since she'd exited her plane and caught the bus in Milwaukee. Wisconsin was the farthest Jackie had ever been from home, but right now she was too tired, too pained, too cold for panic to set in. Outside the bus terminal, with her skin covered in goose bumps and her teeth chattering violently, she realized her shin length dress and clogs were more suited for the Hawaiian October days left behind. Willing herself not to take the unwelcoming weather as any sort of sign, she decided to find a motel and change into more appropriate clothing. As she stepped into the waiting cab she ran over the speech she'd been rehearsing since her departure. Each time it changed. She wasn't exactly sure what it was she wanted, but she knew she needed this. She had to confront him. She had to know.

She found a cheap motel about two miles from the bus station and checked in. Its dingy yellowed walls and sexed on sheets would have deterred the old Jackie, but the new Jackie had learned how far her money could stretch three months ago. Her father had been arrested and sent to prison for bribery and her mother had skipped town well before that. The last time Jackie had even heard from her was via a postcard that said "thinking of you" from Mexico.

When Jackie's neighbors discovered there was a 16 year old minor living at home alone they were at least nice enough to give her a week before they reported it to the authorities. She knew what happened in these situations and she was NOT going into foster care. So, she decided to run.

It took Jackie three days to pack as much as she could and then get together the documents she'd need. It was while going through the important papers in her father's old office that she found it. It was written in English, yet she found herself staring at it, trying to decipher it's meaning. It couldn't be right, could it? For not the first time since this whole mess began, she wished her mother was home. But Jackie knew Pam would always love José, Johnny, and on occasion, Captain Morgan, more than her own daughter. Didn't make it hurt any less though. Resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be getting any answers from Pam, Jackie made a visit to the Hawaii State penitentiary.

And because of that visit Jackie now found herself standing outside a two story home in Point Place, Wisconsin wearing her favorite Jordache jeans and a peasant top with the last pair of new clogs she'd bought before the arrest. Her emotions ranged from elation to anger. Right now, she was settled on fear. Fingers shaking, heart racing, sweat beginning to form at her hairline, Jackie reached up and rang the doorbell.

For a moment she thought about turning around and running away. The people inside sounded happy and the last thing she wanted to do was disturb that. But her body wouldn't allow it. The longer she waited, though, the more confused her thoughts were. She wondered if he knew about her. Was she as unwelcomed and unwanted unloved here as she was everywhere else? A second longer and her feet would have gathered the momentum to do what her mind was urging her: turn and run.

The door swung open and she was pulled from her thoughts by a guy with curly hair, wearing a jethro tull t-shirt and aviator glasses. He just stood there with his arms crossed looking at her expectantly.

"Ummm, is this Mr. uhh Reginald Forman's address?" Jackie asked looking down at her shaking hands clinging tightly to the addressed scrap of paper.

"Yeah, who's askin?" the boy's face twisted into a scowl as Jackie squirmed.

"Steven, who's at the door!" Jackie heard a woman's voice approaching in the background. "Oh honey, invite her in, don't leave her standing out in the cold like that" the small blonde woman said as she pushed Steven out of the way and pulled Jackie inside.

"Dammit Kitty! I'm hungry, tell whichever of Eric's dumbass friends is at the door to go home! Especially if it's that damned Kettlehead!" Jackie heard an older man's voice grumble in the background. She was getting more and more fidgety as the seconds ticked by.

"Sweetie are you a friend of Steven's because I don't think I've seen you around?" Jackie was so nervous she could feel her heart beat all over her body. She could feel its pounding as the beginning of a major headache. Shaking her head, she responded…

"No, No ma'am. I'm actually here to speak with a Mr. Reginald Forman."

"Oh well, that's m'grumpy old husband!" the woman chirped "Why don't you join us at the table!" she said, excited for another young mouth to feed.

"Oh no Mrs. Forman, I shouldn't. I really just need to sp.."

"Nonsense!" Kitty cut in, pulling the girl along, while Hyde continued eyeing her suspiciously.

Kitty practically forced Jackie into a seat between herself and a blonde girl who was giving her dirty looks. Jackie was sitting across from Steven who was sitting next to a scrawny guy with brown hair. She didn't see any family resemblance.

"Red, this young lady here was looking for you" Kitty offered up after a few minutes of awkward silent eating. Red cleared his throat.

"Well? What is it?" he barked out.

"Ummm, I think it might be best discussed in private." Jackie was now positive this was a horrible idea. This man had a family, he had two sons and a daughter and a wife who loved him and she just didn't belong here. She was a homewrecker. His wife was being so kind to her right now and it just wasn't fair.

"Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of my family." Red said, his irritation was evident.

"Well, you see umm…" Jackie was no longer eating now. Her stomach felt like a rag being wrung and twisted "see I had to leave Hawaii because my father was arrested…"

They all looked confused but their eyes urged her to go on. "and umm so I had to go through my documents and stuff and I…ummm…I found my birth certificate." The tension at the table was so thick she thought she could reach out and touch it. She drew in a deep breath, finding untapped strength to finish the sentence.

"See, I'm uh…I'm sixteen years old now..." she was rambling "and I spent my entire life thinking Jack Burkhart was my father" she was looking at her hands now folded in her lap "and….well the problem is my birth certificate says my dad is Reginald Forman." Jackie finished with a quiet whisper.

The reactions were simultaneous. Eric spit out the juice he'd been drinking, Laurie choked on hers, Hyde's jaw dropped, and Kitty gasped.

"Red?" Kitty looked to her husband; concern, worry, and a hint of betrayal etched in her face.

Red clenched his chest, his face stark white, sweat pooled on his forehead and he collapsed. Jackie Burkhart had given her father, Red Forman, a heart attack.