Perfect

A/N – I'm not really sure where I'm going with this story, but it's based around a book that Jackie's wrote about her life. The book's called perfect and extracts from it will be in here. This first chapter is mainly a character study from Jackie's point of view, there will be some Hyde but he'll come into the story more later on. It will be set in two parts. I'm really excited about this Fanfic and have taken a lot of time writing it so if you could please review and let me know what you think then I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot!

Part One

Perfect

Chapter 1 – Paragraphs 1 2

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I've always had my life figured out. Always knew what was right for me; even knew what was right for every one else around me; and I always knew what the next step was. No one ever got that… they'd all say 'there's little Jackie Burkhart, loud and spoilt… always demanding.' Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm perfect, I have my flaws, I know that now. I just didn't then. I had always been taught that with imperfections love will never happen. But I learnt that living a life without imperfections means living a life without happiness.

Well, we can't all get everything right, me included. After all I am just a girl…a girl who fell in love with a boy. A girl who lost everything because she was trying too hard to be what she thought she had to be. Perfect.

Chapter One – The First Day of the Rest of my Life

1965 – The Burkhart Mansion

'This is going is going to be the first day of the rest your life.'

Those words spoken by her mother had been repeated constantly in Jackie's head continuously ever since she woke up that sunny Saturday morning. After all, today was a big day for the petite girl who sat in front of the dresser and combed her hair a dozen times so it was just right. It wasn't just any other day, no longer was Jackie Burkhart some silly little baby. Today Jackie was five.

The whole world would come to celebrate with her, she would make friends with people who she would spend her school days with, she would have her family show everyone how loved she was and mostly, every resident of point place would be welcomed into her home to see how perfect she was, her mother, whom in Jackie's point of view was the best mother in the world, had told her so.

They had gone shopping and picked out a pink dress with cream coloured flowers sown along the waist line. They had the made make a cake big enough to feed millions and just two weeks before had sent out invitations to everyone who was anyone. Yes, today was going to be a day Jackie would never forget.

An hour later, as Jackie admired the reflection she saw in the mirror after having put her dress on. She couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as she spun and watched the dress float around her. 'Today was definitely going to be special' she thought to herself dreamily. Following a light knock Jackie heard her mother's soft voice.

'Jacquelyn?' Pam said as she entered. She beamed at the sight of her daughter's happy face. 'You look like a beautiful young lady, Jacquelyn.'

'Thank you Mommy.' Jackie said gracefully. She always tried extra hard to direct her self in the appropriate way when her mother was around.

She had once come home from pre-school with finger paint on her face and hands and her mother scrubbed her hands so hard she bled a little and cried a lot. The short brunette knew that it didn't mean anything and that her mother hadn't meant to hurt her, she was just trying to do what was right for her. And the taller brunette couldn't apologise enough afterwards, she even drank so much in hopes of trying to take away some of the guilt that the simple task of walking became a challenge. Jackie knew the whole thing had been her own fault and ever since then she did her utmost to impress the taller brunette who she one day wanted to be exactly like.

'You're going to be the most popular girl at the entire party tonight, so you just make sure you make friends with the right people.'

'What do you mean the right people?' Jackie frowned.

At this Pam looked taken aback. 'Well I mean… I mean the people who have the most to offer to you tonight.' Jackie still frowned as her mother spoke. 'The people who get you the best, most expensive presents… they're the people you want to know. Like Counsellor Lionel's daughter… or Judge Mathew's son, they're the people who are going to be best for you.' Her mother smiled. Jackie still didn't understand but smiled so not to disappoint her mother with her stupidity.

'Okay mommy.' Pam kissed her daughter on the head and left the room leaving Jackie to continue once again turning and staring into the shiny surface before her.

She tilted her head a little, wishing her dad could see how grown up she looked today. But he hadn't been around for a couple of weeks due to work, leaving Jackie and Pam all alone… well, not all alone. Counsellor Lionel actually came around a couple of nights ago to keep her mother company and Judge Mathew's came around last week now that she thought about it. Her mother must be close friends with them she thought as she started once again to swirl around in front of the mirror watching her dress, giggling.

---

As morning left and early-afternoon arrived, the girl with the mismatched eyes could hardly contain her excitement as they made the final preparations to make sure everything would be ready for when the guests arrived. And when the clock struck one and the guests piled through the door each accompanied with presents for her, she felt as if this was the happiest day of her life.

Balloons, gifts, candles and a mass of people who wanted to share this day with her was all she could have wished for and more. Her mother had even told every one to bring swimming costumes so they could have a pool party after the birthday festivities. The day couldn't be going better.

1 Hour Later

Jackie sat on a deck chair watching all of her guests have a good time at her party wishing she was having more fun. She wasn't trying to be miserable; she just wished she had friends to have fun with.

She tried though, the group of girls who were now taking turns to jump on and off of the diving board were the first people she talked to. It was Counsellor Lionel's daughter, Pam Macy, and her friends.

'Hi, I'm Jackie Burkhart. You must be Pam Macy, Counsellor Lionel's daughter.'

'Yeah?' Pam replied obviously confused by Jackie's talking to her.

'My mom's name is Pam.' Pam didn't say anything so Jackie decided to keep talking. 'Yeah…well this is my party.'

'Oh…' Pam said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 'This must be a big moment for me then.' She said and walked away with her friends whilst laughing.

Jackie's encounter with Judge Mathew's son was equally as bad when he told her the only reason he had came to the party was because his dad made him come… and the party food. After this she made a couple more attempts at making friends before finally giving up and resigning to the deck chair in which she now sat, staring absentmindedly at everyone in the pool.

'Hello?' Jackie heard someone yelling at her.

'Hi.' Jackie said surprised. The polite five looked at the girl who had just spoken to her and after a couple of moments of silence she did what her mother had told her to do and be a good hostess.

'Are you enjoying the party?'

'Yeah… you're Jackie Burkhart, right?' A taller red-headed girl who looked a couple of years older than Jackie replied.

'Yes, and who are you?' She smiled sweetly exited at the thought that an older kid was taking an interest in her.

'I'm Donna, happy birthday. This is Eric...' She pointed to the lanky boy next to her 'and Kelso' then to a boy who waved from the death grip a curly haired boy had him in. 'and the one that's about to kill Kelso is Hyde.'

They boy called Hyde let go of Kelso apparently bored by him and took a new interest in the small brunette he had just been introduced to.

'So you're what all this fuss is about. I guess I should say happy birthday then, doll.'

'Im not a doll.' Jackie replied very matter of factly. 'And I guess you should.' She said taken aback by this boy's bluntness. After a couple of seconds of waiting for the boy's response Jackie gave up and decided to pursue another conversation starter. 'What kind of name is Hyde?'

'It's a nickname, just like doll.' He said without any further explanation.

'Well I don't like it, what's your real na-' She stopped mid conversation distracted by Donna chasing after the scrawny boy. 'What is she doing?'

'It's a game, haven't you ever played 'tag'?' Hyde said stunned.

'My mother said it's not lady like to run around like a boy.' Again the strange curly haired boy said nothing, just looked at her with his innocent blue eyes. 'Why do you keep looking at me like that?' She stood up and put her hands on her hips obviously offended.

At this he took a couple of steps closer to Jackie and bent down a little so that they were at eye level with their noses almost touching. Everything her mother had taught her told her to back away, but she was curious to hear what he had to say, so she did nothing but stare back into his eyes with her own.

'One green, one blue… nice.' He said slowly, almost whispering.

A small smile crept onto Jackie's face. No one had ever noticed her eye's before. She knew they were different colours but had always thought that the small imperfection made her lesser than her mother and chose to ignore it. Looking back into the boy's steel blue eyes her smile finally grew wider.

'He likes my eye's' She thought, and quietly decided she liked his too. She felt lost looking at him. It was as if no one else was here… just the two of them, which is probably why she didn't hear her mother when she first called her name

'Jackie?' Her mother spoke louder from the conservatory and Jackie whipped her head round so fast Hyde had to take a few steps back to avoid collision.

'Come say goodbye to some of your guests.'

'Okay mom.' With this Jackie turned and hurried away, embarrassed.

'Hey!' Hyde called after her feeling relieved when she stopped and turned around. 'The name's Steven.'

She took one last look at the older boy and with a smaller, shy, smile she was gone.

---

After telling her mother about her new friends and saying goodbye to a few guests, Jackie soon thought it was best to go back and find that strange group of friends to invite them over again next week. She felt overjoyed with the odd and exciting group of people she had met as she walked with a bounce in her step to go find them. As she got to the patio she could hear voice's around the corner and knew straight away it was them talking about her. Probably sharing thoughts about how wonderful she was and how brilliant her party was, but as she got nearer she began to realise that it had all been nothing more than a front.

'I'm not a doll.' Steven mimicked. 'Look at me… I'm Jackie Burkhart, I live in a big house and don't know how to play 'tag' or have any fun.'

She then heard the voice of the red-head who had wished her a happy birthday and some where in her mind thought that she would come to her defence, but instead she just laughed along with the others while making comments of her own.

'I know, and what was with her eyes? They were different colours! So much for the Burkhart's being perfect.'

They all laughed and continued to poke fun at the birthday girl behind her back; however, Jackie didn't sit around to listen to this. Instead she ran into the house to find the one person who could make this better… her loyal, loving mother.

---

'I can't just walk out on Jackie, Lionel.' Pam said from beneath the silk quilt.

'It won't be for long.' He slid one arm around her waist, whilst placing large sloppy kisses on her neck. Pam rolled her eyes.

'No.' she pushed him off her and looked into his eyes. 'Jackie's my daughter. Imagine what people would say if I just left her.'

'You can't stay here. Jack… your wonderful husband, has been using fraud to keep his business running for the past three years… it's only a matter of time before everyone finds out. Imagine what they would think then. And what kind of life would you have, would you be able to afford everything your buying now if he went bankrupt? I can offer you security and take you all the places you've never been before.'

'What would I tell Jackie?' Pam said not really caring. She had never been the motherly type, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't love Jackie. She wasn't sure she really wanted to either; this was a win-win situation. She wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment of Jack's business going under, she'd still have all the money she wanted and losing Jackie was just a minor problem. Besides, Jack would be back in a couple of week's and until then the care could look after Jackie… she'd be fine.

'Don't tell her anything, Just tell the maid your going on vacation for a couple of week's and by the time our other half's find out, we'll be long gone.' He started kissing her neck once more.

She didn't love Lionel. But he had what she needed… 'He'll do into I find something better.' Pam thought.

---

Jackie couldn't find her mother anywhere. Not in the conservatory, living room or the kitchen… maybe she had gone upstairs to re-apply her make up she thought. Up she went dashing up the winding stair case, right up to the top floor to her mother's bedroom. The door was partially agape with a single stream of light flowing out of it. 'Finally' Jackie felt relieved, she had found her. So, panting a little from all the running, Jackie started to make her way gracefully into her mother's bedroom and was about to knock lightly like her mother did on her door earlier, when she heard voices.

One was definitely her mother's Jackie thought, and she was laughing about something… then she heard that other voice again. She listened closely, the voice was hoarse and gruff, definitely a man's voice. She pressed her ear against the door… he was laughing too. She would have liked to know what they were laughing about but footsteps caused her to flee from the scene, down the hallway and around the corner. She was too far away now and couldn't hear the voice's, only a quiet murmur, so she took her chances and peeped her head around the corner to see what they were doing, wishing soon after she hadn't.

Her mother was pressed against the wall, sliding her tongue in and out of Counsellor Lionel's mouth, moaning softly.

She ran down the rest of the hallway and turned the corner of the giant mansion, then up a couple of steps to her room, running so fast she thought her legs might give way on her, but she didn't care, she had to get away. She turned and made sure she shut the door before letting any of her impending tears fall.

---

Two hours Later

'Jacquelyn?' Pam Burkhart shouted as she looked around the mansion for her daughter. The last time she had saw her was when she was so happy, bouncing up and down clapping her hands together. She was rambling on in her own special way about some new friends she had just met and now she was no where to be found... In fact, she hadn't even come down to say goodbye to the rest of her guests when they left the party.

'Jackie?' She tapped on the pink door with the name 'Jacquelyn' Engraved on the centre above a large rainbow.

'Go away mom, I don't want to talk.' The five year old shouted as Pam opened the door and sat down on the edge of her bed.

'Jackie, what's wrong I've been looking for you everywhere?' Her mother looked down at her daughter concerned.

'I don't understand.' Jackie's small tear stained face looked up at her mother genuinely confused. Her mismatched eyes met the blue ones of her mother's and danced between them as she contemplated whether to tell her mother what she had witnessed. Pam simply matched Jackie's confused expression with sorrow over her daughter's tears. Jackie decided against the idea of confessing.

'You said I was the prettiest girl in the world, that I was the most likeable person you have ever met. That everyone here tonight would want to be my best friend.'

'Did something happen? Did someone say something to you?' Pam said seeking the truth behind her five year old's hurt.

'You lied to me mom.' Jackie started sobbing again quietly.

'What? No…' Pam lay down on the bed and started stroking Jackie's hair. 'I would never lie to you.'

'Then you were wrong because I wasn't the most popular girl here tonight. I didn't know anyone and no matter how hard I tried no one wanted to get to know me.' Jackie pulled her mom's hand away from her.

'What about those nice people you were talking to earlier. They liked you.' Pam offered trying to make her feel better. What happened to her beautiful innocent little daughter that she saw just a couple of hours ago?

'No they didn't! They were just pretending, just like you pretended when you said I was beautiful.'

Pam wiped the tears away from her daughters face. 'I didn't pretend Jacquelyn. You are my beautiful little girl and no one else in the world can ever compare to you. It doesn't matter what anyone else says.'

Jackie's crying eased but didn't completely stop. 'Then why didn't they like me?'

'Because they're jealous.' She simply stated. 'Besides… you don't need them.' Jackie looked at her mother questionably.

'Everyone needs friend's mom.'

'Yes… but the only friend you'll ever need is lying right here beside you.' Pam smiled comfortingly.

'You promise?' Jackie said, now also smiling.

'I promise.' Pam kissed Jackie on her forehead.

Maybe her mom was kissing a man who wasn't her dad… but that didn't mean she was a bad person. Her dad wasn't here toady and it was her birthday! Her mom was here, though. Her mom was always here…

Perfect

Chapter 1 – Paragraph 23 - 24

I woke up that next morning and my mother had gone to Hawaii for what I was told by my favourite maid 'a vacation'.

I never saw nor heard from her for eleven years following what really was 'the first day of the rest of my life.'

A/N 2 – Once again I would really appreciate it if you could review and let me know what you think, this is my first chapter of my first fan fiction and I could really use the advice and support. Hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading!

Next chapter due to be posted 28th November.