Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or any songs that may be used in future chapters or chapter titles.
Author's Notes: So, this story is going to be very dependent on the J/E friendship I'm creating, and eventually will have J/H and E/D(Possibly). This is Alternate Universe, which, in the story's case, means that some of the characters might be a bit OOC, as well as it will have different dynamics then the show.
The Plot is basically a role reversal between Hyde and Jackie. Where as in the show, Hyde went to live with the Forman's, now Jackie has moved in with the Forman's, at a much younger age then Hyde did. As the story develops there will be more insight to that whole mess. I did in fact add a bit to explain why she lives with the Formans. Donna is not a dominate character, at least she won't be for the first few chapters. And Fez is going to appear until the next chapter or even chapter three. The story is going to circulate around the circle of Eric, Jackie, Hyde, and Kelso. (There will also be involvement from several characters parents, besides Red and Kitty. Which I'll be taking creative license and writing their personalities as such that best fits my plot.)
If you don't like that set up, or you don't like that dynamic, please don't read and then give me a nasty review. Because, I don't care if you like J/K or J/F or if you hate Jackie all together. I like J/H and I love Jackie. I also love the J/E friendship, which, this story will be saturated in.
Well, that was a fun rant. ANYWAY, this is just the prologue so it might see a bit scattered. But, I hope you all enjoy and I would love some feedback, suggestions, constructive criticism (I know I need a beta; Ok, I know. I'm working on it. And I know). R&R… And Happy Readings!
Warning: Mild Cursing and Sexual References. Nothing graphic.
"I swear to god Kelso. I will hurt you!" Eric was pointing at his long time friend with a menacing stare. "You promised! You promised not to asked Cordelia to the dance!"
"What do you care Forman?" Hyde, who had been bouncing the basketball, tossed it up, making the shot, and then grabbed it as it hit the driveway. "You wanted to ask Donna."
"Not the point! Cordelia is my back up!" Eric turned his look and finger to Hyde who simply stared at him.
"Eric, come on, you don't need a back up." Jackie was laying in the back of the Vista Cruiser, filing her nails. She tilted her head to look at her three best friends. "Either Donna will say yes or I'll just end up going with you. Again."
Eric looked at the brunette and gave her a withered expression. "It's weird going with you."
"Why? Because I live in the bedroom across from you?" Jackie scoffed. "It's no picnic showing up with you either. Not after I dated Jake Tallow. Now, he was a man."
Kelso slammed his foot on the driveway. "Maybe I wouldn't have asked Cordelia if Jackie would just agree to go with me."
"Pf, I wouldn't go with you, if you were the last man standing Kelso. Not after what you did to Courtney."
"I only cheated on her once." Kelso stated, his hands flying to his hips. He paused for a second, looking up into the sky. "Twice, I cheated on her twice."
Jackie made a disgusted face and turned back to her nails.
"Forman, will you just be a man and ask her out. Someone who is way hotter and better at, you know, everything, is going to ask her." Hyde moved to sit on the edge of the trunk. He winced as Jackie's foot kicked his arm.
"Don't say that to him! Eric, you go and ask her because you're cute and funny and she'll just love you." She gave Eric a bright smile before turning a glare onto Hyde.
"I thought I said no kicking!" He stated, whacking her legs. Jackie simply looked back at her nails, moving her lips mockingly.
"I can't just go and ask Donna Pinciotti if she wants to go to the dance with me." Eric stated, folding his arms. He was still shooting a look over to Kelso who's eyes were set on Jackie. "Dude! Stop staring at her."
Hyde looked at Kelso, rolled his eyes, and shot the ball at the taller boy. Kelso winced and grabbed his stomach, trying to get the ball away from him.
"OW! Hyde!"
"I thought we agreed no staring!" Jackie, who normally stayed quiet during these arguments, simply smirked in Kelso's direction.
"You know, she's not like your real sister, Eric! You can not get mad at me for looking!"
"Uh, sure I can." Eric grabbed the ball and bounced it over to Kelso who jumped. This display made the two in the car burst out into laughter.
"ERIC! JACKIE!" Red's voice echoed from the house, and Hyde and Kelso both jumped up and started moving towards the back of the garage.
"See ya."/ "Bye!"
Eric watched as his two friends left and turned to Jackie who was staring after the two boys with an incredulous look. He nudged her and the two made their way into the house.
"A dollar, it's about the broken pipe in the bathroom." Eric whispered as they got to the sliding door.
Upon seeing Red's face, his arms folded tightly against his chest, Jackie bit her lip. "Two dollars, it's the stolen street sign we hid under the couch."
Eric weighed the bet in his mind, and as Red opened his mouth to let on the on-slaughter of screams, Eric shook his head. "Deal."
--
--
Jackie and Eric were thick as thieves. Everything they did involved each other and usually Steven Hyde and Michael Kelso as well. They got into trouble together, they were punished together, and they would execute their punishments together. Their stories were always the same, no matter what, be it Red questioning them or the principle, and they never let the other one take the blame.
And it had been like that since she was five and he was six. They had lived down the block from each other and had become fast friends. And anyone who knew them, knew that if Eric was there, Jackie was there. You couldn't just be friends with one.
Kitty had thought it was the cutest thing. She made sure there was always fresh cookies baked during play dates and made s'more brownies during sleep overs. She loved having Jackie around because Jackie reminded her so much of herself. Pretty, vibrant, and above all else, classy. (That and her own daughter was turning into a disappointment with every new birthday.)
Red simply couldn't understand why Jackie, a little girl, wanted to hang around with dirty little boys. The fact his house was always, always, filled with boys and Jackie didn't help his calm exterior either. Did you know how hard it was to watch football with three boys and a girl screaming up and down the house? It wasn't pretty.
Whatever the case was, Jackie and Eric were the best of friends. She knew all his phobias and he knew the names of all her stuffed animals. They had serial dreams of joining the air force and flying to exotic lands filled with treasure and beauty. Granted, they had to scratch that dream when they figured out that Eric got motion sick, but that was ok. There were still hundreds and thousands of possibilities at their fingertips.
The issue, however, as there always is, was that while Jackie loved being at the Forman's, she couldn't stand to be at home. Eric had an amazing mother and father who loved him. Steven had a doting father and step-mother. And Kelso lived in a house that was constantly in motion.
She went home to emptiness. Her mother went away, a lot. Mainly to tropical hot places where the drinks were bought by younger men. And her father was simply always working. Sometimes it was easier to lie and say she had permission to spend the weekend with the Forman's or to go on a family vacation with them, then tell the truth and tell them she was alone.
And being six, seven, eight, and going home to a big empty house, was not idealistic. Being a Burkhart, however, made it a life style. The maid would come during the day, fixing meals for Jackie and on the weekends there was the gardener. Her father was only really around late into the night. He was gone by the time she woke up for school. Her mother, when she did see her, would simply pat her head and call her some foreign, beautiful name that Jackie didn't know.
She was ten when it happened. When her father was arrested for embezzlement. She had been coming home from school, Eric next to her, and standing on her porch was a teary-eyed Kitty and a stern looking Red. Eric, with his nervous nature, started panicking and before anything could be said by the adults he was babbling random alibis they had come up with in a case of emergency. Jackie, however, saw the graveness in her second-parents' faces and knew that it was more then Eric and her shaving Mrs. Dory's dog or hitting Mr. Jackson's mailbox with a bat.
She remembered crying. She remembered Red's arms pulling her in a tight embrace as her life seemed to shatter like glass thrown to the ground. She remembered seeing her father in a jail cell, crying as he told her he loved her and he was sorry. She remembered the collect call her mother made, stating that Jackie could live with an Aunt who was far away from home. She remembered slipping far, much too far, down. And, she remembered thinking, that at ten, she deserved better.
And you know what, she did.
The move into the Forman household was suppose to be temporary. Just until they had made all the arrangements with her aunt or convinced her mother to come home. And, as her house was sold and all her belongings either shipped into storage or auctioned off, she waited with baited breath. And the week or two she was suppose to be staying, turned into a month, and then a another month. She never heard from her aunt and got random postcards from her mother. The few months turned into a year, and then two. Her father was broke and once he had been released from jail, he disappeared into the night. He randomly sent checks to the Forman's, probably to try and take some of the financial weight off of their shoulders.
Red never made a big deal about it. He would take the check and put it in his wallet, shaking his head and mumbling incoherently.
Jackie never asked about her aunt or the checks or anything that would lead the Forman's to believe she was unhappy. Because, in all honesty, Jackie was not unhappy. She loved having a doting mother figure like Kitty. And she loved that Red yelled because it meant he cared. And having Laurie and Eric as siblings, it was all candies and rainbows as far as Jackie was concerned.
So, at the age of sixteen and seventeen, anyone who knew them, knew that Jackie and Eric were peas in a pod. You messed with Jackie, you messed with three angry boys, and, of course, Red Forman.
Which, Jackie often reasoned, is why no one ever really messed with her.
--
--
"I can't believe you went to the haunted school without me." Eric winced as Jackie's hand made contact with the back of his head. She walked over to the lawn chair and flopped down, crossing her arms and legs almost violently.
"You never wanted to go to the haunted school, Jackie." Hyde stated before Eric or Kelso could intervene. "What I can't believe is Kelso telling Dale that we went!"
"Of all people to tell, Kelso, you chose Dale. Casey would have been a better candidate, at least he would have used it as a bargaining device." Eric agreed, turning to his tall friend who was leaning against the freezer.
Kelso stared at Eric and then at Hyde. He made a noise in his throat and threw his hand in the air, the popsicle pointed towards the ceiling. "Dale asked me what I had done. And you know how hard it is to lie to him. I wish he had just stayed up at college for the weekend."
Hyde and Eric both rolled their eyes. Jackie, who was watching the three through slit eyes, clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
"How could you not invite me to go along?" There was a shrill tone to her voice, which gave all three boys a reason to roll their eyes again.
Hyde, who was sitting opposite of her, leaned forward. He placed his hands on his knees and ran his tongue over his lips. "We," he used his pointer and drew a circle between himself, Eric (who was on the couch), and Kelso (who was by the freezer). "Did not want you to come with us."
"Pf," Jackie's head bounced up in an indignant sort of way. "At least if I had gone I could have had a sound alibi so that monkey boy over here wouldn't have gotten you all in trouble."
"This is very true." Eric stated, looking at Hyde and then Kelso.
"Forman, I swear to god. You're so whipped." Hyde threw his hands in the air and leaned back against his chair. Eric gave him a look but refrained from saying anything.
"ERIC!" The four looked towards the basement door.
Eric hung his head, sighed and slowly stood himself up from the couch. "'Tis a far, far better thing then I have ever done."
"ERIC!" Jackie hid her smirk as Eric's expression went from dreary to panicked. He tripped going up the stairs, but eventually made it to the door, slamming it behind him.
Hyde made a whipping noise, flicking his wrist forward and back. Kelso, with the popsicle in his mouth, sat on the couch closest to Jackie.
"So, um, when are we going to go out, huh?" Kelso raised his eyebrows high into his forehead.
"Kelso, you can't be serious." Hyde stated, his voice flat. Kelso turned and held his hand up.
"I'm trying to woo her, Hyde, jeez." He shook his head an then gave a bright smile to Jackie who was back to looking at him through slit eyelids.
"Michael, honestly, you're not my type. I don't date people who like to date more then one person at a time."
"I don't like dating more then one person at a time, Jackie." He popped the popsicle in his mouth and took a long suck from it. "I just like sleeping with more then one person at a time."
Jackie stared at him before getting up and moving to the freezer which was directly behind Hyde's chair. Hyde, who had allowed his head to drop, was shaking it, his right hand rubbing his temple.
"There should be books written about you Kelso." He mumbled, breathing deeply though his nose. "Scientists would be mystified."
Jackie looked at the back of Hyde's head and then at Kelso, she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest once again. She loved her friends. There was no doubt to that. Eric was her knight in shining armor and the best brother she could ever hope for. Kelso, ignoring the fact he hit on her, simply because she rejected him, was funny and always made her laugh when she was feeling down. And Hyde, well, with Hyde, it was complicated.
With Hyde, there was a stir of emotions that sat in her stomach. She loved his cool persona, even though she had known him long enough to know he was just as dorky as Eric or Kelso. He was down to earth, even though his father was one of the richest people in Point Place. He was friends with basically everyone, the football players, cheerleaders, the debate team, because his father wanted him to have connections, but he remained ever loyal to Eric, Kelso, and her.
He was also very cute. Not that she would ever admit that to the boys. She liked his curly hair and his broad chest. And those blue eyes, oh, those blue eyes. There should be country songs dedicated to those sparkling orbs of color.
She had figured out, albeit with the constant hovering of Kitty, that she had a crush on Hyde when she was fourteen. She ignored it, however. To be one of the guys, which she had been for the better part of her life, you don't fall for someone in the group. You like boys out of the group, like Jake. And even that didn't last long because she knew Hyde was keeping tabs on her for Eric. Using his friendship with the junior varsity football player to get these tabs.
"Uh, hello!" Jackie's vision went from the blurry distortion of boredom, to focusing on Hyde who was standing in front of her. He was waving his hand back and forth, smirking as she came from her revenue. "Where the hell did you fly off too? I've been calling your name for a whole five minutes."
"Uhmm." She dragged her bottom lip into her mouth. "I was just, you know, thinking."
"Ok." Hyde smirked and stepped away from her, leaving the scent of his aftershave to linger on her nostrils.
"Did you really not want me to come?" Jackie asked, sliding off of the freezer.
Hyde, who had flopped back on to his chair, picked up a comic book. He looked over at her and then up the stairs of the basement. He sighed and laid the thin book on his lap.
"Kelso was going to meet up with Pam Macy. Eric and myself went because she was suppose to be bringing some of her friends. As usual, Pam was the only one who showed up. So as Kelso was making out with her, me and Eric had a circle."
Jackie stared at him for a hard minute. Before she could say anything the basement door was heard opening and Kitty and Eric's voices travel down the stairs.
"Hey Kitty." Jackie smiled, interrupting the mumbled argument Kitty was having with Eric. The aging woman gave her adopted daughter a bright smile and then a kiss on the top of her head.
"I am just so happy you had nothing to do with that school nonsense." Kitty turned to give a look to Eric and Hyde. "Honestly, you don't know what kind of riff-raff hangs out there. You could have all been murdered."
"Mrs. Forman, no disrespect, but this is Point Place. The most exciting thing that ever happens here is people getting thrown into jail." Hyde stated, throwing the comic book on to the table.
Jackie moved her head, which was being blocked by Kitty, and glared at the curly haired boy.
"I didn't mean it like that." He stated, hands moving in a defense position.
Eric rolled his eyes and walked behind the couch, climbing over it and flopping onto the far side of it. "Mom thinks the family needs to get away from the rest of the world."
"Vacation!" Jackie's glare was replaced with a bright smile and excitement that made the two boys groan. She clasped her hands together and looked at Kitty who was laughing her infections laugh.
"We'll be going camping. And the best part is Steven and W.B. will be coming with us, and so will Michael, Casey, and their father." Kitty watched as Jackie's brows knitted together.
"It sounds like a father, son camping trip."
"Well, dear," Kitty laughed. "That's why you and I will be sharing a tent. I knew very well you wouldn't stand to let the boys go without you and there's no way I was leaving you in the woods with a bunch of testosterone. The words and things you'd pick up." Kitty's lips pressed into a tight line and she shook her head.
Jackie stared up at Kitty and then slowly shifted to stare at Eric, who was rolling his eyes like a record player spun records.
"Sounds great Kitty." She placed on a guarded smile as Kitty squealed excitedly, kissing Jackie's forehead, and then skipped right back up the stairs.
"Um, why are me and Kelso going? With our dads?"
"Oh, well, since you never go home anymore, you wouldn't have heard. My dad, Kelso's dad, and your dad decided that we're all screw ups and a little bit of wilderness will teach us a lesson. My mom insisted she should come, because apparently three adults and four 'baby boys' can not survive out in the open for the weekend." Eric shook his head.
"But, you and Red have been camping before without us." Jackie looked at Eric.
"I guess my mom figured that, since this is suppose to be a life lesson type of thing, she'd come along to make sure Red wouldn't kill us. There are going to be wild elements out there Jackie."
"Yeah," Hyde smirked, looking at Eric as he talked. "Remember when Eric first drove the car and the tire popped."
Eric's mouth hung open as Jackie turned to smile at him.
"Well, yes I do Hyde. Eric screamed and then cried all the way home."
"And?" Hyde looked at Jackie, his smirk becoming larger.
"He left the car in front of the police station. Now, that was one punishment I was happy to stay far out of."
"You both," Eric stood up pointing at them. "Suck."
"Someone has to know how!" Jackie called as Eric walked out of the basement.
Hyde laughed as a gagging noise was produce on the basement stairs and a loud "EW!" was heard.