Chapter 3
Spring is in the Air
Eric couldn't stand living at home and having to hear his father who was just a bitter angry old man tell him 'I told you so'. Of course those weren't the exact words Red Forman said but all Eric could do was suck it in. Since Red was on sick leave and no longer the day manager Eric was able to work at Pricemart again because Red's supervisor Ted thought Eric was a reliable worker and was certainly nicer than his father. Donna transferred to New York University to major in journalism. It irked him that he didn't cry over her leaving. They shared too many memories, good and bad, for him not to feel any kind of emotion. But sometimes in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep he did cry over Jackie Burkhart. He couldn't even inquire to Bob about Jackie because Pam predictably moved on and went on a vacation in the Bahamas. He was angry that there was no college fund as Red's medical insurance from Pricemart ran out and they had to use his college fund without his consent to pay his doctor's bills. He also stopped hanging in the basement anymore. He never wanted Hyde to know his feelings for Jackie, Kelso and Brooke were in a constant state of mess, and Fez was thinking about moving to Los Angeles to get it on with the Hollywood whores. There was nothing to do but work and get wasted on the times he did hang out with Hyde. When all he wanted to do was have a chance with Jackie.
Jackie hated Lincoln High School. She didn't want a gaggle of superficial cheerleading friends named Tiffany, Heather, and Amber. She couldn't shake Eric from her memory. Yet it was easier to put Michael and Steven behind her and she had a sexual relationship with them! She found a clothing store in the local mall to work in which was better paying and better smelling then the Cheese Palace. Granted Jackie was not going to wear those cheaply made garments but she could convince other women not as glamorous as she that they were indeed fabulous pieces of clothing. She had to get Eric out of her mind. She blew it big time. She should have said that the plane ticket to California was a bad idea. Because if the situation were reversed Jackie knew that Donna would not have disobeyed Bob and went to California to get her boyfriend back. Maybe she could join the cheerleading squad to take off her mind off things. It wasn't just Eric. She found out from her aunt that her mom broke up with Bob and went on vacation (i.e. a drinking binge) in the Bahamas. God only knows when her mother would be returning to Point Place. Her father was in prison and even if Jackie wanted to go home, something she wasn't about to entertain until she graduated. Who wanted to wander around in a big old empty house? She wrote J.B. heart E.F. on the margins of her notebook. She had to stop the thought. Damn her. Damn Eric. Damn Donna. Damn Steven. Damn Michael. Damn her parents!
"Jackie," she was never unprepared in school before. "Is there something that you'd like to share with the class?"
"No."
"Then go up the blackboard when you are called."
'Dumbass'.
She missed Red. He was like a father to her and that was even before her Daddy went to prison. She didn't like how he verbally put Eric down, but she still missed his presence. Besides she could tell that deep down that he really loved his son. She missed having an older man around. She missed Kitty and the wonderful scents of something baking in the oven coming from the Forman kitchen. Even when Kitty was going through her menopausal mood swings at least she was there and not off in Cancun getting wasted with the hotel pool boy. But most of all she missed Eric. Maybe it was all in her head. She kept trying to reason within herself that it was just an infatuation and apart from her killer body she couldn't picture Eric actually loving her. He probably was going to marry the lumberjack! The bell rang and she didn't finish the math problem.
"Where do you think you are going, Jackie?"
"To my next class---"
"Not until you finish."
'Dumbass!'
Finally. Eric put the smaller box on top of the larger ones and closed the door. He got out from under his parents thumbs. He made the big move to Madison. Where he and Donna were supposed to be not even a year ago. Hyde, the selfish s.o.b. didn't offer to help him move. Thank god Jackie had the good sense to break up with that loser! Fez did offer to help Eric until he saw the ad in the newspaper for the Halverson Girl model search. Guess where he was going to be spending his Friday night? He stretched out on the pre owned sofa. It was an ugly shade of mustard yellow, but it was here and free. He thought about going to 'get Jackie'. But there was only one thing stopping him. He did it before. Granted, Jackie was not Donna she was more beautiful and probably more intelligent because she didn't foam at the mouth and declare that all men were pigs. Jackie saw the balance, but even so he couldn't go after her. Not after what happened with Donna. Maybe it was just 'transference'. He couldn't risk going after someone again only to get his heart broken again. He didn't have to go to work tomorrow so the only thing he could do at the moment was to find a bar and get blindingly drunk. How could you recover from a woman you never kissed? A woman you never made love with? Maybe his father was right and he was a dumbass after all. He had many opportunities to be with Jackie and whether it was because of stupid high school clique labels or what not he still messed up. Damn it. She was too beautiful to forget.
1 week later
Jackie was surprised that she got thee phone call. Well not thee phone call, but she was still surprised to hear who was on the other side of the phone.
"Hi, Jackie."
"Um, Hi, Donna. How did you find me?"
"Your Mom came back from the Bahamas while I was visiting my Dad."
And how 'great' it was for Donna to know that and not her. Pam was her mother for god's sake!
"She did?"
"You didn't know?"
"NO! So, are you calling to check up on me? Because, I'm fine. Although it think it's best that you look for another maid of honor."
"You don't know?" Donna made it a question
"I don't know what?"
"Eric and I are no longer together."
'YES!' Jackie's heart exclaimed and then she thought it was a shallow victory because it's not like she could be with him.
"What happened? What did Eric do now?" She tried not to put any unnecessary emphasis on her words.
"He was the one who broke up with me."
'Really?'
"Really? I'm sorry."
"Well, I was having my doubts too. I'm glad he 'fessed up. I'm doing great at NYU."
"Eric moved out of his parents house and went to Madison. He's back at Pricemart."
"He should be in college."
"Those are his choices, Jackie," Donna felt an uncomfortable shift in their conversation and decided to turn the tables around, "I thought you and Hyde were going to last."
"Whatever gave you that idea? He doesn't know what he wants. Maybe it's not my place to say, Donna, but you hurt Eric. He really loved you until you wore his spirit down to his core that there was nothing left to feel but resentment."
It was the most mature thing Jackie Burkhart had ever said in her young life.
"Excuse me?"
"You know what? F*** this. I might as well tell you since nothing is going to come of it, but I love Eric Forman, yeah I said it."
She laughed in spite of herself as she hung up the phone leaving Donna speechless.
The days started to meld into one another as if you were in a world void of calendars and clocks. Eric was still a Pricemart stock boy. He felt he should be a manager trainee. It was terrible work but he had to rent to pay and there was no way he was going to come back to 416 as a failure. It disturbed him that Red would love throwing it in his face and Kitty would love having her "sweet baby boy" back in the nest. How dare he leave in the first place? He was almost taken aback when Hyde was standing next to the pet supplies.
"Relax, Erica. Even though I should kick your ass."
"Hyde, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be elsewhere?"
"I heard something interesting, Forman."
Eric put the last of the squeaky dog toys on the shelf.
"You know that I have feelings for Jackie don't you?"
"I should kick your ass."
"We didn't do anything, Hyde. So, how do you know?"
"Donna told me."
"It's a moot point. It's not like we're going to be together. And I don't know what's worse? If you were here to kick my ass or if you wanted to get us together. "
"Trust me kicking your ass would be worse."
"And I should be kicking your ass for calling Jackie a f***ing bitch."
"I was drunk."
"Not the first time you called her that."
"How did you know about that?"
"I know now."
A little trick he learned from Red.
"Man, what a dillhole you are."
"So, what was your purpose of this little visit, Hyde?"
"You know what, Forman? You deserve to be alone because you just don't get it."
Eric supposed Hyde was right on the second part of his sentence. He didn't get it. There was no rhyme or reason to Hyde's visit. Was it an intimidation game of sorts? He certainly didn't want Hyde's help in winning Jackie's heart. One thing was for certain he didn't deserve to be alone. No one did. Especially Jackie.
1 Month Later
Jackie had to do it. She just had to. It would be so romantic just like a scene out of a movie or out of her favorite romance novel. She took some time off from her mall job since her school was closed for Spring break and she took the first bus to Wisconsin. Now that Donna and Eric were no longer an item and now that Steven could spend the rest of his life like Michael pining away for her she could take the risk because she knew Eric was too heartbroken over Donna to risk it all. She wore her light blue dress with the yellow flowers on it and her Mary Jane wedges to make her somewhat taller. It felt good to put on her make up and her accessories. She almost cursed when the cab driver almost drove past Pricemart and quickly breathed deeply when he did a U-Turn to enter the parking lot. She didn't see his Vista Cruiser in the lot. But if Eric moved out of his parent's house then maybe he bought his own car. She almost mowed over a little old lady to get to the automatic opening door. She ran to the customer service desk plowing herself into the counter and out of breath.
"May I help you?" the girl behind the counter asked with no interest.
"Can you page Eric Forman and tell him Jackie Burkhart is here to see him?"
"He doesn't work here anymore."
Jackie's heart sank down to the pit of her stomach.
"What do you mean he doesn't work here anymore? He just started working here again."
"He quit."
"Does he still live in Madison or is he back at home?"
"I'm sorry, Miss. I cannot give out that information."
Jackie ran back outside with tears the size of good quality diamonds running down her cheeks.
"E—Eric,"
She could put a dime in the pay phone and call his parents to find out where Eric was. No. She couldn't do that. He was trying to move on. It was hard getting over Jackie Burkhart. Eric was trying to move on even if it meant denying his feelings. Whether he still lived in Madison or back in Point Place it wouldn't change those facts. She knew that she too had to move on. Move on past girly crushes. She was going to be graduating school in June. Eric needed to be in college and maybe that's where he was going to or already was. Jackie would just be a distraction. Granted a killer distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. Eric deserved his future most of all and unlike Donna or his parents she would never deny him of that.
Spring is in the Air
Eric couldn't stand living at home and having to hear his father who was just a bitter angry old man tell him 'I told you so'. Of course those weren't the exact words Red Forman said but all Eric could do was suck it in. Since Red was on sick leave and no longer the day manager Eric was able to work at Pricemart again because Red's supervisor Ted thought Eric was a reliable worker and was certainly nicer than his father. Donna transferred to New York University to major in journalism. It irked him that he didn't cry over her leaving. They shared too many memories, good and bad, for him not to feel any kind of emotion. But sometimes in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep he did cry over Jackie Burkhart. He couldn't even inquire to Bob about Jackie because Pam predictably moved on and went on a vacation in the Bahamas. He was angry that there was no college fund as Red's medical insurance from Pricemart ran out and they had to use his college fund without his consent to pay his doctor's bills. He also stopped hanging in the basement anymore. He never wanted Hyde to know his feelings for Jackie, Kelso and Brooke were in a constant state of mess, and Fez was thinking about moving to Los Angeles to get it on with the Hollywood whores. There was nothing to do but work and get wasted on the times he did hang out with Hyde. When all he wanted to do was have a chance with Jackie.
Jackie hated Lincoln High School. She didn't want a gaggle of superficial cheerleading friends named Tiffany, Heather, and Amber. She couldn't shake Eric from her memory. Yet it was easier to put Michael and Steven behind her and she had a sexual relationship with them! She found a clothing store in the local mall to work in which was better paying and better smelling then the Cheese Palace. Granted Jackie was not going to wear those cheaply made garments but she could convince other women not as glamorous as she that they were indeed fabulous pieces of clothing. She had to get Eric out of her mind. She blew it big time. She should have said that the plane ticket to California was a bad idea. Because if the situation were reversed Jackie knew that Donna would not have disobeyed Bob and went to California to get her boyfriend back. Maybe she could join the cheerleading squad to take off her mind off things. It wasn't just Eric. She found out from her aunt that her mom broke up with Bob and went on vacation (i.e. a drinking binge) in the Bahamas. God only knows when her mother would be returning to Point Place. Her father was in prison and even if Jackie wanted to go home, something she wasn't about to entertain until she graduated. Who wanted to wander around in a big old empty house? She wrote J.B. heart E.F. on the margins of her notebook. She had to stop the thought. Damn her. Damn Eric. Damn Donna. Damn Steven. Damn Michael. Damn her parents!
"Jackie," she was never unprepared in school before. "Is there something that you'd like to share with the class?"
"No."
"Then go up the blackboard when you are called."
'Dumbass'.
She missed Red. He was like a father to her and that was even before her Daddy went to prison. She didn't like how he verbally put Eric down, but she still missed his presence. Besides she could tell that deep down that he really loved his son. She missed having an older man around. She missed Kitty and the wonderful scents of something baking in the oven coming from the Forman kitchen. Even when Kitty was going through her menopausal mood swings at least she was there and not off in Cancun getting wasted with the hotel pool boy. But most of all she missed Eric. Maybe it was all in her head. She kept trying to reason within herself that it was just an infatuation and apart from her killer body she couldn't picture Eric actually loving her. He probably was going to marry the lumberjack! The bell rang and she didn't finish the math problem.
"Where do you think you are going, Jackie?"
"To my next class---"
"Not until you finish."
'Dumbass!'
Finally. Eric put the smaller box on top of the larger ones and closed the door. He got out from under his parents thumbs. He made the big move to Madison. Where he and Donna were supposed to be not even a year ago. Hyde, the selfish s.o.b. didn't offer to help him move. Thank god Jackie had the good sense to break up with that loser! Fez did offer to help Eric until he saw the ad in the newspaper for the Halverson Girl model search. Guess where he was going to be spending his Friday night? He stretched out on the pre owned sofa. It was an ugly shade of mustard yellow, but it was here and free. He thought about going to 'get Jackie'. But there was only one thing stopping him. He did it before. Granted, Jackie was not Donna she was more beautiful and probably more intelligent because she didn't foam at the mouth and declare that all men were pigs. Jackie saw the balance, but even so he couldn't go after her. Not after what happened with Donna. Maybe it was just 'transference'. He couldn't risk going after someone again only to get his heart broken again. He didn't have to go to work tomorrow so the only thing he could do at the moment was to find a bar and get blindingly drunk. How could you recover from a woman you never kissed? A woman you never made love with? Maybe his father was right and he was a dumbass after all. He had many opportunities to be with Jackie and whether it was because of stupid high school clique labels or what not he still messed up. Damn it. She was too beautiful to forget.
1 week later
Jackie was surprised that she got thee phone call. Well not thee phone call, but she was still surprised to hear who was on the other side of the phone.
"Hi, Jackie."
"Um, Hi, Donna. How did you find me?"
"Your Mom came back from the Bahamas while I was visiting my Dad."
And how 'great' it was for Donna to know that and not her. Pam was her mother for god's sake!
"She did?"
"You didn't know?"
"NO! So, are you calling to check up on me? Because, I'm fine. Although it think it's best that you look for another maid of honor."
"You don't know?" Donna made it a question
"I don't know what?"
"Eric and I are no longer together."
'YES!' Jackie's heart exclaimed and then she thought it was a shallow victory because it's not like she could be with him.
"What happened? What did Eric do now?" She tried not to put any unnecessary emphasis on her words.
"He was the one who broke up with me."
'Really?'
"Really? I'm sorry."
"Well, I was having my doubts too. I'm glad he 'fessed up. I'm doing great at NYU."
"Eric moved out of his parents house and went to Madison. He's back at Pricemart."
"He should be in college."
"Those are his choices, Jackie," Donna felt an uncomfortable shift in their conversation and decided to turn the tables around, "I thought you and Hyde were going to last."
"Whatever gave you that idea? He doesn't know what he wants. Maybe it's not my place to say, Donna, but you hurt Eric. He really loved you until you wore his spirit down to his core that there was nothing left to feel but resentment."
It was the most mature thing Jackie Burkhart had ever said in her young life.
"Excuse me?"
"You know what? F*** this. I might as well tell you since nothing is going to come of it, but I love Eric Forman, yeah I said it."
She laughed in spite of herself as she hung up the phone leaving Donna speechless.
The days started to meld into one another as if you were in a world void of calendars and clocks. Eric was still a Pricemart stock boy. He felt he should be a manager trainee. It was terrible work but he had to rent to pay and there was no way he was going to come back to 416 as a failure. It disturbed him that Red would love throwing it in his face and Kitty would love having her "sweet baby boy" back in the nest. How dare he leave in the first place? He was almost taken aback when Hyde was standing next to the pet supplies.
"Relax, Erica. Even though I should kick your ass."
"Hyde, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be elsewhere?"
"I heard something interesting, Forman."
Eric put the last of the squeaky dog toys on the shelf.
"You know that I have feelings for Jackie don't you?"
"I should kick your ass."
"We didn't do anything, Hyde. So, how do you know?"
"Donna told me."
"It's a moot point. It's not like we're going to be together. And I don't know what's worse? If you were here to kick my ass or if you wanted to get us together. "
"Trust me kicking your ass would be worse."
"And I should be kicking your ass for calling Jackie a f***ing bitch."
"I was drunk."
"Not the first time you called her that."
"How did you know about that?"
"I know now."
A little trick he learned from Red.
"Man, what a dillhole you are."
"So, what was your purpose of this little visit, Hyde?"
"You know what, Forman? You deserve to be alone because you just don't get it."
Eric supposed Hyde was right on the second part of his sentence. He didn't get it. There was no rhyme or reason to Hyde's visit. Was it an intimidation game of sorts? He certainly didn't want Hyde's help in winning Jackie's heart. One thing was for certain he didn't deserve to be alone. No one did. Especially Jackie.
1 Month Later
Jackie had to do it. She just had to. It would be so romantic just like a scene out of a movie or out of her favorite romance novel. She took some time off from her mall job since her school was closed for Spring break and she took the first bus to Wisconsin. Now that Donna and Eric were no longer an item and now that Steven could spend the rest of his life like Michael pining away for her she could take the risk because she knew Eric was too heartbroken over Donna to risk it all. She wore her light blue dress with the yellow flowers on it and her Mary Jane wedges to make her somewhat taller. It felt good to put on her make up and her accessories. She almost cursed when the cab driver almost drove past Pricemart and quickly breathed deeply when he did a U-Turn to enter the parking lot. She didn't see his Vista Cruiser in the lot. But if Eric moved out of his parent's house then maybe he bought his own car. She almost mowed over a little old lady to get to the automatic opening door. She ran to the customer service desk plowing herself into the counter and out of breath.
"May I help you?" the girl behind the counter asked with no interest.
"Can you page Eric Forman and tell him Jackie Burkhart is here to see him?"
"He doesn't work here anymore."
Jackie's heart sank down to the pit of her stomach.
"What do you mean he doesn't work here anymore? He just started working here again."
"He quit."
"Does he still live in Madison or is he back at home?"
"I'm sorry, Miss. I cannot give out that information."
Jackie ran back outside with tears the size of good quality diamonds running down her cheeks.
"E—Eric,"
She could put a dime in the pay phone and call his parents to find out where Eric was. No. She couldn't do that. He was trying to move on. It was hard getting over Jackie Burkhart. Eric was trying to move on even if it meant denying his feelings. Whether he still lived in Madison or back in Point Place it wouldn't change those facts. She knew that she too had to move on. Move on past girly crushes. She was going to be graduating school in June. Eric needed to be in college and maybe that's where he was going to or already was. Jackie would just be a distraction. Granted a killer distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. Eric deserved his future most of all and unlike Donna or his parents she would never deny him of that.
