A/N: Merry Christmas to everyone!

Chapter 04 – Words of Action

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Jackie was holding tightly to her lunch tray as she looked around the cafeteria for a place to sit. The cheerleader table gave her the stink eye so the pretty brunette walked past the wool-sweatered group with her chin held high. There was a picnic table by the window which afforded a small measure of privacy and Jackie took it.

One bite of the greasy burger had Jackie reaching for her can of Tab. Immediately, her tiny refuge was intruded upon by the red headed lumberjack. Donna huffed and sat on the end of the bench. "You will never guess what Eric did to me." She grumbled.

Jackie wiped her hands on her napkin and gave Donna her full attention. "What did your boyfriend do to you this time?"

Donna turned sideways on the bench, "Okay…I'll tell you but you have to promise to keep this to yourself."

Jackie smiled at the thought of a new secret – in fact, this brightened her whole mood. Maybe Eric put the embellishment lesson to good use! "I'm all ears."

Donna exhaled. "Okay, so I'm watching some reruns with my parents and there's this banging on the back door. I told my dad I'd get it because well, he had mom's hand in his popcorn bowl and yuck, I didn't need to worry about that."

"Ew. But continue." Jackie encouraged.

Donna pinched the bridge of her nose. "It was Eric with an ice cream cone."

Jackie was confused. That wasn't what she taught him yesterday! How did Eric Forman mess up such an easy lesson? "I'm sorry, an ice cream cone?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "He knows I like slushies but that's not the worst part."

"Oh dear," Jackie mumbled. "What happened?"

Donna pulled her hair over her shoulder. "He bit me on the neck! Who does that? Some freaking vampire?!"

There was a slight reddened scratch on Donna's porcelain skin. "It doesn't look too bad. What made him do that?" Jackie inquired.

Donna looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation and she confessed. "He hands me this ice cream cone….in vanilla, and says he needs to tell me something."

"And?" Jackie asked with much anticipation, hoping Eric got this part right!

"He grabbed my face, and I thought he was going to blow in my ear but instead, he slobbered something on my neck and when I pulled away, he bit me."

"Oh no! What did you do?" Jackie asked alarmed.

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"Hey Forman, " Hyde chuckled, "That's a nice shiner you got there. Did you get in a fight a freshman again?"

"Ha ha. Yuck it up man." Eric moaned. "It's not what you think and it was an accident. I hope."

Fez, took a bite of his shiny red apple and smiled. "I was in Eric's bedroom last night and I saw what happened."

Eric's head swiveled around. "What the hell were you doing in my girlfriend's bedroom?"

Fez shrugged his shoulders and splayed his hands, "I was lonely."

Eric sighed and turned back to Steven Hyde. "Forget what he said, nothing happened in the bedroom."

"Nothing ever happens in that bedroom." Fez complained.

"Shut it Fez!" Eric snarled. "I was at the back door….working on an…." Eric paused, he didn't want to say how Jackie's little embellishment lesson affected him and he was hoping Donna might have the same reaction, but due to how THAT turned out, he changed his story a tiny little bit. "….I read an article about how you don't actually blow in a girl's ear but rather you whisper sweet nothings below….on her neck."

Fez's eyes widened, "Sweet nothings? Is that made out of chocolate?"

Hyde groaned, "Dude, not everything is candy." He looked at Eric, "Of course you don't blow in a chick's ear – that can cause damage. You just mangle the lobe – they dig that."

"Well, Donna didn't and somehow I didn't duck when she moved her head and I accidentally bit her – just a little."

"She clocked you." Hyde laughed.

"Totally my fault." Eric admitted.

Fez stood up and stretched while commenting, "I don't have a girlfriend and even I know that!"

Hyde reached over to grab the open bag of chips, "Eric, you better hope Donna forgives you or you aint getting any again."

Eric felt like telling his friends he wasn't getting any period.

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The Cosmopolitan magazine rapped Eric on the side of the head. "Ow! What's that for?" he moaned rubbing his scalp.

Jackie sat down in her Detention chair and glowered, "You did not pay attention to the lesson! Now Donna thinks you're a vampire and not the good kind like Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows. Eric, how could you screw up something so simple?"

Eric sighed. "I think it was my timing."

Jackie opened her notebook. "I think today I'm just going to study."

Eric put his hand over her book. "No. You have to help me. I messed up and although I hate to admit it– but like they say in Star Wars…Jackie Burkhart, you're my only hope."

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Eric was tasked with spending the whole Detention hour reading a Cosmopolitan magazine. While he would never mention it to his basement buddies, the Cosmo publication was more revealing than last year's issue of Playboy. Granted there were no naked women, but the scantily clad models left a great deal to the imagination of a teenage male. Reading about what women wanted from men was a new education that Eric had never encountered. Girls really did like sex! And often! Why the hell wasn't Donna reading this?

As he closed the magazine, Eric made a mental note to replace the pine tree scented air freshener from his rear view mirror with something that smelled less piney-y. Donna would surely appreciate the gesture.

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"C'mon. I'm teaching you about geography….you know….places like Mexico where your mom gets free booze?" Eric asked in a low voice.

"I don't care about that – I want to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader." Jackie groused. "I don't like Texas, but I love the uniforms." She tossed her geography book on the kitchen table.

"Jackie. Seriously, do you even know where Texas is from Wisconsin?" Eric inquired.

She furrowed her brow, "Why should I? I mean all I have to do is call a travel agent and tell them I want a ticket to Dallas….I'm there!" She tried to keep her tone soft so her parents wouldn't overhear. How far was Dallas from Pangea?

Eric shook his head slowly. "Look. It's a big world out there and when you graduate – IF you graduate, you probably won't be living in Wisconsin. Can you think of a country you'd like to go to?"

Jackie put her chin on her fist and pondered Eric's question. "Paris. I know it's in France and I love French bread and French fries. Why, what country would you go to?"

Eric looked around the Burkhart kitchen with all the perfect appliances and fancy china dishes – things his mother would really appreciate. His eyes glanced at the slowly ticking clock and bit his lip. Where would he go? He looked back at the cheerleader and replied, "Well who knows, maybe I'll go to….Africa."

Jackie looked at Eric and he looked at the laughter in her eyes and they both sniggered as Jackie whispered, "As if!"

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Just keeping it fun and light hearted this season.