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Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing well! Remember this collection? I hope you do! Sorry for such a late start on it this year but I've actually just recently started my summer break. It's not a very long one. BUT I'm trying to make the most of it and that includes working on this summer collection. I hope you all are as excited as I am! Before I start talking about this newest installment I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported this story last year, without you I wouldn't be posting more this year. Also a big thanks to those of you who recently started reading it this summer a few weeks ago—thank you! Your encouragement helped push me to want to write more of these stories. And to readers who are very new to this collection, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the stories! This little story is one based off The Fourth of July. A little late, like two weeks, and I'm very sorry for not getting it to you all sooner but I hope you can still enjoy it. Thanks again for stopping by to read, I hope you enjoy it, don't forget to read and review if you can, I'd love to hear what you think! I hope you like and once again please, Enjoy!
The Fourth of July was a holiday that like most all other holidays, was celebrated at The Forman House. However this holiday did have a bit of uniqueness to it, that uniqueness being that it was one of the three holidays in the year that Red actually preferred to be celebrated at his home. The other two holidays were also national, patriotic holidays.
This year, July Fourth was celebrated with a big barbeque attended by friends and other familiar faces and some not so familiar faces. Luckily by the time the firework show started most people had returned to their own homes, except for those who considered the Forman home their home or a home away from home.
The firework show this year was quite the sight. The sky lit up with the bright splashes of gold, green, and of course red, white and blue causing plenty of 'ooh's and 'ah's from people of all ages. The show was watched by everyone in town including the group of friends who were usually found sitting on old furniture down the basement; but because of tonight's celebration they had opted to sit out in the driveway—in old lawn chairs—alongside the two constant parental figured in their lives.
"Wasn't the firework show great?" Jackie asked the group after the colorful explosions had stopped and the left smoke had started to clear.
"Yup," nodded the skinny young man sitting a few chairs away, "A great way to close up 'Overstuff Yourself with Barbequed Food While Wearing Red White and Blue Day.'"
Red scowled as he heard his son's words, "Is that all this day means to you?"
Eric looked back at Red, then shifted his eyes to look away only to look back at the frowning man, "Something tells me you want me to say 'no' but…"
The statement drifted off, going unfinished, but continued to hang in the air. Eric had thought that saying too little would be better than saying too much and getting in more hot water; the deepening frown on Red's forehead was telling otherwise and everyone could sense that there was another explosion building up. This one would not as colorful but perhaps just as loud…and maybe as entertaining to watch (for some people). However, before Red's rant was launched it looked like someone else had something to share on the matter.
"Eric, you gotta have a little more respect for today," lectured Michael Kelso. "Today's the day that we celebrate George Washington inviting fireworks!"
Silence fell over the seated group, no one quite sure of what to say next. Some covered their mouths to hide their smiles and giggles while others stared at the man who'd said the words, feeling more than a little shocked at the fact that he'd graduated high school.
"You're both dumbass!" Red spat out in his reaction to what he's heard, "Today isn't about the food or the fireworks or George Washington." He added when he saw Kelso start to open his mouth, but his words made Kelso swiftly close it back up again allowing Red to continue, "Today is about America and celebrating everything it has to offer, liberty and freedom. Today you should feel an extra sense of pride in being an American and grateful o hose men who have risked their lived to protect this country. Those who do it today and those who did it from the very beginning, because if it wasn't for those men all those years ago we'd all be sitting around here drinking pansy ass tea!"
"I like tea." Fez piped up with a grin that soon shrank when he saw the angry scowl being sent his way.
A loud, nervous laugh broke through the air, hoping to help settle the feelings of anger and fear that were currently filling the those seated in the driveway.
"Okay," Kitty said, putting on her best smile, again hoping it would be contagious and the others would join in—so far, no such luck, "Who wants homemade apple pie ala…"she quickly stopped herself from using the French phrase on an American Holiday, that would definitely not be something that would sit well with her husband especially with his current mood, "With ice cream."
Six arms shot up into the air, but there were still no smiles in sight. In fact the expressions worn by most of young adults looked frightened or worried.
Kitty kept her happiness in check "Oh, my that's a lot of hands." She laughed a bit before getting out of her lawn chair seat, "Red, honey, why don't you come help me get the pie. I'll even give you an extra help."
She'd thrown in the last bit to help ensure that Red would not only help her but leave the poor kids alone. The little bribe actually did help Red get out of his seat and follow his wife into the kitchen; though as he left he made sure to give the group of misfits look that showed how upset and disappointed but mostly upset, he was with them. Celebrating George Washington inventing fireworks…Dumbasses!
As soon as the parents were back in the house the atmosphere became more relaxed and normal; though some felt it much quicker than others.
"So as I was saying before everybody interrupted me," Jackie spoke first, eager to get the conversation back to the topic she wanted to discuss, "Weren't the fireworks this year great? I love watching the fireworks, they're always so bright and sparkly and they have things about them that make people want to watch them…just like me!"
Hyde smirked, "They're also loud….ow!" he yelped a bit as he felt the fingers of the brunette sitting on the top of his lap, pinch the skin of his upper arm; he soon added in a 'I've got to say this' tone, "And pretty."
While a smile sprung onto Jackie's lips when she heard her boyfriend's addition to is statement, Donna couldn't see much that was positive about the previous statements made by either of her friends.
"I don't know Jackie, I don't think being compared to a firework is as good of a thing as you think." The redhead began to say, "I mean yeah they're nice to look at but they start off really strong then they fade away and then they're completely replaced by a new one before you have a chance to notice it's gone. It's kind of like life if you really think about it."
Not knowing how to respond to the thoughts Donna had just shared with tem the group spent several seconds awkwardly staring at her before exchanging just as awkward glances.
"Okay!" Eric suddenly said with a bit of a forced laugh, "I think that's enough of the hard stuff for you!" he declared and then proceeded to grab Donna's can of Coca-Cola.
Her dark and now angry eyes had been glaring at him the whole time but it wasn't until he'd moved her drink onto his left side of his seat and almost completely out of her reach that she spoke again.
"Excuse me for trying start an actual conversation," She said with a frown. "You know the kind that shares emotions, thoughts, and ideas."
"Hey! We have actual conversations!" protested Kelso.
The redhead did not look convinced, "No, we don't."
"Yeah, we do!" he remained determined, "We even have some pretty heated debates." He said, puffing out his chest some, thinking he was showing how intelligent he and the group—but mostly him—was by knowing and using the terms 'heated debates.'
Donna rolled her eyes, "Yeah, some debates. The latest one was over how many hotdogs Fez could eat before he got sick."
"Hey, did we ever find out an answer to that one?" Eric questioned, appearing to be more concerned with the hotdog debate rather than the debate of whether or not he and his friends had actual, intelligent conversations; mostly because he knew the answer to that—they didn't.
Hyde nonchalantly lifted up an index finger, "My guess of 26."
"Aye, do not remind me," groaned Fez from his seat on the floor as he rubbed his aching belly, " Shall never eat another hotdog again!"
"Pie's ready!" Kitty's voice called outside from the kitchen.
Fez's brown eyes lit up, "Ooh yummy!"
He practically jumped up and on his feet before hurrying over to the Forman kitchen to get a piece of delicious apple pie—after all it wasn't another hotdog!
Jackie shook her head at the foreigner's actions though she couldn't help the tiny smile that had crawled onto her lips as she watched him run off with such eagerness. However, she tried to keep her smile from showing too much, especially since what she had to say next was more serious. She looked across from where she sat and over to her redheaded best friend.
"Donna, the Fourth of July is not the time to start having actual conversations," she pointed out. "It's like Mr. Forman said, the Fourth of July is the time to celebrate America."
"By getting drunk," Hyde added in.
Jackie nodded, "And eating gross icky hotdogs," she said with a nose scrunched in disgust.
"And annoying the crap out of people with your over patriotic-ness," Hyde tacked onto his and Jackie's explanation of the day's holiday.
"Like Fez!" Jackie cheerfully stated as she held out an opened palm towards as if the man who'd just stepped back outside while holding a piece of pie on a paper plate was some sort of prize on a game show.
Fez never seemed to notice the gesture or the attention he was getting, he was solely focused on his yummy treat of pie and ice cream.
"Happy birthday, America!" he shouted before stabbing his fork into his pie to get a big piece of the pie that he happily shoved into his mouth.
"Huh," Eric mused, watching Fez devour the dessert, "Our foreign friend here appears to be not only the most patriotic but the one who's celebrated the holiday the best this year…that ought to make my dad really happy."
Donna couldn't help but laugh lightly at the observation he boyfriend made and she realized that her friends made a good point, "Okay fine, maybe you guys are right and The Fourth of July really isn't the best time to start having actual conversations. So…" she smiled, sometimes fun and simple conversations were more fun than the intelligent 'actual' ones, "What fireworks were your favorite?"
The next few minutes were spent talking about the different fireworks that each of friends had enjoyed. Jackie liked the ones whose colors matched together without being tacky. Hyde enjoyed the rocket ones that spun in a circle up in the sky. Eric favored the ones that started out small but had a surprise extra bang to them. And Fez like the big round ones because he said something about them looking like big sparkling boobs.
"Kelso, what about you?" Donna asked, surprised that their firework loving friend hadn't already shared his answer, "What was your favorite firework tonight?"
"Oh, mine hasn't happened yet," replied Kelso as if it were simple, but the perplexed looks he was being sent his way told him he needed to share more, which he was more than happy to. He moved off his lawn chair and onto his knees so that he was closer in the middle of where his friends sat. With a large grin on his face he pulled out a paper sack from his back pocket and reached inside pulling out an item that looked so small in the palm of his hand.
"What is that?" Fez asked with a mouth full of pie.
"I call it," he paused to build up the suspense then added as much animation to his voice as he could as he spoke again, "A fireball!"
Donna frowned down at the object, "It looks like you just stuck a firecracker in a bouncing ball."
"Well that's not what it is, Donna." Kelso argued, sounding a little offended by what was said but in a matter of seconds he was back to his happier, excited self, "It's a firecracker stuck inside a Super Ball!"
The group looked at each other, some even feeling a bit frightened by the invention and the way Kelso was resembling a bit of a mad scientist eager t try out his creation….his unsafe looking creation. He was so full of eagerness he didn't appear to have noticed their frowns or worried expressions.
"See all you do is light up the firecracker and then throw it and since it's in a Super Ball it's gonna bounce all over the place!" Dr. Kelso Frankenstein explained the directions, his smile growing more and more, "You never know where it's gonna land!"
"Michael, that sounds incredibly dangerous." Jackie said, her tone of voice sounding more scolding than fearful.
Kelso didn't seem fazed and just continued on grinning, "Do you mean incredibly dangerous or incredibly awesome?"
"Incredibly dangerous," Eric answered for her. "She means incredibly…incredibly dangerous."
"Forman, man, relax." Hyde coaxed in his own Zen manner, "He's not gonna actually use it, 'specially not with Red here. Even if he did, I bet the thing doesn't even work."
Kelso shrugged, "Well, there's only one way to find out."
The words caused his friends to frown and all look his way where they soon found him, not getting ready to light the 'fireball'—as they'd been expecting—but instead already holding the lit firecracker. The 'fireball' wasn't in his hand for very long though as he dropped it onto the ground with a hard slam causing it to bounce off the cement of the driveway in all different directions; the firecracker sting still lit and nearing it's end.
Kelso was the first one to dash off at a mad speed as cries of 'Kelso!' were followed right behind. It didn't take long for the others to notice they were in the danger zone with that fireball bouncing around and the quickly scampered to leave. Hyde scooped Jackie off his lap and into his arms before hopping off his seat and getting them away. Eric and Donna ran to the safety of inside the house and Fez ran off facing the difficult task of not letting his ice cream fall off it's perfect spot on his apple pie.
Author's Note: Soo what did you think? Yay? Nay? Wanna read more or should I work on something else? Be sure to let me know in a review!
I hope you all enjoyed this little story and that you had a great Fourth of July to those that celebrate. Also if you have any summer ideas or a summer request, feel free to send them in and I'll see what I can do :D
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!