A Point Place Production

Chapter 10

Eric woke up the next morning with the knowledge that he had a full day ahead of him. He had to stop by the TV station in the morning to help put his segment together for the show which was tomorrow. He had hoped that Jackie had some good news for him upon his arrival there or else it would be straight from the station to the high school for more P.E. fun with his good friend Casey. He sighed at the thought as he quickly plowed down a bowl of cereal for breakfast and booked it to the Vista Cruiser. Before he could get anywhere, Red Foreman appeared from the garage.

Eric hated the look he was wearing on his face as he approached the car. He rolled down the window and greeted his dad with a monotone "Okay dad, what did I do this time?"

"You never cease to amaze me how much of a dumbass you truly are! I ran into the Loud One down at the coffee shop earlier."

Eric gave a light chuckle. "The last thing that girl needs in the morning is coffee!" he said before another thought entered his mind. "Ooh! Please tell me that she was on a breakfast date with Casey!"

Red scowled. "No, and not that this is much different from normal, but she's not thrilled with you right now."

Eric shook his head. "I don't understand why she won't do it. This stupid gym class is separating me from the rest of my life."

"And you're lucky that this car door is separating my foot from your ass! Now I know the two of you were never really great friends, but since you've started working with her it's become clearer that she inexplicably cares about you! Now you go find her, get down to the gym, and earn her respect back before she fires you!"

Eric sighed heavily. "You're right, I have to do this. It's just like that time when Luke…"

Red waved his hand. "Oh, don't give me that Star Trek crap again."

Eric sarcastically spoke. "Dad, Luke's in Star Wars, duh!"

"Don't make me open that door."

"Okay, okay. Just is there any trick to doing a pull up?"

"Yes. You pull. Up."

"Right. Well, see you later dad." With that, he backed the Cruiser out of the driveway.

Meanwhile…

Jackie entered the television studio wearing a scowl on your face as the encounter the previous night didn't leave her in the best of moods. It was bothersome to her that that was the way Eric saw her. Just another girl to do his bidding if needed. She thought that they might have had some sort if breakthrough during their overnight trip, but is must have just been her imagination. From now on, Eric Forman was just a co-worker. A co-worker she wasted to avoid at the moment, which is why she called Fez to help with the editing as he was sitting looking at some of the video taken during the Madison/Milwaukee trip.

"Jackie, I've missed you. Not as much as I miss Donna's closet, but still."

That brought a brief smile to her face before frowning again. "It's nice to see you too Fez. It's kind of strange that everyone's going their own way."

"Yeah, Kelso's in Chicago visiting Brooke and the baby and I don't have to tell you about Hyde and Donna. All that leaves is…"

"That dumbass! I don't know why I thought we could work together in the first place."

"Ooh. Something tells me something's bothering you. Since I've been working in the beauty shop you'll find that Fez is good at advice. Tell me what happened."

"Well, it's like this. Eric is such a weakling that he never completed gym class and therefore still hasn't graduated high school. Now the big thing is that the gym teacher at the school is now Michael's older brother Casey."

Fez gasped. "Casey Kelso? He and Eric can't stand each other!"

"That's part of the problem. The twitchy one couldn't resist being a smartass as usual so now Casey won't sign his transcript unless…I go out on a date with him!"

"So Casey being like that is Eric's fault?"

"No, but Eric being dumb and encouraging me to take the date is all his fault! I thought since we started working together that Eric saw me as something more than a pawn to get what he wants. I thought he saw me as a…dare I say it as a friend."

Fez smirked. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day you gave a damn what Eric thought of you." He shifted his attention to the tape he was editing and fast forwarded to a particular spot on the tape. He then stood up. "Just do me a favor and watch this section of the tape for me."

Jackie scowled when the image of Eric alone sitting on the couch he slept on during their night in the cabin appeared in front of it. "Like I want to watch anything he has to say."

"Just do it, trust me. It's too good to just leave out of the show tomorrow. I have to get back to the beauty shop! I just love the sound of pretty ladies calling the name of Fez!"

Jackie folded her arms. "Fine, but I'm only doing it as a favor to you! But, you have do ne a favor in return."

"Which is?"

"Go visit Mrs. Forman when you get a chance. I get the feeling she's missing all the company."

"Are you kidding? Fez wouldn't miss the bridge night with Ms. Kitty and her friends! Now get to that tape." He then left he studio waving goodbye to her.

After a very deep sigh Jackie finally gave in. "Oh, fine." She huffed to no one in particular and let the tape play.

A couple minutes later…

"…I feel like I met a part of Jackie Burkhart for the first time today. Point Place, I have to tell you, I like what I see so far. On the Road, I'm Eric Forman." Jackie stopped the playback as a tear flowed down her cheek. She then looked up when she heard a knock at the door.

"May I come in?" Eric asked and she nodded for him to come while standing up.

Eric began to speak as she approached him with the tear still on her face. "Look Jackie, I'm really…" he was taken aback that she was approaching him so quick that he thought he was going to get punched. "Wait a sec, please don't kill…" before he could speak again, Jackie enveloped him into a big hug.

A few moments later, she released him and Eric stood there stunned. "Huh?"

Jackie gave him a sweet smile. "Just don't worry about it Eric. Also, be sure to thank Fez later."

Eric was confused. "Fez? What am I missing here?"

Jackie shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Eric, especially since I'll do it."

His eyes grew wide. "Do what?"

"I'll go on a date with Casey. I know how much graduating means to you and I'm also sure that…"

Eric cut her off. "Jackie, no! I never should have asked you to do that to begin with. But it's only natural of me since I'm such a dumbass and all."

"You're not a dumbass!"

"Well either way, right now this dumbass is going down to the gym right now, he's going to do a pull up, and he's going to graduate high school! Now are you coming with me to get this on camera or what?"

Jackie ran to get the camera wearing a huge grin. "I'm in!" with that, they exited the studio and took off down the street in the Vista Cruiser.

A while later…

Eric and Jackie entered the gym and saw Casey standing by the rope. Before Eric could do anything, Jackie tugged his shirt to get his attention. "Eric, are you sure about this?"

"Damn right I am!" He then snapped his fingers to get Casey's attention. "Hey, buddy, you're not taking my friend out! Guess why? 'Cause I'm going to pass this class using my own strength!"

"Jackie tugged at him again. "Eric, are you absolutely sure about this? 'Cause I could…"

Eric cut her off. "Damn it woman got out of the way. I'm doing a pull up!"

"Looks like somebody had their Wheaties this morning." Casey interjected.

Eric disagreed. "No I had Frosted Flakes which gave me grrrr-eat strength!" This drew looks from both Jackie and Casey. "Alright, that wasn't funny. Anyway, you guys better stand back since Jackie, you know I'm likely to be twitchy and all." Jackie nodded in agreement as Eric jumped up onto the bar.

From the ground Jackie said "You can do it Eric!" from behind the camera.

In response Casey remarked "Never gonna happen Forplay!"

As Eric was on the bar the image of Casey calling him Forplay kept going through his head. The more he thought of it the angrier he got. As he began to pull he grunted" It's…not…Forplay…its…Forman!" surprisingly, when he opened his eyes, he was looking down from above the bar. When he made this discovery, he dropped from the bar immediately.

Jackie put down the camera and clapped "Oh my god, yay! You did it! We actually get to graduate together!" she then hugged him.

"I'd hug back, but I can't feel my arms!"

Casey then looked toward Jackie. "So when are we going out?"

Eric piped up. "Stay away from my friend Casey Kelso! Or should I say, Casey...Smellso!"

"Smellso? That really hurts Forman. I'm just going to sign your transcript because I don't want to hang out anymore!" With that, Casey left the gym.

Jackie shot a big smile at Eric. "I'm so proud of you! What are we doing to celebrate?"

"You and me, lunch at the Hub?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Jackie declared as they left the gym.

At the Hub…

After they ordered, they were talking about the day while waiting for their food to arrive.

"Well Eric, something happened today that I never thought possible."

"Yeah, I know. I did a pull up!"

"Okay, two things."

"What was the other?"

"You called me your friend in public. Twice!"

Eric smiled to himself. "I did do that, huh?"

"Yeah, well, it will be fun graduating together next week and all."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too."

They were sharing a smile when a familiar voice interrupted their train of thought.

"Hey there, hi there, ho there!" they looked up to see Bob Pinciotti greeting them.

Eric spoke and Jackie smiled. "Bob… uh, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think?"

Eric nodded in understanding. "Right…restaurant…food…lunch."

Jackie figured she should just ask and get it over with. "So how's Donna?"

Bob perked up. "Oh, she's doing great! I got off the phone with her a little while ago. She's looking forward to coming back for your graduation next week Jackie."

Eric almost choked. "She's coming…next…week?"

Bob nodded "Yeah. She and Hyde are looking forward to it."

The color drowned from Jackie's face. "What? Wait…Steven's coming too!"

"Of course he is! It only makes sense since they're sharing a house in Lake Mills. You know, equal commutes and all."

Jackie and Eric spoke at the same time. "They're WHAT?"

Just then, Bob was called to pick up his take out order. "Well, I hate to hit and run, but it looks like that's exactly what I'm going to do. See you next week!" he then left the table as the waitress brought them their orders.

Jackie just stared at the food and then Eric and he looked just as pale as she imagined she was. "Eric, I don't think I'm hungry anymore."

"Me neither."