A/N: I'd just like to extend a giant thank you to all my readers, alerts, and reviewers as I had the best overall response in both traffic and reviews after I posted the previous chapter! I especially want to thank my reviewers again (Marla's Lost, harmonious, Sharingan no saab, nannygirl, jameron4eva)! This one's for you guys. Enjoy!

Cruel Summer

Chapter 11

I've told you before and I'm sure I'll tell you (many times!) again that Eric Foreman is a dumbass! He actually thought that I would let him purposely avoid me for an entire day without paying a price? He should know through many years of observations that he was fighting a losing battle. I'm Jackie Burkhart and I always have my revenge!

As you can tell, I'm back and I know you love it! I can't believe I was starting to become subservient to that skinny beanpole yesterday. One little fall off a wall and I start to feel responsible? What made it worse was that he fell when I was trying to hug him. Since when is having a sip of soda more important than being on the receiving end of a hug from ME? It serves him right that he fell off that wall! The other horrible thing about it was that I began playing nurse to him right after he fell. I probably reminded him of his mommy. I have told you numerous times about how much of a mama's boy he is.

When I wrote you last, I thought we had an understanding that we had to take care of each other while we were stuck here. Having that in mind, I went to get him breakfast and asprin for his headache and believe it or not he wasn't in his room. I go to work and Bud tells me that he shut himself in the office on purpose to avoid me! Doesn't he know that everyone is supposed to love me and not try to avoid me! It was not a good day at work since I told off a customer that was being an even bigger dumbass than Eric was.

I'm glad the poor, ugly person showed up when he did because I would have never seen my revenge staring right me at the bulletin board in the shop! I couldn't believe this town had a roller disco place, and it has a big competition tomorrow. Unfortunately for Eric, he never learned the lesson to leave me alone in his car. He was grocery shopping before we got stuck here and I noticed the bag while I was writing in you for the first time while on this trip. I'm so happy I kept that in my pretty little head and now was the perfect time to use it against him.

Now if you thought that Jackie Burkhart was NOT going to use blackmail when it was easily at her disposal, you just don't know her at all. The look on Eric's face was priceless when I showed him the roller skates after work last night. It was even better when I told him that I would tell all our friends back home about his little secret unless he agreed to be my partner in tomorrow's competition. Extracting my revenge in that manner was oh too sweet!

I did have to endure a TON of whining and complaining all through dinner tonight, so to shut him up I made us have our dress rehearsal last night! He almost looked good in the white tee shirt and the red and yellow suspenders. I then thought if his name is Rainbow then who better to be the pot of gold at the end of it than me? I'm still surprised that he's coordinated enough to skate, never mind doing roller disco! It was pretty fun watching him show me a few basic moves out there last night. He was really good. I know! I'm as shocked as you are.

Now I'm thinking that this may even be fun tonight. I had to blackmail him so he would stop avoiding me anyway. Do you know how bored I would be out here without having him to talk to? Besides, we had a good time the other night, so I thought this would be my selection for an evening activity. If I knew any better I'd say that I successfully blackmailed him into taking me…Forget it, I must be really tired if I'm thinking like that. I'll be back soon with more Tales From The Lumberjack Hunt.

Love, Jackie

The next morning…

Eric knocked on the bedroom door with a tray full of coffee and breakfast in hand. "Jackie, wake up." He said while setting the tray down on the nightstand.

Jackie began to stir and her eyes flipped open to a tray with coffee and a pair of English muffins that Eric had made staring her right in the face. "Er-…Eric...Is that you?"

"Of course it is. How's my favorite person in the history of people doing this morning? I made a special breakfast just for you." Eric answered being a little too nice.

Something here stinks. Jackie was wide awake now. "Forget it Foreman! We're still doing the Roller Disco competition tonight and that's final." She snapped.

Not the response Eric was hoping for "Yeah..well…you better eat that quick because you're going to be late for work missy!" he yelled before charging out of the room and slamming the door.

Jackie just laid there laughing for a moment before starting on her breakfast.

A few minutes later…

Jackie and Eric walked in the shop ready for another work day. Only this time they were greeted by Bud and the rest of the garage mechanics waiting for them. When Eric opened the door and entered the shop after holding the door for Jackie, Bud spoke into his hand like it was a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Wisconsin, I give you RAINBOW!!" Eric's face instantly looked like a tomato while the rest of the shop broke out in laughter.

Eric turned to Jackie "Jackie, you told all them about this?" he asked alarmingly.

Jackie gave a smirk in response. "Eric, I had to! How else was I going to get the bag out of the Vista Crusier?"

The rest of the guys turned to go back to work as Bud spoke up. "Sorry, Eric. You locked yourself in the office yesterday so I couldn't ask you if it was okay."

Eric glared at Jackie and remarked "Yeah, I'm liking this idea less and less by the minute." Just then, he gave a look like a light bulb went off in his brain. "Uh, huh! We can't do this tonight, Jackie! Nice try, it was a good effort getting me all worried and everything!" Eric gave a look of triumph.

Jackie stood there with a pout on her face and her arms folded. "So tell me oh wise one, why won't this work."

Eric smiled "You see Jackie, Funtown is on the other side of town. Last time I checked, the Vista Crusier is being worked on until tomorrow at closing, giving us no means of transportation there. That was a good one, it almost worked."

Bud tapped Eric on the shoulder. "Eric…Jackie sort of called me at home late last night and asked to borrow the truck so you guys could go tonight. The wife is picking me up later." Jackie gave Eric a look that said "I've got you now!"

Eric threw his arms up and stomped towards the office. "Fine! Don't interrupt me again today!" he yelled back while slamming the office door.

Bud then remarked "Somebody's got to calm that boy down." Jackie shook her head smiling and thought If only Mr. Foreman could see his son now! She then went outside to begin what would be a much better work day.

At the end of the work day…

Jackie entered the office where Eric was tending to a paper cut he had recently got while putting files away. Eric saw her at the door and smiled while holding his hand up to show off his injury. "Oh, darn it Jackie! I seem to have cut my hand and it seems I'm no longer able to do Roller Disco tonight."

Jackie just shrugged. "Okay." She then walked to where the phone was on the desk and picked up the receiver.

Eric looked suddenly concerned. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Jackie smirked. "Why, calling Hyde and Fez of course! I'm sure they'll love to hear about their friend's new…"

Jackie was interrupted by Eric grabbing the base of the phone off the desk, dragging her by the cord with it. "Jackie, give me the phone!" The battle now became a tug of war over the phone. "Say you're going tonight, Eric!" This continued for another minute as the pair became entangled in the phone wires. Suddenly, Eric slipped on a piece of paper that fell to the floor during this scuffle. He lost his footing, and instinctively grabbed Jackie and the pair fell to the floor with her landing on top of him and their faces inches apart.

As they tried to regain their breath, that gaze that was shared many times over the past few days was back again. Eric broke out of the trance first, letting a defeated sigh escape him as he rest his head of the floor. "Okay Jackie, you win. Let's go back and get ready."

Jackie gave him a smile "Told you so Foreman!" she replied in a sing song tone.

Eric looked around from his position on the floor. Neither person had budged. "Um…Jackie?"

Jackie was still trying to regain her full breath. "Yeah?"

"If we're going to do this, you have to get off of me."

"Oh…right." Jackie started to get up while thinking. What is wrong with me?

Funland Entrance, Later that night…

Jackie pulled out a bottle of hair spray, and started to spray them both as they exited Bud's truck. Eric's eyes went wide. "Jackie, what are you doing?"

"Ridding the both of us of the smell from that truck. Appearances are everything here Eric."

"But I'm going to wind up smelling like you!"
"Is that such a bad thing?"

Well, it does smell good. "I guess not. But I don't know Jackie, it's not like I've ever done any competitions like this before. You should know how nervous I get in front of large crowds. I can't even go number one in a public restroom if anyone else is around!" Eric was clearly getting a slight case of stage fright.

Jackie stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, taking a deep breath. She grabbed him on each shoulder to make sure she had his complete attention. "Eric, look at me. I know that you're very nervous about this, and that's completely normal. I'm asking for you to trust me on this one. Just follow my lead out there and everything will go just fine. Do you think that Luke Skywalker wasn't nervous right before his first battle with a light saber?"

"Well, he was the young…"

"Shut up Eric! Of course he was! But he did fine, just like we will do fine out there tonight. You have to trust me on this one! Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, I guess I can. But I'm on to you Burkhart about your knowledge of Star…

Jackie interrupted him. "That's not important right now. Now, did I get you to take your mind off of this for at least a minute?"

Eric shrugged and gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess you did."

Jackie gave him a big smile "Mission accomplished, then. Now let's get out there and win this thing." Jackie held out her hand for him.

Eric smiled back and took her extended hand. "Thanks, Jackie."

"You're welcome." She smiled up at him as they walked hand in hand into Funland.

Twenty minutes later…

Jackie had rented her skates and put her outfit on. She had decorated one of her white dress shirts in golden glitter, so she could play the pot of gold at the end of Eric's "Rainbow". Eric caught sight of her as she took a seat next to him. "You look great."

"Thanks, Foreman. Also, FYI, the Rainbow outfit is starting to grow on me."

Eric turned so Jackie wouldn't see his blush. Just then the announcer began to speak.

"Welcome everybody to Sunrise Funland's monthly roller disco competition. Each pair competing tonight has three minutes for their routine. The judges will then rate out competitors immediately following their number. The top three scores will win cash prizes! Two hundred dollars will be awarded for first place, one hundred dollars for second, and fifty dollars for third. Now that we have the rules out of the way, let's begin the competition!"

An hour later…

Jackie knew since they signed up at the last minute for their competition, her and Eric would be the last ones on the floor. About half way through, Jackie saw Eric shaking as he was watching the fellow competitors go, so she reached out and took his hand in hers to try to comfort him. It seemed to work as he wasn't shaking anymore.

"Next up, our final pair of the night, Mister Eric Foreman as Rainbow and Miss Jackie Burkhart as his pot of gold!"

ABBA's "Dancing Queen" hit the speakers as the pair stepped on the floor. Eric then started to follow the lead Jackie was giving him. The timing and their moves were completely in sync, as Jackie's faith in Eric's ability was appearing to pay off. This is much easier than I thought it would be, Eric thought to himself.

Towards the end of their time limit, Eric and Jackie were standing side by side, joined by their hands as they prepared for their big finale. Eric let go of Jackie's hand as she began to spin on her skates towards him. This is great! All I have to do is dip her and this act is over. He wrapped his arm around her back at exactly the right time as he dipped her and leaned right over her. Jackie was wearing a big smile at him as she mouthed the words to him I'm so proud of you!

Suddenly, Eric began to feel some kind of warm sensation pulsate through his body, causing him to feel extremely light headed. He closed his eyes and opened them… He saw that same damn beach in California again, running towards the same house with the same voice calling "Eric"…Eric closed his eyes and opened them again…

Eric was on the floor of the Roller Disco and he saw a concerned looking Jackie leaning over him. "Eric? Eric, are you okay?"

Eric was about half conscious as he lifted his hand behind Jackie's head and muttered in a voice no louder than a whisper. "Donn...uh…Jackie…did we win?"

Jackie's eyes went wide in shock to what was just said. Before she could respond otherwise, she was even more shocked when Eric's lips met her own.