Chapter Twelve
The Split

The night was quiet. Donna had confirmed during a conversation with Eric that Jackie was indeed with the creepy quarterback. Hyde wasn't sure how to feel. He was happy she was moving on from Kelso with someone who wasn't exactly a knuckle-head but on the other, he was super freakin' pissed. He didn't know why, but he was. And everybody knew it. The basement was filled with the buzz of television as Eric, Fez and Kelso challenged each other to a game of Monopoly. Nobody was keeping score and Fez just liked going 'round the board. Donna had her magazines and would stop every so often to get on with some homework. Hyde drank a beer and watched the TV blindly. All he could think was; what was Jackie doing? Was she having fun? Where did he take her? Did she get to know him?

Kitty's shrill voice broke Hyde's concentration with the call for supper. She brought down a tray of grilled cheese sandwiches, enough for each person, Red followed behind with a canteen of hot cocoa for them. By the look on his face, he was unhappy to be feeding the other 'strays' as he now called them.

Kitty done a head count to match up with her sandwiches but she paused,
"Where's the small one?"

"On a date." They all said in unison, making everybody eye each other slightly. Kitty was overcome with a slight attitude and as her and her husband started to head back upstairs, she grabbed Hyde's t-shirt, making him toss his grilled cheese back onto the tray. She took him upstairs as everybody stayed in the basement and had fun with their food and games. Red was almost roped into giving Hyde a talking to but he raised his hands in surrender and left Kitty for the living room. He wanted nothing to do with it.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

"Hey, whatever was in my backpack, Kelso planted it there. I swear." Hyde argued, trying to get off scot-free. Kitty bypassed the comment.

"Steven, why are you sitting down there when you could be out getting Jackie?! After everything you told me!" She now cursed in a quieter tone as she heard the sound of Donna coming up the basement stairs.

"Because. I'm not going to stop her living her life! I don't have that right, Mrs F. And neither do you. So, can we just forget about it for now and let Jackie recognise that she's having a terrible time and has to come back here and be consoled by me? Great. Always good talking to you!" Hyde turned from Kitty who was trying to process everything he had just said to her. Donna squeezed past Hyde on the stairs to grab a cold drink for herself. Kitty had her hands on her hips, looking deep in thought with a sad face.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. Kids, nowadays, they just don't talk it out like they used to!" Mrs Forman cursed, throwing her arms up into the air and making her way for the living room.


Meanwhile, at the Burkhart house, Jackie was sitting to a quaint dinner with her father and his new lady. It was a meal of steak and all the fixings that Jack had the chef cook up in a flash. Jackie pushed her vegetables around her plate, picking at her napkin in her lap with her free hand. She sniffed away her heavy heart and smiled at her father before taking her plate of food through and placing it into the oven to reheat later. Jackie made her way upstairs to her room and sat on her bed, holding a pillow to herself. She felt terrible, and had done since she turned down Brett that afternoon after discussing it with Hyde. She felt bad for him for missing out on an opportunity with her, but also for Hyde who had no idea she had declined. All Jackie wanted to do was lie on her bed and feel sorry for herself about Hyde. She had went the whole day, leading Hyde away from her when that's not what she wanted at all. But in the bigger picture, it would benefit everybody in the group if she tried to rid herself of Hyde. How she had caught these feelings for him, she had no idea. But they were there, and they were strong. Jackie thought gaining herself a job would busy her enough to forget about him, but that had failed. And by the way things had went that day, dating other people just wasn't an option.

What she would normally do if she was in a dilemma was to shove on a Donny Osmond album and call her mom but with her out of the country, the closest person she had was Mrs Forman. Jackie wrestled with the thought of calling Hyde but ultimately decided to call his acting-mother.

The line rang out for a short while before it was Hyde that picked up. He cleared his throat,

"Hello?" He said down the line, waiting for her response.

Jackie's chest heaved quickly and for a second, she had forgotten how to talk. Hyde called down the line again,

"Hi, Steven. It's uh, Jackie. Is, uh, Mrs Forman there?"

"Uh, sure. I'll get her... Two seconds." Hyde said quietly and the sound of the phone being muffled could be heard by Jackie. The muffled yell of Hyde was heard too. Jackie started to chew on her perfectly manicured nail and she almost felt a bit sick when Hyde spoke again, "So, uh, she's comin'. How was the... y'know, the date with that Brock-"

"Brett." Jackie corrected, "I didn't go," confessed Jackie, "I stayed home with my dad instead. We had dinner. It was his idea."

Hyde had gone silent and the fumble of the phone being handed over echoed through to Jackie.


Mrs Forman had the phone on her lap and she gabbed away to Jackie as Hyde now watched TV with a smile. He couldn't seem to sit still. Every tune on TV made him tap his feet and sway slightly. Donna furrowed her brow at him and looked at Eric, whispering,

"I guess the date went bad, then."

Kitty said goodbye to Jackie and hung up the phone. She rocked slightly on the arm of the couch, the phone still on her lap. Kitty stretched her small leg out to tap Hyde's leg and then she snorted and stiffled a laugh to her best efforts. Everything was resolving itself.