" I learned the truth at seventeen that love was made for beauty queens, and high school girls with clear skinned smiles who'll marry young and then retire." Janice Ian sang depressingly as Jackie Burkhart, the most vain of all the beauty queens, cried her eyes out because some wimpy, sarcastic moron pissed her off. She had never let anyone get to her like this. Eric was right thought; She was immature. Her father was in prison. She just needed to face the music, but the only person who could help bring her out of Jackieland didn't want her around anymore.
" Jackie, would you listen to me?" Hyde cried from outside the bedroom door, knocking slightly in a rhythmic pattern.
" No! The best thing for you to do is to leave me alone!" Jackie exclaimed with her face still engulfed with the pink pillowcase that was now soaked from her tears.
" Forman was the one who said it not me! If it makes you feel any better, Donna is down there telling him what a jerk he is, and if you're lucky, he'll be sleeping outside tonight with Buddy the homeless guy on the bench by the hotdog stand on the beach." He joked, clipping his infamous shades to the neck of his tee shirt.
She giggled, slightly snorting from her nose being stopped up from crying so hard. Hyde was harsh most of the time, but deep down, he was a nice guy who would kill for his friends especially her.
" Come in, but don't look at me cause my eye make-up is running." She replied.
He rolled his eyes at her shallow euphemism. Never would Jackie Burkhart let anyone see her looking badly.
" Jacks, why do you let people do this to you? You survive your mother leaving, your father going to jail, and only God knows what else. Now, Forman makes some sarcastic comment as usual, and you go postal. No matter what people say, you are a strong person. You are all women. Let them hear you roar." He told her, sitting on the bed and draping his arm around her back.
" Steven, do you know why I was able to handle all that? Because I was with you. You made me strong. Now, I can't handle things as easily. I can handle them better, but not like before. But you know what I can't handle? Us. I guess I'm chickening out, but I need a safety line. You're not it." Jackie explained, removing the stray curl from his eyes.
" What are you trying to say, Jackie? That I'm not good enough for you?" He asked, bitterly.
" No, I'm not good enough for you."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" You sorry little dillhole!" Donna Pinciotti exclaimed, wagging her finger in Eric's face.
" What did I say?" Eric asked, with his voice cracking letting out his naturally squeaky voice. Donna had a tendency to bring out his mousy side. She was like Darth Vadar to his Princess Leia, or that's what he said at least.
" You totally burned Jackie, man!" Kelso added, not even attempting to resist his propensity to laugh at a good burn even if it burned himself.
" Yeah, Eric. I thought you and Jackie were friends. Just because she's a year younger than all of us doesn't mean she's not apart of the gang." Victoria replied.
" Jackie and I insult each other. That's what we do. We've done it this way for years. I wasn't trying to hurt her. Just like Kelso can't resist laughing at one, I can't resist giving a good burn."
" Eric," Fez beckoned, " I'm not very good with American customs, but Ai, you said a bad thing!"
" But, Fez . . ."
" I said you were bad, Eric!" Fez answered infamously, holding up his palm at Eric's response.
The gang began to laugh at Fez's renowned burn. Instead of threatening bodily damage like Hyde, Fez could show them the hand and shut them up in two seconds flat. Before anyone could say another word, Hyde had drug Jackie from her pouting corner and marched, hand in hand, down the stairs.
" Man, I was just gonna go upstairs and see if I could comfort you!" Kelso whined with his notorious bratty screech.
" You honestly thought she was going to give you pity sex, Kelso? Dream on, buddy." Victoria chastened, rolling her eyes at his immaturity.
" Thanks, Vic." Jackie commended with her usual perky grin.
" What are friends for?"
Donna pinched Eric in the back. While silently crying out in pain, he knew what he had to do.
" Sorry, Jackie. You know we're friends, right? No hard feelings?"
" Of course not, Eric. I overreacted. I just need to realize what's done is done. I can't dwell on the past. Thank you for helping me understand a little better."
" I just say we need to forget all harshness because we've got a party to plan!" Hyde added, never forgetting the keg he would become best friends in less than twenty-four hours.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nightfall fell fairly quickly on the warm, Saturday evening. Just as Eric had directed, he was off picking up shrimp cocktail and barbeque chips, Fez and the girls were back at the house rearranging furniture, setting out napkins, glassware, and wrapping Christmas lights around the peer two by fours', and Hyde and Kelso were at one of the local dives buying cheap liquor because, of course, Hyde knew a guy who knew a guy.
" How exactly does your guy know this guy in New Jersey? Wait a minute, how the hell do you know a guy in Jersey?" Kelso inquired, trying to put all the pieces together from his friend's prior explanation.
" I don't you pinhead! He's a friend of my Dad."
" Wait, is Bud's friend the guy you know, or is Bud's friend the guy your friend knows?" He wondered out loud.
" You're a dumbass; Do you know that?" Hyde insulted.
" Thanks, Red!" He yelled melodramatically.
" You're welcome, Dumbass!" Hyde repeated.
The two friends walked into the rundown bar, and the older man, wiping the counter with a torn rag that looked like it used to be wife-beater, recognized Hyde almost immediately, and a nostalgic gleam appeared in the aging man's eyes.
" Well, would you lookee here!" the man said in his best Northern-speak, but he couldn't help but his obvious, Southern drawl dot each word.
" I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Hyde asked as he self-consciously watched the stranger eye his manly features.
" Of course, you do! I'd know you anywhere, son. You're Bud Hyde's boy! The resemblance is uncanny!"
" Oh God." Hyde muttered causing his friend to giggle girlishly.
" Don't take the Lord's name in vain, Steven. It's Steven, right?"
" Yeah, Call me Hyde." He warned as Kelso began to remember the time he had called Hyde Steven, and how it took him half an hour to figure out how to remove himself from the school trash bin.
" I knew you were Bud's boy! Who's your friend?"
" Michael Kelso, sir," He interrupted, " The love doctor. I can tell you everything you ever needed to know about chicks. Here's my card."
Hyde rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and crossed his arms smugly.
" Keep your card, Michael. I have a lovely wife of forty-one years with grown children and grandchildren. My wife would wait at the door with a frying pan, a suitcase, and divorce papers if she knew I took that from you."
" And you work in a bar?" Hyde asked.
" I own this bar actually. If you're wondering, I'm Richard Banks and a very good friend of your father's. We worked together in Dubuque for years. I knew you when you were barely in grade school. You ran around with that . . . what was his name . . . Forman! That's it. You ran around with that Forman kid, and that kid who never wore pants. What was his name?" Mr. Banks asked mostly to himself before drifting off into thought.
Hyde chuckled, and Kelso bowed his head in embarrassment before lifting his finger in response.
" That would be I, sir. The kid with no pants was me, Mr. Banks." He replied shamefully.
" Sorry for the painful memories, boys. What can I do for you?"
" Well, my dad once told me that if I was ever in Jersey and needed liquor that this would be the place to go."
" Right you are. Specifically what kinds are you looking for?"
" We've got a keg and a tap. So, maybe a couple of bottles of Tequila, Vodka, Brandy, Rum, etc. You know, the hard stuff. Then, we'll move to mixes like Bloody Mary mix, stuff for Marguerites, Martinis, a couple bottles of wine, Bourbon, Sherry, and the trivial stuff like toothpicks, olives, onions, celery, cherries, and things of that nature."
" Somebody is gonna be doing some fast drinking!"
" We're throwing a party!"
" Just the two of you?" The elder man asked them.
" No way! Our five friends are back at our vacation house getting ready. You can come by if you want as long as you bring five people with you. Preferably five female friends to play with!" Kelso answered, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
" Nah, I gotta stick around until one tonight, but where do you want me to put all that liquor?"
Hyde and Kelso just grinned.
*~*~*~*~*~*
" On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair. One smell of Colitas rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance, saw a shimmering light. It grew heavy, and my sight grew dim. I had to stop for the night. Then, she stood in the doorway. I heard the mission bell. I was thinking to myself, 'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.' Then, she lit up a candle. She showed me the way. I heard voices down the corridor. I thought I heard them say, 'Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place. Such a lovely face. There's plenty of room at the Hotel California. Any time of year, you can find it here.'" Don Henley sang with the smooth back-up of his band mates, the Eagles. The resounding notes of Hotel California filled the room as the sun-kissed blonde natives piled into the beach house and its patio. As far as the eye could see, surfers, punks, Geeks, tokers, members of the Donny Osmond fan club, and those that the Green Packers' would've killed for lined the peripheral walls of the kitchen awaiting the first tapping of the large keg. At the commemoration for a yacht, a rich, toothy ex-cheerleader breaks a bottle of wine and cuts the infamous red ribbon. At a party, some grungy teen fresh from his or her dealer's apartment taps the keg. This time, that special grungy teen was none other than Steven Hyde. It was too bad that Leo wasn't there.
" Let the party begin!" He yelled setting free his hand of the pump, releasing thousands of pounds of pressure.
" Man, we sure know how to throw a damn good party!" Eric replied, as the seven friends lifted their cups of beer for a friendly toast before gulping down its foamy contents.
" Jackie!" An unfortunate familiar face called, walking into the kitchen.
" Clark!" The tiny pixie yelled, waving wildly in his direction.
" Some party!" He exclaimed over the immense crowd and screeching guitar solo coming from the corner record player.
" Thanks! You wanna drink?"
" Sure! Long Island ice tea?"
" Great," Jackie turned to Fez who had manned the homemade bar, " Fez, can you fix Clark an ice tea?"
" One nip or two?" He asked in his sizable foreign accent.
Clark shot him two fingers ordering a double and wrapped his other arm around Jackie's tiny shoulders.
" I'm sorry I haven't called. How did you know about the party?" She inquired, letting the wheels inside her head begin to turn.
" Oh, I saw Fez and Donna in town, and they told me about it. Speaking of, where is Donna?
" Probably off somewhere with Eric looking for the nearest couch. The only reason Fez offered to play bartender is to ward the five-gallon bowl of candy from any outsiders trying to steal the Pop Rocks!" Jackie replied giggling hysterically.
" Where's Kelso and Hyde?" Clark enquired, grabbing the ice tea from Fez and ushering Jackie off into the crowd.
" I have no earthly idea where Steven is. Michael looks like he's having a splendid time though."
The two looked over to the homemade dance floor in the living room and noticed Kelso drooling over a Miss August look-a-like in spiked heels. Leave it to Michael to find the first easy wench to walk in the door, Jackie thought as she rolled her eyes at the spectacle. She scanned the bunch once again, finding something she didn't really want to see: Hyde and his club whore, Cara.
She marched over to Victoria who, out of the corner of her eye, she had spotted, chewing on a celery stalk that had been generously dipped in Vicky's Bloody Mary while chatting with an imbecilic jock who obviously had more brawn than brains.
" Why did you do that? He was cute!" She squealed.
" He was a dumbass! Now, pay attention. Look!" The brunette harshly pointed her perfectly manicured nail at the two people leaning up against the wall on the stairs.
" Poor, Hyde." Vicky muttered, lowering her head at the debacle.
" Poor, Hyde! Poor, Hyde! What about poor Jackie? Wait a minute. I'm not poor! Steven's poor, but he really is gonna be wallowing in self-pity when I get my hands on him!" She yelled.
The brunette squirmed in her friend's arms as Victoria held her back from parading up the staircase and sticking the nearest sharp object in Hyde's baby, blue eyes, glasses or no glasses.
" Let me go you Amazon!"
" What happened?" Donna exclaimed, hearing Jackie call someone an Amazon besides her.
" I think I know." Eric, who had been following at Donna's heels, countered.
Vicky covered Jackie's mouth with her hand as she spoke, " Hyde's with Cara, and Sandra Dee over here can't stand it!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Whew! *wipes perspiration from brow* That took a lot out of me. I hope it made up for the really, really short chapter the last one was. I'm guessing seven and a quarter pages in Word Perfect is better than two and a half, huh? I hope you like it. I'll probably finish out the party in the next chapter. I know this one was a filler and seemed a little confusing. It'll all be exclaimed in the next chapter. Girl Scouts Honor. *holds up that funny salute with three fingers* As always, R/R. Please? Pretty please? I'll love you forever! Peace Out!