Her eyes accidentally landed on the silver ring, sitting comfortably around his finger. "You still have that," she smirked.
He only took a brief glimpse of the object while his head did not move. "Why are you surprised?"
She shrugged and stood up. "I thought you might have hocked it by now," she said with only one half of the tone being a humorous one.
"I changed my mind at the last minute," he said and tapped his kneecap.
"Wow, how nice of you," she laughed.
"Yeah, well it's a cool gift. Besides, almost everyone here has moved away and..." he paused knowing this self-revealing short moment was one of those he avoided sharing. "It reminds me of you and the crazy shit we used to do in the past. That's a good enough reason for it to stay."
Her eyes absorbed the barely visible emotion on his face as she received a strange feeling that if she could budge slightly forward with a few words, she could actually reach deeper inside him. It was a challenge. She didn't smile and instead kept a serious and curious expression. "Nice to know my money didn't go to waste."
"No, it did not, man."
Donna nodded.
"Where's your ring?" he then asked her.
Donna looked at her hands. "Err, which one?" she asked.
"Forman's."
She momentarily froze at her breathing's blockage by a lump in her throat for two short seconds. Surprise came at her own reaction. Why? She returned the ring four months ago to him for reasons which... no, another time, she thought. "Gee, how'd you notice that?"
"Gee, I've seen it so many times before it engraved itself in my brain."
Her blue eyes rose up at his face. "Aha."
"Did you lose it?"
"What? No, no. I uh..." she began massaging the finger where the ring used to be. "I gave it back to Eric."
An eyebrow that almost reached the first front curls was raised on his face. "Really... Why?"
"I don't know. It started being too tight on my finger," she made an excuse but her body language with snakelike twisting of her waist and shoulders told Hyde otherwise.
Moving his lips for a while, Hyde hoped that his question would receive a, although justified and predictable, positive answer from her: "Are things alright between you both?"
The pupils in her eyes became slightly dilated. "Yeah, they've, uh, never been better."
His mind had trouble accepting her 'truth'. "Last summer... did that have anything to do with it?"
She tilted her head. "No." Donna looked at her hand. "It doesn't."
"Oh."
"He doesn't know," she then said.
There was a brief absence of words.
"You didn't tell him?" Although he was successfully hiding it, Donna's answer managed to disturb him.
She shook her head as a response.
"Why?" he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
"I didn't feel there was a need for that." Her eyes remained on her hands.
"Again... why?"
"What difference does it make, 'why'?" she finally lifted her head with an almost sarcastic voice.
"So that's why my expectations of a fist in the face went down the drain."
"I doubt he would've done that now," she mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing." Quickly she ran her right hand through her red locks.
"Why didn't you tell him?" he pressed even despite knowing the nasty consequences which would follow if his friend found out.
His sudden, although still weak, pressure agitated her. "I don't know." She stood up and circled the chair. "Probably because it wasn't anything meaningful," she lifted her shoulders and crossed her arms.
"You think it wasn't." There was an absence of bewilderment at her reply.
"I just said that, didn't I?" She began pacing up and down with the nervousness climbing onto the pale walls of her skin. "Why did you have to say what you said back then?"
"What do you mean?"
She stopped, aggressively collapsing her hands close to her hips. "You know what I mean! Why did you have to tell me that I've become... boring or, or quieter or whatever bullshit you had to say!"
The sudden shift of behavior in the redhead did well to throw Hyde off the tracks of his familiar calmness and composure. "I never said you were boring."
"Well, you called me 'old'!"
"All I said was that you began losing that charming rebelliousness about you, that's all..." he slowly rose up. "But I see now, you got it back," he sneered.
"It's not amusing, Hyde."
"You've obviously changed. It's good."
"Is it?
"Yeah!" He paused. "Ok... now you're beginning to take this too... weirdly?"
"Of course I am! How else am I supposed to take it??" She suddenly stopped, realizing her behavioral change had surprised her even more. Gathering her hands inside her pockets, she crashed her look on the floor. "What were you trying to do with that back then?" Slowly, close to intimidation, Donna lifted her blue eyes to meet a closer version of Hyde's as he had taken a few steps closer to her.
"Only that you've changed."
She stared back at him, hoping for more but that had been the best answer she would receive and there was no use of wanting more. Donna didn't want to admit how his words continued spinning insanely in her head that summer, repeating themselves over and over again like an annoyingly broken record that wouldn't stop. "Why did you have to do that?"
"I wanted you to know what you should have realized. It's that side of you which makes you more attractive."
Donna pressed her lips tightly to his sentence.
"I meant other guys, don't wo-..."
"Why did you kiss me?"
"What?"
"That night. Why did you do it?"
"I already told you."
"You could've done something else. Yanked my shirt, my bra, whatever. You know what irritates me. Why did you have to kiss me?"
Being silent for a moment, Hyde observed Donna's eagerness for an answer with a feeling that begged for retrieval... at least for tonight. "It would've come out as the easiest way for you to react like you did."
"Is that what it was?"
"Yeah."
She could sense there was more behind it. Her eyes had barely suppressed the earlier exposure of unrest. "You know that that was pretty damn stupid of you, don't you?"
"No." His voice did not change at all as if he was taking their entire conversation as a meaningless joke.
"Well, it was."
"Thanks for 'clearing' that up for me, man."
"Hyde, again, this is not supposed to be funny."
"Well, fuck, Donna how else is it supposed to be?"
"I don't know, like more serious??"
He shook his head as if he was mocking her. "Alright, first: it didn't have the intentions which I'm sure are in your head right now; second: it took you longer to pull away as I recall and third..." he paused with doubts of whether he should say it. "Third..." he sighed. "People change, Donna... some things remain the same with them but everything else changes."
"And what's changed about you then?" she lifted her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
A huge tidal wave crashed upon Hyde's hope of her understanding. Turning his head to the side, he lowered it quickly and closed his eyes. Walking away from her, Hyde gathered the needed distance and then stopped. He returned his eyes to hers. "That kiss was not supposed to mean anything, at least to me. You, on the other hand seem to have taken it as something opposite. Why you didn't tell Forman I don't know. I'm happy that my... words had some impact on you but I'm not happy that you're turning this into an unnecessary drama."
"It's not a subject that can be treated lightly, Hyde."
He sighed with disapproval. "You really think I had some other intentions then?"
"I don't know," she almost whispered the words. "Did you?"
"Not in the way you think. I already said it many times that I wouldn't do that to Forman or you!"
"That didn't stop you in Jackie's cabin."
"That was different."
"Was it?" She felt uncomfortable asking him questions that appeared daring on the surface but with internal effects that were a combination of unknown weakness and plain fear.
He did not take her questions well. "You know me."
"You just said that people change."
"So what?"
"So you've changed then. It's been years. Eric's been away, I've been away, and things all in all do change."
"What's your point?"
"My point is that maybe..." She swallowed hard. "No, never mind."
"What?!"
"Nothing... forget it."
"Ah, that's something. First you begin with the implication that I may or may have not been hitting on you last year and now nothing?"
Donna tapped her foot nervously on the carpet which, thankfully, suffocated the noise enough for it to be unreachable to Hyde's ears. "Well the first part will do." She was sweating enormously on the inside, unsure where her accusations were leading her and it began freaking her out. What was she trying to accomplish? Was this helping? Sadly it appeared to be worsening the situation. "So were you?" She struggled to sustain her calm, cool exterior.
"Was I what?"
"Trying to..."
"Geez, Donna, don't be so ridiculous! Of course I wasn't! I already explained the reason way, way back then. Why do you have to complicate it?"
"I'm not complicating. I only needed a good answer." She looked nervously across the room for her coat.
"Donna, man..."
"I gotta go. I'll... I'll see you later," she spoke quickly and hurried to grab her coat.
"This wasn't the way our conversation was supposed to go."
Opening the door, Donna threw a quick glance at him. "Yeah, no shit," she said and closed it immediately behind her.
Rushing through the emptier streets, Donna shook her head. She was furious at herself. What being had possessed her to act so childish? She couldn't think much right now as the confusion from earlier clouded any logical thought. Her only goal now was to reach her house. Thankfully, that did not seem far away.
Shutting the door behind her, Donna walked to her bed and stopped in front of it. Trying to recoup her reasons for her behavior, her feet picked up on her earlier nervousness and began carrying her across the room in circles.
"It would've come out as the easiest way for you to react like you did," imitating Hyde's voice she then snorted without pleasure. "Sure, sure. God! What were you thinking? Both of you!!" Donna screamed inside at both her and Hyde as she was once more experiencing the moments after her abandoning Hyde at the lake. Even her heart appeared to have trouble deciding whether to follow her quick pace or continue its slow, gentle beats. She then stopped walking and focused her gaze on the wall in front of her, staring at something invisible to the eye. "Yeah, did some dilemmas get fixed by this?" she spoke sarcastically. Perhaps they could talk again? Perhaps they could try something more constructive next time. She shook her head. Bad time for such ideas. Turning her head to the right she found the desk in her view. Walking over to it, she then pulled out the stool and crashed down before pulling herself forward. Her hand began shaking as she needed to release words from her brain. She needed to do this quickly; otherwise she would begin experiencing the trembling of her entire body. Grabbing the pen almost aggressively she began forcing the words onto the gentle sheet of the paper.
The amount of time that passed was missed almost deliberately by her brain when the sudden and loud ringing of the phone shook her suddenly. Staring at it, she wanted to destroy it simply by looking at it. She was not in the mood for a conversation. She was in a different mood, something opposite of whatever feeling was closer to putting a smile on your face.
Donna hesitated. She hoped it wasn't Hyde. She did not wish to speak with him. She had labeled herself as a misguided, disoriented young thing that was in no condition to venture into a productive hour of verbal exchanges. Tapping her fingers on the desk, she noticed the stubbornness of the phone's annoying sound.
"Alright!" she almost broke her tongue with that word and grabbed the phone. "Yeah?" her voice was flat, trying to rid itself from any confusion or anger that was lurking around it.
"Hey, are you ready?" his voice took the complete opposition to hers.
"Oh err," Donna was temporarily trying to settle herself into a comfortable, calmer zone when she picked up Eric's voice. "Actually..." she looked down at the two pieces of paper, filled with words. "I can't... I'm gonna have to cancel." She needed to finish what she started.
"Oh, what's up?"
"Stupid headache," she said simply.
"Ok, well... tomorrow then?"
"Yeah. It's prefect." Donna nodded.
"Ok, hope you feel better, Donna."
"Thanks, Eric."
"Bye."
"Bye." She quickly placed the phone back in its place and continued putting the words down. Donna didn't want to lie to him like that but she did not want to be with anyone right now.
She wanted to be alone for tonight.
Hanging up the phone, Eric looked down and put his hand in the pocket of his pants. "Going out?" he heard his mother's voice as the older woman was walking down on the stairs. He looked up. "Change of plans," Eric responded.
"Oh good. Your father needs help with those darn shelves again. Could you?"
"Sure, mom," Eric smiled briefly and began walking out of the living room.
"Um, Eric?" Kitty called him.
"Yeah?" he turned around.
Putting her hands together she slowly began to walk towards him, feeling somewhat uncertain of bringing the subject to the surface. "Is everything ok between you and Donna?"
He pushed his head back, staring blankly back at his mother. "Why?"
"I don't know. I... well the interaction between you two has been rather different lately and I just wondered if you two were... ok." She nodded.
Eric shrugged. "Everything's great, mom," and flashed another, this time more convincing smile.
"You're sure?"
"Of course."
Kitty observed her son for a while and smiled apologetically. "I'm glad to hear that," she spoke softly and tapped his cheek gently before leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Turning around, Eric pushed the door to pass through. "Yeah," he told himself exhaustibly. "Everything is great…."