Switched
Chapter 2: Homecoming King
The next day, Donna didn't even ring the doorbell. She just slipped inside the basement, through its own, side door, sitting down on the couch, grinning at Eric happily as he slung his arm around her.
She had spent all morning getting ready. Thank god it was Saturday, which meant she could wake up late and still look super cute. She had every part of her outfit planned since she got home last night.
Knee high socks...check.
Cute, blue loafers....check.
Cute blue, plaid skirt....check.
Tiny white tank top that spilled just enough cleavage....check.
And of course, her secret ingredient – her perfume. Jane had concocted a new batch just for this occasion. See, boys are like dogs, their noses are super sensitive. So ever since they read that in cosmo, Jane, Ashley, and Donna created their own herbal blend, which they called Jashonna. Donna hoped she hadn't sprayed too much on when she caught a whiff of her own scent as she hopped down the cement stairs, leading to Eric's door.
"You smell nice." Eric whispered playfully in her ear.
Donna's lips twisted into a knowing smile. No, she hadn't put too much on.
"What is that smell?" Jackie came barging down the stairs, grabbing a pop from on top of the dryer, fiddling with the bottle opener on her keychain as she leaned against the washing machine. "God, Eric, it reeks down here."
"I don't smell anything." Donna said quickly, blushing as she tried to rub the perfume off her neck.
"Whatever." Jackie mumbled as she finally managed to get the top of her coke, taking a huge swig of it. "Man, I am so psyched for our trip to Six Flags tomorrow."
"You guys are going to Six Flags?" Donna asked excitedly, trying to catch Jackie's attention so she could flash one of her famous smiles towards her. No such luck. Jackie ignored Donna's question, staring down at Eric, who in turn stared back.
"Yeah, it's going to be awesome." Eric replied calmly, squeezing Donna's knee reassuringly. "Donna's pretty psyched too."
Donna nudged Eric appreciatively as Jackie's eyes became wide, finally realizing the redhead's prescence.
"Eric." Jackie said bitterly, motioning her head to the side. "Can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?"
"Fine." Eric shrugged, loosening his arm from Donna, planting a soft kiss on the edge of her lips as he started up the stairs. "Be right back."
Donna smiled to herself, then towards Jackie, who slammed her empty bottle down on the washing machine, hard, then ran up the stairs, angrily.
"Forman!" Jackie frogged Eric in the right shoulder, hard.
"Jackie, you promised never to hut my right arm. It's my throwing arm!"
"And you promised that you wouldn't invite any random chicks on our trip."
"Donna isn't random, Jackie. I really like her."
Jackie crossed her arms impatiently, "Well, I don't."
"Well, I don't care." Eric said matter of factly, crossing his arms.
"I cannot believe I wasted six months with you." Jackie said forcefully, daring him to reply.
Eric opened his mouth wide, ready to fire back, when the slider crashed open.
"Burn!" Kelso shouted out dorkily, slapping Jackie's shoulder in approval as he briskly jogged down the stairs.
"You know what, Jackie?" Eric quickly shut his mouth, glancing back at the curly haired boy standing in his kitchen. "I'm really sick of your jealousy issues."
"I'm not jealous, Eric." Jackie interjected, flicking her blue-green eyes at the curly haired boy as well, who had taken a seat at the counter. She placed her hands on her hips. "I just don't want some red headed slut in my car."
"Fine, then I'll drive her." Eric said angrily. "And she's not a slut."
"She must be, if she's with you!" Jackie yelped.
"What the hell are you kids yelling about now?"
Jackie and Eric both turned to Kitty, who was rubbing the temples of her forehead bitterly.
"Sorry, Kitty." Jackie said quietly. She turned back towards Eric, but he was gone. "Jackass."
Jackie glanced back at Kitty, who nodded in agreement and left the kitchen.
Jackie sighed, burying her head in her hands, slowly lifting her head up when she heard a slight snicker coming from across the room.
"You're still here?" Jackie asked, her tongue dripping with anger.
"Yeah, I guess you can't get rid of me."
Jackie leaned against the fridge, rubbing her cold elbows slightly.
"My dad runs an anger management course at the hospital. You seem to have a lot of tension."
"And you seem to think I care." Jackie snapped back, fingering her keys in her pocket as she dashed towards the door.
Unfortunately, he followed.
"Hey, I thought we were friends!"
"Ok, listen." Jackie whipped around, practically smacking Steven with her brown, dirty locks. "I don't have any friends, except for Eric, Kelso, and Fez."
"Jackie, come on, we've known each other forever. We're friends."
"No, you're friends with Eric and I'm friends with Eric." Jackie leaned against her old, black el Camino. "God knows why." She muttered, lifting her eyes to finally look at his.
She never really noticed how blue and clear they were. She almost got lost in them. Almost. Jackie stood up straight, slipping on her sunglasses quickly, so he wouldn't be able to tell that she wasn't as angry as she let on.
"Well, I consider you my friend."
"Good to know." Jackie said plainly, opening the door to her car.
"Good to know?"
"Did I stutter?" Jackie snapped, starting the car up. "Later, Hyde."
"It's Steven!"
"Yeah, whatever."
Before he could say anything more, Jackie slammed the gas pedal and sped off down the street.
Steven, feeling very rejected, but sort of turned on, went towards the stairs, a happy hop in his step.
"Donna?" Steven grinned towards the redhead, who stood up, giving him a friendly hug. "What are you doing down here?"
"Eric invited me." Donna said happily, sitting back down. "We're kind of..."
"We're going out." Eric said confidently, stroking Donna's bare knee softly as she giggled.
"Awesome!" Steven said excitedly, taking Jackie's usual seat. If she were in the room, he would never even step by it. For a small girl, she was pretty strong. But right now, there really wasn't any other spot to sit in. Eric and Donna were residing on the couch, comfortably, and Kelso was glued to the lawn chair, staring intently at the TV as he fiddled around with a ping pong ball. "So, Six Flags tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it's going to be sweet!" Kelso said excitedly, snorting dorkily. "I can't wait to see the Safari exhibit. I have a great interest in the brain activity in male ostrichs!"
Eric and Donna smirked at each other as Steven interjected.
"Well, I can't wait to do some gift shop shopping. They have the cutest little figurines there!"
"Oh, yeah!" Kelso nodded in agreement.
"You know what I think it's time for?" Eric interrupted the dorkathon.
"But, Jackie's not here..." Kelso said wearily.
"That's ok. I know where she keeps her stash." Eric got up quickly, rummaging through Jackie's room, till he popped out, holding up a brown, paper bag.
"Oh my god, you're a pothead!" Donna laughed, pointing at Eric.
"Who isn't?" Eric replied, with a cocky grin, starting up a circle.
Within minutes, Donna wasn't the only one laughing.
"Man, I think Jackie's starting to open up to me." Steven smirked happily. "Today, she actually waited a while before driving away from me."
"Man, when will you give that up?" Kelso grinned stupidly. "Guys like you and me, we don't get with girls like Jackie."
"Yeah, Steven," Donna slid into the conversation. "You know who would be really good for you? The smart Charlie's Angel."
"Hey, I'd do her." Eric smirked. "But she is the ugly one."
"There's just something about Jackie. Eric, you have to know what I'm talking about. You dated her for like, half a year."
"Steven, you like Jackie because of unbalanced chemicals." Kelso said matter of factly. "It'll fade within 2-3 months."
"Steven, Jackie's not worth it, ok? She's a bitch." Eric glanced over at Donna coyly. "No offense."
"None taken." Donna grinned. "You know, Steven, take it from a cheerleader, that girl has major attitude problems."
"It's not her fault, guys!" Kelso whined. "She has no parents."
"I could take of her!" Steven said dreamily. "We're like soul mates. We'll go to my dad's anger management classes together, I'll give her a makeover, she'll be crowned homecoming queen, and I'll be king, and we'll live in someplace romantic, like Disneyworld!"
"Or Six flags!" Kelso screamed.
"Yeah!" Steven nodded happily.
"Wow, that was poetic." Donna said in awe. "I wish I had a soul mate." She grinned towards Eric, who rolled his eyes gently.
"Babe, I like you, but I ain't about to marry you." Eric replied harshly.
"Jackie and I will be like the homecoming king and queen of Disneyworld!" Steven laughed. "All hail, King Steven!"
Kelso laughed heartily as Donna gave Eric a disapproving look.
A sweet voice called down the stairs, interrupting the circle.
"Eric, hun, mother needs you!"
"Shit, it's my sister." Eric grabbed the spray close to him, spritzing the flowery scent and coughing slightly as the rest of the gang hid their illegal materials from the vibrant blonde who bounced down the stairs.
"Hey there, Laurie." Steven said happily, giving her a hug.
"Hey Steven, how are you?" Laurie grinned, patting Eric's shoulder. "Mom needs to talk to you."
"Yeah, I heard, thanks." Eric rolled his eyes, running up the stairs as Laurie took his place.
"I'm Laurie, it's really nice to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Donna."
Donna glanced at Kelso, who was trying not to look Laurie in the eye.
"What's that smell?" Laurie asked quickly, sniffing the air. "Have you guys been...smoking?" She screeched as she stood up. "Smoking is so bad for your lungs, guys!"
"Laurie, will you go out with me?" Kelso stood up, grabbing the blonde's arm forcefully.
Steven and Donna laughed awkwardly as Laurie shook her head sadly.
"Michael, we've discussed this. I don't date. I'm concentrating on school right now so that I can become a doctor."
"But you're the woman of my dreams. You're pretty AND intelligent."
Laurie blushed gently, slapping his arm away.
"I better run along." Laurie said, winking towards Steven as she ran up stairs.
"Kelso, just give it up already. Laurie Forman has never had a boyfriend, in her life. She's as virginal as it gets." Steven laughed heartily.
"Oh, yeah, well..." Kelso punched Steven weakly, "Jackie would never go out with you. She hates homecoming and you're the king of it."
"Only because I'm the best looking guy in school!" Steven whined, as if this was a great burden.
"Besides me, of course." Eric said, stumbling down the stairs.
The gang laughed as Eric wrapped his arm back around Donna.
"Eric, look, I'm sorry about before...." Jackie stomped into the room, slamming the door as she threw her leather jacket onto the coat hanger, freezing as she landed eyes on the other occupants in the room. "Oh, you're still...here."
"Jackie, can we talk upstairs for a minute?" Donna asked sweetly.
"Um, are you sure you want to do that?" Kelso laughed.
Jackie slapped him gently on the head, oblivious to how hard she actually hit him.
"Sure, Donna, let's go chat!" Jackie said excitedly. "I really need to catch up on my girl talk!" Jackie rolled her eyes as she followed the redhead upstairs.
"God, she's so beautiful..." Steven said dreamily.
Eric and Kelso gave each other knowing looks, chuckling slightly.
"Jackie, I really like Eric."
"Yeah," Jackie tapped her foot impatiently. "I could tell by the way you're throwing yourself all over him."
Donna was slightly taken aback, but kept up her confidence. She was a cheerleader, for god's sakes! She could deal with a bitch like Jackie.
"You're his best friend, and I want you to accept me."
"We can't always get what we want." Jackie said, her eyes lowering sadly.
"Jackie, I'm just saying. If you got to know me, you might actually see that I'm an ok person."
"Yeah?" Jackie asked dryly, but then realized that Donna was being sincere. "I guess we'll see tomorrow at Six Flags, right?"
"Yeah!" Donna said brightly, smiling genuinely before skipping downstairs.
"That was really nice of you, Jackie."
Jackie turned around to face Red Forman, the only person she really trusted, dare she even say loved. He was like a father figure to her.
Jackie smiled softly as Red planted a piece of chocolate cake in front of her.
"Jackie, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Steven before..."
Jackie raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"I was planting roses in the garden....you were very loud..." Red chuckled as he took a seat. "I'm just worried that you might crush that poor boy's heart. He seems to really like you."
"First of all, Mr. Forman." Jackie took a bite of cake, grinning happily. "There is nothing poor about that boy."
"Just because Steven is...well provided for, well, that doesn't mean you have to hate him."
"I don't hate him cause he's rich, Mr. Forman." Jackie quickly defended her motives. "No, I hate him cause he's homecoming king. Oh, and he's rich."
"Jackie..."
She looked up, seeing the seriousness in Red's eyes.
"Ok, I don't really hate him....he's...." Jackie rolled chocolate cake around in her mouth, trying to find the right word. "He can be pretty cool sometimes."
"You think I'm cool?"
Jackie cursed under her breath as she looked up, to see Red smirking and making his way to the kitchen as Steven sat in his abandoned seat.
"Sometimes." Jackie replied, finishing off the cake.
"I knew I was cool." Steven said more to himself, then from glancing at Jackie's stare, he smirked, lowering his voice, "Sometimes."
Jackie nodded, putting her plate into the sink.
"You know, Jackie, I think that if you gave me a chance, you would really like me."
"You know what your problem is?" Jackie asked obnoxiously as she planted her hands on her hips.
Steven turned to her, waiting anxiously for her to tell him.
"You're cute, so no one's ever told you to shut your pie hole."
"You think I'm cute, too?" Steven grinned.
"Shut your pie hole." Jackie felt a blush coming on and quickly turned around, spreading her hands before her on the table, trying to make it go away.
She heard Steven get up, walking towards her.
He tapped her shoulder, forcing her to turn towards him.
He leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips.
"You had some chocolate..." He said shyly. "It's gone now."
Jackie stared blankly at him, searching for her car keys in her pocket. Damn, they were downstairs, in her jacket. There was no escape.
"Thanks." Jackie blurted quickly, hurriedly running towards the living room.
"What's wrong Jackie?" Red asked, his arm draped around a slightly angry Kitty.
"Yeah, what could be so important, that you interrupted us in the middle of All in the Family?" Kitty added, waiting for her answer.
"He...I..." Jackie shook her head, trying to block out what just happened. Red looked at her knowingly as Kitty rolled her eyes, ignoring the teenager. "I..." Jackie, for once, was at a loss of words. She slipped on her sunglasses, silently, and ran towards the door. She'd just hotwire Eric's Cruiser and go for a spin to clear her head. She couldn't possibly like...no, he was homecoming king...he was everything she stood against. He listened to Abba and was friends with people like Laurie Forman and Donna. No, she couldn't...
Oh, god...
She did.
Chapter 2: Homecoming King
The next day, Donna didn't even ring the doorbell. She just slipped inside the basement, through its own, side door, sitting down on the couch, grinning at Eric happily as he slung his arm around her.
She had spent all morning getting ready. Thank god it was Saturday, which meant she could wake up late and still look super cute. She had every part of her outfit planned since she got home last night.
Knee high socks...check.
Cute, blue loafers....check.
Cute blue, plaid skirt....check.
Tiny white tank top that spilled just enough cleavage....check.
And of course, her secret ingredient – her perfume. Jane had concocted a new batch just for this occasion. See, boys are like dogs, their noses are super sensitive. So ever since they read that in cosmo, Jane, Ashley, and Donna created their own herbal blend, which they called Jashonna. Donna hoped she hadn't sprayed too much on when she caught a whiff of her own scent as she hopped down the cement stairs, leading to Eric's door.
"You smell nice." Eric whispered playfully in her ear.
Donna's lips twisted into a knowing smile. No, she hadn't put too much on.
"What is that smell?" Jackie came barging down the stairs, grabbing a pop from on top of the dryer, fiddling with the bottle opener on her keychain as she leaned against the washing machine. "God, Eric, it reeks down here."
"I don't smell anything." Donna said quickly, blushing as she tried to rub the perfume off her neck.
"Whatever." Jackie mumbled as she finally managed to get the top of her coke, taking a huge swig of it. "Man, I am so psyched for our trip to Six Flags tomorrow."
"You guys are going to Six Flags?" Donna asked excitedly, trying to catch Jackie's attention so she could flash one of her famous smiles towards her. No such luck. Jackie ignored Donna's question, staring down at Eric, who in turn stared back.
"Yeah, it's going to be awesome." Eric replied calmly, squeezing Donna's knee reassuringly. "Donna's pretty psyched too."
Donna nudged Eric appreciatively as Jackie's eyes became wide, finally realizing the redhead's prescence.
"Eric." Jackie said bitterly, motioning her head to the side. "Can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?"
"Fine." Eric shrugged, loosening his arm from Donna, planting a soft kiss on the edge of her lips as he started up the stairs. "Be right back."
Donna smiled to herself, then towards Jackie, who slammed her empty bottle down on the washing machine, hard, then ran up the stairs, angrily.
"Forman!" Jackie frogged Eric in the right shoulder, hard.
"Jackie, you promised never to hut my right arm. It's my throwing arm!"
"And you promised that you wouldn't invite any random chicks on our trip."
"Donna isn't random, Jackie. I really like her."
Jackie crossed her arms impatiently, "Well, I don't."
"Well, I don't care." Eric said matter of factly, crossing his arms.
"I cannot believe I wasted six months with you." Jackie said forcefully, daring him to reply.
Eric opened his mouth wide, ready to fire back, when the slider crashed open.
"Burn!" Kelso shouted out dorkily, slapping Jackie's shoulder in approval as he briskly jogged down the stairs.
"You know what, Jackie?" Eric quickly shut his mouth, glancing back at the curly haired boy standing in his kitchen. "I'm really sick of your jealousy issues."
"I'm not jealous, Eric." Jackie interjected, flicking her blue-green eyes at the curly haired boy as well, who had taken a seat at the counter. She placed her hands on her hips. "I just don't want some red headed slut in my car."
"Fine, then I'll drive her." Eric said angrily. "And she's not a slut."
"She must be, if she's with you!" Jackie yelped.
"What the hell are you kids yelling about now?"
Jackie and Eric both turned to Kitty, who was rubbing the temples of her forehead bitterly.
"Sorry, Kitty." Jackie said quietly. She turned back towards Eric, but he was gone. "Jackass."
Jackie glanced back at Kitty, who nodded in agreement and left the kitchen.
Jackie sighed, burying her head in her hands, slowly lifting her head up when she heard a slight snicker coming from across the room.
"You're still here?" Jackie asked, her tongue dripping with anger.
"Yeah, I guess you can't get rid of me."
Jackie leaned against the fridge, rubbing her cold elbows slightly.
"My dad runs an anger management course at the hospital. You seem to have a lot of tension."
"And you seem to think I care." Jackie snapped back, fingering her keys in her pocket as she dashed towards the door.
Unfortunately, he followed.
"Hey, I thought we were friends!"
"Ok, listen." Jackie whipped around, practically smacking Steven with her brown, dirty locks. "I don't have any friends, except for Eric, Kelso, and Fez."
"Jackie, come on, we've known each other forever. We're friends."
"No, you're friends with Eric and I'm friends with Eric." Jackie leaned against her old, black el Camino. "God knows why." She muttered, lifting her eyes to finally look at his.
She never really noticed how blue and clear they were. She almost got lost in them. Almost. Jackie stood up straight, slipping on her sunglasses quickly, so he wouldn't be able to tell that she wasn't as angry as she let on.
"Well, I consider you my friend."
"Good to know." Jackie said plainly, opening the door to her car.
"Good to know?"
"Did I stutter?" Jackie snapped, starting the car up. "Later, Hyde."
"It's Steven!"
"Yeah, whatever."
Before he could say anything more, Jackie slammed the gas pedal and sped off down the street.
Steven, feeling very rejected, but sort of turned on, went towards the stairs, a happy hop in his step.
"Donna?" Steven grinned towards the redhead, who stood up, giving him a friendly hug. "What are you doing down here?"
"Eric invited me." Donna said happily, sitting back down. "We're kind of..."
"We're going out." Eric said confidently, stroking Donna's bare knee softly as she giggled.
"Awesome!" Steven said excitedly, taking Jackie's usual seat. If she were in the room, he would never even step by it. For a small girl, she was pretty strong. But right now, there really wasn't any other spot to sit in. Eric and Donna were residing on the couch, comfortably, and Kelso was glued to the lawn chair, staring intently at the TV as he fiddled around with a ping pong ball. "So, Six Flags tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it's going to be sweet!" Kelso said excitedly, snorting dorkily. "I can't wait to see the Safari exhibit. I have a great interest in the brain activity in male ostrichs!"
Eric and Donna smirked at each other as Steven interjected.
"Well, I can't wait to do some gift shop shopping. They have the cutest little figurines there!"
"Oh, yeah!" Kelso nodded in agreement.
"You know what I think it's time for?" Eric interrupted the dorkathon.
"But, Jackie's not here..." Kelso said wearily.
"That's ok. I know where she keeps her stash." Eric got up quickly, rummaging through Jackie's room, till he popped out, holding up a brown, paper bag.
"Oh my god, you're a pothead!" Donna laughed, pointing at Eric.
"Who isn't?" Eric replied, with a cocky grin, starting up a circle.
Within minutes, Donna wasn't the only one laughing.
"Man, I think Jackie's starting to open up to me." Steven smirked happily. "Today, she actually waited a while before driving away from me."
"Man, when will you give that up?" Kelso grinned stupidly. "Guys like you and me, we don't get with girls like Jackie."
"Yeah, Steven," Donna slid into the conversation. "You know who would be really good for you? The smart Charlie's Angel."
"Hey, I'd do her." Eric smirked. "But she is the ugly one."
"There's just something about Jackie. Eric, you have to know what I'm talking about. You dated her for like, half a year."
"Steven, you like Jackie because of unbalanced chemicals." Kelso said matter of factly. "It'll fade within 2-3 months."
"Steven, Jackie's not worth it, ok? She's a bitch." Eric glanced over at Donna coyly. "No offense."
"None taken." Donna grinned. "You know, Steven, take it from a cheerleader, that girl has major attitude problems."
"It's not her fault, guys!" Kelso whined. "She has no parents."
"I could take of her!" Steven said dreamily. "We're like soul mates. We'll go to my dad's anger management classes together, I'll give her a makeover, she'll be crowned homecoming queen, and I'll be king, and we'll live in someplace romantic, like Disneyworld!"
"Or Six flags!" Kelso screamed.
"Yeah!" Steven nodded happily.
"Wow, that was poetic." Donna said in awe. "I wish I had a soul mate." She grinned towards Eric, who rolled his eyes gently.
"Babe, I like you, but I ain't about to marry you." Eric replied harshly.
"Jackie and I will be like the homecoming king and queen of Disneyworld!" Steven laughed. "All hail, King Steven!"
Kelso laughed heartily as Donna gave Eric a disapproving look.
A sweet voice called down the stairs, interrupting the circle.
"Eric, hun, mother needs you!"
"Shit, it's my sister." Eric grabbed the spray close to him, spritzing the flowery scent and coughing slightly as the rest of the gang hid their illegal materials from the vibrant blonde who bounced down the stairs.
"Hey there, Laurie." Steven said happily, giving her a hug.
"Hey Steven, how are you?" Laurie grinned, patting Eric's shoulder. "Mom needs to talk to you."
"Yeah, I heard, thanks." Eric rolled his eyes, running up the stairs as Laurie took his place.
"I'm Laurie, it's really nice to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Donna."
Donna glanced at Kelso, who was trying not to look Laurie in the eye.
"What's that smell?" Laurie asked quickly, sniffing the air. "Have you guys been...smoking?" She screeched as she stood up. "Smoking is so bad for your lungs, guys!"
"Laurie, will you go out with me?" Kelso stood up, grabbing the blonde's arm forcefully.
Steven and Donna laughed awkwardly as Laurie shook her head sadly.
"Michael, we've discussed this. I don't date. I'm concentrating on school right now so that I can become a doctor."
"But you're the woman of my dreams. You're pretty AND intelligent."
Laurie blushed gently, slapping his arm away.
"I better run along." Laurie said, winking towards Steven as she ran up stairs.
"Kelso, just give it up already. Laurie Forman has never had a boyfriend, in her life. She's as virginal as it gets." Steven laughed heartily.
"Oh, yeah, well..." Kelso punched Steven weakly, "Jackie would never go out with you. She hates homecoming and you're the king of it."
"Only because I'm the best looking guy in school!" Steven whined, as if this was a great burden.
"Besides me, of course." Eric said, stumbling down the stairs.
The gang laughed as Eric wrapped his arm back around Donna.
"Eric, look, I'm sorry about before...." Jackie stomped into the room, slamming the door as she threw her leather jacket onto the coat hanger, freezing as she landed eyes on the other occupants in the room. "Oh, you're still...here."
"Jackie, can we talk upstairs for a minute?" Donna asked sweetly.
"Um, are you sure you want to do that?" Kelso laughed.
Jackie slapped him gently on the head, oblivious to how hard she actually hit him.
"Sure, Donna, let's go chat!" Jackie said excitedly. "I really need to catch up on my girl talk!" Jackie rolled her eyes as she followed the redhead upstairs.
"God, she's so beautiful..." Steven said dreamily.
Eric and Kelso gave each other knowing looks, chuckling slightly.
"Jackie, I really like Eric."
"Yeah," Jackie tapped her foot impatiently. "I could tell by the way you're throwing yourself all over him."
Donna was slightly taken aback, but kept up her confidence. She was a cheerleader, for god's sakes! She could deal with a bitch like Jackie.
"You're his best friend, and I want you to accept me."
"We can't always get what we want." Jackie said, her eyes lowering sadly.
"Jackie, I'm just saying. If you got to know me, you might actually see that I'm an ok person."
"Yeah?" Jackie asked dryly, but then realized that Donna was being sincere. "I guess we'll see tomorrow at Six Flags, right?"
"Yeah!" Donna said brightly, smiling genuinely before skipping downstairs.
"That was really nice of you, Jackie."
Jackie turned around to face Red Forman, the only person she really trusted, dare she even say loved. He was like a father figure to her.
Jackie smiled softly as Red planted a piece of chocolate cake in front of her.
"Jackie, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Steven before..."
Jackie raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"I was planting roses in the garden....you were very loud..." Red chuckled as he took a seat. "I'm just worried that you might crush that poor boy's heart. He seems to really like you."
"First of all, Mr. Forman." Jackie took a bite of cake, grinning happily. "There is nothing poor about that boy."
"Just because Steven is...well provided for, well, that doesn't mean you have to hate him."
"I don't hate him cause he's rich, Mr. Forman." Jackie quickly defended her motives. "No, I hate him cause he's homecoming king. Oh, and he's rich."
"Jackie..."
She looked up, seeing the seriousness in Red's eyes.
"Ok, I don't really hate him....he's...." Jackie rolled chocolate cake around in her mouth, trying to find the right word. "He can be pretty cool sometimes."
"You think I'm cool?"
Jackie cursed under her breath as she looked up, to see Red smirking and making his way to the kitchen as Steven sat in his abandoned seat.
"Sometimes." Jackie replied, finishing off the cake.
"I knew I was cool." Steven said more to himself, then from glancing at Jackie's stare, he smirked, lowering his voice, "Sometimes."
Jackie nodded, putting her plate into the sink.
"You know, Jackie, I think that if you gave me a chance, you would really like me."
"You know what your problem is?" Jackie asked obnoxiously as she planted her hands on her hips.
Steven turned to her, waiting anxiously for her to tell him.
"You're cute, so no one's ever told you to shut your pie hole."
"You think I'm cute, too?" Steven grinned.
"Shut your pie hole." Jackie felt a blush coming on and quickly turned around, spreading her hands before her on the table, trying to make it go away.
She heard Steven get up, walking towards her.
He tapped her shoulder, forcing her to turn towards him.
He leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips.
"You had some chocolate..." He said shyly. "It's gone now."
Jackie stared blankly at him, searching for her car keys in her pocket. Damn, they were downstairs, in her jacket. There was no escape.
"Thanks." Jackie blurted quickly, hurriedly running towards the living room.
"What's wrong Jackie?" Red asked, his arm draped around a slightly angry Kitty.
"Yeah, what could be so important, that you interrupted us in the middle of All in the Family?" Kitty added, waiting for her answer.
"He...I..." Jackie shook her head, trying to block out what just happened. Red looked at her knowingly as Kitty rolled her eyes, ignoring the teenager. "I..." Jackie, for once, was at a loss of words. She slipped on her sunglasses, silently, and ran towards the door. She'd just hotwire Eric's Cruiser and go for a spin to clear her head. She couldn't possibly like...no, he was homecoming king...he was everything she stood against. He listened to Abba and was friends with people like Laurie Forman and Donna. No, she couldn't...
Oh, god...
She did.