Author's Note: All right, I know I said I wouldn't be posting but my amazingly wondrous beta got back to me with this chapter just before I'm going to leave. Like, we're talking hours here. So, once again, YouThinkYouNoeMe, you are my hero! Also, many thanks to my reviewers. I love you all to pieces. Only note about this chapter are a special cameo by the infamous Chip. (I never saw his episode, though I've read the transcript, so I made up my description of how he looks.) And… yeah. I think that's it! Leaving in just a li'l more than three hours now and I have to finish packing still! Eep! Must be off! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Check chapter one, baby!

Tarnished Gem
by, Caliente

Chapter 4: Saturday Night Special

"Are you sure you want to go?" Donna asked for the seventh time. It'd gotten old by the third. Now, it was just annoying. "Because there are a million other places to eat around here and I really don't think –"

"Can it Donna," Jackie commanded, hands on hips with indignation. "Look, I've heard you talk about The Hub for… well, forever! So we are going to The Hub. Simple as that." Her face darkened slightly, a determined look on it. "And, no, I don't care if Steven is there. He can go to hell for all I care." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Honestly, I just can't sit at home on a Saturday night and look this good. It'd be a crime." She smirked lightly at Donna before bouncing out the door. "So let's go already!"

Rolling her eyes, Donna followed her friend. "Fine! But don't say I didn't give you options, okay? And, remember, this isn't Madison…" Not that it mattered much. Jackie would've never been anywhere remotely similar to The Hub before in Madison or otherwise. This was the girl who'd once told her, 'Fast food is for poor people,' after all. An eatery like this place would just insult her, which was why it was so weird that it was her idea in the first place.

Jackie scoffed and gave her friend a look. "As if I could forget," she replied disdainfully. Shaking her head in the way that best accented her beautiful hair, she headed straight for the entrance.

Donna hurried to follow her, hoping to prevent any kind of… culture shock. Whether it would be for Jackie or the patrons of The Hub, she wasn't certain yet. Stepping inside, she nearly tripped over her friend who'd stopped to observe the scene with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Jackie it was. Donna looked at her, then around the room, then at her again. She seemed positively awed. It was… well, it was actually a bit unnerving, really.

"Donna," she said in a hushed voice, pulling the redhead closer to her, "they're just… hanging out. All of them. Together." The hanging out itself was not particularly remarkable, even people of Jackie's class and caliber were known to frequent establishments like this one, though much more upscale and posh, with friends and dates. But there was never such a… melding of the cliques. Here there were geeks and jocks and burn outs and… everyone around their age converging in one place. It was… amazing.

Jackie jumped slightly at the sound of a bell ringing and someone crying a loud, "ORDER UP!" from the window thingy. The spell lost, Jackie straightened and turned her expression to one of casual disinterest. Amazing as it was, they were still poor people from Point Place. No need for them to know she cared. At all. She tipped her nose up ever so slightly, just like Mother had taught her, and sauntered over to the nearest, cleanest empty table. She was aware of the eyes following her but she made a point to ignore them all. It added to her air of mystique while informing them she was out of their league.

Watching Jackie was, to Donna, like watching a master actress at work. One moment she was completely enraptured with… something about The Hub and the next she'd pulled her princess face on. It would actually be rather remarkable if it weren't so revolting. Instead of following her friend, she headed for the window and placed an order for two fries and two sodas, one diet as per the princess's preference. Food and drink in hand, she then headed for the table that half of the teenagers seemed completely enthralled by. The male half, that was. Typical.

Donna gave Jackie a look, which her friend returned defiantly, as she placed the diet drink and one of the baskets of fries in front of her. Then she rolled her eyes. "What?" Jackie asked innocently, demurely sipping her straw through her soda. Donna rolled her eyes again. "Oh, whatever. Can I help it if my beauty has turned them into drooling masses of hormones?" She smiled, obviously quite satisfied with herself. "I'm sure it's not every day a Madison elite graces their presences."

Unable to help herself, Donna snorted. Luckily, she wasn't drinking her soda when she did it. "Whatever you say Jackie," she replied, shaking her head. She might've said more, except two of the jocks she'd known at Point Place High School decided to invite themselves to join the girls.

"Hey ladies," a tall, blonde haired blockhead of a football player greeted, running his hand through his hair in a manner he must've thought quite attractive. Both girls felt rather repulsed by the display, though for different reasons. "What're two groovy gals such as yourselves doing alone on a Saturday night?" He smiled a winning smile. "Besides waiting for me, that is."

The other boy, a bit shorter and stockier with a mop of brown hair on his head and a dimwitted expression on his face, elbowed the first one. "Us, man," he hissed with an annoyed expression on his face. The first boy glared at him and he dropped it, turning to look at the girls again. "I'm Brick," he told them dumbly. "And this is Chip." He started to sit down before remembering his manners (obviously quite a feat for him). "Can we join you?"

Donna was prepared to put them in their place but Jackie's mouth was too quick for her. "Actually," Jackie's lip curled slightly as she looked at them, "we're waiting for our boyfriends to join us." Donna raised her eyebrows at the other girl, surprised she hadn't wanted to flirt while the boys blinked at her. That was positively… un-Jackie-like. "So, if you wouldn't mind leaving now…?" They still didn't move and she sighed with frustration. "Otherwise, when they come, they'll beat you up." The duo laughed at that comment, obviously unconvinced. "Oh would you just get lost!" she snapped, patience finally lost.

"Oh, come on baby," the one named Chip soothed, putting an arm around Jackie's shoulders, "you know you don't really want us to go…" Brick started to do the same but the look Donna gave him told him if he did, she'd break his arm. And he'd known Pinciotti in high school – she could do it, man. Chip had no such reservations. His girl might be feisty but she was also tiny. He could take her, no problem. "Don't you want to have a good time…?" He leered at her.

Disgusted, Jackie pushed his arm off her and stood up, hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. "Look, I know I'm hotter than all the other girls in here," Donna raised her eyebrows again, suppressing a laugh – leave it to Jackie to compliment herself while she was offended, "but that doesn't give you the right to put your arms all over me." Honestly, she'd just wanted one night with her friend. Why was that too much to ask? "I told you to go away!" Chip looked amused and she glared at him. Hard. Then kicked him in the shin, even harder.

Chip leapt away, clutching his leg in pain. "Ow! Fuck!" he yelped, raising his hand as if to slap her. Only a larger person seemed to have stepped in front of her while he was distracted. Looking up, he saw some guy he vaguely remembered as being a burn out stoner back in high school. Hyde or something like that. He wasn't glaring at Chip, he didn't even look upset. He just stood there impassively. "Move man," Chip ordered angrily. "Someone's gotta put that bitch in her place."

Sighing, Hyde shook his head lightly. "Oh no," he said in an emotionless tone, his expression never changing. He glanced at the ground for a beat, and then socked Chip square in the jaw. The boy went down like the dead weight he was and Brick, taking one look at Hyde, made a hasty retreat back to the jock table. Hyde rubbed his hand, shaking his head again. Always the dumb ones, man…

Eric, who'd been grabbing a corndog, blinked at the scene before him as he sidled up next to Donna and sat down. "Uh… why is there a guy passed out in front of Hyde?" he asked his girlfriend with a confused expression on his face. "We haven't even been here for five minutes yet, man."

Wordlessly, Donna just pointed to Jackie who was smiling up at Hyde like he was Donny Osmond. She opened her mouth but Hyde, who'd turned away from the doofus on the floor, cut her off. "Don't say it." She opened her mouth again. "I mean it. Don't say a word." She tried one more time but he held up his hands. "Not one word." Still smiling, she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Okay, let's not do that, either…"

Ignoring him, she continued smiling up at him adoringly. He was like an afro-wearing, pork chop sideburned prince! "Thank you, Steven," she said quietly, a faint blush on her cheeks. No one had ever rescued her before. Not even Michael and he was supposed to be her fiancé! She felt like such a damsel… it was awesome. Not that she usually needed rescuing but these hicks were apparently more persistent then the men of Madison.

"Whatever," Hyde muttered, an uncomfortable look on his face. He gave the room a quick once over, noting the angry jocks in one corner and the irritated management in another. "I think maybe we should get out of here…" Eric and Donna nodded, standing quickly and the four of them left without another word. Hyde and Jackie both stepped on Chip's limp form on their way out, the latter with the heel of her tall boots. He deserved it at least that much.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Would you two please shut up!" Donna's cry cut through the bickering and the two parties turn to look at her with blank expressions on their faces. She glared at them as they continued to stare blankly at her. Finally, she threw her hands up in defeat, turned around again and leaned into her boyfriend's arm. If only there was some kind of divider between the front seat and the back in the Vista Cruiser. That'd be awesome. And then she wouldn't have had to listen to Hyde and Jackie argue about, well, everything since they'd arrived at the drive in. And Donna was left asking herself one, very important question: What happened to the blessed silence after The Hub!

The look on Donna's face forced her beau to suppress a sigh. Well, this sucked. He wasn't going to get any action at this rate. It was time to… take action of his own! Yeah! Like Luke would've if anyone got in the way of his love for Leia. Totally! "Yeah!" he agreed glancing back at them over his shoulder. "We're trying to enjoy this movie! And you two are… are… totally ruining the mood!" Okay, so it was more of a whine, really. But, well, whatever. What'd they really expect from Eric Foreman?

Jackie shot Eric a funny look (he was a bit of weirdo) then returned to glaring at Hyde. "Come on Steven," she encouraged in her sweetest voice. "You know you want to go get me some popcorn…" She looked up at him with a pout on her face and big doe eyes. "Please?" She bit her lip in a carefully calculated move. "Pretty please?" Sticking her lower lip out slightly, she bowed her head even lower and looked up at him with doe eyes. "With sugar on top…"

An incredulous look on his face (because there was no way this broad was serious); Hyde shook his head at her. "No," he said in a definitive voice. He ignored her further attempts to pout, holding his hand up. "And quit calling me Steven. It's Hyde. Hyyyyyyyddddddde. Say it with me now." He imitated a conductor with his right hand, patronizingly. "Hyde."

The pout was gone from Jackie's face, replaced by an expression that told everyone she clearly thought he'd grown a second (well, technically, third) head. She opened her mouth to object but one withering look from Donna told her she better not. In fact, maybe it was time to leave the two lovebirds alone and let them get a bit more alone time. She didn't want to be worrying for her life every time she closed her eyes, after all. "Oh give it up Steven," she replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind her as she slid out of the Vista Cruiser. "Come with me, then," she demanded. He looked ready to argue, so she cut him off at the pass. "I don't know the way."

Hyde didn't miss the meaningful look in her eyes or her slight nod toward the car, but he still rolled his eyes at her. Stupid drama queen. They wouldn't even be in this mess if she'd kept her fat trap shut. Hell, he wouldn't have gotten into half the crap he'd gotten into this weekend if she could do that. But that seemed to be asking far too much where Jackie Burkhart was concerned. "Fine," he snapped, dropping her hand and taking fast steps toward the refreshments stand, not bothering to wait for her to follow. Honestly, he kind of hoped she wouldn't.

Wisely choosing not to say anything more at that juncture, Jackie's small legs struggled to keep up with Hyde's longer strides. Ugh! If she sweated because of him, she was so totally going to… to… kick him in the shins! Yeah. Then he'd be sorry. But, maybe this one time, she'd give him a pass. Since, well… he had helped her out at The Hub earlier. And, even though their truce had already degenerated back into… whatever it'd been before, she could still appreciate the fact that he'd saved her twice now. Even if he was just a poor, scruffy bartender. (Who'd made her cry but that was officially a fluke in her mind.)

Attitude firmly in place, she marched after him with a bit more spring in her step. "I want Milk Duds, popcorn with butter and a diet soda," Jackie informed Hyde when they arrived at the stand. She handed him a ten dollar bill and smiled winningly at her would-be knight. "No sense in us both waiting in line, right?" Without batting an eyelash or waiting for a reply, she headed for the bathroom. To powder her nose, if anybody asked.

He didn't. Instead, he watched her go with obvious annoyance before taking her money and doing what she'd said. Not because she'd said it or had a good point, no. He did it because he wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible. And, as appealing as it would be to ditch the rich bitch (heh), Donna would definitely kick his ass. Red heads, man. There was no messing with 'em. Not if you wanted to walk away unscathed, anyway.

"Can I help you?" the high school aged cashier asked in a bored tone, bringing him from his reverie. He could remember a time when his reveries about Donna weren't violence-related. Man, that had been a long time ago. The girl snapped her gum, as she looked at him expectantly.

Hyde glanced at the menu, then the ten dollars he was holding, and then the girl again. Linda, her tag said. "Uh, yeah. Can I get Milk Duds, a small popcorn with butter and a diet cola?" He smirked lightly. "And feel free to spit in any of that." Another glance at the menu and he added, "Oh and a hot dog and a regular soda. But don't spit on those, please. They're for me."

The girl Linda nodded, a knowing look on her face. Hyde definitely didn't like that look. "Argument with the little woman?" she asked rhetorically as she scurried about to prepare his order. Hyde's eyes narrowed in confusion then, after understanding dawned, widened with horror. "Can't say I blame you, looked bossy for such a small thing." She shook her head sympathetically.

Blinking, he tried to decide how many times this Linda chick must've been dropped on her head as a child. "Not… mine…" Hyde managed to choke out around his mortification. "She's just… a friend of a friend." At least once removed. Maybe ditching her wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Then she'd just be a friend of a friend of a friend…

Speak of the devil, quite possibly literally as far as Hyde was concerned, Jackie sidled up to him at just that moment. "Are those mine?" she asked with a smile. "Great. Thanks Steven." She gave him an awkward side hug, which he tried to lean out of as best he could. (Apparently Donna wasn't the only chick with freakish strength around here.) Plucking her items up, she smiled at both Hyde and the cashier. "Well, pay the girl already," she commented as if he was incredibly dim. "There are other people waiting, you know."

Hyde shot her an irritated look before handing a smug Linda her money and picking up his hot dog. Without any regard for Jackie, he headed for the condiments. She followed like that stupid neighborhood dog that just wouldn't get lost. "New rule," he told her tersely. "You don't touch me. At all. Unless absolutely necessary." He stared her down. "You don't talk, either." Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it? She looked confused and maybe a little hurt but he really didn't give a crap. Stupid cashier girl. Stupid Jackie. Stupid Donna and Foreman needing 'alone time'. (God, the mental image.) He officially couldn't wait for this weekend to be over.

"Fine," she snapped at him after a long pause. "I was just trying to… whatever. I don't know why I bother." She glared at him. "I mean, you made me cry." She suddenly kicked him in the shin. "Jerk!" Her purchases still in hand, she took off back for the car. She didn't need his help. She didn't need anyone's help. She was Jackie Burkhart for God's sake. She had everything she could ever need, want or desire… at least, on the superficial level. And, if Mother had taught her anything (besides the best brands of vodka); it was that that was the only important level. God. Steven Hyde could just… just… jump off a cliff for all she cared! And she hoped he did, too.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't. He limped back to the car a few minutes later, still swearing under his breath. Short thing could kick too, damn her. Jackie was sure Hyde would yell at her or even try to hit her back but all he did was brush past her and slide into the back seat again. She eventually followed suit, though not without a few nervous but very angry glances in his direction. The two of them seethed together in a silence filled with enough tension to cut with a knife for the rest of the movie. In the front seat, Donna and Eric were blissfully oblivious to their presence… or anything else.

To be continued…

Don't forget to drop me a line! I'm gonna need something to look forward too after the vacation of dooooom…