Chapter 8

Hey, guys thanks for all the reviews and good advice. Just wanted to make it clear the reference to The Nutty Professor in Chapter 7 was to the original Jerry Lewis version, not the Eddie Murphy remake. In the original, Lewis is transformed from a geeky professor into the swinging musician, Buddy Love, not unlike our "squarish" heroine's dilemma.

"…so everyone give it up for the farewell performance of That Band with the Hot Chick! Woohoo!" cheered the manager of the Juice Box, prompting a frenzy of applause and appreciative catcalls from the audience. The three male members of the Band grinned their pleasure at the response, only the face of the female drummer remaining inscrutable. Her lack of emotion caused Hyde's heart to miss a beat.

She has the most perfect zen I've ever seen, he thought. As the band hurtled into "No Time at All" by the Police, his mind wandered into fantasies of what he could do to break the cool ice of her expression. As most of these fantasies ended in the removal of all her clothing, he was feeling less than zen by the end of the performance.

"Man, I could really use some circle time right about now," he admitted to Eric.

"Why, is your heart all a-flutter at the thought of meeting your lady-love?" Eric ribbed. Hyde gave him a cold look.

"You challenging Kelso for the title of King of the Morons, Foreman? Have you ever seen me get bent out of shape over a girl before?"

"Well, not before - "

"Right, and you never will. Jumping to attention when a chick walks past is your area of expertise. Me, I'm the one that makes them jump – usually on me."

"Sure, you're a regular Fonzie," Eric agreed sarcastically. "So you wouldn't be fazed at all if I were to tell you that Blue was standing right behind you." As Eric said this he seemed to be making eye contact with someone over Hyde's shoulder.

"What? She's here?" Hyde yelped, spinning around frantically to find nothing but air. Eric cracked up at his friend's reaction, so overcome he could not even stop when Hyde turned to him with lowering brow and clenched fists.

"Oh, you think that's funny, man? Forget the circle, what I really need is to punch out my stress on your gormless face." Eric started to panic when Hyde grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Wait, Hyde – you don't want to hit me in front of Blue," Eric cried, looking over Hyde's shoulder.

"You think I'm falling for that again, Foreman? Now you're just being insulting."

"Help me," Eric said in a choked voice.

"If you're looking for work as a bouncer, you might want to wait until the manager's watching before you punch your friend," a husky voice said over Hyde's shoulder. His body stilled and his eyes went wide at these words. Eric took the opportunity to detach himself from Hyde's fist and smile in appreciation at his rescuer.

"Thanks, miss," he said, straightening his collar. "You have great timing. It's no wonder you're such an amazing drummer." The lovely blonde acknowledged Eric's compliment with the merest suggestion of an uptilting of the corner of her mouth. Otherwise she stood before the two boys, clad in her cap and dark glasses, as distant and unreachable as Antarctica. Eric found her stillness unnerving and yet oddly familiar. Who did this girl remind him of?

Hyde recovered from his 'fear or flight' instinct and turned to face this girl who had burrowed her way into his thoughts from the moment he first saw her. He compensated for his former lack of control by affecting a slouching stance, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," he said in a bored voice. Jackie was mentally dancing a triumphant jig at his zen which was so obviously forced. Okay, Steven, she thought. I'll see your boredom and raise you indifference.

"Hey," she replied.

Of course, Eric thought in enlightenment. That's who she reminds me of – Hyde! Chuckling, Eric excused himself, although it is doubtful either Hyde or Blue noticed him. Dark glasses were searching dark glasses, but there were no windows to the soul open for business with these two.

The staring match had continued silently for about two minutes when Blue said "So does this tactic usually work?"

"What tactic?

"The whole brooding-silence-until-the-other-person-gets-nervous-and-speaks-first tactic."

Hyde smirked. "Well, you did speak first. Do I make you nervous?"

"No," Jackie lied convincingly. "I don't get nervous." Her deadpan delivery was so convincing that Hyde started to feel kind of nervous himself. He was used to being the most enigmatic person in the conversation but now he felt outgunned.

"So, why do they call you Blue?" Hyde asked. "Let me guess, it's your eye colour, right?" He was suddenly very curious to have her remove the dark glasses.

"No," she responded. "It's the colour of the blanket I was wrapped in when I was left on the doorstep of an orphanage in New York City." Blue shrugged. "I guess the matron didn't have much imagination." Ha! Try and top that Mr I'm-so-special-because-I-had-a-rotten-childhood.

"Wow!" Hyde was impressed. "You're from New York?"

"Not really. I don't really have one place that lays claim to me. I've been making my way through America's big cities since I ran away from the Home at the age of 10 with nothing but a pair of drumsticks and a sense of adventure."

"No kidding? You lived on the streets when you were 10? Didn't you have to go to school?"

"School?" Blue repeated derisively. "School is for drones, all doing what they're told by the Man, being brainwashed by teachers in cahoots with the government until all the original thought is stamped out of their grey little minds." Jackie was glad she had paid attention to some of Hyde's rants when he was stoned; it was providing excellent material.

"Whoa, it's like you're reading my mind," Hyde said. As Hyde never remembered what he said when he was smoking, it was like Blue's words were ripped from his own private musings.

"So what do you do?" Blue asked.

"Oh, I uh work in a photo shop."

"Full time?"

"No, after…"

"School?"

"Hey, don't go judging me, woman," Hyde said on the defensive. "It's not my choice – damn government is making me."

"Making you?" Blue questioned, wrinkling her nose in feigned confusion. "Do you mean to say – you're a minor?"

"Well – yeah."

Now was Jackie's big moment, her vengeance on Hyde for that scene in the Hub that had begun this tale. "I had no idea – Jackie never told me your age. Look, I don't mean to step on your teenage crush but – well, you're just too young for me."

"What?" Hyde roared in outrage.

Jackie shook her head in regret. "Don't get upset, I'm just used to dating real men. In fact, being 21 and all, if anything were to… er… happen between you and me I could be locked up for statutory rape."

Hyde could not believe what he was hearing. No girl had ever told him he wasn't mature enough for her. Not clean enough, not legal enough, not rich enough, sure, but he had always maintained an aura of being older and wiser than his peers.

"Plus there's something about you that screams small town white boy," Jackie continued, rubbing a thoughtful finger against her chin. "I'm sorry, kid, but you and I, don't have anything in common. You're, like, a 'burb. A white bread. You're just too square for me."

Jackie turned away from Hyde before he could see the triumphant grin break through. Now she had both her revenge on Steven and had ensured the safety of her secret; after a rejection like that, he would not be coming back for more. This was why she was caught completely by surprise when he grabbed her from behind by her forearm. With a surprised squawk she fell backwards into his arms and found herself gazing up into his ticked-off face.

"You think I'm not mature enough, do you? Have any of the real men you've dated ever kissed you like this?" Before she could protest, he had covered her lips with his in a bruising kiss meant to conquer. However, there was something about the silken smoothness of her skin and the faint scent of strawberries mixed with perspiration that gentled his kiss until, against her own better judgment, Jackie's mouth shyly opened to grant him access. That was when it became an epic kiss, one of those key events that replay themselves when you face death. By the time Hyde had finished, both he and his tormenter were breathless and he knew that the balance of power had shifted between them, that for those few minutes of passion Blue had been his entirely.

He noticed she still had her dark glasses on and reached out to take them off.