Hey, everyone, this is the first story I've written and published also I'm sorry if it's too long I just got carried away with then writing, and if any of the characters seem occ I'm still trying to get the hang of that. Also, I'm dyslexic so please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes. I hope everyone enjoys the store. bye~
Jackie had been on the road for about 6 months now and honestly, she had never pictured herself as the traveling type, she'd imagined herself settling down, getting a rich handsome husband, popping out a couple of kids, and live the happy American dream. At least that's what her mother and father wanted for her and had gone to great lengths to install that want into her.
At some point, she thought she had it all when she was with Michael, a cute and popular boyfriend, who did everything she said and was almost completely devoted to her in all ways but one. He had cheated on her with any skank that came into his line of sight, and she always forgave him thinking that this was normal and that one day he would become perfect husband material. But at some point, a person could only forgive so many times before they understand that sometimes a person never changes. So after Michael had run off to California, she was finally done with him and had finally stopped deluding herself with little fairytale fantasies of what life would be like if she and Michael got married.
She still got shivers every time she remembered he tried to propose to her at the Formans anniversary.
Then Steven Hyde came along, and then everything went to shit.
When she and Steven had started 'their fling' they thought it was just that, a fling, but somehow over the summer, that feeling of lust turned into love, well maybe not love but something very close to it that she had yet to put a name to.
She had fallen for him like really fallen. Sometimes she would catch him gazing lovingly at her and that made her think he had fallen too. But now she had finally realized that she was nothing more than an ego boost to him or a sexual convenience, at least that's what she told herself anyway. Because she honestly couldn't think of another reason as to why he would stay with her for a better part of two years only to leave her for a two pit stripper with fake blonde hair and even faker boobs.
She tried not to think about their relationship because as much as she hates to admit it, it still breaks her heart. After all, a small part of her was still very much in love with Steven Hyde. She wasn't the type to turn her feeling off at the flip of a switch, she needs time and space to heal from that awful breakup.
That is also part of why she and Fez had 'broken up' so to speak. She had never fully accepted what they had as a 'relationship', but the major reason as to why they had technically broken up is because of 'drum roll please' Laurie Forman! If you guessed it right you win a prize.
That bitch had 'stolen' another one of Jackie's boyfriends, what had happened was three months after new years Laurie had returned not long after Eric got back from Africa, she had informed them that she had been in Mexico, where she had been hired as a stripper, which wasn't surprising at all. When she returned, she had somehow become nastier than she was before, her burns were meaner and she even teamed up with Hyde to make Jackie's life even more difficult but when she had found Jackie and Fez all hell broke loose.
It was constant flirting from her end and it sometimes came from Fez. They had many MANY fights about this, but the last big blow out they had was coincidentally on the day Jackie had decided to get the hell out of point place.
It was about two in the afternoon when Jackie finally got off her shift at the salon. She and Fez had been together for four months now and while the first three were ok the fourth one was a disaster ever since Laurie Forman came rushing back into their lives like a hurricane.
While the Formans were happy to see their daughter alive and well and wasn't pregnant, they knew it was time to stop babying her and time to start handing out discipline. Something they realized, they should have been doing all along.
So they decided she was not allowed to move back into the house and had to find a place of her own. Fez feeling somewhat sorry for his ex-wife offered her to stay with them despite the many objections from Jackie, Laurie moved in a week later with a smug smile on her face.
If you thought she was a bitch before well now she's up to her old tricks and games again. She went from bitchy and petty to mean and cruel and she had picked her next victim for her little game, can you guess who?
"I just can't do it any more Fez," Jackie said frustrated out of her mind
"It won't be long before she's gone Jackie, plus she's not that bad," Fez said as he tried to comfort his girlfriend.
"Of course! you'd say that, I mean all she does is flirt with you, walk around in her underwear only when you're at home, and is a constant ego boost to you, with all 'her oh Fez you're so handsome' and 'oh Fez you're so strong' and let's not forget 'Fez you're an amazing boyfriend what are you doing with Jackie'!. Jackie said completely outraged with the situation and for having this fucking conversion again.
"Oh for god sake, we are not having this conversion again Jackie, I mean Hyde and Kelso told me you could get jealous but this is ridiculous," Fez exclaimed, completely tired of having this conversation again. How many times does a guy have to tell his girl that their other girl roommate isn't hitting on him and sure Jackie is right about Laurie walking around in her underwear but she's just confident in her skin and who is Fez to say that she can't be?
"Wait, what do you mean Hyde and Kelso said I could get Jealous? Have you been talking to them about us, I told you how uncomfortable that makes me, why would you do that!?" Jackie screeched.
"UH made because their my friends, made because Fez is a person that's allowed to talk to other people, and it's because my girlfriend is a bitch and I need to get my frustrations out somehow!" Fez yelled out in frustration and anger.
Jackie gasp was completely shocked by what Fez had said he had never called her that before. Fez finally realizing what he said wanted to take back the words but was all of a sudden so tired of having the same fight and talks decided to ignore it and instead said….
"Look, Jackie, we can talk about this later you're going to be later for work," Fez said
Jackie looked at the clock, she was running late and wanted to get another lecture from the boss. She decided it was best to leave now.
Jackie sighed and said "Ok Fez but this issue really needs to be sorted out, so later can we please talk about this later without the screaming and the name-calling". Jackie said with a tired and somewhat bitter tone.
Fez nodded his head and went back to his room while Jackie went to work.
Jackie grimaced at the memory, that was their least and nastiest fight. Now that Jackie was home she was hoping to get this issue resolved and kick Laurie's ass to the curb.
As she was about to open the door, she heard some weird noises like low grunting and furniture….moving? Thinking Laurie was rearranging her living room or worse her bedroom the last thing she needed was Laurie getting skanky germs on her stuff! She burst into the apartment ready for a fight but was met with the low grunting sounds again only to find them emerging from her so-called boyfriend's room. Jackie rolled her eyes and scold herself, she should have known it was Fez making those sounds, she giggled as she thought how paranoid she was and all it was, was Fez enjoying his 'happy hour' as she turned around to go to her room she heard something that made her heart stop. It was a female voice. And she knew whose voice it was…... Laurie fucking Forman. THAT SLUT!
Jackie was outraged. She was being cheated on again and by Fez of all people. As she stormed over to his door, ready to confront him, she managed to calm herself slightly and pecked her head around the door, she saw Fez and Laurie going at it like rabbits that just got out of jail.
Then Jackie didn't have the energy to confront them. All she had the energy to do was shut the door and run out of the apartment.
Jackie had been driving around aimlessly for a few hours now and wondering where her life went wrong. She was once at the top of the pyramid and now she was sweeping hair at a salon that she hated, had been cheated on again, and had practically no friends. She doesn't even count Donna as a friend anymore, she showed her true colours when sam showed up, and at the sleepover, she had organized between herself, sam, and Jackie. And ever since then she had been nothing but nasty to Jackie.
After driving around for another little while she decided it was time to face the music but not wanting to go back to the apartment yet she went to the Forman. So she pulled up to their driveway and started to head down to the basement.
When she got to the last step and put her hand on the door nod, and then she heard them…
"Man Fez, I can't believe you nailed Laurie," said Hyde laughing "what's that, three guys that cheated on Jackie," Hyde said not only laughing but also showing no signs of sympathy.
"Man that is such a good burn," said Kelso in his normal idiotic way.
"Well, that's just great Fez, now when Jackie finds out I'm the one who is going to have to clean up this mess, and I have better things to do," Donna said extremely pissed off not because Fez cheated on Jackie but because it inconvenienced her.
"Yeah that sucks for you big D you know considering Jackie has no other friends" Hyde sneered.
"You know I would feel bad for doing it but Jackie has been acting like such a bitch lately and has refused to fulfill Fez's needs," Fez said angrily.
Before anything else could be said she heard Mrs. Forman call them.
"Kids, can you please come up, It's party time" Mrs. Forman yelled excitedly.
'Party' Jackie said to herself 'what party?'.
As she headed up the staircase that leads to the driveway she saw them all walking into the living and she saw there hanging on the wall was a banner saying 'welcome home Laurie'.
She snapped
That was it.
Jackie had enough of this bullshit, if they didn't want her around then she was leaving and never looking back.
No more crying over lost friendship or failed relationships. She was done.
Jackie remembers exactly what she did after that. She went home, got all her clothes, all her hair products, and basically everything else that she brought into that apartment bar the furniture, and stuffed it all into her car. She left one note there saying 'Goodbye, you assholes ps Fez I know what you did with skankarella, or does she prefer to be called whorey Laurie'.
Now it's six months later and she's surprisingly doing much. When she left she swore to herself that wouldn't think of the people back in point place ever again and while she has thought of them sometimes, it becomes a lot less frequent with time. She's also found that she's changed a lot personally. She doesn't feel the need to be overly catty or bitchy to people and finds that she's a lot calmer and relaxed, going with the flow so to speak. But that doesn't mean she's become less of a snob.
Jackie had been to nearly all the surrounding states of Wisconsin and had been living off of savings but now Jackie has only realized that her funds are low like really low. Jackie finds herself in a very small town called Garrison with a population of 512.
She arrives in the town at about 6 AM, as she drives through the town, she sees a run-down old bar named Maggies with a help wanted sign in the window, so she parked her car outside, goes in, and walks up to the lady behind the bar and says….
"Hey, look I'm just going to be blunt and say I'm normally not caught dead in places like these, but I'm really desperate and need a job. The sign outside says you need my help, so is there a manager I can talk to or something?". Jackie said in a somewhat rushed and desperate
The lady looks somewhat offended but also a little amused by Jackie's desperate tone, she didn't look like someone who was strapped for cash, In fact, she looked really young around 19 or 20. She had, her raven hair curled perfectly, her make-up done to a tee and she was certainly dressed to impress, in knee-length leather boots, black stocking, a high waist black skirt, and a clearly expensive red off-the-shoulder sweater, and all of this to accommodated by a very pretty face with doll-like features, she had big mismatched eyes one brown, one blue, full pouty lips, high cheekbones.
The woman looked her up and down, raised her eyebrow, smirked, and said...
"What in the hell makes you think ANYONE is gonna hire you with that attitude. Also, do you even have the qualifications to work at a bar?" The lady said in a thick southern accent. She looked to be in her late 50s or early 60s, her brown hair was short and curly and she had brown eyes and thin lips. She had on a pair of black Jean's, a denim shirt jacket, and a lilac tee-shirt that hung loosely around her body. In all honesty, she looked a little bit like a hippie but she also didn't look like the type to take shit from anyone.
"Oh please," Jackie said offended, as she thought who wouldn't want to hire her. "Firstly it's a bar, what 'qualifications' could I possibly need to-
"ok, I'm gonna stop you right there," The woman said interrupting Jackie. "I'm on the verge of kicking your ass out of here. So I would like to know your name before I do that." She said in a very falsely sweet voice.
Jackie was taken aback, she was always so used to the 'customer is always right' motto. When she worked in the salon, the motto was practically engraved in her mind. Her mother had also taught her to expect no less from employees or any kind of staff for that matter because their "basically our servants Jackie, we just don't have to pay them" her mother always said, to say that warped her young mind on how to treat people equally would be an understatement.
Her eyes widened a bit as she stammered out her reply, a little caught off guard by the woman's bluntness "O-oh I'm Jackie, Jackie Burkhart" Jackie said regaining her confidence "And I'm sorry if I came on a little strong there, I just haven't gotten the hang of this 'job thing' yet. So what's your name." Jackie asked curiously.
The woman eyed Jackie curiously before giving her an answer.
"Maggie Bennett and I are the owner of this bar".
After this exchange, the two women quickly became acquainted with each other, if not a little stand-offish. Jackie had learned that Maggie had been the owner of the bar for over 20 years which blew her mind but also that she was going through some marital issues and had two grown sons. Maggie had found out that Jackie was on something of a self-discovery journey (something that Maggie envied) because of troubles back home. She had also learned that Jackie came from money and didn't have a lot of job experience. This had helped Maggie in her decision in whether or not to hire Jackie but finally concluded...
"well kid, you're only 21, have had just three short job experiences, and are pretty clueless when it comes to any manual labor other than fixing a car surprisingly," Maggie said in a toneless voice other than a light surprised tone at the end. which only made Jackie slightly less nervous. She knew she wasn't that experience but what she lacked in that she gained in determination.
Jackie looked at Maggie visibly worried now, even though she tried to calm herself down, she was afraid that Maggie was going to laugh her out of the building.
"Well... you've got the job!" Maggie exclaimed happily but before she could anything else out, she had an arm full of Jackie Burkhart squealing happily and hugging the life out of her.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Jackie squealed gleefully and surprisingly she was really fucking excited about this job. Because to her, this will be her first job out in the real world, and yes you could argue that the cheese palace, the salon, and working for that god awful woman whose name shall not be spoken (A/N purely because I forget it), as real jobs but Jackie didn't because they were in that stupid small town...and the fact that she barely lasted a month at any of them.
So she was excited about this new opportunity, this new chance to make something of herself, to use her experience out in the real- '' wait, I have very little experience in these types of things, you even said it yourself! why are you even hiring me".Jackie said curiously and a little self consciously, that was something new to her.
"Well a number of reasons first one would probably be because you know how to make some pretty complicated drinks'' That's right, Jackie remember telling her that she knew how to make a lot of different drinks, not only from years of watching her own mother make 'special smoothies' but also from watching Mrs. Forman make all different drinks." And well...I'm low on staff and as long as you promise to not drink any of the alcohol, you can work here." Maggie said a little sheepish.
"Oh ok, well then I promise not to disappoint you and you don't have to worry about me drinking on the job, I'm more of a smoker than a drinker," Jackie said reassuringly "So when do I start."
"Right now," Maggie said "But it's only 8 AM don't bar's usually open at like 6 or 7 PM," Jackie asked confusingly.
"Oh, honey not in this town, alcohol is kinda the only thing they have," Maggie said in a tone that was meant to sound jokingly, but something told Jackie that she was serious.
So for the next few hours, Jackie worked as a bartender. She met all kinds of different people including some of the regulars. But it wasn't until 6 PM when Jackie met the rest of the Bennett family.
Jackie had looked up from her place at the bar and saw three men walk in. The first one was an old man who looked to be in his 70s with a full head of white hair and a white mustache, a khaki green button-up shirt, and a pair of blue jeans with muddy boots. He had remained with Mr. Forman on account of him having a natural scowl on his face. The second man was tall and build, his face was very sculpted with refined features such as a built jawline, he had brown feathered hair and a backward red cap on, a blue and red check shirt with a grey shirt underneath, black jeans, and a pair of muddy uggs?...what the hell?. He reminded her of Kelso due to the goofy look on his face and the build of his body. The third man had her doing a double-take, he looked so much like steven it was almost as if he was right there. He had a full head of curly hair (although a lot tamer than Stevens) and a bushy beard with blue eyes, he had a light brown leather jacket with a red shirt on, navy blue jeans, with a pair of muddy cowboy boots? Seriously did these men not have any sense of fashion.
"Seriously I can't even shut a truck door right," the second man said flabbergasted. "I'm sure you could, why you choose not to is beyond me" the first man replied patronizingly.
Judging by the tone of the conversation Jackie could only assume they were having a fight, she withheld a small giggle at the old man, he reminded her so much of Red Forman that she was waiting for a 'Dumbass' or a 'foot up the ass' comment. Also, both men had thick southern accents to them, like Maggie so she assumed they were from around here.
That was when Steven looked alike said " Hey, I'm gonna hit the bar. But in case you guys run out of things to fight about.." He paused as if he were about to reveal something important. "Colt's Jean's cost 85 bucks," He said as he took his leave. His voice sounded almost like Steven's just older and had a southern accent to it.
As Jackie saw him approaching the bar she turned around and pretended to not have been eavesdropping on their conversation.
