Hyde sat in the El Camino watching streams of badly dressed teenagers filter into the school gymnasium. It was 7 o'clock at night, on Christmas Eve no less, therefore he was under no obligation to be anywhere near school premises. But yet here he was.
Because of her.
"This better not take long," he said, wishing like hell he had a lazy beer stashed under the seat.
"It'll take as long as it takes."
"Jackie, you know I'm on thin ice with the Formans, I gotta get back to the party before they start wonderin' where I am."
"Yes, Steven, I know all that and I promise you we'll be there within the hour. This won't take long so stop worrying your pretty little head about it."
Hyde scoffed before reaching under his seat to check for certain that there were no cans or bottles rattling around under there. A normal school day sober was bad enough so he wasn't sure he could make it through even ten minutes of a school dance completely substance free. Especially when that school dance would be the first time Jackie's pregnancy and his impending fatherhood would be on full display. When all his fingertips found was old burger wrappers and an empty cigarette packet he sighed and returned to tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
"This is gonna blow," he mumbled in resignation.
Jackie smiled and smoothed her hand along his forearm. "Blow? Oh I don't think so," she drawled. "Nothing is more fun than watching someone get their comeuppance, Steven. Especially when that someone is foreign with a great, big, fat, mouth."
Hyde chuckled at Jackie's determination to bring down Fez. "But haven't you heard that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind? " he asked, looking back at the gymnasium wondering just what Jackie had in store for their friend.
"And haven't you heard that revenge is a dish best served publicly?" Jackie winked just as a car pulled up next to them, it's headlights illuminating the wicked glint in her eye. "Great! They're here!" she said, picking up her purse from the seat and moving to open the door. "Come on, Steven."
The sight of Eric, Donna and Kelso stepping out of the Vista Cruiser relaxed Hyde a little. At least now if he was going down for missing Kitty's party he was going down with friends.
"How'd you rope them into your plan?" he asked, surprised that she'd managed to hatch a revenge plot and convince their unsocial friends to be a part of it in the space of 20 minutes.
Jackie shrugged. "Easy, I'm pregnant, beautiful, and have a shrill voice that commands attention. How could they say no?"
"Very true." Hyde nodded in agreement. The three reasons she had given were the very reasons he was currently on school grounds when he wasn't actually obligated to be. Donna and Kelso wouldn't have stood a chance against her. Eric, on the other hand, usually found saying no to Jackie extremely easy so his presence was surprising to say the least.
Once out of the car Jackie rushed up to Donna, linking her arm through the taller girls, leaving Hyde free to hang back a little with Eric and Kelso.
"Can't believe we're at fucking school, man," he moaned, shoving his hands in his jacket pocket. "We should be at your place, Forman, steadily gettin' drunker n drunker."
"You're telling me," Eric agreed. "Donna even made me change my pants...I was quite happy in my comfy Christmas pants but thanks to your girlfriend or baby mama or whatever the hell satan is to you, I'm here, in dress pants. Thanks for that Hyde."
"Yeah, thanks, Hyde," Kelso reiterated, "coz of you I'm missing the Pink Panther holiday special. You know I love that Panther."
"Kelso, it'll be replayed, catch it then."
Kelso looked at Hyde horrified. "Hyde, it's a holiday special, it won't be replayed 'til next holidays, a whole year away. I've waited all week to see it n now I'm not even home to watch it."
"Go home then."
"But then I'll miss seeing what happens to Fez," Kelso said. "God, does everything have to be explained to you? If I'm home watching the Pink Panther I won't get to see what Jackie does to the little guy...I'll have to listen to you guys tell me about it but then I'll be annoyed coz I would'a missed seeing it for myself...so I had to come."
Hyde rolled his eyes and opened the gym door. "So you wanna be here, so stop your damn moaning."
"I am moaning because I'm missing the Pink Panther."
"But you just said you wanted to come. "
"Yeah, but I'm still annoyed that I -"
"Kelso."
Kelso turned to look at Hyde as the three boys followed the girls into the foyer. "Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"Fine!"
Once inside Hyde stood next to Jackie and lowered his head to her ear. "You sure you wanna go in there?" he softly said, aware of the stares they were getting even in the relatively quiet foyer. Before yesterday Jackie had done whatever she could to hide her swollen stomach but tonight, in her tight dress, there was no denying she was pregnant. People were gonna look. People were gonna stare. And Hyde wasn't sure he could deal with a crying Jackie tonight. He was, after all, still holding onto hope that Christmas would be drama free.
"Yes I'm sure." Jackie looked up at him, her face a picture of defiance. "Fez can't do what he did to me and get away with it. He was supposed to be my friend."
"Yeah, but yesterday you were bangn on about never comin' back to this place n here you are, stomach n all." Hyde nodded toward her belly earning him a furious glare.
"Well I don't care anymore," Jackie said. "All I care about is making that foreigner feel as shitty as I did yesterday."
Before Hyde could tell her again that this plan was crazy, that they didn't need the drama in their lives right now, Donna placed an arm around her small friend's shoulder and said, "Don't blame you midget, Fez was a real dillhole opening his mouth like that. I still can't believe he did it."
"I can," Eric chipped in with a grin. When everyone's eyes locked on him he added, "I mean come on...date with a hot chick, or keeping Jackie's sordid secret...who wouldn't do what Fez did?"
Hyde was about to tell Eric that he was a fucking dick before realising he didn't need to. Donna had this one.
And Eric knew it.
"Donna..." the skinny boy mumbled nervously. "I was joking...it was a joke..."
"Whatever, Eric," Donna thundered. "Just know that the Christmas present I was going to give you is no longer on offer. Perhaps you can gather up some more dirt on your friends and trade it in for hot dates instead."
Eric was scrambling on his feet, trying to magically pull the right words to say to Donna from thin air, and the sight was better than any frogging Hyde could have delivered.
He smiled as he watched Eric follow a furious redhead into the main room.
"Idiot," he said, shaking his head.
Jackie shrugged. "Oh it's just Eric being Eric, who cares?"
Hyde raised an eyebrow, surprised that Forman had not only avoided a shin kicking but also a verbal lashing from a hormonal Jackie.
"Steven," she said, looping her arm through his. "We have bigger fish to fry tonight remember? Or should I say foreigners to fry. We can leave Eric to Donna."
"I s'pose," Hyde agreed. "So we're doin' this then?" he added, looking nervously at the doors that would lead them to the hell that was high school dances.
"Sure are."
Once inside the poorly lit room Jackie led them to a small table in a corner. Had Hyde been prepared the table would've been perfect for some on-school-grounds liquor consumption but as he wasn't, he decided it was just as good for going incognito with his baby mama. The red strobe lights didn't quite reach their corner and as the buffet was on the other side of the room only the geeks were anywhere near that side of the room. They had made it in unnoticed and Hyde hoped it stayed that way.
"So, we dancing or what?" Kelso asked, running his thumbs around his waistband as he stared at the crowded dancefloor.
"Um, hell no," Hyde replied. Hot pokers in both eyes was a more likely option tonight.
"Well..." Jackie mused, looking out at all her ex-friends. "One dance couldn't hurt."
Hyde shot her a look of disgust. "Seriously, Jackie? We're not here to dance, man. We're here for Fez. In, then out. That's what you said."
"But I like this song." Her eyes were all puppy dog like and Hyde's disgust quickly evaporated as he took in the sight of her. God she was cute, and he was a guy after all. How could he not have noticed how beautiful she was tonight. But she was also still hung up on Kelso and had proved more than once that a whiney little child still lurked beneath her hot exterior so throwing his arms around her and carrying her to the dancefloor just wasn't an option. Not that he would've danced to a Boney M Christmas track anyway. Ten hot pokers in one eye was a more likely option.
"Of course you do," he stated with a nod of the head. "But we're here for one reason and one reason only, and that ain't dancin'."
When Jackie's face fell along with her shoulders Hyde nearly changed his mind. One dance wouldn't hurt, would it?
"I'll dance with you, Jackie."
Hyde's head shot up just as Kelso extended a hand to Jackie. When Jackie placed her own delicate hand in her ex's an unfamiliar feeling washed over Hyde and he didn't like it one bit. He felt sick to the stomach. Like both Jackie and Kelso were kicking their loved up feet right in his guts. What the fuck was wrong with him?
"Really, Michael?" the brunette beauty said as she stood up.
Kelso grinned. "Can't leave the prettiest girl here sittin' in the corner now can I?"
Before they could leave Hyde stood up. "Jackie," he said, trying hard to ignore the way her holding Kelso's hand made him feel. "What about this Fez thing?"
"We have ten minutes before it happens," she replied, looking at Hyde while Kelso began leading her away. "That's enough for two dances...eeek!"
The delight on her face should've made Hyde feel good. She was happy in Kelso's arms which meant she wasn't in Hyde's cot trying to get him to have sex with her. He was off the hook. Free of Jackie drama. But watching Kelso twirl her around and around made Hyde wanna hurl. Part of him was in her...literally growing inside her. Technically, or so Hyde figured, she was his whether he wanted her or not. She was having his kid. Not Kelso's.
"Well this blows," Eric sighed plonking himself down in the seat next to Hyde.
Hyde folded his arms, never taking his eyes off Jackie and Kelso. "Knew it would."
"Man, Christmas was shaping up to be a good one this year," Eric rambled much to Hyde's annoyance. He didn't care about Eric crap right now, he cared that a slow song had started and Kelso now had an arm wrapped around Jackie. "Donna was happy which meant I was getting some good gifts if ya know what I mean," Eric said, elbowing Hyde in the side. "But now, thanks to this Jackie n Fez shit she's all mad at me and threatening to hold out until New Years...New Years, Hyde...that's like a whole week away!"
"Yeah, I don't care," Hyde stated.
Eric picked up his glass of punch and swilled it around. "You don't care coz you don't know what being cut off is like, dude. You don't know what it's like to have something on tap all the time only to have it suddenly ripped away from you cold turkey."
"Um, I'd hardly call Donna puttin' out 'on tap', Forman," Hyde said, still watching a very cosy looking Kelso and Jackie on the dancefloor. "We all know she can go weeks without givin' it up."
"But it's Christmas time...Christmas always made her happy and willing. And since she's been back from California she's been all over me. Things have been good. And now things are bad again...thanks to Jackie and Fez-"
"Jackie and Fez?" Donna's appearance at the table had gone unnoticed by Eric, but not by Hyde who had to smirk a little. "Things are bad because you're an asshole! I don't know how you could even justify what Fez did to Jackie!"
Eric stood up to pull a seat out for his girlfriend but she ignored his gesture and sat down on the other side of the table. Her move annoyed Hyde who now could only see Kelso's back and none of Jackie. Damn redhead's.
"Donna, I wasn't justifying what Fez did, it was just a joke," Eric explained with far more hand gestures than Hyde thought necessary.
Donna narrowed her eyes and reached for Eric's drink. Yeah, Hyde thought, confiscating a man's non-alcoholic punch was really showing him.
"Well it wasn't funny, Eric," Donna said before taking a sip.
Hyde groaned loudly. "Fuck, man. I didn't come here to listen to you two argue n watch those two dance. If nothing happens soon I'm goin' home."
Donna turned around to see Kelso and Jackie slow dancing at the edge of the dancefloor. "Wow, now there's a sight I didn't expect to see tonight," she said. "Guess Kelso's over calling her a slut huh?"
"And moved right on to gropin' the hell out of her," Hyde scowled, not liking this new jealous feeling whatsoever.
"Someone jealous?" Donna asked, looking right at him.
Hyde re-folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. "No," he shot at her. "I'm bored and wanna get outta here. Can you go get 'em n tell 'em we wanna leave. None of these chicks are gonna hook up with me now they know I got a kid on the way so there's no point being here"
He hated that Donna could read him like a book despite the fact she'd never let him so much as kiss her. Nothing ever got past her and it annoyed the hell out of him. Guy friends were easy to fool, especially the guy friends Hyde had. But Donna, well she could see right through his 'whatevers' and nonchalance so he had to go that extra mile to deflect her attention which required exerting extra energy. And Hyde hated exerting extra energy.
"Yeah," Eric nodded his head. "Suck to be you for the next year or so."
Donna glared at Eric before looking back at Hyde. "Oh, so that's your problem? No girls to screw tonight? Nothing to do with the fact Kelso has his arms around the girl who's having your baby?"
Hyde shrugged. "Like I care what those two get up to. She's not my girlfriend, she can do what she likes."
"Whatever," Donna grinned. "Well I'm gonna go get them anyway and find out when this Fez thing is kicking off. I kinda wanna get home myself...there's only so much Christmas music I can handle before I wanna shoot myself."
The sense of relief Hyde felt when Donna scurried off to round up Kelso and Jackie was disconcerting. Why did it bother him so much that they danced together? Why did it bother him that he had driven Jackie to the school but she'd left him to go have fun with Kelso...the same Kelso that had only a couple of weeks ago called her a slut? It shouldn't have bothered him at all because he knew she'd always go back to her first love. None of it should have surprised him or bothered him.
But it did.
So when the trio returned to the table Hyde did his best to look like he didn't care. Some weed or alcohol would've helped with that act. Damn him for not being prepared.
"And Anna was whispering too so I just poked her in the back...teach her for whispering." Jackie sat down next to Hyde waffling on about bitches she'd encountered on the dance floor.
"Hmmm, a poke in the back, that'll really teach her," Eric quipped.
Jackie flicked her hair off her shoulder and furrowed her brow. "Well if I did anything else I'd be kicked out of here. And anyway, girls fighting is just so tacky..."
"Says the girl who was rolling around on the basement floor with my sister."
Kelso grinned. "The way you tell it Forman makes it sound so hot."
Hyde momentarily forgot his urge to punch Kelso and grinned alongside him at the memory of Jackie kicking Laurie's ass. That had turned out to be a good day and probably the first day he'd realised Jackie was a pretty cool chick. He'd taught her Zen; she'd used it on Laurie; he'd let her join the circle. But she'd still ended up going back to Kelso.
"Ugh, sit down." Donna pulled Kelso down next to her and turned to Jackie. "You shouldn't even be thinking about fighting these girls Jackie," she said sternly. "You're pregnant."
Jackie smiled and looked down at her bump, stroking it gently. "Oh yeah, of course. Plus I'm in such a pretty dress, I wouldn't wanna ruin it." Suddenly she looked up at Donna with wide eyes. "But you're not in anything pretty, Donna!" she exclaimed. "You're in scruffy old jeans and a poor person's shirt...you can kick those girl's asses for me! Hmmmm -" she tapped her chin as she scanned the room, oblivious to the horrified expression on her friend's face, "- I say start with Kathy Stewart...she said I was having twins. As if I look big enough to have two babies in here!"
"Jackie!" Donna cried. "I'm not kicking anyone's ass for you! And I'll have you know you only gave me ten minutes to get here so how the hell was I supposed to get changed-"
"In the car." Jackie shrugged.
Kelso ginned again. "Yeah, Big Red, you should've changed in the car."
"That's enough outta you," Eric said, sitting up trying hard to be a man but still being ignored by his girlfriend.
"I was not getting changed in the car," Donna stated, eyeing Kelso with disdain. "Anyway, you made us haul ass here, Jackie and so far all you've done is dance with Kelso. When is the Fez show gonna start? Is he even here?"
All eyes except Jackie's scanned the room for Fez. If he'd been there surely they would've seen him in all his polyester glory by now?
"Oh he's here all right," Jackie remarked.
"Where?" Eric asked, straining his neck to scour the room.
Jackie pointed in the direction of the DJ booth. To the right of the large black box was the table always reserved for the popular kids, aka the cheerleaders and the jocks, aka the Jackies. Sure enough, tucked in between Kelly O'Brien and her third best friend Suzy Newton, was a positively beaming Fez. Wearing his tightest blue shirt with the tackiest gold necklace Hyde had ever seen, the foreigner appeared to be having the time of his life. The jocks who milled around the table seemed to be leaving him alone and the girls looked as though every word he spoke dripped with gold. He was in Fez heaven. But Hyde knew his joy would be short lived.
"So what's gonna happen?" he asked Jackie without looking at her, scared that if he did the pangs of jealousy would derail his cool composure yet again.
"You'll see."
"God," Donna said quietly, still watching Fez from across the room. "I almost feel sorry for the guy...almost."
"Yeah, he's not gonna know what hit him," Jackie smiled before adding, "literally."
Just then everyone at Fez's table stood up and backed away. Along with the others Hyde scrambled to his feet to get a clear view of whatever ruckus was taking place over by the DJ booth. A flying handbag drew their attention to a short, round woman in what Hyde could only refer to as ' the official uniform of oppressed house servants'. Removing his shades to get a better look he caught a glimpse of the woman's face.
"Hold up," he said, placing a hand on Jackie's arm. "Isn't that...Rosa?"
Jackie nodded, never taking her eyes off of her maid who was bashing Fez with a sturdy leather handbag. "It sure is."
The commotion was enough for even the DJ to lose concentration and pretty soon the large gymnasium was silent, albeit for the sounds of a very upset Mexican lady, and all eyes were on her and the boy she was dragging out.
"You naughty boy!" she yelled, wringing Fez's ear. "You know you not allowed around American girls. Your wife waiting for you at home!"
Bent over in pain, Fez could do little but scamper behind the women berating him in Spanish as she dragged him through the crowd.
"Who are you?" he cried. "Why are you doing this?"
Rosa belted him again on the backside, but this time with her free hand. "Don't pretend you don't know me Fezuenalla! I your mama and you disobey me for the last time! You have bride to be since you 12 year old...you stay away from these girls."
"I do not know what you are talking about! Please let me go...my ear is hurting!" he pleaded as Rosa pulled him to the door.
"Your whole body be hurting when I get you home!" Rosa yelled back at him. "And do not forget you have to be at the airport in a few hours to clear the luggage off the last plane! Once you do that you have a lot of explaining to do to the poor girl sitting at home waiting for you!"
Hyde wasn't sure if Fez was actually crying or whether it was just the way his face had contorted from the pain and humiliation, but it didn't really matter at that moment. Jackie had got her revenge and it was near on a sure thing that Fez and his arranged marriage and crazy mother would be the talk of the school for the foreseeable future. The rest of the school looked shocked and almost embarrassed for the disco loving freak as Rosa kicked him out of the door, into the foyer, and into social oblivion. Any social credit that had been bestowed on him for outing Jackie was now gone.
When the music returned and everybody went back to enjoying their lame night the gang remained standing in their spots.
"Wow..." Eric said, folding his arms across his chest. "Jackie, in less than a minute you managed to officially cock-block Fez for the rest of his time in Point Place."
Jackie beamed proudly, still staring at the door. "I know, isn't it wonderful?"
"Wait, so Fez's real name is Fezuenalla?" Kelso asked, with a look of absolute confusion upon his face. "How did we not know that?"
When Jackie grabbed her purse and scuttled from the table Hyde quickly followed, leaving Donna to answer Kelso's stupid question. Why he was following her he didn't know. It might've been to watch her scream and yell at her maid thus cementing the image of her as a spoilt brat in his head; or it might have been to check that she didn't run into any trouble from the likes of Kathy in her travels. Whatever the reason was, when Hyde opened the door to the foyer and saw Jackie wrap her arms around Rosa's neck he was stunned. Quietly closing the door behind him, he silently stood and observed the exchange between Jackie and what he knew was her hired help with tremendous curiosity.
"Thank you so much, Rosa!" Jackie whispered quietly into the Mexican lady's ear. "You were perfect!"
Rosa giggled and placed her arms tightly around Jackie's waist. "I was wasn't I? That naughty little boy no mess with us again Miss Jackie!"
"Never again!" Jackie agreed. "I'm sorry you had to come out so late...I hope your family won't be mad."
"When I told them what that boy did to my Miss Jackie they all want to come and punch him in the nose!" Rosa stepped back and tucked a strand of hair behind Jackie's ear. "They no mind at all that I here with you."
Huh? An hour ago Jackie had been ordering Rosa to wrap up presents for her like the spoilt little girl he knew, or at least, thought, she was. Now the two were hugging and talking like they cared for each other. Like they were friends even. Did Hyde have it wrong or was Jackie merely a queen of manipulation?
"Please thank them for me," Jackie said, squeezing Rosa's arms. Pulling at the white fabric of the maid's uniform Rosa was wearing she added, "Oh, and I'm sorry you had to wear this hideous thing, I know how much you hate it."
"I hate it when your mother make me wear it. For you, I wear it anytime."
Jackie grinned. "Well in that case..."
"No-" Rosa waved a stern finger in Jackie's face.
"Rosa I was kidding! You see, in America we have things called jokes...I say them n you laugh."
"Well I no laughing!" Rosa warned before her face twisted into a warm smile. "I must go now my darling-"
"But will I see you tomorrow? I know it's your day off but can you still drop by? I'll save you some food..."
"Miss Jackie, I can't tomorrow, I have my family and I need-"
Jackie's eyes widened. "Okay, then I'll come to your house like last year. I'll teach little Christa how to put make-up on again, she loved it when I showed her last time. I'll bring some food. It'll be fun."
Rosa's face fell and Hyde knew that soon so too would Jackie's. The whole scene was hard to watch; Jackie so desperate to hang on to someone who clearly adored her but was also paid to be in her life.
"Sweetheart," Rosa started, stroking Jackie's cheek. "We go to Chicago tomorrow. My Joachim's wife have baby, we go see them for Christmas. I come back in two days, okay? Then we eat and have fun."
Jackie's eyes fell to the floor. "Oh, okay...of course...you have to go and see the new baby. I'll see you in a couple days. I'm sure mom n dad have so many wonderful things planned for us."
Rosa nodded, more in sympathy than agreement and Hyde knew she believed Jackie's parents gave a shit about her as much as he did. "Yes, Miss Jackie, Mr. Jack and Mrs. Pamela will have lots of things planned." She kissed the top of Jackie's head. "I must go now. I see you soon. Bye my lovely."
"Bye, Rosa," Jackie said, hugging Rosa before reluctantly letting her go. "And Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, darling," Rosa said as the door closed behind her.
Hyde waited a moment, unsure whether to go back into the dance or stay and check if Jackie was okay. God, today had put him in all kinds of weird places. This morning he'd been praying he didn't have to see the whiney brunette for at least a coupe of days. Then half n hour ago he'd been wanting to dance with her to a freaking Boney M song. Now, he had a cringe worthy desire to hold her and make sure she wasn't sad. How had a summer fling become this? How was she now his problem? And why the fuck did he feel as though she was his problem?
Clearing his throat, Hyde stepped toward Jackie. Startled, she swung around, her sad face quickly changing when she saw him.
"Oh, Steven, hi," she smiled nervously.
"Hey," Hyde said, unsure whether to hug her, hold her hand, or tell her to toughen the hell up. "You okay?"
Jackie scrunched up her face as if to say 'of course I am, what a stupid question, I'm Jackie freakin' Burkhart' so Hyde decided to do nothing. If she wanted to avoid her issues he was just fine with it. Avoidance was something he'd been doing since he was a kid when teachers had started asking him why his mom never showed up to parent teacher conferences. He could easily aid Jackie in her avoidance strategies.
"Cool," he shrugged. "So you ready to get outta here now or what? Fez is a cryin' mess, Kelso's confused as hell, Eric n Donna are at it like cats n dogs...I think your work here is done."
To Hyde's surprise Jackie yawned, stretching her arms high in the air. Takedowns must be hard work for pregnant chicks, he figured.
"Yeah, my work here is done," she agreed, letting her eyes fall on his. God she was getting cuter by the minute. "On to the next party I guess."
"On to the next..." Hyde said, slipping a arm around Jackie's back and leading her out to the cold, winter's night.
A/N: Sorry this was so long! The crazy thing is that it's this long and I still had to cut part of it and throw it onto the next chapter! Oh my gosh...I need to stop drawing things out lol!
Thanks a trillion for the super cool, super encouraging reviews! I promise some good stuff is about to start happening (if I can start reigning in scenes somehow!) Thanks again x