First day of sixth grade
It was her first day. In a way, she was excited, she had cheer tryouts today. But in a way, she was sad. No one was home to take her picture for the first day. So she set up the camera that her dad would take pictures with.
She set the timer and ran in front of it, to early. The flash went of before she could smile and put her hands on her hips.
The next one was too still early.
The next was to late.
The final one was perfect. As if her dad cold have taken it. She sobbed but wouldn't let the tears flow, her eyes couldn't be puffy.
She stood and looked in the mirror.
"Hi, I'm Jackie Burkhart. Yes, Jackie Burkhart, my dad is the famous lawyer. Am I trying out for the cheer team? Yes I am! I've been practicing all summer!" she smiled. It didn't look real. She tried again, a little better. And then finally, she got it right.
She sat down at the table and had a bowl of fruity pebbles, drinking the milk out of the bottom of the bowl. Brushing her teeth she marched out the door.
:)
"Steven!" he jumped out of bed and his mom banged on the door. School. Great.
He threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, putting on his glasses. He jumped out of the window and Edna chucked his bag out the door.
"Don't come home to night! I'm having uncle Alex over!" she cackled.
He was hungry, he would turn around for breakfast but he knew the only food in the house were cherry's and olives. So he walked.
He thought he was looking forward to school, but really Edna hadn't been horrible, and after boarding up his room the uncles stayed away.
:)
Jackie had made the cheer team and now sat with all the cheerleaders at lunch. Finally, she had friends.
"So, how many of you have gotten your cupid planes yet?"
"Do you mean letters, or the actual papers?" Jackie asked.
"Letters."
"Well, I've sent mine but I haven't received anything." Everyone groaned.
"Listen, from our years of experience, there are only three reasons why you wouldn't get a letter" she was starting to not like theses girls, all day they talked about meaningless things.
"What did you write on your letters?" that was the one question that she didn't want to hear. Help me. Please help me. What would she say, that her life was horrible and she had no money and that her house was a mess. That she had anger issues and that anytime she got a call for her mother or for uncle rob she threw a plate against the wall.
She couldn't tell them. Then they would ask about it all, so she decided to start acting like a perfect cheerleader.
"Just the normal things, really" she smiled the smile that she had rehearsed at home.
"Then he must be gay"
"Or hate love"
"Or already have a girlfriend"
:)
The lunch table had already been formed, and alliances had been made. They had five spots at the round table.
Hyde sat next to kelso, who sat next to Eric, who sat next to Donna. One spot was left open and it was decided that should be empty forever, or until a new kid comes along.
"Look at them, those cheerleaders make me sick. There all smiling-bleh" Donna rolled her eyes.
Hyde turned his head. He looked over and saw Jackie. She was smiling; he guessed her home life had gotten better. She was kind of annoying. She had been bossy while they were cleaning her house up after egging it.
She didn't talk about her parents so everything had to be okay. She said her mom would be angry with her, but if he had a normal mom she would be angry with him for sneaking out too.
She thought it was funny when kelso fell off her roof. But then she helped him up and asked if he was okay.
She didn't tease Eric.
He watched her pull the front door shut but not go inside. He didn't understand why.
He shook his head at the thought.
He reached into his backpack and winced as a piece of paper cut his hand. He fished it out. Another paper airplane.
Kelso saw it and snagged it from his hand, standing up and waving it around.
"Hyde got a love letter! Hyde got a love letter!" he went to grab it but kelso moved his hand unfolded it. "Please help" he chucked it back at Hyde.
"Its obviously Edna man. She gave me the first one and she probably shoved this in my back pack" he crumpled it up and shoved it in his backpack. Kelso gave him a skeptical look. "I'll throw it away when I get home"
:)
Hyde was sleeping at Eric's because of Edna's request, and as usual Eric wanted to talk about 'love'. Bleh.
"Did you see how close Donna was sitting next to me at lunch?"
"Forman, she was sitting as close to you as I sat to kelso"
"But she chose to sit that close to me"
"Forman-why is donna so important?"
Eric jumped up onto his bed and pulled out his cupid letters.
"She's my soul mate. I swear."
"And what makes you think that?"
He dramatically fell back onto his bed and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, feigning sickness.
"Because I LOVE her" Hyde chuckled.
"That doesn't mean she your soul mate."
:)
Jackie sat down at her dining room table. Across from her was her dad. Next to was her mom. They had full meals of steak and soup on their plates. She could see her reflection in the table.
She Blinked.
Across from her was a stuffed tiger. Next to her was a Barbie esc doll. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on their plates. A thin layer of dust had covered the table.
She finished her sandwich and took out her backpack. This year would be really bad. She had to work hard in school so that her parents would come back, and they would be happy with her.
Syllabuses. She needed parent signatures.
She walked up to her parent's bedroom. She only needed one signature. She rummaged through the room. Robs clothes were thrown about the room and she searched through the drawers. She saw something with her dads name on it and her moms name on it. She ran downstairs.
After tracing the signatures, she looked at the paper.
'Once signed and turned in to any court the holy union bound between any two patrons shall no longer have any legal ties'
She scanned to the bottom of the paper. Divorce.
She shredded the paper into small pieces and tossed it across the room. Lunging across the table she threw the stuffed tiger against the wall and did the same with the Barbie. She kicked the plates and they all shattered.
She could feel the veins in her arms pulsing and the sweat on her fore head. She took her history book and smashed a photo of her mom and dad at their wedding. She picked the picture up.
Running to the kitchen she grabbed the lighter and it was calming to watch the edges of the picture wilt and go dark as the now meaningless photo fell into a black lump onto the countertop.
She used to think that maybe her dad loved her, and he was trying to give her a good life by working so hard. But if he wanted to give her a good life he would have stayed. Or answered her letters. She forgot those letters. She wrote them every Monday and sent them too.
She sprinted upstairs to her room. I cant just write help me. I need to write something better.
:)
Hey Hyde-I think I just got a paper airplane!" Eric said. He jumped towards his GI Joe lampshade. He picked up the airplane but it wouldn't open.
"It's stuck!"
"Maybe it isn't yours."
"Are you saying its yours?"
"No."
"Maybe-its like the sword in the stone! Hyde, try to open the airplane!" he said as he tossed the airplane at Hyde.
Hyde grabbed the edges and pulled it apart forcefully, ripping it in half.
"Oh my god! It is yours! You have to admit its real-and you ripped it!"
:)
Jackie stopped.
Her mom and her dad's third fight
She remembered it well
She had gotten dragged into it.
She remembered hiding in her closet, watching the shadow move in her room and feel the light shifting on her face.
Light flooded the closet and she felt her father's hand on her wrist.
"Come on sweetie, we need to go now"
She heard gasping coming from the other room.
"Don't you take my daughter! Don't you dare!" she turned back, her mother was sitting with her back against the wall. She had a heavy slur.
In the moment she thought her mom was sick. Now she realized that she was drunk. She felt her father pick her up and run her to the car. She didn't see her mom for a whole month.
She shook her head. That was one of her least favorite memories and she didn't know what brought it on.
:)
The piece of paper started to turn gray, so he read it quickly. That must be what happens when you rip it.
'I guess writing help me wont work, because you cant help me, or don't want to. So I'll just tell you what I like. I love the color pink, and unicorns. My nails are always painted, I'm an only child and I love music. I'm actually learning how to play guitar.'
"She sounds horrible. Like the cheer leader type"
"Look, Hyde, you should respond."
"What should I say? I don't have anything in common with her."
"Just say that you're real."
"No." he said as he shredded the letter up into eight small pieces.
:)
Her uncle punching a whole in the wall, luckily missing her face.
Her mother falling down the stairs and spending a week in the hospital
Her mother screaming and throwing glasses at the wall.
The time her mother kicked her out of the house for a week
The party where one of her uncles pushed her in the pool, and her mom didn't even care.
The last time she saw her dad.
Her dad leaving her just last night
:)
"You shouldn't have done that!" Eric screeched as he picked up the pieces "I'll let you use my glue!"
"Forman, why the hell would I want to glue that?"
"Look, Hyde. I heard that when you destroy a soul mate letter, something happens to your soul mate." He came back with the clue from the closet.
"Here's the thing- I don't care about my soul mate. They've asked for help, but they obviously have a perfect life, they don't know what I go through day to day."
"But-"
"Forman, I don't want to talk about it. Lets just go to sleep" he pulled the covers up, and was thankful for his air mattress.
Then he thought about it.
Edna had never found her soul mate.
He hated Edna.
Bud hadn't either.
Or his uncle.
:)
The next day school was better for Jackie. She had gotten into a good routine.
She tricked herself into happiness.
She had rhythm
As long as nothing disturbed it, she would be happy.
Fruity pebbles. School. Cheer. Homework. Repeat.
:)
The following days were worse for Hyde.
Edna chose an uncle.
He was the worst one of them all.
Every day a different attack was strategized, making his life worse and worse.
Wake up early and leave. School. Smoke. Come home late. Repeat.
Tonight's was the worst.
Uncle Ernie had found out about his hide a rock and had nailed his window shut. He didn't have a room anymore. So when he came in through the front door and got hit by a beer bottle, he wasn't surprised. When he was screamed at and pushed into a wall, he wasn't surprised.
The only time he ate was when he went to the Forman's. She had even started sending Eric in with two lunches.
He was failing classes and the only reason he had to do well was so he could continue up with his friends.
His mom surprisingly had never physically hurt him, but now she was constantly drunk, and her behavior had changed.
Things were worse.
:)
Things were fake.
Authors note:
Thank you for reading this! This story is doing really well and I'm planning on doing more, this wasn't a really good chapter but I promise they will get better. Hyde's character is going to get a lot better, it's easier to write for Jackie, so the next chapter is going to be more Hyde-centered. I'm in one of those writing moods, but if I don't update right away, no matter what I will update once a week on Saturdays. This will hopefully be a longer fic, it just depends on how much you like it. Please review, it would mean a lot!
* this is new, I'm not really sure what happened or why this chapter was messed up before, please excuse that mistake :) *