Disclaimer: That '70s Show copyright The Carsey-Werner Company, LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CONSPIRING TO SURVIVE

Hyde's muscles tensed for a brawl, and his fingers curled around his flashlight. He'd kept it by his sleeping bag for a scenario just like this one: some fool breaking into his tent. Kelso, Julie, Valerie, they all had motives to screw with him, but the shadowy invader fell to its knees. It shuffled forward, teeth chattering, and said, "St-Steven?"

He clicked on the flashlight though he recognized the voice. The beam revealed Jackie's shivering face, and his pulse kicked into overdrive, as if it would warm her up.

"Shit. C'mere, man. C'mere," he said, gesturing to his sleeping bag. She wore a winter hat but no coat, and she scrambled to his side. Whatever had propelled her across the campground must've been bad, and he shut off the flashlight as she burrowed into the sleeping bag.

Her body was ice through her pajamas. It sent a chill into his skin, and her fingers had to be frozen stiff. She was fumbling with the sleeping bag zipper, but he reached over her and zipped it up himself.

His arm remained over her and grasped her freezing hands. "Turn toward me," he whispered, and she did. Her new position let him rub her hands between his and blow hot air on them. "What the hell happened?"

"V-valerie k-kicked me out of Leslie's t-tent," she said through chattering teeth. He tugged her hat more securely on her head, and the coldness of her cheeks stoked an inferno in his stomach. Charging the cheer squad's tent city, evicting every last one of her teammates—it might snuff the blaze inside him, but she needed his love right now, not his fury.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She shivered in his embrace but continued to speak. "I-I don't know why she did it. Maybe s-she finally dropped the pretense and is trying to k-kill me outright."

"I doubt it," he whispered, "but it was a dick move, whatever her motivation. And a bad one. It revealed a crack in her force field. She has weaknesses, just like everyone else. We just gotta find them and neutralize her. "

"Mm-hmm."

Her agreement was a whimper, and he rubbed her back. Nothing felt better than having her in his arms, despite how cold she was. Separating from her again would be like stabbing himself in the throat, but he'd do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.

Jackie's eyes snapped open to a clamor of metal-on-metal. She took in the canvas walls surrounding her, the warm body fidgeting beside her, and last night seeped back into her consciousness: Quartz Falls, the freezing cold, Valerie … Steven. He'd held her, rubbing her back until she fell asleep.

"Fuck, my brain's finally exploded," he said. "What the hell is that racket?"

The sleeping bag they shared barely fit both of them. She had an inch to maneuver, but she rolled onto her other side and looked at him. He was on his back, palms pushed into eyes. His thick, curly hair spread beneath his head like a pallet of straw, in need of a detangling brush. Or a rake.

She slid her hand over his chest. "It's the teachers, banging pots," she said. "Martina's done that a few times to my mom. Only thing that wakes her up after two bottles of White Zin."

"Jackie?" He grasped her hand. His heart beat faster under her palm, and he turned his face toward her. "That shit Valerie did actually happened."

"Do we have to talk about it?" She squirmed closer to him, and he held her but not too tightly. Each clank outside the tent stung her eardrums. A headache was setting in, but this moment could be her last with Steven on the trip.

Her eyes closed, and his chin touched the top of her head. His fingers heated her shoulder and the small of her back. The teachers' alarm call continued, but his soft breathing broke through it, and his love broke through her nerves. They really were together. He was her boyfriend, and he respected her need not to discuss the cheer squad.

"'Bout time," he said when the clanging finally stopped, but he didn't move. The feeling of him against her body, warmth to warmth, was euphoric. With him, she wouldn't have to fantasize. With him, she'd experience the joy she'd always longed for.

She hooked her leg over one of his inside the sleeping bag. Maybe they could hide in his tent and skip the morning hike. Explore each other instead of nature, but a blast of chilly air swept over her. She held onto Steven tighter, but an unwelcome voice hit her ears: "Hyde, you'll never guess—"

She fought to sit up as Eric's shriek filled the tent. She wriggled out of the sleeping bag, and he whispered, "Jackie?"

"No!" she shouted and grabbed her flashlight. She rushed past him and crawled through the tent's opening. Donna's tent was close. She dove into it, praying no one had seen her.

Donna was almost fully dressed. She was sitting on her sleeping bag, tying her boots, but she looked up with wide eyes. "Jackie?"

Jackie exhaled, puffing out her cheeks. "That's the third time someone's said my name in surprise this morning."

"You're still in your pajamas..." Donna said, "and your hair—"

"What about it?" Jackie had left her hat in Steven's tent, and she felt her braid. It was still damp, and a few strands had pulled free while she slept. "I couldn't exactly bring my hot curlers. Where was I supposed to plug them in, a tree?"

"Did you run over here as soon as you woke up?"

"No."

Donna pulled a toothbrush and toothpaste from a small travel bag. "Do you have a headache? Are you nauseous, dizzy?"

"Oh, God. Enough with the concussion questions." Jackie tasted the inside of her mouth. She needed her own toiletries and all her stuff back in her possession. "I'll explain everything on the way."

"On the way to where?"

"Where I was supposed to be sleeping last night."

Jackie emerged from the tent into the dawn, and Donna joined her a few seconds later. She was carrying a wool coat, and she draped it over Jackie's shoulders. "Wear this until we get back to your tent."

"Thanks." Jackie slipped her arms into the coat. Having it on was like being embraced. As alone and lonely as she'd been the past few weeks, she had a place she belonged. It wasn't with the cheer squad but with her friends, with Donna and Steven, Fez, and even Eric.

Across the campground, students were in varying states of wakefulness. Some yawned outside their tents. Others ate snacks they'd brought with them. Many trudged toward the bathrooms.

Teachers held student rosters and were doing head counts. Park staff was busy preparing breakfast by the communal eating area, a safe distance from the tents. Scrambled eggs and sausage sizzled on cooking fires, and Jackie's stomach grumbled.

"Valerie kicked me out of Leslie's tent," she whispered, but Timmy Wilson was nearby. All she needed was his gossipy mouth blabbing her private business. He'd already shouted her fainting spell to the whole student body.

"Why?" Donna said.

"I have no idea, but she physically dragged me out of the tent."

Donna turned her head left then right. "Where is that bitch? I'm gonna kick her ass!"

"You can't."

"Wanna bet?" Donna gripped her toothbrush hard enough to make her knuckles white, and she sped up her pace. "

"Donna, please? This isn't your problem."

"You're my best friend! Of course it is."

"I'm your..." Jackie stopped as Donna charged ahead. The air was nippy, but she had on Donna's huge coat. Donna had called Jackie her best friend for the first time ever, and Donna wanted to hurt Valerie on Jackie behalf. All of that turned the October dawn into midday July. "Wait, Donna!"

Donna slowed down, and Jackie dashed to her. "Though I'm thrilled you'd maim Valerie for being a bitch to me," Jackie said and touched Donna's arm, "I think something's wrong. She showed weakness by doing what she did, and using that could hurt her more than your gargantuan fists ever would."

"All right." Donna's posture relaxed, and she matched Jackie's less urgent stride. "Where did you end up sleeping?"

"In a safe place."

"Hyde?"

Jackie's breath froze in her chest. She flicked her eyes from side to side. Looked behind her then in front. No one was in their path. Only trees. "How did you know?"

Donna laughed. "I figured out you two had the hots for each other a while ago. In fact, that's what convinced me coming on this trip would work. Because if you and Hyde could fall in love, then anything's possible."

Blood flushed Jackie's cheeks. If Donna had realized the truth, then other people might have, too.

Jackie removed Donna's coat. The cheer squad's campsite was only a few yards away now. As much as she'd like Donna to stay by her side, Donna no longer went to Point Place High. She couldn't back Jackie up in the school halls, and Valerie would use that fact against her.

"How's your memory?" Donna said, putting on her coat.

"Donna..."

"I'm sorry, but I've got to ask you these things. How well did you sleep?"

Jackie crossed her arms over her chest, for warmth more than anything else. The repeated questions sliced at her pride, reminding her of what she'd done with Michael. Done to herself. But Steven was worried about her health and had taken responsibility for it. Donna was just helping him stay informed, and Jackie couldn't fault her for that.

"I slept fine once I was no longer a frozen steak," she said. "I remember every piece of gossip I heard on the bus yesterday, like how Vicki gave Andrew Schmidt a blowjob behind the gym. Sharon's mom lost her secretary job for being too matronly. Pam Macy is supposedly sleeping with the vice principle so she can finally graduate—"

Donna wrinkled her nose. "You can stop there. I get that Pam is, like, twenty and repeated junior year and now her senior year, but … God." She shuddered. "I wish I'd never heard that. Now I'll have to make an anonymous call to Principle Pridewell so he'll look into the situation."

Jackie gazed at Leslie's tent. Donna was such a fighter, not just for herself but other people. Jackie used to believe the same of herself, but she'd been fighting to preserve her popularity, not her self-respect.

"The noise that woke us up didn't bother me more than it did Steven," she said. "I'm not irritable. I'm pissed off and frustrated, and the only stars I saw were in the sky. I'm fine, Donna, okay? At least physically."

"Okay..." Donna said, "but until this trip is done, expect to be asked these questions. We care about you, enough to be obnoxious about it."

"I know." Jackie leaned her head on Donna's shoulder. "And we're going to call your dad's hotel room after the hike. You need to check in."

"Right! Thanks."

Jackie stood up straight as Leslie exited her tent. She waved frantically at Jackie, and Jackie darted toward her. Donna followed, maybe acting as a bodyguard in case of an ambush, but most of the cheer squad was heading to the breakfast line.

"I am so, so sorry about last night," Leslie said when Jackie reached her. Leslie pulled Jackie to the tent but stared at Donna. "Excuse us."

"Jackie—" Donna said.

"See you later," Jackie said and went into the tent with Leslie.

Forman stuck by the opening of Hyde's tent, as if the area inside were full of tar. "You had sex with Jackie? Here? In—in—in Donna's tent?"

Hyde had gotten dressed except for his boots while Forman sputtered. He needed to take a leak, but Forman seemed on the verge of mental collapse. "Whatever me and Jackie do is our business, all right?"

"But you're together … bedularly."

"We're together."

"Bedularly," Forman repeated.

Hyde dropped his toothbrush and toothpaste into his left boot. His fingers brushed out a few knots in his hair, but the longer curls insisted on sticking together. "She's my girlfriend, Forman, and you can't say shit to anyone about it. We've gotta keep it secret."

"Your girlfriend? For how long?"

"On the hike, man. On the damn hike."

Hyde carried his boots out of the tent. His bladder situation had gone critical, and he hightailed it to the woods. He relieved himself away from other male students, who were doing the same as him. The teachers hadn't given explicit instructions not to piss in the woods, but it sucked for the girls. Guys had an anatomical advantage: unzip, whip it out, and go in nature's urinal. Chicks had to walk a quarter mile to reach a toilet suitable for them.

Forman caught up with him on the breakfast line, and in the growing sunlight, a cut became visible on his face. It was a sliver of a scratch, probably from that thicket in the tree maze, but Mrs. Forman must've packed him a First Aid kit. At home, Forman would've worn a Band-Aid on his cheek, no matter how tiny the injury. Out here, though, maybe he thought exposing his boo-boo for all to see would make him appear more manly.

The cut on Hyde's wrist was less than a gash but more than a scrape. Blood had dripped down his hand, and he'd washed it off in the bathroom last night. Applied direct pressure to the wound until it stopped bleeding. The routine was familiar, thanks to his ma and some of the "uncles" she'd bring home. He hadn't packed Band-Aids on this trip, and he didn't have someone to pack Band-Aids for him either, but he hid the bright red scab under the black sleeve of his thermal shirt.

It still burned a little, especially when his wrist bent. Putting on his boots after pissing had been less than fun. His toothbrush and toothpaste had been moved to his jeans pockets, where they pushed against his hips. Also uncomfortable, but discomfort he could handle.

"You're gonna ask her to be your girlfriend on the hike today?" Forman whispered beside him.

"No," Hyde said and stood stiffly. Forman's interest in his romantic life was more than irritating. It was inconvenient. "You want more info, you'll get it on the hike."

They reached one of the cooking fires, and a park staff member piled eggs and sausage onto paper plates. "Plastic utensils, cups, and pitchers of water are on the picnic tables," she said, nodding to the communal eating area.

Hyde and Forman brought their plates to a table full of jocks and chess club members. The groups weren't talking to each other, but they weren't fighting either. Their team-building exercise yesterday might've done some good, after all, fostering an echelon-spanning camaraderie. But it could fall apart at any second. One wrong word,one wrong look, and Hyde would have to yank Forman to safety.

"So what's your deal?" Hyde said and cut into a sausage. "Why'd you break into my tent?"

Forman shoveled a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, but he swallowed before speaking. "Ms. McGee was impressed by my tent-pitching—shut up, Hyde!" he said when Hyde laughed. "I've got rank now. She made me her special helper—"

Hyde laughed again and put his fist to his mouth.

"Since I have most of the skills we're going to learn out here," Forman went on, "she promoted me to assistant wilderness skills guide. The park instructors are gonna give me a pin so everyone knows."

"Oh, man. You are so getting your ass kicked."

"Not with the power of fire in my grasp!" Forman opened his fingers like he'd conjured an imaginary fireball. "Who do you think burned down Old Maine?"

"What?"

Forman sipped at his water. "It wasn't me. I wouldn't have been that careless. Anyway, I'll get community service credit for this trip, too. One less thing to worry about on the ol' high school transcript."

"Did the Cub Scouts award achievement beads for getting beaten up?" Hyde said, "'cause you're gonna earn a whole bunch the next few days," but he was only joking around. Forman's help would be a welcome relief to most people, and if anyone made an aggressive play Forman couldn't handle, Hyde would handle it for him.

Leslie had drawn Jackie into a two-person huddle. Leslie's tent was zippered shut, but Jackie did a surreptitious inventory of her stuff. Her sleeping bag didn't smell like Valerie's grassy perfume. Valerie might've gone back to her own tent last night to sleep. Jackie's suitcase and makeup case were at the back of the tent, but without a thorough inspection, she couldn't tell if they'd been tampered with.

"You're the only one I can tell," Leslie whispered, holding both of Jackie's hands. "If this had happened to anyone but Valerie, I would've spread it across school, but you understand."

Jackie did—partly. Harboring Valerie's secrets a secret was an act of self-preservation, but why Leslie believed she could trust Jackie with them was mystifying.

"You've changed," Leslie said, and Jackie tried to relax her face. Her confusion had to remain hidden. "You care about people," Leslie continued, "like their status doesn't matter. Like you have a soul."

"I've always cared about people," Jackie said, but her throat closed up. First Julie, now Leslie. They'd been watching her, tracking her growth. But becoming like Valerie, using people's trust and vulnerability to get power, that was a path Jackie couldn't travel. "Most of life, if we're lucky, happens after high school."

Leslie squeezed Jackie's hands. "But life is happening right now! Valerie caught Michael cheating on her! She couldn't tell who the whore was, but she did see the back of her blond head, bobbing up and down on Michael's gearshift. It was in the middle of woods somewhere, and Valerie ran straight to me."

Jackie wrenched one of her hands free and covered her mouth. Susan Amborn's report had been accurate. "How did Valerie even find them?" Jackie said between her fingers. "Why was she in the woods anyway?"

"Oh, Michael told Valerie he was going to pee. But he was taking too long, and, 'No one makes Valerie Clayton wait.'"

Leslie and Jackie sighed together, as if their patience with Valerie had run out at the same time. But Michael must have wanted to get caught. Back when he'd cheated on Jackie, he'd tried to conceal it, and he'd done a good job of it, too. Steven was the one who'd stoked her suspicions.

"Valerie considers all blondes suspects," Leslie said, brushing her fingers through her hair.

"Including you?"

"Please. She knows I'd never let Michael touch me unless he got a better set of a wheels. I mean a V.W. Microbus? Come on!"

Jackie swallowed a laugh. Leslie liked what she liked, and she also wasn't the type to cross Valerie. But a lot of blondes were on this trip, from all levels of high school social strata. Valerie had a serious reputation problem to deal with.

Leslie cupped Jackie's knee. "You have to help me, okay? Valerie thinks Julie's out to get her and is her number-one suspect. She won't ask you for advice—like I told her to—but you have extensive experience with Michael. Does he have a specific blonde-type? Has he bragged to your friends in that weird clique you hang out with?"

Jackie squinted. "Weird clique?"

"You know, the El Camino, the El Dorado, Uh-bluh—"

"Oh, my God, you mean—" Jackie burst out in laughter. Only Leslie would name people by the cars they drove. "If he has, they haven't said anything to me about it."

"You'll have to go deep cover, then," Leslie said. "Valerie said Michael's best friend, El Camino—" she shook her head and put up her hand, "Steven Hyde. I'm sorry. She said he's in love with you. I'm not supposed to disclose that to anyone unless you … never mind. Anyway, you could use his feelings for you to find out who Michael's banging."

Jackie clutched the shooting star pendant through her pajama top. This could be the break she and Steven needed, but … "Why don't I just ask the El Dorado—I mean, Donna?"

"Because Michael's more likely to blab to Steven. Guys are as gossipy as we are, just to other guys. Listen," Leslie lowered her voice and glanced at each of the tent's walls, "if you do this, I'll totally support you in ousting Julie as assistant cheer captain. That'll set you up to becoming captain next year and homecoming queen. You'll take Valerie's position as the most popular girl in school your senior year."

"And what about my reputation in the meantime?" Jackie said, even as her mind buzzed with the possibilities. "I have a boyfriend. If I pretend to lust after Steven, people will call me a cheating slut. Valerie thinks Steven's worse than chronic diarrhea, and she'll think less of me than she already does. This can only hurt me."

"Jackie, Jackie, Jackie..."

Leslie smiled like she had esoteric knowledge, and Jackie's breaths grew short. Leslie was more than just one of Valerie's thralls. She was a confidant, perhaps the confidant, to the female social leader of the school.

"You're not dating a boy from Ft. Blanderson," Leslie said. "Valerie saw through that ruse from the start, though the pictures of you and that male model were a nice touch—"

"Mark is not a model! He plays chess and is the Cailliet heir."

"Hmph." Leslie crawled to Jackie's suitcase and opened it. She pawed around inside and pulled out the sexiest outfit Jackie had packed: her long-sleeved Yves Saint Laurent blouse and butt-hugger jeans. "Valerie's father called up Mark's father, and Mr. Cailliet shared that Mark has no girlfriend, much to his chagrin."

Jackie snatched her clothes from Leslie. "Mark's keeping our relationship from his family because I'm a Viking, and they're rabid Snapping Turtle supporters, all right? It's horrible, but it's what he feels he has to do."

"Whatever you say." Leslie gestured to the blouse and jeans. "Wear that. Cozy up to Steven on the hike. Find out the info I need and take the temporary rep hit, or I'll be forced to spread something very unpleasant about you."

Jackie's fingers tightened around the blouse. Leslie was car-obsessed and used people because of it, but she'd never shown such ruthlessness before.

"Power is shifting," Leslie said. "Can't you feel it? A social earthquake is coming. Are you going to plummet through the cracks, run for cover, or stand on stable ground?"

"You mean stand with you."

"You could be my partner in this, Jackie. You just have to thicken up your skin." Leslie pinched Jackie's arm, and Jackie scooted back from her. "Steven's a fox, even without his beard. He drives a cool car, gives good head—when he finishes, that is—and he's smart even while wasted. You could do way worse."

Jackie's jaw clenched as pressure built up in her chest. "You've been with him?"

Leslie fiddled with the ribbon at her sweater collar. "Once or twice. I never told Valerie. I never told anyone. It was a few weeks after I crashed Uh-bluh's Corvette..." She giggled. "Man, was that a thrill. Too bad he ended up with that Vista Cruiser afterward." Her fingers left the sweater ribbon and pulled her hair into a high pony-tail. "Steven didn't let me near his car, but that was all right. Kat's word was enough to get me interested."

"Do you want him now? Jackie said. She yanked off her pajama top and put on her blouse. Her stomach was gurgling. She needed to eat, but this conversation was more important.

"Would I fuck him again?" Leslie secured her ponytail with a tortoiseshell barrette. "Sure. But seeing how he's in love with you, and what he didn't do with Julie, I doubt he'd fuck me."

Jackie tugged on her jeans, and one of her nails broke in the process. "Damn it!" she shouted. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!"

Leslie pressed her palms to her ears. "Stop shouting! I had to hear enough of that from Valerie."

A scream caught in Jackie's throat. Her fingers turned into claws, tensing to rip the tent walls apart, to tear off Leslie's skin. But she snatched a nail file from her makeup case and fixed her ragged nail. Steven's sexual history was not his sexual present. She had to remember that.

"So are you gonna find out who Michael's other woman is or not?" Leslie said.

"I'm putting my own interests first." Jackie exchanged the nail file for her toothbrush and toothpaste. She stuck her feet into her hiking boots, tied the laces, and grabbed her down jacket. "That should tell you enough."

She unzipped the tent's front flap and went outside, hoping to eat whatever scraps were left for breakfast. But teachers were carrying garbage bags around the picnic tables, and students tossed in their paper plates and plastic utensils. Breakfast was over. Students would be lining up for the hike soon, ignorant of how the school's social royalty had turned cannibalistic.