ʚ ɞ
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
ʚ ɞ
"Page!" Jackie calls out into the small backyard of their bungalow. "Page, get in!" The sound of dog claws scurrying on linoleum tile fills the room. Their new furry companion, Page, affectionately greets Jackie at the door. "Good boy!" she says, placing her hand in front of him, letting him eat a treat out of her palm. Hyde watches from the other side of the room, arms crossed and leaning against the fridge. He's smiling, watching his fiance and dog.
"Treats? Already? He hasn't eaten yet," he asks.
"Oh, I know." she says, still playing with the dog. "He's just such a good boy!" She squats down to hold him in a hug.
Two years ago, hell, maybe even two months ago, Jackie would have never done this. In the past, especially when dating Kelso, she would always complain about dogs. She hated the way they smelled, how needy they were, the list could go on. But, now, she's a changed woman. It was her idea to adopt the dog, to take care of it. She let him sleep in their bed (with them!), sit on her furniture. Anything this dog wanted, he got. Jackie spoiled him rotten. His name was picked by Hyde, named after Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
A few moments later, dinner is done and they are sitting at the dining table.
"How was work?" Jackie is the first to speak, digging her fork into the plate in front of her.
"Fine, nothing new." he responds, taking a sip of his beer. "Had to kick out a couple kids for stealing."
"Really?" she asks, lifting her fork to her mouth. "Did you feel like Red, yelling at some kids?"
"I felt like a hypocrite, that's what." he grunts. "Man, when I was that age, I was such a sticky fingers. I would've taken anything that wasn't nailed down. Wasn't allowed at Kelso's again 'til I was at least 15, even then I had to promise those days were past me."
"I never knew that. I mean, I knew about the shoplifting. I'm a tad bit guilty," she giggles, thinking about taking lip gloss from the drugstore when she was younger. "But, I never knew that you weren't allowed at the Kelso's."
"I never even took anything from them," he says, wiping his face. "They have like, what, seven kids? Shit's bound to go missing. They just wanted to point fingers at the poor kid."
"I'm sorry about that, Steven."
"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."
"I know, but that's just not right." she says, reaching across to place her hand on top of his.
"It's in the past now, who cares." he takes another sip of his beer. "Anything new down at the station?"
"No," she tells him. "Rick yelled at Don, who then yelled at Dave, who then threw a fit and ran out of the studio. Gosh, the drama!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she nods. "But, that's nothing new. It would be un usual if they didn't scream at each other. I mean, it's show business. There's gonna be a couple disagreements."
"Disagreements?"
"Yeah, they couldn't decide what color tie the host should wear. Really stressful, if you ask me. He's wearing a navy jacket, so black is obviously out of the picture. I suggested pink, since it would make the jacket pop. Rick loved that, but Don hated it! Dave thought we should do red, so he's obviously the wrong one here. Who pairs navy with red?" he just nods as she goes on to ramble some more about the fashion mishaps of the local news station.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he says, after she pauses for a moment. "W.B. offered me a new store today."
"A new store?" she chirps, clearly excited. "Where?"
"Oshkosh," he clears his throat, not expecting her to be this thrilled. "He said it's mine if I want it."
"Well, do you want it?"
"I guess." he whips his face again. He made chicken alfredo, and he finds that the sauce always gets everywhere. "I have a meeting with him tomorrow in Milwaukee."
"Oh, in Milwaukee!" she says, tapping her palm lightly on the table. "We can drive there together! You can drop me off at the station, go down to see W.B. Then, you can come by, pick me up for a romantic lunch date. Then, after that, I'll tell Rick I'm not feeling well, and we can have the rest of the day to ourselves. How does that sound?"
"That sounds great, actually." he smirks. "Man, I think you're looking more forward to this new store man than I am."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you succeed, Puddin' Pop. Just like I always said you would."
ʚ ɞ
"God, I got the absolute worst classes." Eric says as he holds open the door for Donna, exiting the admissions office of the University of Wisconsin. The hot sun blares down across the campus, the air humid and sticky.
"What did you expect?" she says as they begin to walk across campus to where he parked. "You're a first-year student enrolling in June!"
"I know, but they didn't have any cool classes still available?" he whines, looking down at one of the sheets of paper in his hands. "I mean, 8am college algebra? Do they really expect me to go?"
"Yes, they do! You're the one paying for it."
"Aha, that's where you're wrong. I'm not paying for anything." he smirks, reminding her of his hefty scholarship. It was really the only thing he had to brag about, considering she got a better schedule, she got better grades, and she's nearly two years ahead of him. "That's right, my time in Africa is actually paying off."
"Fine, you're not the one paying for it. Regardless, somebody is, so you should be going to your classes. Why waste your education?"
"Whoa whoa, those are pretty hefty words for somebody who skipped most of her classes in high school."
"Well, that was high school," she shrugs. "This is the real thing. And, just for pointers, I only skipped the boring classes, not any of the ones I actually liked."
"So, what's wrong with me skipping the boring classes and only attending the ones I like?" he questioned her.
"Because that would be all of your classes, you dillhole."
"Fine, maybe you're right," he says, folding the sheets in his hand and wrapping his arm around her waist. "So, what do you say you show me around the great city of Madison?"
"I'd love to." she says with a smile.
ʚ ɞ
Her tour started on campus, with the college radio station. While she had attempted to join, she couldn't find the room in her busy schedule to work there. But, she loved to go down there when she could and talk to the disc jockeys, comparing stories from her time as a DJ as well. Something she did find time for was the school's newspaper, the Daily Cardinal. She was a low writer on the totem pole, but took pride in the work she put into the paper. So, of course, their second stop was the newspaper's office.
Their third stop was to a burger joint just two blocks down from campus, a hangout spot that Donna would frequent often with her friends. It was similar to the Hub in some ways, it was a hotspot for the local burnouts. But, the atmosphere was great and the food was good. It was one of the few things that reminded her of home while away at college.
The next spot was the local record store, a spot she liked to visit on the weekends to decompress from her classes. It was just a tad bit bigger than the Grooves in Point Place, but the selection there truly was lacking compared to the store Hyde ran. And, a lot less Zeppelin. After roaming around the city for the next hour or so, they found themselves in a small coffee shop situated a couple streets down from their school. They sat across from each other at a small table in the center of the cafe, Eric flipping through a newspaper.
"I'm just looking for the funnies." he explains to her as he flips the pages of the paper more rampantly. "No other reason."
"Ah," Donna says, nodding her head. "Is that why I saw you looking at the 'For Rent' section?"
"No." he says, caught in his lie.
"Okay.." she says, taking a sip of her coffee.
"This one seems nice." he says, laying the paper down on the table in front of her.
"That doesn't look like a funny, Eric."
"Fine, maybe I lied," he admits. "I was looking at apartments."
"Why didn't you just say so? I would look at apartments with you."
"Really? I just didn't want to upset you."
"Why would that upset me? We just talked about moving in together."
"I didn't want you to think I was rushing anything. I thought you wanted to look in August."
"What's wrong with looking now? We're in Madison, I don't think it's a bad time to look." she says, reassuring him. For some reason, he had felt on-edge talking about their futures. He had no idea why, as they were currently in Madison, a place where they were both trying to expand to. Still, he just couldn't shake that feeling until now, seeing that she is completely calm with the concept. "Now, show me this listing." she leans across the table to read the paragraph that he is pointing to.
"Two bed, one and a half bath. It's only like, ten miles from campus. That's not too bad." he says, explaining to her why he picked it. "It just seems nice, y'know?"
"Yeah, it doesn't seem bad at all." she says, skimming across the newspaper in front of her. "What about the apartment we originally got out here?"
"I looked, I didn't see it listed." he tells her, reading the other listings as well.
"It's not a bad thing we are looking now, I mean, it'll be Hell in August." she reassures him, sensing it was something he was tense about. "I'll go call the number for this first one, we can see if we can view it today."
ʚ ɞ
Thirty minutes later they are outside of the apartment that Eric picked out. It's a quadplex-style apartment, the one they are looking at is on the upper level of the building. There's a small, two car driveway leading up to the home.
"Real nice place I've got here for you guys." The landlord, Frank, tries to sell the apartment to them. He's speaking in a thick Italian accent, like in a mafia movie. "Real quiet part of town, nice neighborhood. Perfect place for you two."
He leads them up the steps alongside the building and into the apartment. He swings open the door to reveal the interior. Beige wallpaper covers the top half of the walls, the bottom half covered in oak wall panels. The floors are wall-to-wall in the same oak. There's a small kitchen set to the side of the room, detached by just a wall separating from the rest of the room. On the wall beside the kitchen are three doors, presumably to the bedrooms.
"Lots of room in here!" Frank boasts as he shows them the apartment. "The kitchen is all new appliances. Electric stove, gets real hot, real fast!"
Eric and Donna share a glance, this man loved to describe things using "real".
"Here, let me show you the master bedroom." he opens the door furthest from the kitchen. In this room, the walls are painted a pale baby blue, with beige carpeting covering the floor. "Lots of space, you can fit a queen bed in here and still have some room leftover. Half bath right over here," he says as leads them across the room. "Same thing, new appliances. We renovated it this past summer. Real nice."
Frank continues to show them throughout the apartment, and concludes the tour once they are back outside.
"So, whatcha guys think? Wanna rent it?" he asks them, leaning forward. Eric and Donna look back at each other again, they definitely need some time to think this through. He catches this small interaction, and speaks again. "Look, I'll give you two a couple minutes to talk it out, just let me know." he says as he walks across the property, leaning against his car parked on the street. Donna and Eric are left standing beside the Vista Cruiser. He reaches into his front pocket, instinctively pulling out his pack of cigarettes. " God, I need to quit " he thinks to himself as he lights the rolled tobacco and inhales. Donna just shakes her head in return.
"I like it." Eric says first, looking back at the building.
"I do, too." she nods in agreement. "I mean, I don't love the wallpaper, but I do like the layout. I like the location. I like the landlord, too."
"That man's gotta be from New Jersey," Eric jokes.
"Hey, don't say that! I'm from Jersey!" she gently hits his shoulder. "Well, my dad's from New Jersey. Who knows, they could've been friends!"
"Alright, alright." he grins. "Back to the apartment. I think we should think about it. Rent's sorta steep, dontcha think?"
"$250 is not that bad, Eric. Apartments around campus go for way more than that."
"Maybe.. I dunno. Let's think about it," he says as he sees Frank approaching them. He chucks the cigarette butt to the ground and crushes it with his foot.
'"Listen, this is gonna be a popular place in a couple weeks. I'll hold onto it for you guys for two days. Just call me and it's yours." Frank holds out his hand to shake both of theirs. "I never got your names?" he asks them.
"Eric," he says as he holds out his hand.
"Eric…?" Frank tilts his ear towards him, asking for his last name.
"Eric Forman."
"Pleasure to meet you, Eric Forman!" He turns to Donna. "And you are?"
"Donna," she holds out her hand as well. "Donna Pinciotti."
"Hey! Pinciotti!" He shakes her hand with eagerness. "One of my best friends growing up was a Pinciotti."
"Oh, really? What a coincidence." she says, looking over at Eric.
"Sweetheart, do you happen to know a Bob Pinciotti?!" Laughter bursts from Eric while Donna just groans, she can't believe what's happening. She turns and hides her face in his shoulder.
"Know a Bob Pinciotti?!" Eric says, "that's her dad!" he laughs again.
"You shoulda led with that!" Frank says, laughing with him. "Listen, since you're Big Bob's daughter, tell ya what. I'll knock $50 off of the rent."
"Really?" Eric says, eyes going wide.
"Really." Frank nods. "Favor to my boy."
"Man, Bob rocks!"
ʚ ɞ
"I think we should pick that first one," Donna says, sitting next to him in the Vista Cruiser. They're parked in the Forman driveway, having just returned home seconds prior. It was well past midnight by this point, they had been out all day looking at apartments and venturing around Madison.
"You think so?" he asks her, laying his leg on the seat while turning to face her.
"Yeah, I do." she places her hand on top of his, just a small sign of affection. "It was nice. It's not too far from campus, I liked everything about it."
"Everything?" he grins, "even Frank knowing your dad?" she groans again.
"Well, maybe not that part." she winces. "But, it was nice that he dropped the rent for us. Where else can we find rent that cheap for that nice of a place?"
After viewing the first apartment, they went down to two other apartments near Madison. The second one they went to was right next to campus, but definitely came with a price. Parking was difficult, the apartment was small, and -the real kicker- rent was $300 a month. They both agreed there was no way they were able to afford that. The next one was even worse, the landlord was the biggest slumbag walking the streets of Madison. The listing in the paper said $220, which was great, but when they got there, he revealed he was actually charging $285. Not only that, the place reeked of cigarettes (something Donna hated) and was just overall dirty. They didn't find this decision hard to make.
"Yeah, I agree." he nods. He leans forward and gently kisses her lips. "I can't wait to live with you." he whispers against her cheek."
"Me, too," she grins, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. Wound up in the heat of the moment, they feel like they're 17 again, sneaking out past curfew to just spend a couple more minutes together. Even though it was just a mere three years ago, it feels like a lifetime away for them. So much had happened in those three years. Casey, California, a failed wedding, Africa. Just so much. She pulls away from him and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I should be going. My dad's probably worried about me."
"Alright.." he says, running his hand across her thigh. "I love you."
"I love you, too." she says, pecking his lips again. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He watches as she gets out of the car and walks across the driveway back to her house. She catches him staring and waves goodbye in return. He sits in the car for just a couple more moments, hoping his folks are already in bed. He gets out of the car and gently closes the door shut. Sneaking in through the sliding door - it was always unlocked - he immediately hears the TV in the living room. Standing still for a moment, he tries to solve what is playing on the television. If it's a sports game, it's definitely his father. He listens closely, and figures out that it is a soap opera, which definitely means it's his mother. He softly opens the swinging door and greets his mother.
"Mom, what are you still doing up?"
"Oh, I just want to finish this show then I'm going up to bed." she says, not taking her eyes off of the television.
"You weren't waiting on me, right?"
"Oh, no! Of course not, I didn't even know you were gone," she says, finally turning to look at him. He's standing beside his father's chair, while she's sitting on the couch.
"Really?" he questions her.
"Fine, I was waiting for you. Are there no phones in Madison?"
"I guess not," he chuckles.
"What took you so long?" she begins to pester. In front of her is an empty glass, he assumes it was once filled with some sort of cocktail. "How long does it take to register for a class for Christ's sake?"
"We were just going around town, exploring Madison." he shoves his hands in his pockets, not interested in discussing this right now. To be frank, he's tired and just wants to go to bed.
"Oh, that's exciting!" she claps her hands together. "Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I did. Madison's great." he nods.
"Have you met your roommate yet?" she asks him.
"Roommate?" he asks her in return, confused.
"In your dorm, sweetie." she laughs. "Laurie met hers a couple months before school started. Don't you remember? They hit it off well."
"Oh, about that," he scratches behind his head. "I think I'm gonna live off campus?"
"Really? Laurie loved dorming." Of course she loved it, her parents paid for her to screw around in the dorms.
"I'm thinking about getting an apartment somewhere around Madison."
"Really? That's gonna be awfully expensive!" she laughs again. Unlike Laurie, his parents did not offer to pay for anything . It pissed him off, but chose not to comment on it now. "And in such a big city, you'll need a roommate!"
He pauses for a moment, dreading what he's going to say next.
"I'm going to live with Donna." Kitty pauses for a moment, obviously judging his decision.
"Oh, honey. Are you sure that's the best idea?"
"I want to live with her." He stands up for himself and his relationship.
"Well, honey, you said that two years ago and how well did that go for you?" she laughs again, but this time it feels like she's laughing at him. And that pisses him off even more. "Eric, I don't think that is a good idea."
"Well, Mom, I do. And that's final." he says bluntly. It was hard to deal with his mother sometimes, even worse when she's been drinking. He's been lucky the last few times they've had a disagreement, as his father or Hyde were there to act as a buffer. But, right now, it was just him against his mother. And he hated it. "Mom, I love her. I want to be with her."
"Alright then!" She laughs awkwardly. She reaches across the coffee table and turns off the TV with the clicker. She stands up and scurries off upstairs, leaving Eric by himself in the living room. He hears her slamming his parent's bedroom door just seconds later. He sits down in his father's chair, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Fuck!"