Chapter 118: Software.
[Hyde POV]
The busty girl pointed at a rusty AMC Gremlin a few meters away from my car. Two guys and another girl were watching me. The guys were scowling, but the other girl looked expectant.
"Can't you put on the spare?" I asked with a sigh.
"No. We don't have a spare." She smiled bitterly. "Can you help us?" She clasped her hands and begged.
"Not really." I shook my head, causing her to be stunned. "There's a car shop nearby. Just take off the tire and bring it there."
"Um."
She was flabbergasted by my rejection.
I got into my car, but she kept trying to ask me for help. "Can you take us to the shop?"
"There are two guys over there. Ask them to help." I said cheekily and started the car engine.
She begged again, "But we don't even know them. And they want us to go back to their van. We'd prefer not to do that."
I stopped and sighed in defeat. "Fuck. Alright. I'll help."
She brightened up immediately. "Really!? Thank you so much!"
I checked the system time and there were four more hours before a new episode started. The drive home would take an hour and a half.
"I need to handle this within 2 hours."As I walked to the girl's car, the two guys were giving me a glare.
"What the fuck are you glaring at?" I almost lunged at them, which caused them to flinch and take a step back.
"You fucking psycho." One of them cursed at me.
"Come at me. See what happens." I said, holding a metal wrench. He got intimidated and left with his friend.
"Sarah, are you sure about this guy? He seems more dangerous than the other two boys."
A more petite girl hugged the blonde's arm slightly and hid behind her.
"Sarah, right?" I turned to the blonde. "10 bucks. I'll patch it up right now. Or I just take it off and you bring it to the shop yourself."
"I'll… give you the money." Sarah said after thinking about it with a dificult expression.
I shrugged, jacked up the wheel, and took the tire off the car. I brought it over to my car, used a tire repair kit and some glue to patch up the hole—there was a nail embedded inside—and used the portable pump to fill the tire back up.
The girls looked amazed as they saw my equipment in the back of my trunk.
I was sweating so I wiped my face with my shirt, revealing the dragon tattoo on my abdomen. Even though it was supposed to be used on my hand, it still worked when I put it there.
The petite girl was even more scared of me when she saw it.Two minutes later, the tire was already fixed up. I put it back on the car and wiped the dust from my gloved hand.
"All done. But go to the mechanic and change the tire as soon as you can." I snifed slightly to clear out my nose irritation and took off my gloves.
Then, I held out my hand to the girl.
The petite one was confused and grabbed my hand slightly.
I slapped her hand away and said sternly, "The money."
"Oh. Right." She laughed awkwardly and turned to the blonde. "Um, I only have 9 dollars and 30 cents. But I also need to put gas into the car."
I scowled immediately, which scared both girls.
"Never mind." I sighed in defeat and turned back to my car.
"Wait. Can you give me your number? I want to pay you—I really do."
Sarah grabbed my hand before I could leave. "I'll give you the money later."
I thought about it for a few seconds.
"Just send it to this address." I gave her the address of the studio in Kenosha. "I'll come tomorrow to pick it up."
"Okay. I will. My name is Sarah Carter. And this is Linda Hamilton." She introduced herself and the petite girl.
I took a second look at the other girl and scofed, "You're not Linda Hamilton."
"Excuse me?" She got pissed off instantly."What's your name?" Sarah asked. "Do you live around here?"
"I'm not interested. Just don't forget to send me the money." I said curtly.
"Go turn on the engine. See if you can drive away now. Those two guys are still watching you."
The two girls paled slightly as they saw the guys I was pointing at.
They got into their car and drove away while shouting at me, "We'll definitely repay you!"
"Just go." I said with annoyance. Then, I turned to the guys and gave them an "I'm watching you" gesture.
I cranked up the radio volume and drove back to Point Place.
…
There were a lot of bugs on my windshield as I got back home.
"I still have an hour." I muttered and went to the basement to prepare for the episode.
The episode name was 'Roller Disco'.
The synopsis read, 'When the roller disco comes to Kenosha, Jackie insists Hyde must be her partner. He won't, she scorns Kelso, that leaves Fez, actually the best choice.'
'Donna makes Michael so jealous he tries to sabotage his friend but swallows his marble. They win anyway, she gets drunk and frisky, Fez resists temptation, then regrets it. Donna's consolation attempt is mistaken by Kelso as flirting.'
I nodded after reading it. "I guess she just wants a boyfriend. She's not really in love with me."The realization made me feel… nothing.
"Great." I grinned. "That means I don't have any feelings for her either."
"What are you doing, talking by yourself?" Forman came into the basement and saw me sitting on my couch.
"Oh hey man." I turned to him and asked, "How's Laurie? Miserable?"
"Very." Forman laughed. "I'm going to see her live at the store later. And laugh! Mua-ha-ha."
Fez came in and changed the TV channel immediately. "Move, Wonder Woman is playing! Then, it's Batman."
"Summer TV programming sure is being catered to a bunch of out-of-school children." I scofed slightly.
"And teens." Fez clarified. Then, Kelso came into the basement. "Hey, I just saw a UFO outside!"
"Did you rub your eyes too hard again?" Forman asked him.
Kelso paused and said, "Yeah. But one of these days, I'm going to have my camera with me, and I'm going to take a picture of the UFO."
"Just like when you were going to take a picture of Bigfoot?" I said sarcastically. "Or the werewolf that's been spotted in Point Place?"
"Yeah, that just turned out to be Mrs. Robinson's dog." He said sadly.
Then he grinned and said, "But I did see Mrs. Robinson in her nightie. So that's nice."
"Remember the first Wonder Woman episode when she wore the purple nightie?" Forman asked.
"Yeah." We all were lost in the memories.The episode started when Batman was airing, and everyone was absorbed while watching it.
Fez exclaimed worriedly, "Oh, don't put Batman in the clam of death, Riddler. That's just gonna make him mad."
He snickered and said, "God, you're stupid."
Forman sat beside Fez and told him, "Fez, for the last time, the Riddler can't hear you."
I snickered and said, "Batman needs to escape the clams to get back to his true love, Robin."
"Stop it with the gay Robin joke." Forman snapped at me.
"Sorry, but no straight man would wear something like that. Ever." I argued.
Fez ignored me and said, "Riddle me this, Riddler. When Batman escapes from the clam of death… who will kick your riddle-telling ass… in?"
Forman said, "Hey, Fez. Riddle me this." He punched Fez in the arm with a grunt. Then, he turned to me and laughed.
Annoyed, Fez said, "Then riddle me this." He licked his finger and gave Forman a wet willy.
I chuckled at their fight, and Kelso also laughed while eating his popsicle.
"Oh, but, Fez, only if you riddle me this." Forman twisted Fez's nipple and laughed again."Ow!" Fez exclaimed and lunged at him. "Riddle me this, you son of a bitch!" Fez tickled and pinched Forman at the same time.
"You guys are such Robins." Kelso snickered slightly. I high-fived him and grimaced, "Ugh. So sticky."
Jackie burst into the room and shouted, "Oh, my God! Guess what!"
Forman shouted exaggeratedly, "Stop! Fez! This could be important!"
Jackie was annoyed at his sarcastic delivery. Forman slapped the back of Fez's head lightly as they moved away from each other.
Jackie smiled and said again, "You guys, the Roller Disco Doo-dah is coming to Kenosha next Friday!"
I replied sarcastically, "Oh, my God! Guess what!" I blew raspberries at her.
She stuck her tongue out, slightly annoyed. "See, now, that's the kind of thing the judges really frown on during competition, Steven."
"Excuse me?" I looked at her flatly.
"We're gonna be partners!" She said giddily. "Skating partners!"
Kelso looked taken aback and was slightly worried by it.
I snickered slightly and said, "Hey, how about instead, you hit me in the face with a wrench, and I black out?"
"Steven…" She approached me, moved Forman's leg away and sat close to me. "This is not just a last chance at roller disco. It's a last chance at love—our love."
I gave her a weird look."Now, will you or will you not skate with me?" She asked seriously.
I sighed and said, "I would, Jackie…"
She grinned slightly.
I added, "But seeing you there in your cute little skating outfit… with all your tassels and sequins…"
I paused and added, "I might be tempted to… push you down a flight of stairs." I stood up and left before she could ask me again.
Kelso quickly sat on my seat and said, "All right. Jackie, what do you say? You and me, roller disco? I mean, we used to have some good moves, you know, like, when we did it…"
Jackie was taken aback when she heard him say it.
"So it would be like that… except with lights and skates." He added.
Jackie grimaced. "Okay. Um, first of all, you make me sick. Okay? Second, you're lame, and you make me sick. Third, you make me sick, and any one of these guys would be a better partner than you, even Fez."
Fez brightened up and said quickly, "Really? Then I am in."
Jackie turned to him and said, "Um, no, I didn't really mean it, Fez."
"Oh, then I am out." He backed down slightly. Then he whined and said, "Damn it. Let me in."
"Geez. I can't take it anymore. Even the thought of Jackie picking me is giving me the heebie-jeebies." Forman stood up and left.
"Hey, insult Laurie for me." I told him."Will do!" He replied without looking back.
"Kelso. Move." I smacked the back of Kelso's head.
"Ack— You could've said it nicely!" He snapped at me.
"Alright. Please move away from my seat." I said politely and smacked him in the head again.
"Thank you! Is that so hard?" He rubbed the back of his head and moved next to Jackie.
Fez sat on the lone chair on the other side of the room and asked, "So, who will Jackie choose as her roller disco partner? Who, who, who?"
Jackie immediately turned to me.
"No freakin' way. I have an image to uphold." I replied with annoyance.
She rolled her eyes slightly and gave up.
Fez hinted again, "Hmm, how very sad. No one to disco with."
He stood up and said, "Now, where did I leave my potato chips? Oh, there they are."
Walking to the dryer, Fez did a 360 spin and caught Jackie's attention.
Kelso looked at him warily while I was amused.
Fez ate a chip and said happily, "Look at that. I left my soda back on the other side of the room!"
He walked in front of us again, with rhythm and pointing his finger as if he was dancing in a disco.
He picked up his cola and drank it. "Ah. Refreshing."
Jackie smiled slightly.
"God, my arm is sooore!" Fez pointed above him while posing.
"Wow, Fez!" Jackie exclaimed.
Kelso rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on, Jackie! You're gonna pick him over me?" Kelso ran to the back of the couch. "All right. Watch this."
He bent his knees, crossed his arms together, and when he turned, he fell to the ground.
"Ughh…" He groaned in pain.
Fez approached Jackie and said sincerely, "Jackie, I'm just a roller disco machine… and I don't work for nobody but you."
Kelso groaned in pain again. Jackie glanced at me and turned to Fez.
"Okay. Okay, fine. We'll be partners." She picked him excitedly, then she turned serious, "But hear me now. I want first prize. If I lose and some stupid, spoiled rich girl wins… I'll scream."
"So you'll scream when you win?" I asked, which made her glare at me.
Kelso whimpered and shouted, "I am really hurt!"
I peeked at him but didn't help him.
'Since the competition is next week, doesn't that mean the episode will take all week long? I already showed my face, so I've done enough here, right?'
Donna walked into the room and greeted us happily, carrying a notepad with her. "Hey. I–"She got distracted as she saw Kelso lying on the floor. "Why?" She asked simply.
"He tried to get into the roller disco dance competition with Jackie. But she picked me." Fez said smugly.
"Fez, I'm going to kick your ass once I can stand up." Kelso said angrily.
"Alright." Donna shrugged and walked towards me, "So. I have a question right here—"
"Wait. Before that, I have a gift for you." I interjected with an evil smile.
"Gift? You're giving her a gift?!" Jackie became insecure and really jealous. "What is it? Diamonds? Panties?"
"Diamond panties?" Kelso perched on the back of the couch and asked while trying to stand up like a newborn calf.
I grimaced and said, "This right here has nothing to do with all of you. So get lost."
"NO!" Jackie exclaimed and hugged Donna's arm. "We won't leave until we see the gift!"
I rolled my eyes and said, "Fine. Go wait in Donna's room. Kelso and Fez, you two come with me."
…
In Donna's room twenty minutes later, Kelso and Fez brought up a bunch of heavy boxes, sweating heavily as they placed them on the side of her room.
"A computer?" Jackie was annoyed. "Why are you giving her a computer?"
"Loaning her a computer." I corrected her.
"It's the TRS-80!" Kelso was excited. "We can play games on it! Like Blackjack!"
I brought the floppy disk with me and told her, "I found you something that can make your work easier."
We set up the computer on a wooden table. After registration, I took over and sat on the chair.
As I put the floppy disk inside the PC disk slot, the computer glitched for a second and the black screen turned grayish-white.
The software was already sent to me through an email. I just put it into a floppy disk with my laptop and some adapter, so I could test it out on the TRS-80 now.
-TYPEWRITER V1.0-
INSERT DISK B COMPLETE
[NEW DOCUMENT]
[LOAD DOCUMENT]
[PRINT DOCUMENT]
-PAGE 1 / 200-
"Wait. A typing program?" Donna was excited and pushed me away.
"Yup." I replied. "It has a lot of limitations, but it works. And the data is saved up in the floppy. So you can just give it to me for printing. Or, I can hook you up with the printer later."
Donna immediately shoved me away from the chair and sat down in front of the keyboard."You mean I can edit pages without retyping the whole script?" She asked excitedly.
"Yup."
"And organize drafts?"
"Yup."
"And save revisions?"
"Yup."
"What about—"
Jackie interjected as she couldn't take it anymore. "Oh my god, Donna. Shut up and just say thank you."
Donna was embarrassed. "Thanks, Hyde."
Then, she began typing slowly. Her speed wasn't comparable to mine, but since she had used a typewriter before, she was better than the rest of the people there.
"Hyde! What about games?" Kelso asked. "Did you buy any games?"
"It does come with Backgammon, but it's not really that great. It's just lines." I replied.
Kelso snatched the floppy from me and said to Donna, "Move! I'm going next!"
"I'm not moving, moron! This is mine, and I have a lot of work to do!" Donna shouted at him and kicked his ass. "Go home!"
"No! Donna! Just once! Let me do it once!" Kelso begged.Fez snorted and laughed, "Is he trying to play games, or get Donna to sleep with him? Either way, he's failing at both."
I chuckled slightly and said, "Donna, I need at least 10 pages by tomorrow. I'm going to the Kenosha studio."
"Studio? There's a movie studio in Kenosha?" Jackie's eyes lit up.
"Yup." I replied. "I'm going to hang out by the lake too and hit on some Kenosha chick." I added.
Jackie glared at me and said, "You can't date anyone the whole summer. Not publicly! You promised me that."
"No one's going to know me in Kenosha." I argued.
"They will know! A lot of my friends are hanging out by the lakefront. So I'm coming with you tomorrow."
Fez was taken aback and he asked, "Wait. What about practice?"
Jackie rolled her eyes and said, "We can practice at Kenosha, Fez."
"Sweet! Road trip to Kenosha!" Kelso said loudly. Then, he turned to Donna and whined, "Move! I want to play with it now!"
"Everyone out!" Donna kicked all of us out of her room.
Kelso whined and stomped away. Fez went with him.
Jackie followed me back to the basement.
"Alright. We need to talk." She said seriously.
"About what?" I asked, crossing my arms together."Well. About the whole fake boyfriend thing." She said carefully. "I know we promised till the summer ends. But I also know that… I'm being unreasonable, since you have needs too."
"I'm sorry?" I was taken aback by her words.
"You know…" She hinted with her eyes. "Something a boy does when he's alone."
"I don't do that." I shook my head slightly.
"I mean… boys have needs, right? And you don't exactly have anyone helping you with that right now. So you know… why don't we…"
"Jackie. What prompts this to come up?" I asked seriously.
She sighed and said, "My friends asked me what your… thing looks like."
She pointed at my groin slightly.
"Tell them it's none of their business." I said with disbelief.
"Well, Tara knows what it looks like. But I don't. So they didn't believe me when I said that we already did it."
"Why would you say that?" I grimaced, exasperated.
"Because you're a famous person!" Jackie got angry. "There's no way we're going to date around and not do it. If you're a loser like Eric, people would believe it. But not you!"
Taken aback, I asked annoyedly, "So you want to have sex just so that you can keep up appearances?"
"Yes!" She agreed immediately.
"Alright then." I said and walked to my room."Um." She was taken aback and blushed slightly.
"What are you doing? Are you backing out now? 'Cause it's fine if you're backing out." I said playfully.
"L– Look at the time. Silly me. My dad wants me to have dinner with him today. You know, it's Sunday dinner."
"It's Wednesday." I exposed her with an evil smirk.
She was speechless for a while. "Anyway. I'll see you later tonight!" She said and ran away hurriedly.
"Weirdo." I muttered and went inside my room.
Chapter 119: Studio and Lakefront.
[Hyde POV]
That night, around 10 p.m., I heard a knock on my door again. I opened it and saw Jackie there, wearing a trench coat.
"Alright. Let's do this." She said with determination.
"Do what?" I asked, confused.
She untied her waist knot and took off the trench coat, revealing sexy black lingerie underneath.
"We're going to do it, silly." She smiled and pushed me on the bed. She kissed my neck and straddled herself on my groin.
"Wait. No, Jackie. NOOO!"
I woke up in a cold sweat after escaping the nightmare. It was only three in the morning. I had only slept for four hours before this happened.
"Damn it." I cursed and poured myself some Scotch. "Now she's even hunting me in my dreams."
I couldn't force myself to fall asleep, and just lay on my bed with my eyes closed till seven in the morning.
Then, I took a shower and got ready for the Kenosha trip.
"Damn you, Jackie Burkhart."
…
I met with Bart and Buddy Morgan before going to Kenosha.Buddy Morgan was played by a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt in That '70s Show. He was a gay character that was supposed to be a recurring character.
However, his character had a lot of backlash from the conservative audiences in 1999, and he never returned to the series.
"I'm not going to work with you, Hyde." Buddy said angrily as I asked him if he wanted to audition for the movie role.
I smirked and said, "Sure. If you don't want it, then you don't have to do it."
Bart asked, "Why are you rejecting this? You're going to be a star, you know?"
"I'd rather not be a star if it meant I have to work with a bigot like him."
He pointed at me accusatorily.
"Bigot?" I was confused.
"What else should you call a man who hates another man for being gay?" He asked me confrontationally.
"Hold on." I was taken aback. "Let's make this clear. I didn't hate you because you're gay. I hate you because you're rich. There's a diference."
"What— Wait." His tone softened. "It's not because I kissed Forman?""Nope. I thought that was hilarious." I replied with a chuckle.
"Then why did you throw trash on my Firebird?" He was confused.
"Because you drove a Firebird to school, you rich, popular asshole." I snapped at him.
"Oh." He was taken aback, paused slightly and asked, "Um. Where's the audition?"
"Kenosha. At 12." I gave him a script. "Don't overact. You have that movie star look, so as long as you can deliver the lines well, I can give you the role. Even better if you can deliver it like Forman."
He was taken aback. "Oh yeah, that's going to be hard. He has impeccable comic sense."
I nodded in agreement with Buddy and said, "Yeah. So, you're doing it? I need you just for one week."
"Umm… Alright, I'll come to the audition." He agreed.
Bart asked, "What about me?"
"Just come too. I need around eight teen boys here to make the movie work. Most of them will be from Chicago." I said and left to drive to Kenosha.
Tifany and Ophelia came along with me in my car to see the movie set.
Eric, Jackie, Donna, Fez, and Kelso rode in Kelso's van since they were going to the lakefront while I stayed for the audition.
While we were driving, Tifany—who was sitting in the back of my car—asked, "Are we going to commute to Kenosha every day?"
"It's just an hour, hour-and-a-half drive. So yeah." I replied to her. "We're only going to shoot for eight hours a day."Ophelia snorted slightly. I turned to her and asked, "Is something funny?"
"Eight hours. On the last day we worked only four. And we had an hour-long lunch break." She said teasingly.
"Well, people got to eat." I grinned and drove of. "That reminds me. Tifany, can you help me grab that gift bag?"
"Sure." Tifany replied and passed the pink gift bag with a red bow on it to the front.
I gave the bag to Ophelia and said, "Here."
Her eyes glimmered with excitement as she asked, "What's this for?"
"Your birthday." I replied and flashed a charming smile. "Happy 19th Birthday."
Tifany was shocked. "Wait. It's your birthday? Isn't it on the 30th of August?"
Ophelia giggled and said, "You didn't forget. I told people that so I wouldn't have to be a 'Cancer'."
"Why?" I asked her with confusion.
"The drama teacher is a Capricorn. I don't want him to judge me since Cancer isn't compatible with Capricorn, but Virgo is."
Both Tifany and I went speechless at her explanation.
"Can I open it now?" She asked, smiling coolly.
"Sure. It's your gift."
She opened the gift bag carefully and took out a pink bottle of perfume.
There were also red pajamas in there made of satin. They were comfy instead of sexy.
"This is amazing." She smelled the perfume slightly. "Thank you so much."
"You didn't see the other one? The picture?" I asked her playfully.
"What picture?" She rummaged inside the bag and took out a small photo.
It was the movie poster for Fading Colors. It was her and Donnie looking at each other underneath a tree at sunset.
A small gasp escaped her mouth.
"Now she's finally happy with the gift." Tifany laughed and teased.
Ophelia blushed and said meekly, "I like the other gifts too."
Tifany interjected and scolded me, "What about me? My birthday was three weeks ago yet you haven't wished me anything. Where's my gift?!"
I grimaced and said, "I'll give it to you later."
A few more bugs slammed into my windshield as I drove to Kenosha.
"Freaking summer."
…
At the studio, Donna, Ophelia, Forman, and I walked onto the stage.
"Dude. You built my basement." Eric was taken aback when he saw the set."With a little diference. Like the smell. It doesn't smell like feet here."
Donna teased.
"That's not feet." I said with a deadpan voice.
"Ew." Donna groaned in disgust.
As we got ready for the interview, Patty and her guest arrived at the studio.
She was taken aback when she saw the infrastructure there. "Damn, Bruce really hid his ambition from all of us. He has a fully formed studio right here in his town."
"Yup. That's Bruce." I said flatly and turned to her guest. "You're Bill Murray, right?"
"Hi." He shook my hand vigorously. "I saw you on the car documentary. That race in particular is pretty awesome."
"But." I interjected. "You don't remember my name."
"Yup, I tried to stall for time to remember, but it's not coming. I want to say, 'Hoit', but I know that's not right."
Donna and Eric snickered as they heard the name. Even Ophelia turned her head away and held back her laughter.
"Close. It's Hyde." I replied casually.
Patty interjected and said, "I brought him here since you mentioned him before. You're right, he is pretty charismatic."
Bill chuckled and added, "She's just saying that since I slept with her last night to get a role."
Patty froze slightly.
I snickered and said, "So how was she?"
"Hyde!" Donna called out from behind me. "Focus on the audition."
"Just to be clear. That never happened. I only sleep with B-listers and higher." Patty told me seriously. I laughed at her and gestured that I got it before turning to my friends.
"You guys can go if you want. I just need Ophelia here. And Patty." I told Eric and Donna.
They got ofended immediately.
"Does our Chicago audition trip mean nothing to you?" Eric whined.
"It really doesn't." I said casually, which made the two of them groan in disbelief. "Go ahead and have fun on the beach. Kelso, Fez, and Jackie are already there."
"Let us borrow your car then." Eric said tauntingly.
"Oh right. A car." I realized they had no ride since Kelso didn't wait for them. "Alright. Just stay with me. I think we can end it before three."
"That's like… in five hours." Donna exclaimed, exasperated.
"Then you should've brought your own car." I smirked slightly.
"It's fine. I'll just stay here. It'll be better for me to see their delivery as I wrote the script." Donna said defeatedly.
"Is there a script though?" Bill asked.
"Yeah." I gave him the script Donna gave me this morning, already printed out. It had the opening scene of the movie which we could use to start the production.
We started the audition for the roles. More than forty people came to audition for various parts in the movie.
I pulled Bill Murray onto the judging panel so he could rate the actors' comedic delivery.
He wanted to do the movie himself, but he couldn't pass as a 17-year-old since I was trying to make everyone look young here.
Patty was quite impressed by Buddy Morgan as he auditioned for the main lead of the movie.
"Hello, I'm Midge Pinciotti. I'm here to audition for the hot mom role."
"MOM?!" Donna was shocked when she saw her mother there.
Midge wore a tight T-shirt and a tennis skirt, which made Bill Murray exclaim, "God damn."
"Oh, hey, Donna." Midge waved at Donna happily, her voice breathy as always.
"Why—why are you here?" Donna asked nervously.
"Well, Donna, I went to Steven to ask him about a modeling job, but instead he told me about the audition."
Midge added cheerfully, "I've always wanted to be on TV, so I told your dad I was visiting my sister in Chicago and drove here!"
"You lied to Dad?" Donna asked, exasperated.
"What can I do? He's not thrilled about my modeling job either." Midge said, annoyed.
"You're that milk model! That's how I know you!" Bill Murray interjected.
"Yes! That's me!" Midge replied excitedly.
"So, Midge. Can you read the line I'm giving you right now?" I asked her while Donna handed her the script and pointed out where she needed to read.
Midge read the script with a sultry demeanor. "You broke the TV. You naughty, naughty… naughty boy!"
"There's only one 'naughty' in there, but I like how you play the character." I said instantly. "You're hired."
"Hyde!" Donna was flabbergasted.
"Yes! Thank you so much!" Midge rushed toward me and kissed me on the cheek repeatedly.
Taken aback, I said, "Midge! You're not being professional right now. Keep up your image!"
"Mom!" Donna stopped Midge and pulled her away.
Once Midge was gone, Patty turned to me and asked, "So. Are you trying to do something here by hiring her? You're not trying to sleep with your friend's mother, are you?"
Bill Murray interjected, "Although, you might become a hero to all boys if you managed to do that."
"I do want to be a legend. But I won't destroy my friend's family. If they got divorced, then it's a diferent story."
Eric snickered and said teasingly, "Yeah, right. Like you could get Midge."
"I sooo can get Midge." I replied playfully.
Ophelia let out a slight disapproving hum from the side. Suddenly, another familiar face arrived at the audition.
"Hi, I'm Michael Kelso. I'm here to read for the position of the main character—nothing else!" he said confidently.
"That's already taken. But I do have the role of a retarded friend here." I told him.
"I'll take it!" he said immediately.
I actually had no problem hiring Kelso. He was naturally funny, and he could do slapstick really well. As long as I kept him from overacting, I could use him.
"My God. That kid looks like he was sculpted by a Greek sculptor." Bill Murray was taken aback when he saw Kelso.
I smiled and said, "He's so idiotically handsome that he never has to use his brain for anything."
Eric nodded and added, "God is fair. He gave him the looks, but never the brain."
I nodded too.
Ophelia burst into laughter and asked us with disbelief, "Isn't he your best friend?"
"He is." Eric and I replied at the same time.
The final person for the audition arrived. To my surprise, it was another familiar face."Um, I'm just here to pay back the money I owe… I'm not here to audition." Sarah Carter—the girl I met at the lake yesterday—had come to the studio and was mistaken for an actress by one of the assistants.
"Are you not here for the audition?" Patty asked.
"No." Sarah replied nervously.
"It's too bad. You have the looks for it." Patty added.
"Um…" Sarah blushed slightly. "Maybe I can read one line?"
"Sure." I smiled slightly. "What about that fake Linda Hamilton? Is she not here?"
"No. She's too scared of you. She said you're a gangster." Sarah replied shyly.
Donna and Eric snickered while Patty turned to me with a smile.
I sighed in defeat and said, "Alright, maybe I deserve that."
The audition ended shortly afterward.
Sarah approached me and handed me ten dollars. I grabbed the money and slipped it into my pocket.
Donna stared at her with confusion and asked, "How did you end up owing him money?"
"He fixed my car tire yesterday." Sarah blushed slightly and brushed her hair behind her ear while standing in front of me.
"Hyde, you charged her?" Donna looked at me with disbelief. "You're supposed to help people in trouble."
"Hey, ten bucks is a good price. She would've been charged fifteen or twenty at a repair shop." I complained.
"That's not the point!" Donna scolded me.
…
After the audition, we went to the lakefront together.
The Kenosha lakefront was calmer than I expected. The water stretched endlessly into the horizon, looking more like an ocean than a lake.There weren't many people swimming this late into the afternoon. Mostly families sitting on towels, old couples walking near the concrete path, teenagers playing music from portable radios, and rich assholes taking their boats out onto Lake Michigan.
Some people were tanning near the sand while others sat near the marina eating hot dogs and fries.
The wind coming from the lake was cold despite the summer weather.
I walked with Ophelia as I wanted to look around to scout for locations I could use in my projects.
Her flowery skirt fluttered in the wind. I looked at her with disbelief and said, "I can't believe you brought a change of clothes."
"A true actor needs to always be prepared." She smiled, holding her sunhat giddily. "Do you want to take a picture of me?"
"Not really." I replied, touching my camera slightly.
She sulked immediately. I saw a hot dog stand and asked, "You want one?"
"Yeah. Put mustard on mine." She nodded. I walked away from her to order.
Suddenly, a party of men walked toward her. "Hey there, pretty lady. Do you want to go to a boat party tonight?" They surrounded Ophelia immediately.
"No. I don't want to go to your party." She rejected them immediately.
"Why not? You think you're better than us or something?" One of the men became hostile.
I returned to her with the hot dogs and waltzed right next to her. "She said she's not interested, pal. Take a hike."
"Hey! We saw her first!" One of them turned physical with me, holding my collar roughly.
I grinned and said, "You really want to do this? Sure. Let's do it."
"Come on! Hit him!" One of them taunted the aggressor.
The big guy swung at me, but I kicked him in the shin after avoiding it.
He slumped to the ground, in pain.
"Steven!" Ophelia called to me worriedly.
Suddenly, a gunshot from behind us startled everyone. We froze and turned to the source of the sound.
A scary-looking man pointed his gun at us. "Come on, kids, take a hike."
The policeman said lazily while eating his donut.
Ophelia rushed toward me and hugged my arm. "Officer, they were harassing me."
"I know. I saw it. So before I bring all of you to jail, why don't you just walk away and stop ruining my leisure time?"
The men left after being threatened by the cops. I shrugged and walked away with Ophelia.
"You're really hot-headed." She scolded me as we walked away. "You did that too, during the festival."
I shrugged and said, "I'm not going to attack someone without reason. I'm not a honey badger."
We went back to meet with our friends and drove back home together. I was trying to send Ophelia back to her house, but she said, "Just drop me at the Hub. I'll walk back home."
"Don't be silly. It's not like… Wait," I just realized something. "I've never been to your house before."
Her face paled slightly when I mentioned that. "I just need you to drop me at the Hub. You don't have to drop me at my house."
"Is there something wrong with your place? I'm living in a basement, you know, so if you're afraid of me seeing your living condition, I—"
"Can you just drop it? Don't come to my house. I don't want you to go near my house." She snapped at me angrily.
Taken aback, I laughed awkwardly and said, "Alright then. I won't mention it anymore. Want to have dinner together before we go home?"
She went silent for a bit before replying, "I don't have a change of clothes to go to a restaurant."
"You can ransack the wardrobe I have in the office. It's not like anyone's using those." I offered.
"Okay." She agreed easily.
…
She wore a daring red dress as we got to dinner. I just put on a jacket over my Rolling Stones T-shirt.
The restaurant was one of the few "fancy" restaurants in town, with dim yellow lighting, fake wine bottles on the walls, and checkered tablecloths.
I came here once to break up Donna and Eric before they became a couple, so it brought back some memories.
They were also quite loose about serving minors alcohol, so that was a plus.
Ophelia picked the place when I asked her where she wanted to eat. It was the first time I ever got an answer on the first try. The experience felt quite refreshing.
"Do you come here often?" I asked her.
"No." She shook her head slightly. "I've always wanted to come here though."
The owner spotted me as I was reading the menu.
"Steven Hyde!" The old Italian man immediately brightened up and walked over enthusiastically. "You finally came!"
Ophelia blinked and looked at me. "You know him?"
"No." I replied honestly.
The owner shook my hand vigorously anyway. "Your festival saved my business this month! We ran out of pasta twice!"
"…That's good?" I asked awkwardly.
"It's incredible!" He pointed around the restaurant proudly. "People from Green Bay came down here because of your music festival. We had lines outside the door!"
His hand gestures told me he was Italian. His accent was barely noticeable though.
"I'm Don Soprano. Tony Soprano, your racer boy—he's my nephew." He introduced himself.
"Ah." I exclaimed in realization and shook his hand. "Tony's a good dude."
"No. He's not good. He's really lazy until he met you. You're a benefactor to my family and also this restaurant. Anything you want to eat tonight is on me." He said sincerely.
"In that case, I'll let you decide my menu today. Bring me your best meal." I joked.
"Of course!" He snatched the menu from both Ophelia and me. "I'll make sure both of you enjoy a wonderful night! Leave it all to me!"
I laughed as I watched him go. "Boy, he sure is enthusiastic."
"Of course he is. He's meeting a huge star." Ophelia said with a smirk.
I shrugged it off and said, "When I came in here, I just realized that I know nothing about you."
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Don't learn things about me. Just focus on me right now. And what I can do on the screen." She said firmly.
"I don't mind keeping things purely professional." I shrugged slightly.
Then I added, "But being professional means I have to make sure the person I'm picking to headline my movies has no problems that can drag the project into the mud."
She was taken aback by my words.
I leaned in slightly and said seriously, "So, if you're trouble, I need to find out now. Because once you become an actor, there's no such thing as privacy or secrets anymore."
Her eyes flickered slightly as her guard began to break down.
"So as a producer, I need to learn about you. Tell me, Ophelia." I smiled slightly. "Who are you?"
Everyone had some