Edge of Seventeen, That 70's Show (HydexOC)

one.

February 28th, 1976.

Eric and Ree Forman's Basement

8:47p.m

    "Eric, it is time," Hyde spoke from his spot on the lumpy, old basement couch. Kelso bobbed his head up in down in agreement, his brown hair flopping with each movement.

    "Why can't you do it?" Eric replied, looking between his friends desperately.

    "It's your house," Hyde shot back.

    Kelso bobbed his head up and down again, "Your house," he parroted.

    "Listen to them up there," Hyde pointed to the ceiling, where murmurs and footsteps of drunken party guests could be heard from the living room. "The party has reached critical mass; in ten more minutes, there will be no. more. beer opportunities." The two boys stared Eric down, never wavering in their seriousness.

    "Why can't Ree do it?" Eric whined, gesturing to his twin sister who sat on the freezer behind him, feet kicking back and forth as she was absorbed in her book.

    Valerie "Ree" Forman finally ripped her face from her reading at the sound of her name, eyes narrowing at the back of her brother's head. "There is no way I am stealing beer, Eric," said Ree, rolling her eyes at her brother's stupid suggestion.

    "Yeah, as if Virgin Mary over here could ever do anything cool," Hyde sneered, rolling his eyes at the girl.

Ree narrowed her eyes at Hyde, her gripe with Eric slipping from her mind. Valerie Forman and Steve Hyde spend hours trading jibes and insults, heated debates about politics and rules and societal expectations. While Ree is the goody-two-shoes, straight-A teacher's pet, Hyde is the laid-back rebellious stoner. Fighting is what they're meant to do. 

"Right, because being a delinquent is so cool," shot Ree, sarcastically.

    "Better than being a pawn of the system."

    "Better than being part of the prison system."

    "Guys, come on, I want beer!" Kelso whined, interrupting the bickering duo. Everyone's eyes turned back expectantly towards Eric.

"If my dad catches me copping beers, he'll kill me," complained Eric, eyes wide. 

The image of Red Forman's infamous ass kicking came to mind.

Hyde slapped his hand onto Eric's knee. "I'm willing to take that risk."

"Don't worry about it!" Kelso advised. "Just remain calm, keep moving, -"

"And, above all," Donna Pinciotti, who sat in the lawn chair closest to the door, spoke up, "don't get sucked into my dad's hair." She gave Eric a stern look.

"What's wrong with your dad's hair?"

"Just don't look at it."

"And, Eric," Steven said, standing up and cupping Eric's face in his hands, "cold, definitely cold." The two boys nodded to one another before Eric clambered up the stairs, stopping to take one last look at his friends before going off to his doom. At least that's how Ree saw it, anyway. Her brother was an idiot.

Ree returned to her book, half-listening to the conversation in the room. Did it count as eavesdropping? Maybe, but she didn't care about the technicality.

"Check it out." Hyde pointed to a picture in his porno magazine, tilting it so Kelso could see. Kelso's eyes grew wide as he stopped his air guitar, staring at the magazine with a slack jaw.

"Ree and I see that every day," said Donna from behind the couch, squatting down to speak right in the boys' ears. She popped back up as she and Ree shared a smirk.

Suddenly, Eric hopped back down the basement stairs, brandishing four beers in his hands, bringing out a fifth one from his jeans pocket. The rest of the gang cheered, while Ree watched with an amused smile at her brother's stupid antics. She didn't care if her brother was stupid as long as he didn't drag her into it.

Eric handed out the beers to each of his friends, before turning around and offering the fifth and final one to his sister. "Ree?"

Ree shook her head, sending her brother an incredulous look. "No, thanks, Eric. I don't drink," she reminded him.

Her brother nodded, "Right." He turned back to his friends, brandishing the extra beer in the air. "Anyone wa-" Before Eric could even finish his sentence, Hyde snatched the can from his hand, claiming it as his own. "Okay, then. Anyway, good news." Everyone sat back down with their beers, except for Kelso who was practically vibrating behind the couch. "My dad is thinking of giving me the Vista Cruiser!"

"You're gettin' a car?" Kelso asked, snapping his head so quickly Ree was surprised he didn't get whiplash. He twisted his can tab to the chain that hung from the top of the shower. 

Ree raised an eyebrow, mind whirling. She could get Eric to drive her anywhere she wanted to go. The library. The mall. School. An almost smirk twitched as she bookmarked her page, setting her book down beside her. "Wait, really?" Ree asked, sounding almost as excited as her brother.

"Well, I'm maybe getting the car," Eric admitted. "But still!"

"Oooh, have I told you how incredibly attractive you are, Eric?" Donna asked as she popped open her beer.

"No," Eric smirked to himself as he opened his own. "You haven't."

"You told me he was cute," Kelso said bluntly as he took his seat next to Donna's chair.

"No, I didn't," Donna denied instantly, shifting in her seat and casting her eyes to the floor.

Ree hopped from her seat on the freezer and crossed the room as Kelso spoke, "Yeah, you did." He continued to dig his own grave. "I remember because you said not to say anything in front of Eric." Ree slapped him harshly on the back of his head, glaring daggers at him. Kelso may have been one of her best friends (somehow), but he was always doing some type of dumb stuff. Whether it be falling off the water or suggesting they go skinny dipping, Kelso was always at the scene of the crime.

"OUCH! VALERIE!" Kelso shrieked, clutching at the back of his head. "That was so rude!"

"Oh, shut up, Kelso," Ree sighed.

"Anyway, let's focus on what's important here people," Hyde interrupted, taking the heat off Donna. He raised his first beer up in the air. "Forman stole something - to Forman!"

"To Forman!" Everyone cheered, raising their own beers. Ree rolled her eyes but raised an invisible can in the air and cheered alongside everyone else.

"You know what's sad?" Eric asked. "This is the proudest day of my life," he said with fake tears, pretending to get choked up. Hyde reached out to comfort him, letting him cry on his shoulder dramatically.

"Yeah, we're all real proud of your dumbassery," Ree added, sarcastically, sending her twin a smirk when he glared at her. "But I have to go do my homework." Ree began walking toward the basement stairs.

"Who does their homework on a Saturday night?" Hyde spoke from the couch, straining his neck to send her a dirty look, face scrunched.

Ree rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, sending Hyde an annoyed look. "I do," she defended herself. "If I wait and try to do it all Sunday, I might not have time to get it all done. It's called being responsible, you might want to try it some time." Ree tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder before bouncing up the stairs, not even giving Hyde time to respond.

"More like being totally lame," Hyde drawled to the remaining members of the gang. "You may be a nerd, Forman, but your sister takes it to a freaky, new level."

Eric narrowed his eyes at his friend, "Hey, I am not a nerd!" he exclaimed.

"And Ree isn't a freak, Hyde, she's just mature and responsible," Donna added, defending her friend. "Okay, she takes it to a little bit of a freaky level sometimes, but she's not that bad."

"I mean, my sister does color code the clothes in her closet."

"Now, that's freaky," Kelso cackled.