Jekyll and Hyde (That '70s Show)

chapter 17 (hyde moves in) pt. 2

SONG: I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You by Tow Waits

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The next day, Hyde was nowhere to be found. He didn't come to school, didn't answer the phone when Ida tried calling him, nothing. She was worried. Everyone told her that he must've overslept or something, but since she didn't want to let it go, Eric agreed to go to Hyde's house after class and see if everything was fine. Ida wished she could go with him, but she had to stay at school for one more period to go over her History essay with Mr. Thompson because she was straight up confused about it.

So, after classes ended, Eric drove Donna, Fez and Kelso to his house and then went to see what was up with Hyde, telling Ida to wait for him outside once she was done so he could pick her up on his way back.

'Ida, there you are,' Mr. Thompson said as she walked into the classroom. He slipped off his glasses and set them on the desk besides the papers he was grading just then. 'Take a seat.'

Grabbing one of the chairs from the first row of desks, Ida set it on the floor on the other side of Mr. Thompson's desk and then sat down.

He looked through a stack of papers and pulled a few that were Ida's essay she gave him yesterday to review, then he laid it in front of him and looked at Ida, leaning on his elbows and crossing his fingers. 'I have to ask you something. What do you think of your work?'

Ida looked at him, confused. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean exactly what I asked you,' Mr. Thompson repeated. 'What do you think of your work? Of this essay you've given me yesterday to read through.'

'Um...,' she stammered, trying to come up with something to say, 'I think it's alright. That's why I asked you to check it... cause I wasn't really sure.'

He observed her for a few seconds and then looked down at Ida's paper. 'The essay itself is perfect, I have nothing to correct when it comes to the structure, the arguments, it's a textbook example of how an essay should be written.'

'Oh,' Ida said, smiling a bit.' Thank you, sir.'

'But that's not what I want our discussion to be based around.'

Her smile faded.

'Ida, you have absolutely no problem in writing essays, working on your assignments, understanding the work,' Mr. Thompson said. 'What you do have a problem with is your own confidence and putting something of your own into the academic work that you do.' When Ida didn't say anything, he continued, 'I can't give you the top grade for what you've written here. So, I think the best thing for you to do is to start again and rewrite the entire thing.'

Ida's eyes widened in shock. 'Rewrite it?! But, sir, I've spent more than a week on writing that one. And with all the research I've done-'

'Yes, I know that and I understand that,' he answered. 'And what you've told me now is valid.'

'But... I don't understand,' she continued. 'If the essay is perfect, then why...'

Mr. Thompson raised his eyebrows. 'Why do I want you to rewrite it? Because I know you can do better. You are one of my best students.'

'How when I don't even have top grades from your subject?' Ida asked him.

'A grade is not a valid measurement of knowledge or anything for that matter. I've been giving you the grades that I have for a reason,' he told her. 'Every time I read your essay, it's full of facts and statements, written like the most formal debates, which is alright, but what I want is for you to put your own opinion and justify it, even if it may not be correct. Just like you do in class. You have all these great ideas but you squash them with this constant need you have to be perfect and to do everything according to what's written in your books. Are you following me?'