That '70s Donna

The basement

It's the fifth of march in 1982. I put on my black leather jacket and rush out the door. We moved to here Wisconsin just yesterday. I'm wearing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt over a black and white striped long sleeve with my favourite jeans. They're full of holes and way too big for me so there's a black belt holding them up. The laces of my doctor marten's boots are open. I didn't have time to tie them. I run to the bus stop only to see that I missed my bus. Of course I live too far from the town and I have to wait for over half an hour for the next bus. Or that's my guess. My wrist watch is in pretty bad shape and I never know if I can trust it or not. Well, five minutes here and there, it's still too long to wait. The walk is about two miles which isn't too bad. I roll my eyes and start stomping along the road.

I arrive to the city center and immediately notice that it definitely isn't very big. Even though I was told it would be very little, it is way smaller than I expected. There's basically a diner, a library, a grocery store bit further away and a school. I look around and notice a record store. A little quirky smile rises on my face. I love music. I live for it. My favourite band is Led Zeppelin, as everyone can see from my shirt choice.

As I step into the shop I notice that there's an entire wall covered in zeppelin posters. I let out a little laugh. A guy sitting on a dusty sofa in the middle of the store looks over to me. "What ya laughing at?" "Oh", I turn to him. "It's just... I love zeppelin. And I've never seen anything like this at a record store", I explain to the guy with a big afro. He shows me a goofy smile and all the toughness is suddenly gone. "Pretty great, huh? It was my idea", he says proudly. I take a few steps to get closer to him. "You're a zeppelin fan?" I ask. He nods and makes some space for me on the sofa. "Nice shirt, by the way", he points out. I smile. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

I've never known anyone who loves zeppelin as much as I do. And if it's even possible, Hyde loves the band even more than me. Oh yeah, he introduced himself as Steven Hyde. Now he's taking me to meet his friends. I'm so excited. It's my first day here and I'm already getting to know people. I'm starting to think that Wisconsin isn't that bad after all despite the lack of attractions.

Hyde leads me to a basement through a back door. The house is located in between the 'center' and my house. "Hey guys", he greets his friends. There's a sofa, a chair and an armchair in the middle of the basement. They're arranged in a circle. Hyde reserves the armchair. There's a tall blonde girl on the left side of the sofa. She's smiling at me kindly. I flash a little smile back. Sitting next to the girl there's a short skinny dude wearing a button up. The sofa is pretty small so there isn't any space left. I turn my head to the chair. It's taken by a foreign guy and a beautiful brunette girl that's sitting on his lap. I decide to sit on the armrest of the sofa, next to the skinny guy.

"Guys, this is Liz. Her real name is Elizabeth but she doesn't like it at all", Hyde introduces me. I glare at him. "Hi Elizabeth", the blonde greets kindly teasing and smiles. "I'm Donna." "Hi", I answer to her not as confidently as I would've wanted. No one else seems to be introducing themselves so Donna continues. "This is Eric", she says nodding over to the skinny guy. Eric waves his hand lazily and I nod at him. Donna points at the guy and girl sitting on the chair. "And here's Fez and Jackie" "Hi Liz", Fez says with a noticeable lisp. He seems really sweet. "Hey", I say back. I can't  stop thinking how awkward I am. But gladly no one seems to mind.

We hang out in the basement for a long time. Eventually I start to get more comfortable and take part in the conversation. Donna points out my shirt and we have a long conversation about Zeppelin. Eric clearly doesn't understand and tries to change the subject into Star Wars. I like the movies so I don't mind but everyone else apparently does. In their defense, he seems to have taken the fandom a bit overboard, though. Jackie seems a little inconsiderate... Or a lot. But I'm that kind of a person that doesn't mind. Fez on the other hand seems so kind although a bit creepy. The two are apparently dating and I can't help but wonder how that ever happened. Allthough, opposites attract, I guess? I'm also getting some weird vibes between Donna and Eric.

I don't have anything to do the whole day so I just stay in Eric's basement since it's so chill in here. At about fifteen past eight Donna says she should leave and I don't think anyone else is staying for long anymore either so I go with her. Everyone honestly seem really great, but Donna I want to get to know the most. She just seems different than anyone else I've ever met. Like, real.

"Hey, I had a really good time today", I say in Eric's family's front yard before Donna goes home. "Yeah, me, too", she answers: "You should come again sometime." I smile and say: "Well, I don't have anything better to do." "We're here pretty much always. So just stop by whenever", she says and leaves. The conversation was a bit awkward but I feel like she genuinely likes me. I smile to myself and start walking home.