ＳＨＥ ＬＯＶＥＳ ＹＯＵ

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔰

♜

"Please?"

"Ana, no."

I pout up at James. "As a Halloween present?"

"You're amazing, but people don't get presents for each other on Halloween."

"So what the hell is trick-or-treating supposed to be?"

He cups my cheeks and peppers my face with kisses. After I'm done laughing and swatting him away, he responds, "I just don't think your friends will like me."

"They're very nice people. They like almost everyone."

"What about that guy from the brownie stand?"

I roll my eyes. "Hyde? Oh, he's harmless. He's just protective of our group."

He purses his lips. "Okay. If it makes you happy."

A small smile graces my lips. "Thank you."

I take him by the hand and lead him down the block to the Formans' basement. We've been dating for weeks now, and we decided to make it official. I haven't spoken much about James to the gang, though. Donna and Jackie know the basic details about him: his name, what we do together, and so on. Fez, Kelso, and Eric just know that I haven't been hanging out with them as much and speculate that there's a guy, although I'm sure Donna or Jackie have spilled it to someone.

As for Hyde, well... He knows as much as the rest of the guys plus the fact that I've been rejecting his offers to make out or get intimate.

I like James so much because he doesn't try to grope me every chance that he gets, unlike other boys. He respects me. And we haven't had sex once since we started dating. Of course, sex is great, but it's nice to just have someone care about me the way I care about them.

Either way, it has obviously taken some convincing to get him to let me introduce him to my friends. I swing the door open usher him in. Five pairs of eyes shoot up toward us curiously. The sixth, covered by a pair of sunglasses, glances at us and immediately fills with disdain.

"Hey, guys. Uh, this is James. My boyfriend," I present with a smile, taking in everyone's expressions.

We've been over Hyde's, and I avert my eyes from him to block his negativity. Donna and Jackie's faces are brightened by smirks as they eye James carefully, causing me to hold his hand tighter. The rest of the boys are quizzical, but not closed off.

Donna breaks the silence, much to my relief. "Cool. I'm Donna."

"I'm Jackie!" the other girl beams.

"My name is too long for you silly Americans to pronounce, so you may call me Fez."

"Your eyes kind of look like green grapes. Ow, Jackie! Oh, and I'm Kelso."

"Nice to meet you, man, I'm Eric."

We look expectantly at the remaining member of the group, and he reluctantly shrugs, "Hyde."

"Pleasure," my boyfriend smiles, and his hand drops mine as he spots the stack of records on top of the player. "Oh, man, Pink Floyd? Sick music taste!" he compliments.

I smile as Eric perks up. "You like them?"

"Yeah, they're one of the best bands around!"

"You can say that again!"

"They're fine," Hyde lies in a grumble.

James returns his hands to his pockets, clears his throat, and steps back from the player, clearly uncomfortable with the other boy's disapproval. "I'd better get going. I have to do my homework before work."

I frown. "You're taking a night shift again?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Katya," he apologizes. I blush slightly at the name he calls me. Of course, it makes sense for him to be the only one to address me by my middle name since he's one of the few people who know it. My full name is Anastasia Katerina Volkov, although I accept the anglicized version for my middle name, Katherine. And technically, my first name is pronounced "Ah-nah-stah-see-ah", but the English version is fine as well.

Either way, James likes to call me by my Russian names, which I find very cute. He says that he thinks there's something about the language that makes my name more beautiful, "if that's even possible."

"That's alright, I understand. Happy Halloween, Jamie," I nod, pecking his lips before he disappears up the stairs.

"Katya?" Donna grins slyly.

I plop down onto the couch beside her. "Oh, shut it."

Kelso returns to his chair, reading the back of some sort of pamphlet. "A UNICEF contribution of thirteen cents will feed a child for a month. Man, living in Africa must be great! Everything is so cheap!"

"If you ask me, man, UNICEF's a scam," Hyde shrugs.

"If we ask you, everything's a scam!" Donna chuckles.

"Everything is a scam."

"Lighten up," Eric chides. "Remember how fun Halloween used to be? Making costumes and trick-or-treating."

I scoff. "That was dangerous where I lived. Only the more run-down parts of the neighborhood had good candy, and I was very desirable for my inheritance."

"What is trick-or-treating?" Fez asks.

"Well," Jackie explains, "you put on a costume, you go door to door, say 'trick or treat!' and people give you candy."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. They just give you candy?"

"The best part of Halloween is getting the crap scared out of you," Eric adds. "One year, I saw The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and I couldn't sleep for, like, a month."

"Sleepy Hollow isn't scary," I chuckle.

"Well, of course, it's not to you, with your nasty New York rat stories!"

I roll my eyes as Fez shifts the conversation back to his newfound interest. "They give you candy? Just like that? No strings?"

"Yes, Fez, get over it," Donna laughs.

"You guys, my church is doing a haunted house!" Jackie beams. "We should go."

"I really don't think that anyone's going to be scared by a bunch of Episcopalians."

"Unless they have chainsaws!" Kelso pipes up. "Let's go see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"We should go to Old Main!" Eric counters. "Our old grammar school. Yeah, a dark, burnt-out building! Very creepy. We can tell ghost stories."

"Free candy?" Fez reiterates. "Even if you're not from this country?"

"Yes!" Donna sighs. "Why did they burn down the school, anyway?"

Jackie looks up from her nails. "Oh, they said it was arson."

We all turn to Hyde. He glares back at us. "What? I was out of town that week."

"How convenient."

"So you're telling me," Fez repeats, "that I can go to someone's house, say 'trick or treat', and get free candy?"

"Yes!" we chorus once more.

However, that isn't enough. We awkwardly follow him around the neighborhood in his Batman costume so he can get his fill of "American culture".

Once he's done, we sit through The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just for Kelso. I'm placed between Hyde and Fez. As one of the characters dies, Hyde stops drinking his soda. "Man, she deserved it. She had sex."

I grasp the straw and take a sip. "So? You've had sex."

"Don't touch my soda! Gross!"

"Oh, shut it, you know you don't care."

"Well, like all movie sluts before her, she must die."

"I'm sure that's not what you'd say about the porno movies you watch."

"Ew."

"I'm sorry, have I offended you?" I tease.

"No," he sneers.

As the woman on the screen screams, Fez pouts, "She was about to take her shirt off!

♜

We find ourselves wandering around the remains of Old Main. "This is a dump," Fez scoffs in disapproval. "No wonder Hyde tried to burn it down."

"You know, Fez," Eric grins. "A man died in that fire. A gym teacher. Coach Smith. Some say his specter still roams these halls today."

Hyde shines a flashlight under his face. "Take a lap," he says in a ghostly voice. "Give me twenty. Walk it off."

"Alright, guys, let's cut it out, okay?" Michael shivers, spooked. "You're scaring the women."

I slam a window shut and he bolts to exit the classroom, yelling at Jackie to move.

"Kelso, it was the window," I giggle.

"Yeah, I knew that," he says as he returns.

"'Out of my way?'" Jackie asks angrily.

"No, I didn't say that."

"You did." Fez throws him under the bus. "Right before you knocked her over."

"No, I was protecting her!"

"Protecting me?"

"Yeah, I was trying to draw the ghosts away from you! Ghosts are attracted to movement. That's a scientific fact!"

"You know what? I don't care," she fumes. "You're an idiot and science is stupid! Donna, Anastasia, let's go."

We follow her into a different classroom, struggling to keep the smirks off of our faces.

"God, I can't believe Michael pushed me out of the way like that," she snarls.

"Me neither. I figured he'd use you as a human shield," Donna simpers.

"Donna, the noblest thing a man can do is lay down his life for a woman he loves. Ideally, while she's still young and can remarry. Do you know who protected me there? Fez."

"Well, he had to. He's Batman."

"You know what I mean. Have you ever had your boyfriend protect you like that?"

I laugh quietly. "Well, one time, Hyde-"

I stop myself as the girls raise their eyebrows at me. 

"What?" Jackie hisses. "You had a thing with Hyde and didn't tell us?"

"Who mentioned Hyde?" I scoff, too nervous to lie well enough.

"Oh, don't try me. Spill."

I bite my lip in defeat, coming in close and lowering my voice. "Okay, so we had a fling. But it's over now and you can't tell anyone because he doesn't want anyone to know."

"When did it start?" Donna asks with a grin.

"The night of the prom."

"That was so long ago!"

"No, it wasn't! We stopped a month or so ago, so it doesn't matter."

"Was he good?" Jackie inquires.

"Ew!"

"Answer!"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"It's a yes or no question!"

"Yes!"

"Better than James?"

"Jackie, what the fuck? James and I haven't done it yet."

"It's 'made love', Anastasia. 'Made love.'"

"I guess it explains a lot," Donna muses. "You sitting on his lap and all of that stuff."

"That was purely platonic," I retort.

She tilts her head to the side in mock thought. "I don't think so."

"Whatever. Just don't tell anyone, okay?" I pick up a pile of papers. "What are these, your old records?"

"Oh my god, they are. We have to show the guys."

We move into the other classroom and announce our find, plopping the folders down on a table.

"Hey, 'Pinciotti, Donna,'" Hyde grins, immediately picking one up. "Well, it looks like someone we know had a really hard time keeping their clothes on in kindergarten."

The girl in question snatches the papers away. "That was just a phase. I'm glad it's over."

"Woah, listen to this," Kelso snickers. "'I fear that despite Steven's high IQ, he's a born troublemaker and is destined to be the smartest man... in his cell block."

"What?" the boy hisses. "They couldn't have known that in second grade! 'Steven willfully and maliciously destroyed Christine del Bueno's shoebox diorama of the four food groups.'"

"You're a monster," Donna taunts. "A horrible, horrible monster."

"Yeah, real funny, but I didn't do it."

"You know what's really funny, Hyde?" Eric says with a slight voice crack.

"What?"

"I broke the diorama."

"You?" he growls. Lightning flashes outside.

"Hers was better than mine! I had to smash it! I left out dairy."

Steven tosses the record onto the table and menacingly approaches his best friend. "That's when everyone turned against me. They pegged me as a bad kid. And once that happens, you're labeled forever. You ruined my life, Forman."

"No, he didn't," Jackie scoffs. "Hi. No offense, but with an alcoholic mom and an absent dad, you were bound to end up in jail sooner or later."

"Let's see what that file says about you, Jackie," he sneers.

"Go ahead. I have a perfect record!"

A sly grin makes its way across his face. "Would anybody like to know what Jackie's middle name is? Jackie's middle name is..."

I leap back as the girl lets out a piercing shriek and launches herself at Hyde, smacking him down to the floor with a rolled-up record. After letting her win, he sits up and beams, "It's Beulah."

We collectively gasp as he leans back on his elbows with a shit-eating grin plastered onto his face. Somehow, he gets from there to staring Eric down angrily.

"Alright, nobody move," Fez whispers urgently. "Somebody took my last box of Sugar Babies."

I nudge him to the side slightly.

"Oh, I was sitting on them."

"Gee, Fez, you didn't give Forman a chance to pin it on me," Hyde snarls.

"I didn't pin anything on you!" Eric protests.

"No? Well, when Mrs. Hodgkiss was yelling at me in front of the whole class, you didn't exactly step up and take responsibility. What were you thinking?"

"Hmm, I guess I was thinking, 'I'm seven!'"

I play with the ears on Fez's Batman costume. "Guys, get over it already," I groan. "It happened almost a decade ago. Let's read another file or something."

"Fine, I'll read mine," Kelso smiles. "Here's a secret you guys don't know about me. The year before I moved here, in first grade, I used to wear this red cape to school and pretend I was Superman."

"You must have looked really stupid," Fez giggles, fiddling with his gloves as I push some of his hair out of his eyes.

"Wait, first grade?" Eric frowns. "When you moved here, you and I were in the first grade. That's how we met."

"No, we didn't!" Kelso yelps.

"Man, you had to repeat the first grade?"

"Oh, Michael, say it isn't true!" Jackie wails.

"It was cursive writing, alright?" he says. "All of those stupid squiggles and bumps! I wouldn't do it!"

Hyde smirks at him from across the room. "You mean you couldn't do it."

"No, I wouldn't do it, and that's why they held me back! Plus, I might have killed the class bunny. It sucks, you know? Living this lie, pretending to be a year younger than I really am."

"Wait, you're eighteen?"

"Yeah, that's why I've always seemed more mature than you guys."

"Are you telling me that all this time, you could have been buying us beers?"

Our heads snap up in realization, and the question seems to spark tension between us, although it's stupid.

"It's not what you think!"

"You're dead to me."

We converge onto him, chanting "beer" in a zombie-like way. Of course, I don't really care that Kelso hadn't realized his alcoholic privilege earlier, but it would have been nice to not unbutton my shirt every time we needed beers.

"Alright, everybody, leave him alone!" Jackie squeals, jamming herself in between her boyfriend and the rest of us. "Because he may be a liar, but at least he's not a backstabber like Eric."

"Stay out of this, Beulah," I tease.

"Do not call me that!"

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh, sorry, Beulah."

"Fine. You know what?"

"What? My records aren't here, and you don't have anything on me."

"Oh, really? Anastasia kissed-"

My eyes widen and I rush to cover her mouth. "Sorry," I mutter. "Now shut up."

"Wait, what happened?" Kelso giggles. "I missed it. Who did she kiss?"

I mentally flip my "lying mode" switch. "It's stuff about James that's private, Jackie. You don't want to know all the gory details."

"I do!" Fez chimes.

"Yeah, please tell us, Princess," Hyde says snarkily.

"Why do you care?" I spit, sick of his bitchiness on the topic of my boyfriend.

"'Cause he's a priss, and I want to know what it's like dating such a wimp because I'll never do that!"

"He is not a priss," I growl.

"Really? 'Oh, sorry, Anastasia, I need to go study for my science tests! I'm working so hard at my night job! Oh, Pink Floyd! How articulate!'"

I glare at him. "You're asking for it."

"Am I? Well, I'd better say 'please'."

Fez and Kelso hold me back as I try to fight their grip to smack him. "Let me at him!"

Eventually, I let Michael scoop me up and I try not to hit anyone while he holds me in a bridal way.

"Can't you see these records are tearing us apart?" Fez says as he begs the few that are left fighting to stop.

"You're right," Eric sighs.

Hyde adds, "What have we become?"

"We're like animals. Ana, your hair smells good. Ow, Jackie!" I'm set down onto the ground.

After burying the records, we peel off one by one until Hyde and I are the only ones left.

A few uncomfortable moments of silence pass before he speaks up, "I'd better go."

I grab his shoulder and he turns guiltily.

"Don't you have something to say?" I sneer.

"Right, sorry. That dress makes you look extra slutty."

I punch his arm. "I'm serious, you jerk!"

He chuckles lowly. "Fine. I'm sorry I was a dick."

That's good enough for me. "Apology accepted," I huff, trying to keep a smile off of my face. It seems stupid to me that I forgive him so quickly, as I should be angry with him, but sometimes I find it impossible to do that. "Goodnight."

"Night, Princess."

♜

OMG THIS IS A LONG CHAPTER BRUH 2926 WORDS WTF

Thoughts on James? Do you guys like him or are you ~skeptical~?

either way idk if i liked it or not but here you go :) enjoy

As always, feedback, comments, and votes are always appreciated.

Love you guys,

Lissy

P.S.: I listened to "She Loves You" by The Beatles for the first time a few days ago and I am in love