[Hyde POV]
"Should we put it here…" Tyrell moved to the left a bit, "or here?"
He was holding up a group photo of all of us carrying the 5-dollar trophy and the mock check after winning the race.
Everyone was excited about the win. The entire town was talking about it.
We really didn't have much after all. No good football team, nor basketball team. Nothing that we could proudly claim came from the town.
There wasn't even a pro athlete who came from the town in the last two decades.
"Hey, we got beers again." Jeff carried a case of 24 beers with him.
"Put it in the pile." I pointed at the east wall. A huge number of baked goods and alcohol were there, given by the good people of Point Place to celebrate the victory.
"It's not even a real race." I sighed.
"But it opened the doors, didn't it?" Tyrell smirked at me.
I smiled in excitement. "Yup, it sure does."
We were invited to another race event next week at Grundy County Speedway for an official race.
That meant we had to open a club and register the members. Then, get some cars for various stock races.
We won second place with a 1965 Mustang when everyone else was using '70s models. The organizers were elated to see it.
"We can even go to the modified category." I said with a soft smile. "Let's make a name for ourselves."
Even if most people would only recognize Tony — the racer — the auto shop would get an incredible marketing push if Tony could win with our cars.
"Now, you're done with the documentary, right?" Tyrell asked.
"Yup. I just need one more thing — the song rights. Then, I can release it."
"Good. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Tyrell replied.
I grinned slightly and said, "There's nothing on the editing part. But I do need you to find us some chairs."
"What for?" He was confused.
"Premiere night." I replied. "I'll show it to you guys first. We can do it at the Daily Grind cafe."
Everyone was excited when they heard about it. Megan wasn't here today. I gave her the week off to relax.
That Sunday night, while everyone was out watching movies, I was locked inside my bedroom, editing the documentary together.
"I might need more time than I thought." I was helpless when I realized there were thousands of pieces of footage I needed to go through to make the show.
Thankfully, I already had a vision of what it would look like, so the editing became easier.
While I was editing, suddenly the phone rang. I went out to the basement living room to answer it.
"The Forman residence. Who's this?" I asked.
"Hello, Steven." Kat called out to me sweetly. "Do you want to hang out tonight?"
"I'm editing the documentary. I don't really have the time."
She sighed and said, "Are you sure?" She added in a sultry voice, "I had a really great time with you yesterday."
I caught the subtle hint and said, "Editing be damned. Why don't you come over, and I'll show you another great time?"
"Really? I guess I have no choice but to come," she replied playfully.
Ten minutes later, she knocked on the basement door.
She wore a pink shirt, had crown braids in her red hair, and wore long jeans.
"Hey, Kat." I greeted.
"Steven." She entered the room haughtily and put her purse down on the broken sofa. "I feel bad. I hope I'm not disturbing you too much."
"Not at all." I replied. "I have people working for me, so I just threw the work to them."
I already sent the files to my editor to create the bones for the film. He wanted 1,000 bucks for it, since it was a long, one-hour documentary. With the multiplier, I paid him 200 dollars, so it was worth it.
Kat bit her lower lip slightly, her gaze burning as she stared at me. "So, you, like, have a lot of people working under you?"
"Yeah. Around 100… maybe 120 people." I replied after thinking slightly.
She gasped. "That many?!"
"Why do you ask?" I sat down in my usual spot. Kat hurriedly sat next to me.
"Well, I'm just curious." She giggled and touched my arm softly. "You know, a lot of my friends are jealous that you brought me to Chicago."
I leaned in slightly and said, "Well, you look happy that they're jealous, so I guess that's good."
She snorted, almost failing to contain her laugh. "Um, are your parents — oh sorry. I mean, the Formans — around?"
"Yeah. I think they are upstairs," I replied. "They are watching Quincy."
"Great. Um, so… do you want to talk, or fool around?" She stuck her tongue out playfully.
"I'd like to talk," I replied.
Her face froze. "What?"
"I'm just kidding." I laughed.
She breathed in relief and said, "Let's go to your room."
As we entered my room, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. I sat on the chair backward and placed my hand on the top of the chair, looking at her intently.
"Your room is really clean," she said. "And smells good too. I have a room in the basement too, but it smells all musty."
I had a dehumidifier on for the past couple of days.
And also, I changed the flooring, framed the walls, and put insulation in. I even changed the window from single-pane to triple-pane with an R-value of 10.
So there wasn't any major heat loss in the room. It feels just like any other room.
The floor now has LVP flooring in a pine plank design style.
Mr. and Mrs. Forman didn't even realize I had put all this new stuff in. I did it a couple of weeks ago. With build mode, it took me only two minutes to get everything done.
Kat sat down on my bed, and her eyes flashed again. I had changed from a foam mattress to a quite pricey mattress.
"This feels like a hotel mattress. No, it's even more comfortable than a hotel mattress." Kat was excited, bouncing on the mattress slightly.
She looked at me with disbelief and asked, "How much does this cost?"
"Two Gs," I replied casually. "If you put a cup of water on the left side, you can jump around on the right side and it won't fall."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Wow, that's amazing." Her face froze slightly, and she quickly turned to me. "Wait, does this make me sound like a country bumpkin? I get all excited about a mattress."
"Not really. I just think you look cute," I replied.
She blushed and said, "Why are you all the way over there? Come sit next to me."
"Alright." I went to her and sat closely on her right side.
"Wait. Do you have a radio?" She was a bit shy. "I'd like to listen to music while making out."
"I have a couple of records. You can pick one." I pulled out the Walmart record player I had. But Kat's attention was focused on the radio on my nightstand.
It was a Bluetooth radio, and it was still connected to my phone. I was listening to some songs on YouTube Music since it was free.
"The radio's fine—" She took out the headphone jack and pressed the button. Both of us were surprised when we heard the song.
To be clear, I picked Eminem's song initially, but I kept it on shuffle. Then, from Eminem, it went to Dr. Dre, then Snoop Dogg, and finally, it was a song featuring Snoop Dogg.
It was "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls. A very sexy, incredibly throbbing and breathy song designed to turn you on.
I paused it and wanted to change it, that was when Kat called me.
"{ ♫♪ Typical ain't hardly the type I fall for. I like when the physical don't leave me askin' for more. I'm a sexy mama (Mama).♫♪
♫♪Who knows just how to get what I wanna (Wanna)
What I wanna do is spring this on ya (On ya)♫♪}"
"What is this song?" Kat's brain short circuited for a bit.
I shrugged and said, "I don't know. It's the radio."
"It's…" She listened to it intently, and her breath got quicker.
"{ ♫♪Back up all the things that I told ya (Told ya, told ya, told ya) You been sayin' all the right things all night long. But I can't seem to get you over here to help take this off ♫♪}"
"Come here." Kat pulled me into her arms and began kissing me all over. She rubbed her hand on my chest, and began caressing me under the shirt.
I just let her and kissed her back, doing the same thing. We began making out, really hot and heavy.
Her tongue intertwined with mine, and our saliva created a bridge between our tongues as we paused to take a breath.
Then we kissed each other again. It was only a make-out session. Kat wasn't the type to give it up on the first date or first make-out session.
I had lipstick all over my chin. Suddenly, the shuffle changed to Britney next.
It was the song "Toxic," and Kat was absorbed in the music again. It was rare for women in the '70s to hear a sexually liberating song on the radio. Even if there was one, it was on a rare LP, very underground.
We made out for almost an hour while listening to some of the most famous pop songs of the 2000s. I couldn't change it because the phone was in my drawer.
Kat breathed heavily. The area around my lips was red from the friction.
"That was… amazing." Kat looked at me, biting her lower lip slightly. "But I guess I should go back now."
"I want you to stay," I said.
She giggled. "Why don't you come pick me up for school tomorrow?"
I sighed and said, "I can't. I'm not going to school."
"Oh," she exclaimed in disappointment. "You're busy shooting the… TV shows?"
"Yup," I replied. "Tomorrow, I'm going to start a new one."
Her face beamed with excitement. She hugged me, wrapping her arms around my neck and playing with my hair slightly.
"You're really awesome," she giggled. "Then, I'll come see you again tomorrow night."
"We don't have to wait till nighttime. I'll pick you up at 7, and we'll go to dinner together," I said casually.
She laughed and swooned slightly. "Okay, I'll wait for you. Don't be like last time and blow me off again."
"Surely it won't come to that."
…
The next morning, I went to Megan's house and filmed an overshot of the entire house using a drone.
It had a lot of overgrowth, and I'd tackle that first before moving on to the house.
"I'll have to use the Exmark lawn mower, the string trimmer, and the chainsaw to clear up the area."
After setting up three tripod cameras, I began to work on the front of the house. Only after clearing a section did I move on to the next one.
I addressed the audience a couple of times, but I mostly kept it about the work and the before-and-after transformation.
It took me the entire morning to clear up the front of Megan's lawn. It had purple loosestrife, red canary grass, wild parsnip, and a lot of other invasive species.
The Exmark mower made quick work of the grass. Luckily, there wasn't any rubbish or stones around the giant front lawn.
I just sat on the mower and drove it all over for quite some time.
Suddenly, Eric came to the house in his Vista Cruiser.
"Hey, your lawyer called. You need to get back to the house."
"Alright," I replied. "You can go first."
"Really? You're treating me like a messenger?" he pouted. "That's cold."
I laughed and said, "What's the expression again? Shoot the messenger?"
"It's DON'T shoot the messenger!" he said urgently and ran. "I'll race you home!"
"I'm not going to race… whatever," I replied. I kept the tools inside my system storage and sighed. "I need to organize the storage again."
I already did a lot of work on the house for Day 1 of the house transformation.
"There's still one month left of school. Damn, I should've dropped out when I had the chance," I grumbled.
Then I thought of Red kicking my ass if I quit school, and the annoyance disappeared.
As I entered through the front door, I saw balloons and streamers all around the living room.
"Is it someone's birthday?" I was surprised. I knew it wasn't my friend's birthday. Or Red's. Or Mrs. Forman's. So was it Laurie's birthday?
"Where is everybody?" I mumbled and walked to the kitchen. There, I saw Red comforting Mrs. Forman, who was crying.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" I asked with concern. "Did someone die?"
"Steven. Explain yourself." Red stood up and scolded me instantly.
I blinked twice, flabbergasted by the turn of events.
"Explain what?" I asked defensively.
"You're moving out," Mrs. Forman said, pretending to smile. "It's fine. I'm okay with it."
"What—no, I'm not." I was confused.
"Then what is this?" Red gave me a thick envelope. My lawyer had dropped off the house deed to the Formans while I wasn't home.
The house was legally under my name, even though it was managed by a trust.
"Oh, I got it." I smiled in satisfaction. "Also, why is this open?"
Mrs. Forman flinched slightly. "Why are you buying your former house if you weren't going to move out?" she asked.
I rolled my eyes slightly and said, "I'm just going to flip it for profit. If I'm going to move out, I'm not going to buy a small house anyway."
I actually did plan on staying at the house after I turned 18 because I didn't want to bother the Formans anymore. I was living here because of their kindness, but I didn't want to take advantage of them.
"Oh." Mrs. Forman smiled slightly. "So you'll stay for a long time?"
"If you want me here, then… I'll stay. At least until I graduate from school."
Red sighed in relief and said, "Great. You can leave with Eric when you both go to college."
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Mrs. Forman slapped Red on the arm.
"Ow." Red laughed and said to me, "Go to the basement. All of your friends are there, with cake."
"Oh! We can do the party now!" Mrs. Forman stood up abruptly and turned around frantically. "Steven. Go out and come in again!"
"What party?" I asked, grimacing slightly. I hate parties, especially if they're held in my name.
"We're celebrating the documentary. You worked hard on it for a while," Mrs. Forman said affectionately. "And you even won SECOND PLACE!"
"Second place is nothing, Mrs. Forman. It's not even an official race," I said with a sigh.
"That's still one more trophy than Eric ever brought home," Red grimaced.
"Red! He brings home some trophies," Mrs. Forman admonished him.
"Not in anything good. It's all spelling bees, and, well… that's it," Red grumbled.
I laughed and said, "I'll stay for one slice of cake. But I have a date, so I'm not staying long."
"You have a date? With who?" Mrs. Forman rushed toward me and put a cone hat on my head.
"Some girl," I replied with a smirk.
"Are we going to meet this girl?" Mrs. Forman asked, her hand on her waist.
"I don't know yet. We're just talking."
"Is this the girl from the race?" Red asked.
"Yup," I replied.
"Oh. I've seen the way she looks at you. You have a chance," Mrs. Forman squealed excitedly.
I looked at her in disbelief.
The party started, and everyone cheered for me. I ate the vanilla cake with blue flower icing and saved some room for the date.
"You're going out with Kat again?" Donna asked.
"What? You're going to yell at me again?" I snarked slightly.
She rolled her eyes and said, "I will if you jerk her around like Linda."
I sighed and said, "You're insufferable."
"And you're an ass," she said and left in a jiffy.
Eric approached me and said, "Sorry about that. She's been so moody lately."
"Her parents' relationship is teetering on the brink. So what? Don't take it out on me. You're here, so she should take it out on you."
"Believe me, she is," Eric said flatly, which made me chuckle.
"Alright. I'm going." I wiped my mouth with a napkin. When I reached for the door handle, the door opened.
Laurie had just come back home.
"Ugh," I groaned.
She got pissed off instantly. "Where are you going, orphan? Are you tired of freeloading?"
"Where are you coming from? Finally taking a day off from being the town bike?"
She gasped slightly. Red and Kitty finally saw her.
"Laurie. You're back. Here, have some cake," Red offered her a slice.
"Daddy. I have some news to tell you." Laurie approached Red, fiddling her hands together nervously. She also used her girly voice.
"Oh my God, you're pregnant!" Eric was startled. Mrs. Forman gasped and asked, "Who's the father? Laurie, you better tell us now!"
"What—no! I'm not pregnant," Laurie stammered.
"Kelso!" I shouted at Michael, who had a pale expression.
"What?! I've never touched her!" he shouted quickly.
"No, I just want to say that you have cake on your chin," I added flatly.
He wiped his chin with his hand quickly and said, "Oh. Thank you, Hyde."
Jackie gave him a dirty look. "We'll need to have a talk later, Michael!" she whispered.
Laurie turned to Red, batting her eyes at him like a little girl. "I'm moving out tomorrow. Me and a girlfriend are getting an apartment together."
"What?!" Red exclaimed in horrified shock.
I exclaimed, "Hooo. I hate to miss this, but… bye-bye."