[Hyde POV]
I got the notification that said the episode 'Laurie and the Professor' was recording while I was at Victoria's house.
"Oh damn it." I cursed.
Victoria was alarmed and asked, "What– Why? Did the condom break? Are you done?"
I kept thrusting and said, "No. Not that."
"Did you get a cramp?" She said teasingly, wrapping her arms around my neck. Feeling her warmth from her bare skin, I decided to opt out of the the episode and continue fucking her brains out for the rest of the Sunday afternoon.
Yesterday, we went to the Bruce Springsteen concert. We did it at the concert too.
I left the house early this morning to come to her place and continue what we were doing last night.
The episode went on for quite a while, and I didn't stop caring about it. Until after dinner when the episode was wrapped up.
[!!!!]
The system suddenly blared up.
[User missed out on the episode recording. No alternate plot could be used.]
[Enacting penalty.]
"There's a penalty?" I widened my eyes in shock.
[The Internet system would be blocked for 1 week. No internet access and favorability meter would drop to 100/150.]
I froze in shock. No internet meant my life would be quite miserable for the next seven days.
"Hey Steven." Victoria suddenly came out of the bedroom, wearing the lingerie I bought her.
It was pink and frilly. It covered up almost nothing.
"Are you done spacing out? There's two more hours till you need to go back. Are you sure you want to waste it like that?" She said seductively, leaning on the doorframe.
I smiled and said, "Worth it."
…
Back to the basement.
As I came in, everyone was hanging out in front of the tv. Jackie, Kelso, Eric, Donna, and Fez.
"Hey it's Hyde!" Eric greeted me sarcastically. "He's finally back after sex romping for two days."
I smiled and said, "Jealous much?"
Donna blushed a bit, and Eric was flabbergasted. "What– I'm not jealous!" He paused and nodded, "Alright, I'm jealous."
"Hyde. The most amazing thing happened when you left." Fez said and explained to me about Laurie and the Professor.
A psychology professor from University of Wisconsin came by to bring Laurie back from school after she was flunked out.
Turns out, they were sleeping together. Eric was convinced by Donna to go on the offensive this time and rat Laurie out. However, he didn't get a chance to do it as he kept playing around.
The professor wanted to ask Laurie's hand for marriage and was chased out of the house by Red. Laurie blamed Eric for not stopping the professor when he kissed her, and blamed the professor for taking advantage of her.
Red still oblivious to what a slut his daughter was, and Eric took the brunt of Red's anger once again.
"You have your chance to bite the top dog in the ass, instead, you chickened out again." I said to him with disbelief evident on my face.
Eric lowered his head in disappointment and whined.
Donna laughed and asked me, "Hyde. So you and Victoria… Are you guys a thing now?"
"Yeah, you're making kissy faces at her all the time. She must be your girlfriend now." Fez said, making kissing sounds to piss me off.
I shrugged and said, "No. We're just doing it."
"EW!"
"AWESOME!"
The boys and the girls had different reactions after hearing about it.
"Hey, it's not my fault." I snapped back.
Jackie said, "Don't worry Hyde. Maybe she just doesn't want to date a poor person."
"Gee Jackie. You might be right. Just like how I don't ever want to date an obnoxious, spoiled brat like you, she must have a preference too." I snapped back.
Jackie shot me an annoyed look and said begrudgingly, "Like you could ever get me to date you–"
"Ugh, that's revolting just to think about." I said before she could continue.
She gasped and said, "I wanted to say that!"
Everyone laughed and I went back to my room to change. Eric, Fez, and Kelso entered my room and we talked there.
"So, how is it?" Kelso asked pervertedly.
"Yes. Spare us no details." Fez said with a smirk.
Eric asked, "So… Like… What did you guys do?"
"I'm not kissing and telling." I grimaced at all of them.
Kelso laughed and said, "Oh come on! I told you everything about me and Jackie! And me and Laurie. And me and Pam Macy. And me and–"
"Alright. Stop." Eric pressed Kelso's shoulder and stopped him. "We've never once wanted to know the details. You're the one who talked about them openly." Eric added.
"What– HYDE! COME ON TELL US!" Kelso whined.
I smirked and said, "Instead of that, why don't you tell me again about how you managed to sleep with Laurie and Jackie on the same day."
Kelso was taken aback and said, "I've never slept with them on the same day."
"Oh." I exclaimed disappointedly. "So you don't have the skills for that huh? Or stamina."
Kelso was flabbergasted and shouted defensively, "HEY! I have the skills!"
Fez retorted, "But you don't have the stamina."
"AH!" Kelso yelped like a girl. He got offended and quickly got out of the room while we all laughed.
…
The next day, at school, I saw a banner being raised as I walked down the hallway with Fez.
"Snow Prom?"
Fez gleefully said, "Yes! The second American Prom! Last time with my English teacher, we only went to first base. The second prom, we're going to go to second base."
"Miss Kavinsky?" I was surprised. "You got to first base with her?"
"Yes. She kissed me goodnight on the cheek."
"That's…" I wanted to explain it to him, but I couldn't do it since he looked so excited. "Alright. That's first base."
Fez snickered and said, "I need to bring my protection. My dreamcatcher and the rubber."
"Fez, why don't you try asking someone else to prom?" I told him. "See that girl. She has been looking in your direction."
"Huh?" Fez was skeptical, but it was true. She was looking in our direction. More accurately, she was looking at me. But Fez thought it was for him.
He slicked his hair back and said, "Watch and learn Hyde."
I smiled in anticipation and watched him ask the girl out to prom. However, he got rejected mercilessly. He turned to me, face almost crying, and ran away immediately after.
The bell rang, so I couldn't go after him. As I was putting my stuff in the locker, Barbara came to me, wearing a tied up shirt that showed her belly button, and a little bit of her cleavage.
"Hey Steven." She greeted me cheerfully. "Have you asked anyone out to Snow Prom yet?"
I snorted and said, "I'm not going to prom."
She giggled and said, "Well. It's because you don't have a date. You poor baby."
I looked at her with confusion, raising one of my eyebrows up. She immediately became flustered and shook her hands around, "Not– Not poor like, you don't have any money poor. This is like, more poor, sympathetic poor–"
She stopped and said flatly, "I'm saying poor way too much aren't I?"
I nodded casually, and she cursed underneath her breath, "Damn it."
She froze, checked out my expression with a blushing face, and then left. She also ran away like Fez did before.
"What the hell is that all about?"
Class was pretty boring without the internet.
I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night– mostly because I was too tired of 'doing it' all day with Victoria, so I couldn't even sleep in the class.
During lunch, all of my friends sat on the same table. I ate the packed sandwiches Mrs Forman made instead of eating the school lunch.
"Hyde. It's pretty rare for you to stay all the way till the end of school." Donna teased. Eric joined in, saying, "Yeah Hyde. Are you perhaps turning over a new leaf? You want to become a square like us?"
I grimaced and said, "I'm only here for Fez. I want to see if he can ask anyone out to prom."
Jackie interjected, "Fez, you know what you should do? Invite Big Rhonda to prom."
Eric added, "She's going to say yes. But in return for that, if she stepped on your toe, you will…lose your toe."
While we were laughing, a girl approached us. It was Amy, Barbara's brunette friend.
"Hey Hyde." She called and sat in front of me. "Are you going with anyone to Snow Prom?"
"No, I'm not going. I have work that day." I said casually.
Amy was taken aback, and became embarrassed once everyone stared at her. "It's– It's not for me. I'm asking for my friend." Amy stammered and left hurriedly.
"This is unfair. Hyde doesn't even want to go, and he has two people wanting to go with him. I want to go, but I can't find anyone to go with me." Fez complained.
"What about Miss Kavinsky?" I asked him.
"She has a boyfriend." Fez replied with disappointment.
"Cheer up Fez. Big Rhonda is still available." Jackie comforted him.
…
At the car shop, after school ended.
As I walked into the store, I went to Megan who was working on the Corolla.
"Oh– Hey Boss." She said nervously. I stared at her without saying anything. She got even more frustrated and said, "So…"
I kept staring at her, crossing my arms together. Sweat beads on her forehead, and she looked away guiltily.
I kept staring at her, and she became more and more flustered.
"OKAY!" She snapped. "I brought my sister to the shop yesterday! Even though you told me not to bring anyone inside."
The shop was supposed to be closed on Sunday, but she and Tyrell convinced me to let them practice on their cars. They would do it outside the clock and I didn't need to pay them anything.
Instead, they'd pay me for the materials they used. I only had one condition, to not bring any visitors inside the shop.
"You understand now, I'm never going to let you stay here alone, right?" I said.
"Fine." She exclaimed in disappointment. Tyrell and her were working on the cars since early this morning as they have the keys to get in.
I took the keys from Megan but let Brandon keep his.
"Tyrell, you'll be the foreman while I'm not around. Don't let people in and lock the doors properly."
Megan was disappointed again. When I went to my room, I smelt a strong stench of weed there.
I walked back out and asked, "Did someone smoke weed in my office?"
"What?" Tyrell widened his eyes slightly in shock.
"WHAT?!" Megan shouted in disbelief, incredibly frazzled. I turned to her, and she knew she was caught.
"N–No! I wasn't the one who smoked it! Really! It… It must've been my… sister…" Her face went pale.
I turned to the No Smoking sign on the wall, and Megan knew what I was talking about.
"I'll resign from the shop." She said with frustration, clenching her fist slightly. She bit her lower lips till it almost bled.
I was taken aback and said, "Wait. You're not the one who smoked it, so I'm not going to fire you. Besides, I smoked too. But not here. Do you get it? There's too many chemicals around. This place can blow up if we're not careful."
The two of them nodded in understanding. Megan has a look of immense relief on her face, while Tyrell has a slight relief. They were studying together, so they have become close friends.
Although Tyrell was married. When I gave them the binder to study, he had to bring Megan home, which almost caused a fight between him and his wife.
Megan called her sister to scold her while I pushed Nova into the paint booth. The interior and engine was stripped down so the painting job could be done easily.
Starting from the engine bay, then the panels on the cars. I painted it using an Eastwood single stage paint, interstate black color, which made the car look shiny compared to lacquer paints.
The infrared cure made my job go by faster. After the paint dried, I installed the engine back into the bay.
"You upgraded the piston and the camshaft?" Tyrell asked.
"Intake manifold, the gasket and seals, spark plugs, wires, high quality distributor cap and rotor. Now the fuel economy is a bit better." I replied.
I went into teacher mode and explained what I did in the car.
"I replaced every gasket and seal because oil leaks don't just make a mess. They kill bearings slowly. New freeze plugs went in next. The old ones were original, and if one failed, it wouldn't give a warning. It would dump coolant all at once."
"I installed new spark plugs, modern-spec wires, and a high-quality distributor cap and rotor. The ignition timing on these engines was everything."
"A weak spark didn't just lose power, it overheated the exhaust valves and wasted fuel. With clean ignition, the engine burned evenly so it saved a lot of fuel."
"The fuel system got a full reset. New mechanical fuel pump. New rubber lines. I pulled the tank, cleaned it internally, and sealed it so rust flakes wouldn't clog the carburetor later. No shortcuts there as fuel problems never stay small."
"The carburetor was upgraded to a properly sized two-barrel. Not oversized. Oversized carbs kill low-end torque, and this wasn't a drag car. The goal was to smoothly pull from idle to highway speed."
I explained to Tyrell everything I had done to the car. He had a serious face as he listened intensely to everything. Megan was listening too, albeit from afar. She felt it would be best if she lay low for now.
"The pistons had to be replaced anyway. One had seized before, scarring the cylinder wall. Instead of stock replacements, I used slightly higher-compression pistons. Nothing extreme, just enough to squeeze more energy out of each combustion cycle. More compression meant more torque without stressing the block."
"Since the engine was already open, the camshaft came next."
"The original cam was designed for 1962. Soft, built for quiet operation and cheap gas. I swapped it for a mild performance cam with better lift and duration. That lets the valves open wider and stay open longer, improving airflow without killing drivability."
Tyrell jotted down what I did on the notebook.
"Camshaft plus pistons wasn't about chasing numbers. It was about efficiency. The engine breathed better, burned cleaner, and didn't feel strangled anymore."
"I paired it with a freer-flowing exhaust, new manifolds, and a proper tune."
Tyrell asked, "And the aluminum radiator?"
"That's a new type of radiator. It's more efficient than the stock radiator."
I changed every fluid. Engine oil, transmission fluid, differential oil, brake fluid and flushed the brake lines after the disc conversion.
New wheel bearings went in while the suspension was apart, because reusing old bearings was asking for noise and failure later.
By the time the engine went back in, nothing critical was untouched.
The result wasn't a monster, but it was better.
The inline-six now made around 140 horsepower, up from barely 120 on its best day. More importantly, torque came in earlier and smoother. The car merged without drama, cruised comfortably at 70 mph, and still had throttle left.
Tyrell and I went to test drive it.
The Nova didn't rattle when it pulled away. No steering wheel shake, no dash buzzing like loose teeth. The suspension absorbed bumps instead of sending them straight through the seat.
When Tyrell braked, the car stopped clean and straight, without that delayed lurch he was used to. At highway speed, it tracked steady and calm, quiet enough that conversation didn't feel like work.
Top speed sat around 100–105 mph, not that anyone needed it. What mattered was that it could hold highway speed without overheating, wandering, or shaking itself apart.
As for inspection—if there even was one—it would pass without blinking. Lights worked. Brakes were better than stock. Emissions weren't regulated yet. Seat belts were upgraded.
"I think this can go for twenty-two hundred, don't you think?" I asked Tyrell.
"Uh-huh." He was deep in contemplation after hearing the number. "You are open to trade, right?" He asked.
"Yup. I'll give store credit for the cars the customer brought in, and they can use that for a discount on the purchase." I replied casually, reminding him again.
"What about my Oldsmobile?" Tyrell asked. "How much is it worth?"
I looked at him in surprise. "You want this car?" I asked.
"It feels better than my current one." He replied. "My '70 Oldsmobile shook a lot. My wife has been complaining about it for a long time."
"Hmm… I guess I can go for 800." I told him.
He sighed and said, "Then, I still need to pay 1400 for the car. I don't have any savings on me now."
He has a few kids. One is three years old, and the other is an eleven-year-old baby. Both were boys.
"How about this?" I told him. "You can swap the Oldsmobile for the Nova for now. I'll take a look at your car. We can work on it, then you give the Nova back to me."
"Aren't you going to sell it soon?" He asked slowly.
"It's not urgent." I said casually.
We pulled back into the store and let the paint cure overnight for the Nova. Tomorrow, I'll cut and buff it.
Megan felt bad about bringing her Mustang into the shop after making a huge mistake, but since I was bored, I told her to bring it in.
She had found a junkyard panel for the missing part of the car, but the car still needed a lot of work.
"The chassis, it's damaged." I told her.
She widened her eyes in shock. "What do you mean?"
"It was hit from the side, so the chassis needs to be pulled to stock again before you can do anything else." I checked the engine bay chassis with the measuring tape. It was bent inward almost an inch.
"I have the puller, but it would take some effort to get it done. Leave the car here. We'll work on it tomorrow."
"We're working on it together?" She asked in shock.
I smiled and said, "You want to get it on race, right? I'll be your sponsor. Let's turn this into a monster. But there's a catch."
"What's the catch?" She asked carefully.
I grinned and said, "You'll see."
When I returned home, everyone was back at their house. Victoria was already asleep, so I just went to sleep too.
The next morning in school, a few more girls approached me, asking about Snow Prom.
"Is this a huge thing? Why is everyone so enthusiastic about it?" I muttered with frustration.