[Hyde POV]
The dreaded day came soon. The English test went by like a blur. The Math test was a breeze. Biology test– I did better than I expected.
"Ahh! The first day is over!" Eric whined. "This is torture. Why can't they do one test per day?"
Kelso said with a serious face, "I thought it's going to be a multiple option test for math. My
lucky pencil was useless here."
Fez smiled and said, "I think I did pretty well–"
He stopped as Mrs Ling was walking into our direction. Most importantly, my direction.
She stopped in front of me and gave me my paper back. "95%. Were you messing around on purpose? The questions are easier than the diagnostic test since I wasn't the one who made it."
"You didn't make it? Who did?" I asked in surprise as I picked up my paper to check where I had gotten wrong.
"The principal got it from Sacred Heart. He didn't trust me yet to create the questions." Mrs Ling complained and pointed her finger at my paper.
– Question 30. Mrs. Ray has a collection of antique vases. She starts with some vases on her top shelf. On Monday, she moves 3/5 of the vases to the middle shelf and notices that if she adds 7 more vases to the middle shelf, the middle shelf will have exactly twice as many vases as the top shelf.
On Tuesday, she removes 1/4 of the middle shelf vases and puts them on the bottom shelf. She then buys 12 new vases, distributes half of them equally between the top and bottom shelves, and accidentally drops 3 vases from the bottom shelf.
On Wednesday, she sells 2/3 of the top shelf vases, 1/2 of the middle shelf vases, and 1/4 of the bottom shelf vases. In the end, she has 23 vases left.
Question: How many vases did Mrs. Ray starts with on the top shelf? –
"I have the right equation." I said defensively. "Where did I go wrong?"
"X is equal to 35. How can the vase moved on Tuesday be 5.25?" Mrs Ling scolded me. "It's a vase. Do you break it to get the quarter?"
"Wait. I got x equal to 35 too." Eric said with a horrified expression. "Me too." Fez was also
fearful.
"Wait, there's 30 questions?" Kelso was aghast. "I thought there's only 20?!"
I looked at her blankly and said, "The question's impossible in the first place."
The problem is over-determined and logically inconsistent. To end with exactly 23 vases, she would have needed to start with approximately 46.72 vases, which is not a whole number.
Since 35 is the only integer solution derived from the first half of the problem, it is the intended answer.
"Yet you still answered it!" She scolded me. "Still, you scored the highest in class. Eric is
number two at 90%."
"YES!" Eric fist-pumped in celebration.
She left afterward. Kelso checked out her butt and said, "Damn. Mrs Ling has a very nice behind."
"Yeah." Fez was also absorbed in the sight. Eric slapped the two of them in the face to wake them up from their stupor.
"Let's go back home and study." Eric said. "Tomorrow has History and Chemistry." Spanish was optional for me. Eric took Physics since it was optional back in 1977.
Before I left, Barbara approached me and asked, "Steven. Do you want to study together again?"
"No. I need to go to the shop so I'm going to study there." I rejected her.
"Oh." She exclaimed with disappointment. "Alright. I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore. Will you take me to snow Prom?" She asked directly, clasping her hands together.
"I–"
Before I could reject, Barbara panicked and interjected, "Everyone I know is going. And I know you're not going with anyone. So, if you don't go, I'll have to go alone. I'll die a social death. I'll become a loner and die alone with my 54 cats–"
It was a pre-feminist era. The fact that she had asked me so directly showed how huge of a risk she's taking here.
"Alright. I'll go with you." I agreed reluctantly, just to stop her from spiralling again.
"Go with me? Like I'm the last option? The girl desperate to get a date—"
"No. Wait. Please go with me to snow prom. I want to take you to snow prom."
"Great!" she smiled in satisfaction. "Pick me up at 7." She skipped away gleefully. I looked at her with disbelief and turned to my friends.
"Did I get tricked? I think I just got tricked."
All of them laughed at my misery, teasing me all the way home.
…
At the auto shop. As I walked in, I saw Tyrell and Megan in front of the tv, having their break.
Megan said, "The show is rerun again. It's the 7th time in three days."
"Still?" I was in disbelief. I knew that 70s tv broadcast was starving, but this was not what I
expected with giving the public access channel the recording.
"They called a couple of times, asking when you're going to release the Mustang episode. Or if you can do a new episode." Tyrell told me.
"Why do they need it? It's not like they can get money from it?" I was confused. Tyrell shrugged, not really having an answer.
Megan grinned and said, "Maybe they are just your fans. You know, my friend in Kenosha called me as she saw me on the video. The thing is airing in different cities too."
I called the station manager afterwards. He told me the public access channel in Chicago was airing it, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and even Kenosha.
Since it was informative for the gearheads in the era, there were a lot of repeated viewings from the same people. They even called the station to request it.
It has over 100,000 views in total based on what Jay told me. It was a huge hit for a public access channel.
Although very poor for the tv culture.
(Tv culture was giant in the 70s despite not having a lot of channels and programs yet.)
It got to the point where the rich brothers called. "That person in the video, is you, right?"
Bruce guessed.
I didn't show my name or my shop name, but they recognized it since they had come to my shop before.
"Yeah, it's me." I replied.
"Do more." Bruce begged. "I need more of that." "Bring my Nova back. I'll upload one more video."
"Upload?" He was confused.
I was taken aback and quickly corrected myself, "Air. I'll air another one. But I need a week to set it up."
"What do you need? I can help you with it." he offered.
"You know what? Bring your Porsche and some of the 1977 muscle cars. Chargers, TransAm… I'm going to do a very controversial video."
Bruce breathed heavily and asked, "What kind of video."
"Putting a turbo in my 72 Celica, and beating out all of the new muscle cars that came out this year."
Bruce went silent for a while. Then, he laughed madly. "I LOVE IT!" He screamed. "I'll come to the town in a few hours."
"Councilman, you have a meeting this evening."
I heard a secretary rebuking him, but he didn't even react to her. Once I was done, I sighed and said, "I need to study instead of making videos."
The video was actually planned out from the moment I decided to put turbo on my Celica. I already recorded the stock run on the quarter mile, the modification journey, and the cost for putting boost in the car.
It cost me 3000 dollars. But it was 2025 money, so it cost 600 bucks for me.
Bruce came by while I was memorizing the Spanish verbs. We talked about the plans for the video.
It was easy to fit everything inside a half hour video. But the public access channel requested the video to be around an hour long. They didn't even pay me anything, yet they were begging for content.
That night, I went to Victoria's house and saw a young guy standing in front of her door.
"Randy?" I muttered as I realized who he was. The teller at the bank who's supposed to help me open my account before Victoria swooped in.
"Hey Hyde." He greeted me casually, but he had a worried expression.
Randy wore glasses, had neat hair combed sideways, and wore a tie. He's also quite skinny, like Eric.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Victoria has a headache. I drove her home." He said calmly. I nodded in understanding and said,
"It's alright. I got it from here."
"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly.
I raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah. I got this. She's my girl. I can take care of her."
"Well you didn't take care of her this evening." He retorted provocatively. He widened his eyes in shock as the realization hit him.
"I'm– I'm sorry." He quickly ran away as he feared the consequences. Victoria hurriedly came to the door as she heard the commotion. "Steven. You're here?" She flinched slightly, not expecting me.
"Why do you look guilty?" I asked, crossing my arms together.
Victoria was flustered and she dodged my question, "He– He's just here to send me home. Nothing happened."
"Hmm…"
"Really! Nothing happened! Randy did ask me out a couple of times before, but that was before. There's nothing going on between us!" She said urgently.
But the more she panicked, the more I realized there's something going on that I didn't know about.
We entered the house together and went to the living room. I checked her head for a fever and asked, "Have you taken any medicine?"
"No. Not yet." She replied meekly.
"Did you drink any water today?" I asked. "Um…" She was taken aback. "I– Uh…"
I smirked and said, "You didn't huh? That's why you have a headache."
…
After the tests on the next day, some of us already knew the results for English and Biology.
Biology was multiple choice, so it was easy for me to score high.
"Hyde… you got over ninety in all three tests?" Donna asked, staring at the paper like it had
personally offended her.
I got ninety-eight percent for Biology. Ninety-two percent for English, including the essay.
Even though I'd only started studying seriously yesterday, I was a college graduate back in 2025.
This was all just some additional perks. In my time, the questions were harder. Way harder.
I was in eleventh grade now, but this felt like seventh or eighth grade work from the future.
"I really messed up on History, though," I muttered. "I might fail that one." Spanish and Chemistry went fine.
Eric somehow pulled a ninety-five in English and a ninety in Biology.
Donna crushed English with a ninety-eight and got an eighty-eight in Biology. She also managed an eighty-two in Math.
Kelso got thirteen percent in Math, forty in English, and forty-four in Biology. Fez got sixty-nine in Math, sixty-nine in Biology, and sixty-nine in English.
I stared at him for a long second.
Either Fez was a secret genius, or the universe had a sense of humor.
By evening, everyone went home to get ready for Snow Prom. Donna and Eric tried to bail, but I dragged them along.
If I couldn't escape it, nobody could.
"Fez will come with me. Kelso will share the keys to his van in case we get lucky." Eric said
teasingly.
Donna slapped his arm as she laughed, which made him wince in pain. She wasn't trying to hurt him, she's just too strong.
…
I picked Barbara up wearing a burgundy suit, the jacket fitted just right, flared pants pressed
clean, and a silver bolo tie instead of a regular one.
I didn't want to wear it, but Mrs Forman insisted. She took pictures of me in the suit multiple
times.
It was a stark contrast compared to when I went to prom with Jackie in September last year.
My mother was drunk, screaming insultingly, "Everyone will laugh at you!," as I walked out the door to meet Jackie.
She made me feel shitty for even thinking that I deserve to get some happiness– even though I was only helping Jackie at that time.
"Steven! You look so cool!" Mrs Forman almost fell down as she snapped the pictures of me. Red laughed and gave me some tips on how to treat a girl.
"You'd want to open the door for her. Be respectful. Compliment her on her dress." He even gave me some money for gas and food.
Although it was embarrassing to get that much attention, I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it at all.
I went to Barbara's house in Celica. Mrs Forman wanted to meet her, but I managed to escape before she could talk to me about bringing my date to the house.
I rang the doorbell to the house. When the door opened, my mind went blank for a bit.
Barbara stood there in a deep blue dress, the kind that hugged her figure.
The fabric shimmered faintly under the porch light, catching different shades of blue when she moved. The cut was old fashioned, sleeveless, fitted at the waist, falling cleanly to her ankles.
Her hair was softly curled, framing her face, and she wore just enough makeup to make her eyes stand out.
"You look beautiful." I complimented her.
She blushed and said, "You look really dashing–"
An old man interjected. "Hi. I'm Philip Manson," he said, shaking my hand firmly. His eyes didn't leave mine. "Barbara's father."
"I'm Steven Hyde," I replied easily. "Barbara's date."
He studied me closely. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"
"Dad!" Barbara hissed, mortified.
"To take her to prom," I said calmly, "and bring her home safe."
He paused, then gave a slow nod. "Bring her back by nine."
"That's too early," a woman's voice said from behind him. "She can stay out till twelve."
Barbara's mom stepped forward with a camera in hand. Tall, confident, blonde, and clearly enjoying the moment. "I'm Joan."
I took her hand and kissed it lightly. "Steven Hyde. Barbara, I didn't know you had a sister."
She laughed. "You jest. I'm her mother"
Barbara groaned and pulled my arm away, "We're going now. BYE!" "Barb! I want to take pictures first!" Joan stopped her.
We took the pictures together. Then we were finally out the door.
Inside the car, I asked, "Do you mind making a stop first before going to the gym?"
She turned to me slowly and her smile grew. "You want to make out first?" "No, I need to pick up something."
"Oh." She exclaimed, fully embarrassed. Her face turned red and she pretended she didn't say anything.
"What do you want to pick up?" She asked.
I grinned and said, "Just watch."
The school gym was packed. Streamers, and dim lights reflecting off the polished floor. A live band played slow, uneven love songs that echoed off the walls.
I placed one hand on Barbara's waist and held her other hand gently as we moved with the music.
"We really do have a lot of dances in this town," I muttered with astonishment.
"There's one two weeks ago. The Valentine's dance." She grabbed my hand on her waist and lowered it slightly.
I wasn't flustered and squeezed her butt a bit, which made her the ones getting embarrassed and pulled my hand back up.
"You started it." I teased.
She blushed and giggled slightly. I whispered in her ear, "I think it's time for us to move the
party outside."
"I can't wait to see your big rocket." She replied excitedly with a sultry voice. Beside us, a teacher heard it and was stunned speechless.
"Kids these days." She shook her head disdainfully. "Also, big rocket? As if."
I called Donna and Eric. We went to the football field where Kelso, Fez and Jackie were already waiting for us. I brought the fireworks using a wagon trolley.
The trolley was filled to the brim with dull boxes. It came with colourful boxes, but I ripped off
the brand since I bought it from China. It would be tough to explain where I got it as I didn't want to clean it up afterward.
"Hyde, did you buy… fireworks for the prom?" Fez asked.
"ALRIGHT!" Kelso was extremely excited. "We're going to blow up the school!"
"Hyde, what kind of fireworks is this? You bought a lot of them!" Eric asked with excitement.
"Just some cheap one. It's imported, so I'm not sure how it will look." I muttered.
I bought it for cheap before my internet was down. My stuff was still being delivered even though I couldn't access the internet.
It arrived on Monday, and I got everything for just 200 bucks. If I planned this right, I could
watch 15 minutes of small, unimpressive fireworks lighting up the football field.
It was online fireworks, I couldn't get any heavy duty ones. "Why did you buy the fireworks in the first place?" Eric asked.
"Kelso told me to." I pointed at the tall dude.
He smirked and said, "Yeah. I told him to."
"And you just did it?" Donna asked, part skeptical, part amused.
"Hey, it's either watching a good fireworks show, or watching Kelso hurt himself. Either way, it's a win-win for me." I said, slightly smiling.
Barbara laughed and said, "You'll get caught by the gym teacher."
"He's fat, so he can't chase us anyway." Kelso interjected. "Anyway, you're looking real good
Barbara." He licked his lower lips and tried to flirt with her.
Barbara snapped back, "Aren't you the guy with the VD?" Kelso was flabbergasted. Everyone laughed at him.
"Kelso, go bring people outside." I told him after setting up the fuse.
"Alright." He said with exasperation. "But don't light it up without me!" He warned me with his
finger.
As he ran away, Eric asked, "You're going to light it up without him, do you?"
"Obviously." I said and took out a lighter.
The first shell went up crooked, like it didn't quite know where it was supposed to be, then burst into a soft white bloom that lit the football field like a camera flash.
People gasped as Kelso lured them outside. I think he pulled the fire alarm since I could vaguely hear the sirens.
The second one followed. Red and gold, crackling at the edges, the sparks drifting down slowly instead of snapping out. Then a third, blue and green, spinning as it faded.
"Oh…" Donna whispered, squeezing Eric's arm tight. "This suddenly feels really romantic." She said, leaning on Eric's shoulder.
Eric gave me a thumbs up from afar, thanking me for the moment.
More people started pouring out of the gym doors. Dresses lifted off the cold concrete as girls stepped onto the grass. Guys pulled off their jackets and stood with their hands in their pockets.
I gave my jacket to Barbara since it was really cold out here.
A whistle blew behind us. We turned and saw the gym teacher walking towards the organizer.
"HEY!" one of the teachers shouted. "Who authorized this?!" A few students froze. Then the next fireworks went up.
This one wasn't loud. Just a long, shimmering hiss before it opened into a fan of silver streaks that hung in the sky for a few seconds. It created a circular ring, looking like a flower.
The teachers stopped and watched the show.
"Well," the principal muttered, "We're already out here. This doesn't seem to hurt anybody." He told the gym teacher.
No one told anyone to go back inside.
The fireworks kept coming. Not big, professional ones. Nothing that rattled windows or shook the bleachers. But they were steady. Color after color. Crackle, bloom, fade.
Kelso snuck back towards us and complained, "You started without me."
"You're too late." I scolded him back.
"Yeah cause I need to run from the people chasing me." He laughed. "That's also fun."
Fez clapped slowly, genuinely impressed. "This is very romantic. I feel like I am in a movie,
however…" He turned to the side and saw Barbara holding my hand, Jackie and Kelso cuddling, Eric and Donna were really intimate, "...I'm alone."
"Hyde. Did you bring your camera?" Jackie asked.
"I do." I took out the camera from my system but pretended to take it from my back pocket.
"Nice." Jackie grinned.
I took some nice pictures of us with the background being the colorful fireworks. Then, the couples. Fez was next, and he wanted to take it with all of the boys.
Lastly, it was a group picture taken by Barbara.
For a small town, having fireworks at prom was truly a special experience. Most of the prom budget went to decor and the band, so there's no budget for spectacle.
Fireworks were also rare. Most people just saw it during the fourth of July.
I accidentally turned the normal prom night into a memory-worthy prom night.
Barbara stood next to me, her face lit in blue, then red, then white. The colors caught in her
eyes, reflected there for a second before disappearing.
She smiled the entire time as she watched the show.
The final sequence started without warning. Three shells back to back. It was the three biggest ones, set up to explode at the same time.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
A scatter of sparks, then one last wide bloom that filled the sky above the field, crackling softly as it fell.
When it faded, there was a moment of silence. Then applause. The students were cheering and people started to ask.
"Who did this?"
"Who brought the fireworks?"
All of my friends stood up together.
"Well. It's time." Eric muttered with a serious face.
Then, all of us ran away hurriedly before we got caught.