[Hyde POV]
Monday morning, at breakfast.
"Ughh…" Eric lowered his head at the breakfast table, almost sleeping on it.
I too propped my head up with my arm as I ate breakfast.
"What's the matter with you boys?" Mrs. Forman asked. "Did you sneak out last night? When did you go to bed?"
"Around 4," I replied to Mrs. Forman.
"That's why you're so tired!" She looked at me in disbelief and scolded me. "Why did you go out so late at night?"
Eric propped his head back up and said, "Well… I don't know. Hyde needed it, so I just went with him."
Mrs. Forman turned to me. "What's wrong? What happened?"
I sighed and told her, "Brooke's leaving for Illinois today."
"Ooh." She exclaimed sympathetically. "So what did you boys do last night?" she asked carefully.
"Mostly just cruising around," Eric said, lying slightly.
Red came in from the driveway and said gruffly, "Eric. Have you been playing with firecrackers near the Vista Cruiser? The whole thing is a damn mess."
"What? No, Dad." Eric lied instinctively.
Red turned to me and smiled. "Steven. I saw the stuff in the garage. You did good."
I shrugged slightly.
Mrs. Forman whispered to Red, "Red. He just lost his girlfriend. Talk to him."
"Well, it isn't the first time, is it, son?" Red mocked me slightly.
I laughed and said, "Yeah. I already know what to do, so I don't need a pep talk."
"That-a-boy," Red said gleefully. Then he added, "Kitty, did you see my utility belt?"
"Dad, you have Batman's belt?" Eric was thoroughly astonished.
I snorted, while Red looked at him with disappointment. "What's wrong with you? It's the contractor's belt. So I can fix the roof."
"Ahh. Right. Although, I think Batman would've known a lot about fixing roofs."
"Stop talking about Batman." I rubbed my forehead in frustration. My head was throbbing, and the images from last night still haunted me. "You geek."
He threw his right hand up in disbelief.
We were forced to go to school by Red. We would leave early anyway to get to the Sheboygan small race in time.
Donna told Kelso everything at school. "And then the cops stopped us. And they said, 'Can we join?' They chased us and shot bottle rockets at us. It was really fun."
"Aww man!" Kelso stomped his feet in frustration, whining, almost crying. "I want to do it too!"
"The cops said we can't do it again, or we'll be arrested," Eric added. "So it's a one-night-only thing. Sorry that you missed it."
Kelso shook his entire body begrudgingly and sulked.
I slept at school as usual when, suddenly, Amy approached me between classes.
"Hyde. I made 200 bucks selling those necklaces at the flea market," she gloated.
"Oh. Good for you." I was happy for her. "Can you save up now?"
"Yes. So, I want to ask if you want to come to a party at my place." She closed the distance between us and batted her eyes slowly.
"I have a lot of work to do this week," I replied. "So I can't make it."
She looked disappointed. "That's alright. We'll just wait till you get back."
"We?" I raised an eyebrow.
Startled, Amy panicked and scurried away, walking backward. "That's just… in a metaphorical sense… we… What am I thinking? Right?"
She laughed nervously and bumped into another person.
"Hey, watch it," the person scolded her.
"Sorry!" She turned around and ran.
I shrugged and went to the teacher's lounge.
"Steven. You couldn't escape PE today," Mrs. Ling told me. "Or you'll have to go to summer school."
"I thought I had an exemption." I was taken aback.
"The exemption is after you become a TV figure. Your PE attendance was worse even before that," Mrs. Ling told me. "You can do it tomorrow. You need at least 20 hours to pass the class."
"Ugh." I grimaced. "I'll do it tomorrow. I have to go to Sheboygan today."
"For the Mustang race?" she asked.
I smiled excitedly. "Yup. Do you want to come watch?"
"I still have classes to care for. I couldn't make it," Mrs. Ling rejected me flatly.
"Oh. That sucks."
I went to the elementary school at lunch time. The teachers there were quite taken aback when they saw me, then they realized I have a permission slip from the parent.
As Dustin entered my car, he asked, "Where are you bringing me?"
"To the race track." I smiled. Eric grumbled and said, "Why do I have to sit in the back?"
"To take care of the camera man!" I scolded him. "They are really expensive. Don't let anything happen to them."
Eric grumbled and then leaned forward slightly. "So Dustin. Are you taking any girls to the spring dance?"
"What? No." Dustin was taken aback and became embarrassed. "I'm not going."
"Why not? You don't have a date?" I asked, one hand on the steering wheel and changed the gear with another one.
"No, school dances are lame. I'm not going to one." Dustin grumbled.
"Wow, Hyde. He really is your little brother." Eric teased.
Dustin turned to me, and I smirked. "I didn't go to the dances either."
"Why didn't you go again?" Eric asked.
"Well. I have no money to buy a nice suit." I replied. "So I acted as if school dances are lame, and I'm better than everyone by not going."
Eric was taken aback slightly by the honesty. I was being honest in front of Dustin, as he probably was feeling something similar.
"But you know. Whenever my friends hang out the next day, they talk about the dance. I feel a bit left out."
"Really?" Eric was taken aback.
"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if experiencing something together, whether good, or extremely miserable, together with my friends is better than escaping it alone.
"Are you trying to get me to go to the dance by sharing?" Dustin looked at me skeptically.
I smiled and said, "You caught that huh?"
"I'm not going to the dance." He grimaced.
"Your mom told me you have to go." I said apologetically.
"Damn it." He cursed to himself.
"The dance's on Friday. I'll give you some nice suits you can impress some girls with. And, you also need a haircut." I told him.
Eric laughed and said, "He can't go stag, right Hyde. So he needs to ask a girl to the dance too."
"That's true." I agreed with Eric.
"What?!" Dustin was flabbergasted. "I'm not asking any girls to the Spring Dance!"
"You want me to help you get a date, or your mom." I asked him flatly.
"I– I guess I'll… I'll settle… with you." He agreed begrudgingly.
I laughed and tussled his hair slightly, which made him more annoyed. We went to Megan's house, all three of us, to film the Mustang getting ready for the race.
The race would be held at 5 in the evening, so we had plenty of time.
I checked Megan's roof while I was there and told her, "Well. You're going to have to replace everything."
"Damn." Megan cursed to herself. "Are you sure?"
"Megan. The roof has no support in the middle." I pointed at the saggy roof to her. The area surrounding the farmhouse was filled with tall grass, bushes, and old trees.
Last time I was here to pick her up, it was still winter so I couldn't see the vegetation around the house.
"You're going to need to do some landscaping too," I said.
She pursed her lips and said, "I don't think I have the money for all of it. Unless—" Her eyes darted at me.
"I'm not giving you a raise. You're already making 8.50 an hour. You're in the top 5% of the income earners in town," I told her. "Not to mention the bonuses."
100 dollars for each car she fixed. Right now, she has fixed over 50 cars. That's well over 5,000 dollars.
She pouted and said, "I can't even hire a contractor. Who will supervise them? I don't know about all that stuff, so I will get ripped off."
I was studying the condition of her house and an idea bubbled up into my mind.
"Megan, stop babbling," I said, which made her pause, her eyes slightly offended.
"I have something to ask. What if I make a TV special about your house renovation?"
"Huh?" Her offended face turned into elation. "You want to renovate my entire house?"
"It'll be a good program for TV," I replied. Although what I was actually targeting was the YouTube ad rates.
Renovation stuff has a higher ad rate than others. It's 8–10 dollars per 100k views.
So if the video hits 100k, I'll have 800–1,000 dollars. If it's a series accumulating over 1 million views, I could get 8,000 to 10,000 dollars.
Right now, my channel is all about cars. I haven't gotten a sponsor yet or a brand deal, even though my subscribers are around 150k on YouTube.
I could branch off to another channel, opening a renovation channel on the side. With the cheap labor cost, cheap materials of the 70s, and the access to worldwide renovation materials, I could do renovations after renovations for cheap.
I didn't even have to do it all on my own. Like a couple renovation shows on Youtube, they used actual contractors for the houses.
Although if I made it myself, the channel would grow even faster. Not because I was good at renovating, but a personality-led team could build a loyal audience base.
Megan thought about it and shook her head. "Hyde. You have already allowed me to fix up the Mustang for free at your shop. You even made the documentary about my husband. I can't ask more of you by renovating my house now."
"Don't feel bad. It's just TV. People love before-and-after shots of stuff. Especially, if the before part is really bad."
"Really bad?" She gasped slightly.
"Besides, if you feel bad, you can give me the money to renovate. You'll get a cut from the documentary anyway. That'll be enough for me to front everything first, and for you to pay me with the cut from the Mustang documentary."
She thought about it for a while.
Eric filmed our conversation from afar and said, "We should go now."
"Cool." I replied to him and turned to Megan. "You don't need to decide right away. Take your time. But I do want to get a shot of your new roof into this TV special, so I need the decision for that soon."
Once the Mustang won this race or crossed the finish line, the documentary would be over, and I could edit everything to sell as a TV special.
We went to Sheboygan, and Eric was filming the green camo Mustang racing through the track.
It was only twenty five laps on a ½ mile track. It wasn't an official race afterall.
"He's going to win." I whispered as I watched the Mustang driver cutting to third place in the race on the last lap.
The car was extremely smooth, and it felt basically brand new.
"Goo!" Dustin shouted in excitement.
The car cut into second place, almost winning the race, when suddenly, something terrible happened.
The fourth place car came out of nowhere on the inside lane, its tires squealing like metal claws against the asphalt.
It rammed into the Mustang's left rear wheel with a deafening crash. Sparks flew as the metal screamed, and the Mustang skidded violently, scraping the wall along the side of the track.
The wheel snapped with a sickening pop, and the car tumbled slightly before grinding to a halt. Smoke and dust filled the arena, and the crowd's roar turned into a stunned silence.
Megan gasped, clutching her hands to her mouth. Tyrell was incredibly pissed off, shouting incomprehensible words under his breath. Dustin, in a fit of frustration, hurled a cup of soda onto the track.
A lot of the people there were from Point Place, as I had spread the news about the Mustang race to several gearheads.
"What the fuck is that!" someone shouted. "They targeted the car!" another guy screamed, panic in his voice.
The crowd erupted, shouting and pushing to see what had happened. The tension in the arena was thick, almost suffocating.
The driver got out of the car groggily. He survived the crash.
Megan sobbed as she watched the car her husband loved the most stay still on the track once more. Sparks still flickered from the snapped wheel, and the smell of burnt rubber and metal lingered in the air.
It felt like the progress she had made ever since her husband died had vanished in an instant.
"In the end, I can't make his dream come true," she cried softly, her voice breaking under the weight of it all.
…
Back to the garage in Point Place. Megan approached me and said with a deflated tone of voice, "I'm sorry for ruining the tv special sir. I'll make up for it by resigning."
The shop went silent. I paused as the words were incomprehensible to me.
"Megan. What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, crossing my arms together.
"The documentary… is over," her voice cracked slightly. "His dream can't be achieved. God didn't want it to be achieved."
I went silent for a bit, and she lowered her head, becoming depressed by the turn of events.
The air inside the auto shop was thick. Tyrell clenched his fist in frustration until it bled. His blood flowed down his fingers and dripped onto the floor.
I knew I had to do something. Megan was spiraling out of control. My mind was racing. I couldn't even use ChatGPT to get an answer.
Then an idea struck me, and I tested it out immediately.
Suddenly, I burst into laughter while everyone else was grieving.
Tyrell, Eric, Dustin, and Megan looked at me in disbelief.
All of them had just watched Megan say her dead husband's dream was dead, and I laughed about it. That pissed them off.
"Oh, Megan. I think you misunderstood something," I explained. "God didn't allow this to stop your husband's dream. In actuality, your husband is trying to give you more alimony."
"Huh?" Megan was confused. Everyone else was confused too.
"We have a story here, ladies and gentlemen," I said dramatically. "A very juicy one. Winning on the first try? That's not fun at all."
I stood up on the car lift. "So God gave us a chance. We can rebuild the car, win a bigger race, and show everyone that no matter what hardship we face, we can rise up, rebuild, and become better than we are!"
I raised my hands. The speech made their hearts boil, and they shouted passionately.
"WOAHHHH!"
"What are we going to do? We're not going to let adversity push us down! We're going to WIN!"
"WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!"
All of the mechanics in the shop began chanting.
"WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!"
Eric, Dustin, and Tyrell joined in the chant.
Megan covered her mouth, and her tears fell.
It wasn't my character to give motivational speeches, but I did that to uplift everyone's spirits. The Mustang race was everything they had talked about for the past few weeks.
In town, people were still waiting for the race to air on TV. They called the station manager almost daily.
Even if I cheated, I'd make sure the car would win.
If she wanted to give up, it was her choice. But I knew she didn't want to give up.
I made sure everyone left me alone in the car after the incident.
"Three months?!" I was surprised when I realized how long it would take to get the parts for the car. Aftermarket parts were easy, but stock parts were rare.
The chassis was bent again. Even if I fixed it, the car wouldn't last long.
"One final race," I mumbled. "One more chance." I touched the chassis of the car lightly.
"I'll make you race again. Well, if I can't do it, I'm sure Build Mode can do it."
I paused and said, "In fact, why don't I just do it right now?"
I used Build Mode to fix up the chassis. It took 10 minutes.
If every one second was an hour, that meant fixing up the chassis took 600 hours. That's over twenty five days, just to fix up the foundation of the car.
"I have 15 minutes of Build Mode left. I have to use it sparingly."
I didn't have much rating points right now, only 1.9. To get Build Mode, I need five rating points.
"I really need to plan for a new episode I can do."
…
The next day, Eric told Red and Kitty everything that happened at breakfast.
"Are you sure you can make it in time?" Red asked me.
"The chassis is fine, although it can probably take the impact one last time. I'm going to save that for the race." I said lazily, yawning as I drank my morning coffee.
"You must've been so tired from working all night long." Mrs Forman said before putting her hands on her hips and attacked her daughter. "Unlike Laurie, who spent all night partying."
Laurie sat next to me, propping her head with both of her hands, blubbing her lips as she exhaled tiredly. "I didn't even go to the party last night. I was too tired."
"From what?" Mrs Forman asked annoyedly.
"From dad banging on the roof all day long! That's when I sleep!" Laurie snapped.
Red said apologetically, "Oh. I'm sorry sweetheart. Just two more days, and the roof will be done." He left through the sliding door to go to work on the roof.
Eric noticed something and asked with confusion, "Hyde. Why are you frozen?"
"Ah. Sorry. I heard Dad banging, and I thought she was confessing to Red." I trailed off, which made Laurie stick her tongue at me mockingly.
"I need to find my own place." Laurie sighed.