[Hyde POV]
"Hyde… Hyde, get up!"
I heard a voice and felt a hand shaking my body. I peeked through half-closed eyes and realized I was sleeping on a desk in a classroom.
A piece of paper was stuck to my cheek. I peeled it off, wiped the drool, and saw a math test staring back at me.
"9%? Who is this idiot?"
The name on the test was "Steven Hyde."
"Hyde!" the teacher called angrily. I turned around to see who she was talking to.
"Hyde! Are you still half-asleep? I'm calling you to come solve the question on the board!" The thin, glasses-wearing, balding math teacher with a tie on his white button-down slapped the blackboard with his wooden ruler.
"Um, Mr. Given, I can solve it for you if you want," the teenager who sat in front of me—the same one who woke me up before—volunteered.
I narrowed my eyes at the teacher.
The teacher stared back and said tauntingly, "What's with the look? Are you mad that I woke you up from your nice dream?!"
I continued staring at him, not really understanding the situation. The entire class held their breath from the supposed "confrontation".
Mr. Givens, the new math teacher, walked forward.
"What do you want? Do you want to fight, Hyde? Is that it? You want to beat me up?! COME ON! LET'S GO!"
Although he was rolling his sleeves, he seemed scared. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He made a boxing stance, but he took a couple of steps back.
"Uhhh…" I groaned as I had a headache.
'What is this dream? Usually, I just dream of taking a test while being naked. Why am I fighting a teacher now?'
"Come on! A–Are you scared?!" the teacher stuttered nervously, still trying to act tough.
I stood up abruptly, which made him flinch and raise his hands toward me, trying to create a barrier between us even though we were quite far apart.
"Maybe I can end this if I just get naked," I muttered and pulled my shirt over my head.
The entire class gasped. Some of the small town girls blushed.
Eric immediately rushed toward me and grabbed me, pulling me away.
"Mr. Given, Hyde's just confused! He still thinks he's in a dream. I'll help him wake up—splash some water on his face—KELSO!"
Eric called his friend, who was also sleeping at that time. Kelso—the pretty boy—woke up more confused than me.
He saw my bare torso and immediately tried to strip too.
A foreigner, possibly Latin, stopped him, talking with a heavy Spanish accent. "Kelso! Eric is asking you to help drag Hyde away! Hyde is going to fight the teacher!"
"Fez—Oh, should we join in and give Mr. Givens a beating? I hated that guy the moment he stepped foot into the class," Kelso said loudly.
Mr. Givens shrunk back. With a shaky voice, he said, "That's it! ALL OF YOU TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW! FEZ, KELSO, FORMAN, AND HYDE!"
"What!? I didn't do anything!" Fez protested.
Eric dragged me into the hallway while I kept staring at Mr. Givens. His face looked really afraid. He yelled before I was gone, "Don't—Don't take revenge by messing with my car either!"
In the hallway, Eric, the 6'0" skinny kid with a bad haircut said to me, "Hyde! What's wrong with you? Did you lose your mind?!"
Fez, the 5'7" Latin kid, said, "Hyde, are we really beating up Mr. Givens now?"
Eric's expression faltered, and he rebuked Fez, "What? NO! Stop that."
The 6 '2' Kelso laughed and said, "Cause I'm with you either way. So how are we going to do this? We follow him home or—"
I furrowed my eyebrows and asked, "Why is it so dark in here?"
Everyone went silent for a while. Eric said flatly, "Hyde. You're wearing sunglasses indoors."
"Oh," I exclaimed and took off the glasses. As I looked at all of them, I saw that they looked really familiar.
"Wait. Eric Forman?" I muttered with disbelief.
(Eric/Topher Grace)
Eric shrugged and said sarcastically, "That's me."
"Michael Kelso?" I looked at the pretty boy who looked like Ashton Kutcher.
"I'm Michael!" Kelso raised his hands up like he was getting his attendance, laughing dumbly.
"And you are?" I turned to the Latino kid. He mouthed something, but the classroom bell rang at that time, so I didn't hear much of it. He ended it with, "...But everyone calls me Fez."
I finally realized my current situation. I had transmigrated into the body of Steven Hyde from That '70s Show.
'Why about me?' I turned around in frustration and accidentally stumbled into a mirror above the water dispenser.
I breathed in relief. Thankfully, I didn't look like the actor on screen.
Instead, I looked more like a young Devon Bostick– Rodrick from the 2000s Diary of a Wimpy kid movie– with curly hair that was split in the middle and prominent sideburns… even though I was only seventeen years old.
"What the fuck is happening?" I muttered loudly, feeling the cold Wisconsin air on my nipples.
…
After calming down and skipping the meeting with the principal, I went home with Eric, Kelso, and Fez.
Eric Forman drove a Vista Cruiser. He was the only one of us with a car. His girlfriend, Donna Pinciotti, rode with us too.
"Hyde, did you really try to fight Mr. Given?" Donna asked me. I was sitting in the back with the other guys, she was sitting next to the driver.
"I should've fought him," I muttered with a slight nod.
Donna cackled out loud. Eric joined her after finally finding the whole situation hilarious. "He stripped in the classroom. He thought he was dreaming."
Fez laughed and added, "I had that dream before. You thought you were doing well, but suddenly, everyone laughed at you because you're naked, and they pointed at your pee pee and laughed at that too."
Everyone cracked up in the car, including me. "Fez! God." Donna chortled.
Kelso joined in, saying, "I had a dream like that too, but when the girls saw it, they–"
"KELSO STOP!" Eric said immediately, already guessing where he was going with that.
I sorted through Hyde's memories on the ride home and found several things besides the year being 1997.
First, I had tried to get on with Donna before this, but she rejected me.
The perky redhead was a friend of mine since childhood, and I did a shitty thing by putting some moves on her while she was entering a relationship with Eric.
Secondly, my mother left me recently. My dad left when I was 8 years old.
Now, I was living with the Formans, who were kind enough to take me in. Otherwise, I would've gone to the foster system.
'Thirdly, a stoner… am I?'
I reached into my pocket and found some blunts there.
'Well, at the very least I have these to help calm me down.'
And fourth, I was living in a small town in Wisconsin called Point Place.
A town struggling after the automobile factory here was closing down. It was greatly impacted by the new automotive laws in the country and the oil crisis.
But there's still some opportunity here. Paper mills, metalworks, animal husbandry, dog food factories.
The place has its own DMV, four schools, two malls, a junior college, police academy, and firefighter academy.
Point Place was located near the Green Bay area. If we wanted to go to concerts in a bigger town, it would take at least an hour to drive there.
I looked outside with curiosity. The car passed by several closed shutters as we were driving home.
I saw people with afros, wearing bell bottom pants, vest, and bright coloured jackets.
There were a lot of classic cars. I guess in this era, it was just… cars.
"Hyde, so what did you dream about?" Micheal asked.
Eric interjected and said, "Kelso. Obviously he was in a boxing match."
Donna giggled and said, "Wait. Eric. It could be that he was taking off his shirt to hug Mr Given. Maybe it's a dream with two guys–"
"DONNA NO!" Kelso and Eric stopped her.
They didn't really care about the answer. They just wanted to make fun of me.
"Well. I dreamt of the year 2025." I muttered simply.
Eric played along and asked snarkily, "What is it like there Hyde? Did the people finally rise against the government?"
"I wish." I said sarcastically. "Instead, everyone is numb already. The government confirmed the alien's existence, yet no one seems to care about it since it wouldn't help with the economy."
"Alien's exist?!" Kelso was excited. "Did they lay eggs in your brain?"
"Yeah, their tentacle enters through your anus and it travels along to get to your head." I said casually.
"What– No! I don't want aliens like that!" Kelso stammered while everyone laughed.
Before I came here, I was a stockbroker and a bitcoin millionaire.
After I graduated college, I moved to a small apartment in New York. And by small, I mean it has a toilet next to my bed kinda small and barely any place for me to stretch.
I did some side hustle while taking on a normal corporate job. Working 80 hours a week almost ruined my mental health and pushed me to the edge.
I woke up one day and realized the online currency I'd bought a couple of years back had blown up.
So I quit my job, gave a middle finger to the boss, and spent the next four years living the retirement life.
I sighed and leaned my head on the window, then I closed my eyes.
'I can't believe I've gone from living in a 20 million dollar condo in New York to sleeping on a cot in my friend's bedroom.
'I have no money, no car, no girlfriend, no family, or a place to myself. I kept wanting this to be a dream, but it's not.'
"Hyde, so what are you going to say to my dad about you being suspended?" Eric asked.
I shrugged, not really having an answer. "Well, at least I got the week off."
…
Forman's basement.
The iconic place for the sitcom. The beat up, yellow couch with duct tape on the cushion, some tear on the fabric here and there, and its smell was horrendous.
Since the 'circle' was held almost every week, and sometimes, every day, the smell in the basement was packed with a punch.
It wasn't solely the smell of weed, but feet, man musk, air freshener, incense, laundry detergent.
Thankfully, my nose was already accustomed to the smell so I didn't have any aversive reaction to it, rather it felt like home.
As we sat in our respective places in the living room and turned on the black and white, small, 13 inch tv, Donna said to Eric, "I want to go to the mall."
"Sure, I'll drive you, honey bun." Eric said teasingly. Donna got embarrassed and hit him slightly.
They giggled and went away while I looked at them with annoyance.
"God, there's nothing good on TV." Kelso rolled his eyes and pretended to be dead on the couch. "Fez, Hyde, want to go to The Hub?" He asked.
"Shouldn't you be waiting for Jackie?" Fez asked him.
"Well, she can meet us there too after cheer practice." Kelso said.
I grimaced and said, "I'm not going."
Kelso and Fez looked at me. Fez asked nervously, "Hyde. You aren't going to go and find Mr Given at his house, right?"
Kelso added, "If you are, I'm coming with you cause… I kinda want to see it."
I groaned and said, "I'm not doing that without a car."
"You want to run him over?" Fez asked nervously.
Kelso laughed and asked me for a high five, "Alright! Let's hit him with a car!"
I gave both of them confused looks. As per Hyde's memories, I did get into some fights before, but I never really did actively go out to hurt people… unless they were roller disco-er.
I guess putting the image that I could hurt them into their mind for several years caused this. And I got to say, I didn't dislike the feelings of fear and awe from everyone.
"I'm not hitting him with a car. I'm not going to walk to his house. It's too far." I said with annoyance again.
Kelso was deflated, then he shouted passionately again, "We should toilet paper his house!"
"Kelso, aren't you listening? He's not walking to the teacher's house!" Fez clarified for Kelso.
"Ah… Alright then." He said flatly. Then, he shouted again, "When Eric comes back from the mall, we're sooo going to go over there!"
I smirked and agreed with him inwardly.
Before Fez and Kelso could leave for The Hub– which was a hangout spot that served food and drinks, Jackie came into the room in her cheerleader outfit and a sweater.
"Micheal! You were going to fight Mr Given?" Jackie asked instantly.
Kelso was taken aback, thinking he was in trouble. "No… That's not me, that's Hyde–"
"Oh Michael! You remembered!" Jackie hugged Kelso before he could finish speaking.
The girl who looked like a young Mila Kunis added, "I told you he was always leering creepily around the cheerleaders when we practiced, and you were going to teach him a lesson for us!"
"He did?" Kelso was confused. As he met Jackie's scary eyes, he changed his tune to a more confident one, "That's right! That's why we're going to toilet paper his house tonight!"
"Aww Micheal." Jackie was melting. "That's so romantic. You are trying to protect me."
I looked at them with disbelief. "Can you quiet down? I'm trying to watch the tv here." I snarked.
Jackie glared at me and said to Micheal, "Come on. We're going to the Hub. I want to tell everyone what you did for me."
"Jackie. You can't parade me around like the perfect boyfriend– Oh wait, you can!" Kelso gleefully went along with the misunderstanding. Fez followed them too.
I snorted and said, "Sure. If the perfect boyfriend is someone who continuously cheats on you with other girls."
I crossed my arms and made myself comfortable on the chair. This was the norm here. Me, staying in the basement room all by myself, watching tv while others went ahead socializing.
I was happy as I finally have some time to recollect. Maybe look over my memories and figure out who I was.
Then, the devil walked into the basement.
"Hey orphan. The school just called. Nice job, you just made your math teacher quit." She said sarcastically.
With voluminous blonde hair curled with an iron rod, she walked casually in front of me, wearing only a shirt and nothing else underneath.
"Are you listening to me?" She asked angrily. "Give me a reaction so I would know whether to tell my dad about this or not."
"Tell him. Whatever. I don't care." I said casually, slightly sniffling as I got a runny nose.
"Damn, so I can't blackmail you with this?" She said exasperatingly and went back up, yelling, "Maaa!"
…
That night, I had an uncomfortable dinner with Red Forman.
He stared at me the entire time, and gave me a long lecture about impulsiveness and the importance of school.
I didn't say anything since it would make matters worse. I was quite scared of him.
Also, I was suspended from school for about a week.
"You dumbass." Red scolded. "Now finish your dinner. And then… well I can't say go to your room since you don't have a room. Go to Eric's room!"
"That's it?" Laurie was annoyed. "You're not going to kick him out? He tried to fight a teacher."
"A creepy teacher." Eric said, defending me. "Always leering at Donna. Commenting on her tight shirt. Thank god he's gone now. And it's all thanks to Hyde and his nude dream."
"Nude dream?" Red scowled in disappointment. "My god, did you take off your shirt because you were dreaming?"
"I thought this is one of the dreams where I took the test naked again, so I tried to take off my clothes in order to end it early." I said casually.
Laurie was slightly intrigued and said, "Really? God, I haven't had that dream since my boobs came in."
"Cause you figured you should charge people for it?" Eric asked sarcastically.
"Eric!" Red scolded.
"What? I'm speaking highly of her." Eric pretended to be nice, which made me chuckle a bit.
"Steven. Why aren't you touching your dinner? You're usually the first one to finish yours." Mrs Forman asked as she put a bowl of mash potatoes on the table.
"Yeah, cause he ate like he just got out of prison." Laurie teased.
"I'm just not hungry, Mrs. Forman. Can I go now?" I said.
Eric was really concerned. He asked, "Hyde, what's the matter with you? Are you sick? You've been out of it since this afternoon."
Mrs Forman immediately placed her hand on my head. "He's a little warm. Steven, I think you're coming down with something."
"I'm fine. I just needed some sleep." I said before leaving the table. Red looked at me with a slight concern in his eyes. Then, he scolded, "Steven. Eat something first, then eat your medicine and go to bed."
I nodded and took some bread with me. As I left, I could hear Eric saying, "I swear to god something is up with him."
Red scolded, "Maybe he's sick and tired of sharing a room with a noisy dumbass. You kept screaming in the middle of the night, no wonder he's so tired."
"Hey! It's not my fault I saw The Exorcist and have nightmares now. If anything, it's the director's fault!" He quipped.
I laid down on my cot, and sighed heavily.
"I don't want to eat because I don't have a screen in front of me? What have I become?" I whispered.
Usually, I would watch some shows on my phone while I ate. Now that I couldn't do it, I didn't even feel the need to eat anything.
"Is it an addiction? Am I going to go through withdrawal or something?"
I wished inwardly that it wouldn't be the case.
At midnight when everyone was sleeping, a blue panel flashed in front of my eyes.
(Check out till chapter 60 of this novel in my patr.eon.
Patreon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha)