Going to California Part 2

Lost and Found

Hyde
Day 3
San Diego, California

10 AM
"Hyde! Hyde Hyde Hyde get up!!" I open my eyes, still sore from yesterday's drive, to Fez standing above me.
"What?" I groan.
"Jackie found this last night! We have to find out what it says" He shoves some kind of dirty glass bottle at me with a piece of paper inside it, curled in half like it never wants to come out.
"Fez, man, can't this wait until after breakfast?".
"Fine. But Jackie says to tell you you're making deviled eggs for all of us". He leaves the bedroom sulking as Jackie walks in.
"Hey Jackie, you got up early" She sits down next to me on the bed for a quick morning peck.
"Oh, I was too excited to sleep" she replies, grinning. Her face falls a bit as she notices the bottle next to me. "Aw, you know!"
"Yeah, Fez woke me up to this lovely message. I'm just splitting my hairs waiting to find out what it says". I roll my eyes.
"Steven. I know you'll be more curious once you make us all breakfast". She grins.
"You're pretty lucky to be dating a chef, you know". To my happiness, she doesn't make a Jackie-style comment about my mediocre salary, so I drag myself out of bed a little faster.

11 AM
"Well, here's to our wasted youth" Forman says over breakfast. We hold up our orange juices. "I guess there was a message in a bottle for us to take a look at?". Jackie's face lights up. "Right here!". She spreads it out on the table for all of us to see.

Valerie's San Diego List
Summer 1975
1. Get from point A to point B
2. Have a night to forget
3. Swim out to a new place
4. Go parasailing
5. Get incredibly lucky (done)
6. Have a bonfire on the beach
7. Find the key
8. "I love you"

Looks really interesting and all, but I'm already over this Valerie person's bucket list from four years ago. My friends naturally don't seem to feel the same way at all. Donna even seems to get a bit choked up for some reason, and Forman pats her on the back. Right. Valerie's her sister's name, the one who mysteriously ran away from home a couple years ago. All we know is that she's in Southern California.
"Oh, Donna, the list really is moving but I'm sure Valerie left it for us" Fez says. "Right" he adds awkwardly, picking up on our expressions. Jackie gives her a quick squeeze.
Forman speaks. "Donna, I'm sure she's doing fine. Besides, there's no way it's her, right? I mean, it's a common name!".
She glares at him. "Watch it, you dillhole!"
I snicker at Forman. "Look, Donna, whoever she is, we can't let Valerie win. I say we destroy the list immediately".
"No!" Jackie and Forman exclaim. Donna looks down indifferently. "Do what you want, Hyde".
Well, now what? "Man, I'm with Hyde. This list kind of gives me the creeps" Kelso agrees, shuddering. Fez's expression changes and he nods.
"Well, that's it. Fez, Kelso, let's go". Forman and Jackie glare at me, surprisingly in agreement, and I don't know how we're gonna make peace with this. "C'mon, we don't need some dumb bucket list to enjoy the trip".
"Well...I guess" Forman says. "You coming?" I ask him.
He groans, but gets up to join us. Jackie's expression doesn't change, and I have to remind myself that she's really in the minority now in wanting to keep the list. Guess I'll have to make it up to her later, I think, ignoring the slight pit in my stomach.

12 PM
"Hey, Hyde!" Kelso shouts from next to me in the water. When I turn, he flings a fat green string of seaweed at me. It hits me like a wet noodle, messing up my strained breathing. We've been swimming away from the beach for a while now, and surprisingly the only one who's handling it like a man other than me is Fez. Should've known from Lake Michigan last year, that kid can swim.
"Kelso, for the last time, cut that out! We're never gonna make it out any further"
"Yeah man, this is getting scary" Forman agrees from next to me, barely avoiding a huge wave. "I think we're gonna get carried away before the bottle does".
I groan. "Will you guys quit acting like such babies? When will we be back at this kind of place?"
Fez gasps from ahead. "Hey, guys! The tide is going out".
"Fez, you're not even from here. How do you know?" Kelso asks.
"Unlike you landlocked idiots, I live near the beach in my country. When a sandbar like that forms, it means the tide is coming out".
I peer into the distance skeptically. It does look like a sandbar is forming.
"Well, why don't we bury it there?" Forman asks.
"Fine by me".
But when we reach the sandbar, definitely not struggling to pull ourselves up from the water (man, I need to cut back on the circle time a bit), Fez has a different request.
"When will it be Fez's turn? It is just never my turn. Fez and Caroline, Fez and Nina, married Fez with a wife on vacation without me...might as well be Fez and no one. What's next, Fez and the sand?".
Ugh. He better find a chick here cause I can't stand hearing stuff like this any longer. "Fez, man, beach chicks are a whole different breed. You'll find one in no time". He nods, giving me an overly grateful look.
"In the meantime, you wanna try out Fez and the sand? Cause I could bury ya" I tease, not wanting to be too nice.
Predictably, Kelso actually takes me up on my offer. "Man, that sounds great!"
I shrug. "If you say so".
Putting the bottle down on the sandbar, Forman, Fez and I begin to bury Kelso, packing the sand around his legs, up his stomach, and toward his arms. It's actually pretty funny, a Kelso head detached from the rest of his body. But suddenly, Fez begins to glare at us. "You're going to hurt him, you sons of bitches!".
"Fez, we're not doing his face" Forman reassures, but he doesn't listen, jumping on top of Kelso's legs to displace most of the sand. If I didn't know better, I would think those two are hot for each other, but before we can say anything we notice the bottle rolling off.
Forman runs to chase after it, not coming back for a solid minute. When he finally rushes back, stumbling, he holds both the bottle and a tiny silver key.
"Found this on the way".
Fez's face lights up. "The list said to find the key! We have to keep it!"
I roll my eyes. "C'mon man, that's bullcrap. Let me take a look at that". I grab the key from Forman, inspecting the fine print on it. Parker's Spirits is spelled out in tiny letters etched into the silver. Free booze. Was I ever wrong. "Never mind, this list rocks. I think we're in for a treat". My face lights up as I pass the key around, but I notice Forman chooses not to say anything.

After an exhausting swim back, we go back to the beach to find a map and the girls. Jackie and Donna lie stretched out on plush towels, their bodies faced carelessly toward the sun, and my heart sinks when Jackie refuses to acknowledge me as we get close.
"Hey, Jackie, I changed my mind. We kept the list" I hold up the bottle like a peace offering.
She groans coolly. "Wow, you came to your senses".
"C'mon, maybe I'll even do a thing or two if you stop ignoring me like that" I grumble, hoping she won't assume I'm talking about the last thing on the list cause I'm not just gonna say it to say it.
"Fine" she pouts, and I pull her onto my lap on the beach chair triumphantly, stroking back her hair as she sits down. I can't stand giving cheesy compliments unless the moment is right which is essentially never, but for some reason I don't mind PDA at all, at least where Jackie is concerned. Somehow it just feels right.
"So we already accomplished an item off the list" I tell Jackie and Donna. "Found a key to a bar so looks like tonight is gonna be pretty sweet if we can get some alcohol. You guys still got the map, right? Hopefully we can find it on there". I nod at them happily, but Forman glares at me for some reason.
I give him a weird look, but he gestures at me so urgently I pull myself up, reluctantly helping Jackie out and back down first, and follow him a bit down the beach.
"Hyde, Midge's last name was Parker before she married Bob!"
"So?" I ask, groaning.
"I don't know if this has anything to do with Valerie but it's an awful lot of coincidences! Donna's gonna flip!"
"Look, man, you're not getting me to be a law abiding citizen just on the off chance your little girlfriend's gonna get all upset over a common last name".
"Come on Hyde, Midge and Valerie are both here in California. Just don't let her see the key, alright? I'll stay here with her. You take the other three".
"If you say so". I slip the key deep into my jeans pocket.

4 PM
I park the Vista Cruiser in front of a decrepit building off by itself, white paint peeling off the sides. Palm trees line the dry lawn like its personal bodyguards. Perfect. No employees to deal with. Run down, abandoned and boozy. Just what I'm used to.
Fez shivers. "I don't like this".
The key gives in with a small squeak. Inside, dusty chairs lie at random beyond the counter, which is dark red and covered with broken liquor bottles. It's a bit of an unsettling scene, even to me. But behind the counter is a jackpot of alcohol, tequila and Jack Daniels and beer. We begin transporting as much as possible out to the car, one by one. Naturally, Jackie doesn't want to get near the dirty mess, but I convince her to help, bribing her with the promise of seeing some dumb movie called
Summer Camp later in the week. Figured it's worth it, as long as we can find a drive in around here. Thirty minutes, the trunk is loaded up with alcohol, Donna has no idea, and we're all ready for tonight. Jackie and I walk out holding hands triumphantly, Fez following eagerly behind us. But as we leave, the wind picks up, like a storm is coming.

1 AM
"Jackie, you're the best girlfriend ever" I slur, peering at her through my blurry vision as The Clash blares behind us over the screams of countless people as wasted as me, the waves crashing in the distance. With as much booze as us, it wasn't hard to find people that wanted to party tonight, and I think even Fez got lucky. She giggles from my lap, and I keep going.
"I mean it. I may not say it, but you know...I'd-I chug the rest of my beer, long having lost count-do anything for you"
She shrieks happily, giving me a weird look, and it only eggs me on. Man, right now I'm gonna act all cheesy just cause I can, goddammit. Who cares that I wouldn't be caught dead doing this any other time.
"How did I get so lucky that you dumped Kelso? I mean, you're so beautiful-"
"Oh Steven, who would have ever thought a few cheap beers would make you speak so romantically" she says, smiling at me, her pretty green eyes huge and her boobs huger from beneath her dress. She's a little tipsy, but not enough to not give me a hard time for the rest of eternity about the time I got so shitfaced I started acting like Forman. What can I do, she's hot.
"Shut up, I'm not just messing around"
"Okay, Mr. You're So Beautiful" she retorts, pecking me on the chin and running her hands up and down, from my chest to my empty pockets. Fuck it, I love her, and for once, I don't care who knows it. I might as well tell her. Once.
"Jackie. I love-"
But I never get to finish because at that second, Eric stumbles over to us on the sand away from the crowd of people dancing, looking like death from what I can make out. Jackie makes a comment to the same effect.
He only has one thing to say.
"Guys, I've checked everywhere but I can't find Donna!"