"Hey, where you goin'?"

Izzy and Donna looked over to see Kelso, pulling up next to them in his van. Izzy sighed. "Uh, bus station."

Kelso furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"We're going to my mom's in California." Donna explained.

His eyes widened as he rushed out of his car to them. "Oh my god, you guys are runnin' away!"

Donna chuckled. "I don't know what else to do."

"No I- I get it, but... Izzy, why're you running?"

Izzy looked at Kelso.

His wide, puppylike eyes were genuinely worried, and Izzy had a moment of, Should I go back? Which was quickly countered by, No. You've come this far, Red's going to kill you anyhow.

"I need to prove that I'm still in control of my life." She said quietly.

He nodded. "I know how you feel. Jackie wants to get married. To me!"

"What?"

"Look, a lot of people don't know this about us..." There was a pause. "But Jackie's pretty much in charge." Izzy and Donna shared a slightly amused look. "So it might happen! But it won't happen if I'm not here."

He stopped, and glanced back at his van. Izzy and Donna could practically see the smoke coming from his ears as the cogs moved in his brain. "You know what, I'll drive you. We'll all go to California!"

Donna raised her eyebrows. "Kelso, are you up for this?"

"Hey if the Beverly Hillbillies can do it, so can I."

Izzy breathed a laugh of relief. "Great. Let's go."

-

Kitty was standing in the kitchen, stress baking some cookies when the phone rang. She wiped her hands on her apron and picked it up, and, when she realized who was on the other end, a smile broke out on her face.

"Donna, it's you! Where's Izzy?" She paused, and her smile fell slightly. "Oh. Okay, then, maybe later." She gave her nervous laugh and continued the conversation as normally as Kitty Forman could. "How's California? Have you run into Johnny Carson yet? You know, I read he won't eat corn! The other day I- what? Oh, Eric! Oh, no, I know he wants to talk to you! We haven't heard from you guys all summer!"

Kitty set the phone down and rushed upstairs, to where Eric was in the bathroom.

"Eric! Eric, are you in the bathroom?!"

"Yes?"

"Well, get out! Because-"

"Mom? Mom, this door is closed. It's my sacred alone time. Think of it as church."

"But I-"

"Mom!"

"Fine." Kitty sighed and went back down the stairs. "Gets up at noon, sits on the toilet until dinner, what kind of summer is that?!"

-

Later on, in the basement, Kitty was doing laundry when Eric came down.

"Well, you made me lose my concentration," he said. "Now I'm gonna have to go back there in about an hour."

Kitty turned to him, hands on her hips. "I just wanted to tell you that Donna called." Immediately, Eric's eyes widened. "Her number's on the pad by the kitchen phone."

"What? Why wouldn't you say something?!"

Eric ran upstairs and into the kitchen, looking for the notepad. Instead, he found Red.

"Where's the notepad?" Eric asked.

"Here." Red handed it to him, the pages blank. "Quit twitching." He said, leaving through the sliding glass door.

"Wh- there's no number!" Eric looked up. "Dad." He ran out the door, rushing to stand in between Red and his car. "Step away from the vehicle!"

Red looked at him in confusion. "Isn't it a little early for you to be hopped up?"

Eric pointed at him. "Empty your pockets. Now." When Red didn't move, Eric reached into both pockets, looking for the paper.

"Get the hell out of my pants!"

"Got it!" He said, already running back into the house.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Red asked himself.

Fez and Hyde walked up to Red, having seen the whole thing. "He has low self-esteem because you are too domineering." Fez explained.

"Red, you're gonna let Forman get away with that, man?" Hyde said, pointing his thumb back towards the house. "He just felt you up! Where's the foot in the ass?" He paused. "Unless you're getting too old-"

"Shut it." Red looked disapprovingly at Hyde's new beard. "And go shave that thing! You look like a damn Hungarian."

-

"It's ringing." Eric said excitedly, holding the phone up to his ear. "It's ringing! Oh my god, it's ringing." He quickly hung up.

"And Eric chickens out again." Fez said. "Quack, quack, quack!"

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Forman, what's the problem?"

"It's just... I want to tell her to come home. That I miss her, that I love her, I mean... it's too much to say over the phone."

"Look, Eric, just write her a letter!" Jackie said. "That's how I broke up with Michael. Yeah. I was able to take my time, come up with good synonyms for cowardly, won't-marry-me loser, run-away-to-California jackass!"

"Jackie... I'm charismatic in person. I've got these awesome hand gestures, and uh, I kinda waggle my eyebrows when I talk."

Fez looked confused. "You do that on purpose?"

Eric sighed and looked over at Hyde. "What about you, huh? Shouldn't you be jumping at the bit to call your precious Izzy Bee?"

Hyde scoffed. "Precious? She ditched me and went across the country to get away from me. I wouldn't call that precious." He paused. Everyone raised their eyebrows, not believing his reasoning. "Fine. I got Midge's number from Bob the day after she left and I called, like, ten times."

Eric's eyes widened. "You had her number?! And you didn't tell me?!"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"It was fun." He shrugged.

Fez looked at Hyde. "Izzy did not pick up?"

Hyde took in a sharp breath. "Nope. Midge did, though. Said Izzy was off with some blond."

The room quieted.

"Really?" Eric asked quietly.

"That's what Midge said."

Jackie scoffed. "Izzy can't date a blond guy, they'd look like siblings- I mean- Steven, I'm so sorry."

Hyde didn't say anything, he just trained his eyes on the television.

"You know what? That's it." Eric said, standing up. "I'm going. I'll just show up in California and, like, blow her mind! Yeah! I mean, when the Empire killed Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle, did he just call em up? No! He hopped on the Millenium Falcon, and he paid a little visit to the Death Star."

An awkward silence settled over the room.

"Wait a minute." Fez said. "Do chickens go quack, or did I mess that up?"

-

"I sat at my mom's house for three hours." Donna said. "Eric still hasn't called!"

Back in California, Izzy and Donna had just walked up to Kelso and his new girl, Annette. They were in the little surf shack Annette liked to frequent, and where Izzy often sat and doodled.

Izzy sighed. "At least it's only been three hours. I called home, like, ten times when we first got here. No one ever answered."

"Hey, you know what might make you two feel better?" Annette asked, pulling away from her little makeout session with Kelso. "Playing pinball! Over there." She turned back to Kelso, who quickly connected their lips again.

Donna crossed her arms. "I don't have any quarters."

Without looking up, Kelso pulled a handful of quarters from his back pocket and threw them onto the table.

"Hey, Kelso." Izzy said. "You know what might help me feel better about Steven? Maybe you could tell me how you got over Jackie."

Kelso pulled away from Annette tentatively.

Donna chuckled. "You remember Jackie, don't you?"

"Who's Jackie?" Annette asked.

"Uh... Jackie was my dog. She died in a Big Wheel accident."

Izzy laughed. "No, Annette. We mean Jackie. Kelso's ex-girlfriend."

"Also dead!"

"She's not dead!"

"What's going on here?" Annette set her hand on Kelso's chest. "Why are you lying to me?"

"No no, I'm not lyin', Jackie- Annette! Look, baby..."

Izzy giggled and grabbed the quarters. "Our work here is done. C'mon Donna, that pinball machine is calling my name."

-

"You want to go to California?!" Red asked Eric, sitting at the dinner table that evening.

"You can't go to California!" Kitty said.

Eric shook his head. "No, I have to tell Donna I love her. And that... she should be back here with me."

Kitty paused. "Oh, well that's sweet! I think it would sound especially good on the phone."

Red pointed at Eric with his fork. "Your damn sister already ran off, you're not goin' with her."

Kitty nodded and kept talking. "Now don't call until after seven, when the rates go down."

"Wh... I can't call Donna." He paused. "I mean... did Luke Skywalker-"

"Oh, would you stop that?!" Red said, dropping his fork. "Luke Skywalker this, Luke Skywalker that. I'm sick of hearing about that little fruit!"

Eric's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Luke Skywalker... is not- he and Leia clearly- I-" He gave up and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Mom, Dad. This is important-"

"No. No California. You know what's important? School. You're gonna be a senior, and you need to buckle down."

Kitty nodded. "Luke Skywalker would have buckled down."

Eric scowled. "What, so now that Izzy's gone, I need to be the good twin?!"

"Yes!" The two parents said at the same time.

-

Eric sat on the basement couch later that evening, watching TV, when Hyde, Fez, and Jackie entered the room.

"Forman," Hyde said. "There's a flight to California in four hours, and you're on it. Now, before you get all gushy, we didn't pay for it. We stole the money from your secret stash in the Scooby Doo thermos."

"I- You guys know about Scooby Doo?"

Fez shrugged. "Well, it was a good try, but you should have known that eventually I would have to take some cocoa on the go."

"Wh- Thanks, you guys. But my parents will kill me."

Jackie shook her head. "No, Eric, we'll cover for you."

Hyde chuckled. "Trust me, when Izzy gets back, they'll forget all about you- I mean yeah, sure! We'll cover for ya!"

"Eric, if you love her, you have to go."

"You're right, Fez." Eric said, standing up. "I have to do this. Damn it, I'm going! I'm gonna go pack!"

Eric ran up the stairs, followed closely by Fez. "Wait, let me help! I love putting together outfits!"

This left Jackie and Hyde alone.

Jackie gave him an awkward smile. He gave her one back.

"Why aren't you going with him?" Jackie asked, offering a bit of conversation.

Hyde shook his head. "It's not worth it, man. If Izzy's out there with some blond surfer dude, I... I don't wanna see it. I'd rather stay here, where nothing ever changes, y'know?"

She chuckled. "Believe me, I know."

There was a moment of silence, then Hyde stood up. "I'm gonna go make sure Fez doesn't do anything weird to Izzy's room-"

"Right, cause you still looove her!"

"I do not! I'm totally over her, man! I just... Fez is a weird guy, okay?" Hyde waved Jackie off. "Why am I even talking to you about this? Later, Jackie."

Jackie waited until he was completely upstairs before she rushed to the phone that was beside the basement couch. She picked it up and dialled a few numbers. Waiting a moment to let it ring, the person on the other end picked up.

"Nick? It's Jackie, I was just checking to see if we're still on for tonight."

-

Izzy was standing on the beach, taking a few photos of surfers. Every once in a while, she learned quickly, people would come up to her and ask her to take pictures of them. She always loved the looks on their faces when they realized her camera wasn't the kind that produced the pictures instantly.

"Sorry, bro!" One tall, lanky surfer said, laughing loudly. "Totally thought you had an automatic."

She laughed. "It's fine, happens all the time."

He gave her a wide grin. "You gonna be here tomorrow? I'm gonna be coachin' some of the grommets on dawn patrol, maybe you could... stop by and watch me drop in? I'm Tommy, by the by."

Izzy thought for a moment, trying to decode the words he was using. Her eyes widened slightly when she understood. "Oh, you're asking me out. No- No, thank you. I, uh... I have a boyfriend."

He nodded, still smiling. "Akaw. Have a blessed day, hodad!" He flashed her the pinky-thumb salute she had seen so often around here. "Shaka!"

She chuckled, shaking her head, and made her way back to where Kelso and Donna had their towels set up. Instead, she just found Annette.

"Hey, Annette."

She looked surprised, as though she hadn't seen Izzy until that moment, even though it seemed she was looking right at her. "Oh. Hi, Indy!" Izzy disregarded the mistake, Annette seemed to make it a lot.

"Where'd the other two go?"

Annette sighed. "Some skinny boy in trousers showed up, and they ran over."

Izzy squinted into the sun, and she could barely see Donna kissing Eric- wait.

Eric?

Before she knew what was happening, Izzy was running over there as fast as she could. Donna and Eric pulled away just in time for Izzy to tackle Eric to the ground in a hug.

"Oh my god, what are you doing here?!"

He laughed and hugged her back. "I'm here for Donna- I mean you guys!"

Izzy stood up and helped Eric to his feet. "Where's Steven?" She asked excitedly.

Right away, the others' faces dropped.

"Eric?" She asked again. "I mean, didn't he come with you?"

Eric took a breath. "Uh... no- no, he didn't."

Izzy stopped. She took a step back, looking around at Kelso and Donna. "What? Why? What could he possibly be doing right now in Wisconsin is so much more important than being here?"

"Well..."

-

Red sat in his living room chair, reading the newspaper when Fez and Hyde came into the room.

"Hey, Red."

"Good day, Mr. Red!"

"Wait a minute." Red lowered his paper. "Where's the other idiot?"

Fez paused. "Other idiot?" He looked over at Hyde. "Do we know another idiot?"

"Where's Eric?"

"Where's Eric?" Hyde asked, taking a step towards Red. "Where are you, man, and who wants to know? The US Government, that's who! Like I read, by 1984, the government will have tracking devices on all of us. And after that, they're gonna jam electrodes in our brains that can read our memories!" He paused, seeing how Red wasn't reacting. "Damn US Government!"

This got Red's attention. "Damn US Government?!" He put down his paper. "Without our government, you'd be stuck in Siberia now, sucking the juice from a rotten Commie potato!" He stood up out of his chair. "Let me tell you something. If the US government decides to stick a tracking device up your ass," Fez shrunk back, frightened by Red's outburst. "You say thank you! And God bless America!"

Red paused, then nodded. "Now. Foreign kid, what do you have to say?" Fez let out a whimper. "Well?!"

"Eric is in California!"

Red stopped. Without a word, he turned and exited the living room.

-

"Then, when Michael threw up, I told him that you don't eat the plastic wrapping!" Annette said. "And that's how we met!"

Eric chuckled, looking around the dingy surf shack. "Well. That's like Love Story."

There was a pause, then Annette looked at Kelso, an empty smile on her face. "Wow. I wish there was more to talk about!" She looked at the others. "Bye!"

Kelso watched with a grin as she walked away. "Would ya look at her? She's so hot, she could be a robot."

Izzy made a face. "A robot?"

"Look, Kelso." Donna said. "You have the van, and we wanna go home."

"Nuh-uh! I can't leave Annette, I love her!"

Eric laughed. "You don't love her."

"I- I love parts of her! I mean, unlike Jackie, she believes in me, okay? I told Annette that I wanna be an astronaut, and she said that she thinks I could!"

Izzy giggled. "To be fair, she wants to be a lady astronaut."

"I mean c'mon, guys. Just give me a few hours, okay? This girl is beautiful and she believes in me, and if I can get her to put out, she'll be three outta three! Right now, she's only two outta three, and, I'm sorry, but fifty percent just ain't gonna cut it."

-

Izzy sat in the van later that night, her back up against the door, sitting across from Eric and Donna. She watched with a smile as he put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close, but she couldn't help but feel the pang in her heart.

Why didn't Steven come?

"So what's new in Wisconsin? I mean, we've been gone all summer." Izzy said with a laugh, trying to keep the topic away from Hyde.

"Well Hyde's pretty much been holed up in his room all summer." Eric said with a nod. "Yup. But, uh, so have I, so..."

Donna glanced over at Izzy and said,"How is Hyde?"

Izzy suddenly decided that picking at her nail polish was much more interesting than keeping eye contact during this conversation.

"He's okay. He's just kinda... hurt, y'know?"

"Yeah. Izzy running off like that must've sucked for him."

"Huh? No. No, he- he's all hung up because of Izzy's new boy toy. Why didn't I get to meet him today, anyway?"

Izzy's head snapped up. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"He called, like, ten times the days after you left. Midge said you were off with some blond surfer dude-"

"What the hell? He called? I've called you guys, like, ten times, and no one ever picked up!"

Eric paused. "What number were you dialling?"

"I was calling-" Izzy was hit with a realization that felt the same as a ton of bricks. "My bedroom phone. Fuck."

Eric and Donna laughed. "Wait," Donna said. "Who's this surfer dude? I haven't seen you with anyone all summer."

"That's because I haven't been with anyone all summer. Eric, do you know if she actually said the words surfer dude?"

"She said she saw you with a blond- oh my god, she was talking about Annette."

The three broke into laughter, and didn't stop even when Kelso opened the van door, making Izzy fall backwards. Kelso poked his head in as Izzy climbed back inside, and the three noticed that Kelso's face was painted like a tiger.

This definitely didn't stop their laughing.

"We went to a carnival. I won her six stuffed animals, then we shared a giant pretzel. Then, I walked her home, and she gave me a goodnight kiss. On the cheek. You know, in Wisconsin, if you win a girl a giant purple rhinoceros, she puts out!" He climbed into the van, pushing everyone aside to get into the driver's seat. "That's it, we're goin' home!"

-

Izzy sat in the back of the van, listening to Donna and Eric greet everyone. Now that they were actually back home, she couldn't muster up the strength to go outside and see her parents--or Hyde. So, instead, she chose to hide under the window, where no one could see her. Great plan, right?

"So my folks have no idea I was gone?" Eric asked.

Hyde grinned. "No idea. You're golden." Izzy shut her eyes tightly when she heard his voice.

"Hyde!" Kelso yelled, pulling him into a hug. "You've got a beard! You look so... old!"

A beard? Izzy thought. Damn, I've missed a lot.