that's life » s. hyde

[64] angie

Angie

"Thanks for comin' down to meet my sister, man," Hyde said to Donna as all the others admired Mr. Barnett's office. "I had dinner with her and my dad last night, and it was the first family dinner I'd ever been to where we didn't have to sneak outta the restaurant one at a time."

Donna chuckled. "Damn, Hyde. First a new dad, now a new sister? It's like you hit the orphan lottery!"

"Look!" Fez said excitedly. "Your dad's got a whole jar of peppermint patties! That's class, baby."

Eric shook his head. "Nah, that's nothing. You guys, I found twenty bucks just sittin' on the desk... and I kinda want to steal it," he paused. "Wow, I'm really starting to see the underbelly of not having a job."

"Check it out, Hyde!" Kelso said excitedly. "Your dad knows Skynyrd! I heard when you first meet them, if you just yell "Free Bird" real loud, they'll just start playin' it!"

Izzy laughed. "Really though, Steven. His office is beautiful. Is this a real mahogany desk?"

"Indeed, it is," William said. Everyone's heads turned to see him entering his office, followed closely by a very pretty girl around their age, who was dressed very professionally. "Angie, meet your new brother's friends. They're scruffy, but they don't seem to be dangerous."

Hyde went to stand next to Angie. "Guys, check it out," he grinned, "family 'fro!"

Angie chuckled. "I know what you guys are thinking. What are the odds that Steven would have a previous unknown, black half-sister? Well, I'll tell you! Two thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven to one," she paused, looking very proud of herself. "I'm a math major."

"Math major," Kelso breathed. "Awesome! I need some help building a homemade rocket. And we also need a hamster that's not afraid of heights."

"Or getting blown up," Izzy added. "Cause... Cause if I were a hamster, I'd be real scared of that."

Kelso looked down at the blonde. "You're not scared of getting blown up as a person? Man, we gotta get you into my firecracker suit!"

"You must be Kelso," Angie said, extending her hand for him to shake.

He just grinned. "Yeah, I am!"

Angie turned to Izzy. "And I take it you're Steven's girlfriend? Isabelle, right?"

Izzy scrunched her nose. "Oh my god, who introduced me as Isabelle to you? That's disgusting. Why would you say that? I'm joking. I love your blouse. Yes, I'm Izzy. It's wonderful to meet you."

"Boy, am I glad you showed up," Kelso said to Angie. "It's a lotta pressure being the only good looking one in the room."

Jackie's eyes widened. "Michael, that is so rude. You know there's two of us!"

Angie laughed. "And that makes you Jackie."

"That's right, hi!" She rushed over to Angie and pulled her into a hug. "Okay, so let me bring you up to speed on the group!" One by one, she pointed at each person in the group. "Too skinny, too tall, too horny, too foreign, too campy, and I'm just too-rrific!"

William smiled and set a hand on Hyde and Angie's shoulders. "Look at this. My two kids together. And gettin' along! That's it, twenty bucks for everybody!"

Everyone reacted in surprise as William took out his wallet and began handing everyone money. When he got to Eric, Eric held up a hand to stop him. "It's okay. I already got mine. Took it off your desk." He smiled. "I'm in a really weird place with my life."