HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1984.

     "LUCAS! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!"

Mrs. Sinclair shot a look at Theresa, who stood at the end of the stairs impatiently with her hands on her hips, car keys in one hand.

"Language," Mrs. Sinclair warned, Tess fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well, if he and his friends want a ride then that's what he better do."

Lucas came scrambling down the stairs at once, his pockets jingling with change. He pushed past Tess, the girl turning sharply and sending a glare to the back of his head.

As he hurried out of the garage door, Theresa looked over at her mother.

"Why can't they just ride their bikes?"

"After what happened?" Her mother replied, barely glancing while she was busily setting out plates on the dinner table. "Better safe than sorry."

Theresa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Whatever," she mumbled, starting toward the garage door at once.

They first picked up Mike, then Dustin, and then Will. Theresa felt herself tense up as she saw the Byers house, wondering if they were doing better. Every memory of what had happened in there was still quite fresh to her mind. She could recall every single vivid detail.

"Hey Tess, you got any change?" Dustin asked from the backseat, leaning forward with a toothless grin.

She glanced at him, scoffing.

"To fund your guys' shitty video games? Yeah, right."

Dustin's smile fell slightly, sitting back at once. They arrived at the local arcade, Tess coming to a stop.

"You've got two hours. Use it wisely."

Lucas gave her a mildly shocked look, arguing, "Come on! Three hours."

"Two." Theresa stared him down, Lucas knowing he would not be able to win this.

He closed his eyes, groaning loudly as he aggressively opened the car door and got out.

"Two hours!" she called after them, Lucas slamming the door shut.

Tess' mouth fell open, quickly reaching over and rolling the window down.

"And don't slam my door again, asshole!"

Lucas mocked her when he was out of her sight, following his friends into the arcade.

Once they were all inside, Theresa drove off. The only plans she had for the night was to go shopping for a Halloween costume, but she did not have any idea where to start.

Honestly, a Halloween costume was the last thing on Theresa's mind. She was trying her hardest to make her life go back to normal, to feel normal again. It seemed like everyone else had, so why couldn't she?

It was because she still had not been able to accept the the fact that Priya was dead.

Even her parents seemed to be handling it better than Theresa. She visited them often, although she was not really sure if they enjoyed her visits. They seemed to, but Tess could not help but to feel unwanted.

Theresa arrived at the local costume shop and decided to look around for awhile, even if she did not find anything she liked. At least it gave her something to do, and got her out of sitting at her house doing nothing.

Ever since the events of last year, Theresa had seen a steady decline in her popularity at Hawkins High. Priya was gone, Sidney was... a bitch, and basically everyone hated her even more than they already did. Tess could not say she blamed them.

Somehow, it felt a bit relieving. Theresa did not have to constantly worry about people scrutinizing her for everything she did. She still held the title of class president, and soon-to-be valedictorian, but every ounce of status she once held was gone.

And, even better, her only friend was Jonathan.

People liked to talk, obviously, but Theresa never let any of that get to her. A lot of students were under the impression that Tess had dumped Steve for Jonathan, which was wild enough in itself, but she did not feel the need to explain herself.

And then Steve, of course. They barely talked now, sort of going back to the way things used to be. The two would glance at each other in the halls, or maybe sit beside each other in a class by simple accident. Still, neither of them had taken it upon themselves to speak first. They had just... drifted apart.

Steve wished more than anything that he could say everything he had been wanting to say to Theresa without any repercussions. To be able to get it off of his chest and just hope she would listen.

But, again, neither of them seemed to want to speak first.

Theresa finally gave up at the costume store, not finding anything she liked. She checked her watch, seeing that it was almost nine o'clock. So she left the store and got in her car again, driving back to the arcade.

When she pulled up, Tess frowned as she saw Will standing outside in the parking lot. He was completely still, his head angled upward toward the sky as if he were fixated on something. Theresa began to grow concerned, parking her car and getting out.

"Will?" she called, walking toward him. He suddenly blinked, dropping his head and looking around with confusion. Almost like he had no idea where he was.

Theresa leaned over, apprehensively placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked, glancing behind him to see Mike coming out of the arcade.

"Mhm," Will weakly responded, averting her gaze. Mike walked over, a slight frown on his face.

Theresa withdrew her hand, checking her watch again.

"You guys have ten more minutes. Let Lucas and Dustin know."

Mike nodded, throwing an arm over Will's shoulder as he led him back inside. Tess watched, getting an uneasy feeling. Will had undeniably been acting strange. She turned, looking up at the sky where Will had been staring aimlessly.

Finally, she shook the feeling away, ignoring the goosebumps on her arms. She was just being paranoid. It was hard not to be, after everything she had seen and gone through.

Tess just hoped, for now, she could find peace of mind.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     HAWKINS SEEMED TO HAVE A NEW student.

Theresa first heard the loud revving of a car engine, tires screeching into the school parking lot. She looked up from where she stood at her own car, noticing a vehicle she had not seen before.

The driver hastily pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine, Tess watching from afar as she gathered her books. Shutting the back door, she observed as someone stepped out of the car.

It was a boy, definitely an older high schooler, dressed as if he were from a heavy rock band. A cigarette hung loosely from his mouth as he pulled his jacket forward, removing the cigarette and flicking it onto the ground. Tess made a face of slight disgust, rolling her eyes. Just what Hawkins High needed; another douche.

He seemed to notice her too, Theresa raising an eyebrow when she noticed he was looking over at her. The boy began to smirk, nodding at her.

Tess fought the urge to laugh, locking her car and walking away toward the school. She began to pass by Carol, Sidney, and two of their other friends, the girls eyeing her like vultures.

"The new guy was looking at you, Tess," Carol called, laughing a little as Theresa slowed up and looked at her. "Should we give him a fair warning that you're only into freaks like Byers?"

Theresa looked Carol up and down. "No, but I'll tell him to steer clear of you, though. I'm sure he doesn't want to get gonorrhea."

There was a shocked silence as Tess gave her a curt smile, turning on her heel and continuing to the building.

As she reached her locker and started to put her things away, Jonathan approached her. She had not noticed him yet, so he decided to have a little fun.

"Miss Sinclair, I'd like to see you in my office please–"

She slammed her locker shut, startled, then let out an exhale as she saw Jonathan standing there. He snickered to himself while Tess rolled her eyes, smacking him with the binder in her hands.

"That's not funny."

"It was kinda funny," he replied, folding his arms. "So, what are you doing for Halloween?"

Tess paused, sliding an orange sheet of paper from the inside of her binder and handing it to Jonathan.

"We are going to this party," she informed him, starting down the hallway as he read the flyer.

"Come and get 'sheet faced?'" Jonathan questioned, passing the flyer back to her. "Yeah, I'll pass."

Theresa glanced over at him. "Oh, that's funny. You think you have a choice."

Jonathan opened his mouth, then closed it.

She glanced at him. "Look, it'll be fun alright? You've said it yourself, we both need to stop sitting around and doing nothing. It's just for one night."

He hesitated, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I... I don't know. I was planning on taking Will trick-or-treating anyway–"

"Will has friends," Theresa interrupted, tilting her head matter of factly. "He can go with them."

Jonathan drew in a deep breath, dropping his head. "Fine. I'll think about it."

She laughed, stopping in front of the classroom for Physics.

"I'll decide for you. You're going."

Tess gave him one last look before walking in the class, Jonathan simply shaking his head and walking the other way.

She sat down in her usual spot, looking up as none other than Steve entered the room. His eyes traveled over to her as they usually did, taking his seat one desk behind her to the left. He liked to watch the back of her head more than he liked to pay attention in this class. Likely a good reason why he was failing.

Another student entered the class, everyone looking up at him as he sauntered in. The teacher, Mr. Morris, stopped him at the front.

"Class, I'd like to introduce you all to our new student. This is Billy Hargrove. Billy, welcome to Hawkins."

Billy seemed like he wanted to laugh, but nodded and looked around for a place to sit. Theresa realized with panic that there was an empty desk right beside her, desperately looking around for anyone else to sit there. But Billy was already on his way, not taking his eyes off of Theresa as he sat down.

Tess pulled her lips in, facing forward and trying to pretend like she did not notice him. Steve watched everything from his seat, already deciding that he did not like this new kid. Especially with the way he was staring at Tess.

"Hi." Billy leaned over to grab Theresa's attention. She briefly turned her head, giving a curt nod.

"Hey."

Billy smiled while Theresa went back to writing her notes, Steve bouncing his knee while he observed.

Billy continued, "Theresa, is it? I saw your picture in the school newspaper. Class president, 4.0 GPA, and accepted into the University of Notre Dame? What can't you do?"

She set her pencil down with visible irritation, turning her head sharply.

"I'm sorry, do you want something?" she asked in a snappy tone, knitting her brows.

Billy flashed another smile, not expecting such a fiery response from the girl. He sat back in his seat, tapping his foot thoughtfully.

"I like you, Sinclair."

She narrowed her eyes, finally dismissing Billy. Steve, who was still watching the whole thing play out, smiled to himself. Theresa never gave assholes the time of day. Likely why she would not talk to him for eleven years.

"Alright," Mr. Morris announced from the front of the room, a clipboard in hand. "Your next test grade is going to be a project. And before you start grumbling, this is the good part. Everyone has a partner. So, as I call you and your partner's name, you'll move to the lab tables and sit beside them."

Theresa huffed, resting her chin her hand. Knowing her luck, she'd be stuck with the worst possible partner. Mr. Morris passed their assignment sheets out, Tess lazily reading over it.

"Billy. You can work with... Eric."

Tess let out a sigh of relief, silently thanking God she had not gotten paired with him. She might have just had to have taken a failing grade for once.

"Theresa."

She looked up at Mr. Morris as he read his clipboard. "You'll be partners with Steve."

Oh fuck, Tess thought, suddenly deciding that Billy might not have been so bad after all.

She forced her legs to move as she got out of her desk, picking up her notebook and looking over at Steve. He offered a small smile, walking to an empty lab table and taking a seat. Theresa's palms felt very clammy, pulling out the stool beside Steve and sitting down as well. He chewed on his pencil as he read their assignment, clearly having no idea what he was reading.

"So I'm gonna be completely honest," he said, throwing his hands down. "I don't understand any of this."

"Shocker," Theresa muttered under her breath, reading over her own assignment sheet. "Look, just– don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything, yeah?"

Steve rubbed his nose as he nodded absentmindedly, then quickly frowned. "Wait, no– I-I can help. I want to help."

Theresa looked up at him, finally meeting his eyes. It felt like it had been so long since she had done even that. Steve had to admit that the look she was giving him made him... feel things.

He shook the thought away, Tess clearing her throat awkwardly.

"Fine," she replied. "I'll give you a list of things that you can do, and they have to be done by Thursday. Deal?"

Steve nodded instantly. "Yeah. Cool."

He smiled to himself when Theresa looked away, tapping his pencil on the table. Tess could see him smiling out of the corner of her eye, almost wanting to smile too but holding it in.

"So, are you going to Tina's party?" Steve inquired, breaking the silence.

Theresa nodded at once. "Yeah. Haven't decided on a costume, though."

"Well, you'd look great in anything. I-I mean, I didn't mean that like–"

"Thanks," she cut him off, saving him from further embarrassment.

Steve nodded, internally banging his head against a wall.

"Yep."

notes.
season 2 is my favorite season <3

oh god i'm so ready to write the halloween party, i don't wanna give anything away but there's gonna be SO MUCH happening

theresa's halloween costume is gonna be a nun, but like a very slutty nun 😏 i'll put a picture at the beginning of the chapter, trust

okay, and let's clarify something about b*lly real quick. yes, he's racist. but since this is fanfic, i'm gonna make him, like, not racist??? for the sake of the plot, but believe me. i absolutely do NAWT like him in any way. but he will be pining after theresa because i like to see jealous steve 😋

next chapter theresa's gonna have a visit with the school counselor... so can't wait for season 4 lol!!!