HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1983.

THERESA COULD FEEL HER HEART drop to her toes.

She stood up slowly, turning to face Hopper. Tess plastered a smile on her face, kicking the drawer closed beside her.

"Hi Chief," she greeted, folding her arms behind her.

Hopper sighed. "Go to my office."

Theresa complied, keeping a smile on her face and trying to maintain innocence as if he had not just caught her redhanded for a second time in three days.

She walked inside Hopper's office and he followed, slamming the door shut behind him. Tess flinched a little, taking a seat. Her hands were sweating uncontrollably.

"What are you doing here, Theresa? You do realize that snooping through confidential police evidence is a crime, right?"

Tess raised a finger. "Well, yes, but–"

"What do you want?" he cut her off.

She huffed, shifting in her seat. Theresa cleared her throat and tried to gain her composure.

"I'm sorry, Chief. I just– I'm really worried about Priya because I haven't heard anything about her in days. Is there– is there anything you can tell me? Please?"

Theresa batted her eyes a little, leaning forward in her chair. She made a damn good puppy dog face when there was something she wanted.

Jim was not so willing to budge. His expression did not waver, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

"There's not much I can tell you, Theresa. We haven't found anymore evidence nor have we gotten any leads in the case. Priya's parents say she was a nice girl, didn't seem like the type to run off. That true?"

Tess nodded without hesitation. "She was the best one out of all of us," she replied lightheartedly, biting her nail.

Hopper sighed, sitting up. "I have another question, now that you're here."

She looked up, beginning to grow nervous. The way he stared at her was intimidating, which was not easily done when it came to Theresa.

"Sure," she stammered.

He picked up a pen lazily. "There's something about the night she went missing that hasn't exactly been adding up. According to two different stories, one says she went to the memorial for Will Byers and the other says she went to a party."

For a second time Theresa felt her stomach drop to her feet, her stomach pitting with anxiety.

"A party?" Tess laughed him off, shaking her head. "They must've been mistaken."

Hopper narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"This information was given to me by Sidney Flynn. If I'm not mistaken, you two are close friends, right?"

Fuck. Tess felt her legs go numb and her breathing become shallow. She felt like she was beginning to have a panic attack.

"So that tells me one of you was lying," Hopper continued, folding his hands in front of him.

She gulped, hoping that her shaking hands in her lap were not that noticeable. Tess was desperately trying to think of a way out of this without getting herself literally incarcerated.

"Which one of you was lying, Theresa?"

Tess was trying to remind herself not to crack under pressure. But this was the literal police chief.

"We both lied," she finally confessed.

His forehead creased, awaiting an elaboration.

Theresa inhaled shakily. "We did go to a party. But like I said before, Priya left with Sidney and her sister. After that, I have no idea what happened. Sidney told me today that Priya had been saying something about a-a 'monster' before they dropped her off, but that's all I know." She paused, looking up at him.

"If you want my honest opinion, sir, I think Sidney is hiding something concerning the disappearance of Priya."

She finished with that, leaning back in her chair and exhaling slowly and waiting for a response from Jim.

He looked down at once, writing something down on a notepad.

"I'll be in contact with Sidney Flynn, then. And you should be getting home, Sinclair. What are you doing at here at this time anyway? Shouldn't you be at school?"

Tess could not believe that she had somehow just managed to squirm her way out of that situation by turning all the attention on Sidney.

She stood up, smoothing out her skirt. "Y-Yes, but I wasn't feeling well. Thank you, Chief."

He stood as well and walked to the door to open it, practically shooing her out.

"And a word of advice, kid?"

Tess stopped, turning back to him.

"Don't lie to the cops again. And find a better place to hang out with your boyfriend."

Theresa could feel her face burning with embarrassment, but she nodded.

"Yes sir."

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AWAITING THERESA WHEN SHE GOT home was none other than Steve himself.

She saw his car before she saw him, rolling her eyes with irritation. Tess pulled into the garage and saw Steve standing there, scratching the back of his neck.

Shutting off the engine, Theresa gathered her things and got out of the car. Had he not been standing in the way of the door, Tess would have completely ignored Steve.

"Tess, can we talk–"

"I don't want to talk to you."

He reached out for her arm. Theresa stopped in her tracks, turning her head sharply. Her glare alone was enough for him to let her go.

"Tess, please. I came to apologize."

She scoffed, concealing her cynical laugh. "I really don't have time for your shitty apology, Steve. All you're gonna say is 'Tess, I'm so sorry for acting like an asshole, it'll never happen again. Please forgive me so we can have sex again,'" she said in a mocking tone, rolling her eyes.

Steve's desolate expression turned to infuriation, clenching his jaw.

"Are you serious right now?" he questioned, glaring down at her.

She shrugged, narrowing her eyes. "Why? Was my apology a little too spot on?"

Theresa started to move but Steve stopped her, shaking his head.

"Why do I feel like you want to screw up our relationship?" he asked in a demanding tone, throwing his hands up with exasperation.

Tess laughed sarcastically. "I'm not screwing up anything, Steve, that was all you! I'm just mad at myself for thinking that you were actually gonna be different from every other asshole jock at Hawkins High!"

Steve searched her eyes, going quiet for a moment.

"Is that really what you think of me?"

Theresa folded her arms, glancing down briefly. Now he was doing what all the others also did; trying to manipulate her into feeling guilty.

"Can you prove otherwise?" she shot back, looking up again and waiting for an answer.

He pulled his lips in, tapping his foot on the ground for a moment.

"After everything I've done for you, I didn't think I would have to prove anything," Steve finally replied. "But I am sorry, alright? I... I was jealous. I saw you talking to Byers and I got– jealous."

Theresa started to laugh. "Why the hell would you possibly think that I'd want Jonathan Byers? That's kind of insulting."

Steve rolled his eyes. "That's not the point. Will you just– please forgive me?"

The pleading in his eyes was amusing to Theresa, knowing she was absolutely not about to forgive him.

"No."

He blinked, frowning. "W-What?"

She took a step toward to him, seething. "I had just gotten one step closer to finding Priya when you barged into the conversation and decided to be an outright dick for no reason. You chose to put your own jealousy over finding Priya and that I won't forgive you for."

Steve stood there, dumbfounded. He processed what Tess was saying before he slowly began to realize that she had not been joking about being a bad person. She was more unforgiving than the Devil himself.

"Are you really about to throw away our entire relationship because of this?" he asked quietly, visible pain in his eyes.

Theresa gazed at him.

"I'm not throwing away something that was never there to begin with."

Her words punched him in the gut. He felt as if someone literally reached into his chest and ripped out his heart.

Theresa walked past him a moment later, unlocking the garage door and walking inside.

She threw her stuff down, bringing her hands to her face. Tess felt like screaming, or punching someone, something. Not because she had basically just broken up with Steve, but because she felt like such an idiot to believe that they would have ever had a healthy relationship.

He was Steve Harrington, a well-known asshole. And she was Theresa Sinclair, Hawkins' resident bitch.

It was destined not to work out anyway.

So Tess figured there was no use in being upset about it. She was more so concerned about Priya, as Theresa felt like there was something she was missing.

She sat down at the kitchen table, pulling out her notebook from her school bag. Grabbing a pen, Theresa began to write. Everything she knew related to the disappearance of Priya, she wrote in the notebook. The unexplained 'monster', the last time she recalled seeing Priya, the shoe and the piece of fabric, everything.

Theresa licked her lips, reading over her notes. She bounced her knee, which she claimed helped her focus, and then started to put the pieces together.

She needed the picture Jonathan took. Whatever it was in the pool seemed to strike an eerie resemblance to the figure Theresa herself had seen at Steve's a few weeks prior. It was all coming together now.

Standing up from the kitchen table, Tess took her notebook and grabbed her car keys.

She was about to pay the Byers' a visit.

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     ALTHOUGH SHE BARELY REMEMBERED the way, Theresa pulled up to the Byers' residence.

Tess dearly hoped she was not about to sound like a madwoman.

She walked up to the door with her notebook in hand, knocking sharply. Waiting, the door finally opened.

"Tess?" Jonathan stood there, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"The pictures," she quickly replied. "Do you still have them?"

Jonathan scratched his head, then nodded. "Y-Yeah. Come in."

Theresa did so, following Jonathan through his house. They went to his room where he grabbed his bag, pulling out the photographs from earlier. There were a few littered pieces, a result of Steve ripping one of them. Tess pursed her lips, sighing.

"I might sound really crazy, but I think you need to hear this," she said, looking up at him.

Jonathan raised his shoulders. "I can't really be surprised by anything at this point."

She only tilted her head. Theresa sat down on his bed, opening her notebook. She gathered the shreds of the picture that had been torn, piecing them back together.

"Right here," she said, pointing at the dark pixels in the pool water. "Whatever this is, I've seen it before. And it was at Steve's house. I-I can't explain it but– it looked like it was coming out of the ceiling."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes, but listened and followed along with a nod.

She inhaled, continuing, "Then, when Priya went missing, Sidney said she was rambling about seeing some kind of monster. They dropped her off a few blocks from her house, so it was never confirmed if she actually made it. But..."

Theresa raised a finger, flipping open her notebook. "I remembered this. The other night I went looking for Priya. I found a piece of green fabric that looked like the top she had been wearing. Not only that, but a few minutes later this– bloody deer just appears out of nowhere in the woods. And what kind of predator would be big enough to kill a fully grown deer?"

Jonathan swallowed. "Something monstrous."

"Precisely."

Theresa looked up at him, chewing her inner lip in thought. Jonathan seemed hesitant, sitting down beside her.

"Do you... know if Priya might have had a cut or something? Or– if she might've had blood on her?"

Tess frowned, shaking her head a bit. "Not that I know of, no. Why?"

He shifted a little. "I believe that Priya and Will were both taken by the– monster. And I think that somehow, it might've been because it smelled blood."

"So you think that it's attracted to blood," she responded, to which Jonathan nodded.

"Think about the deer. It could have been bleeding before, and that's why the thing after it. Same with Will, and Priya. You need to find out exactly what happened to her, if you can. The only way this theory will work is if we can prove that much."

Theresa tilted her head, arching an eyebrow.

"You know, you're pretty bold to be telling me what to do, Byers."

His eyes widened with fear, until Tess began to chuckle.

"I'm just messing with you." She stood up, grabbing her notebook. "That's a good idea. I'm gonna talk to Sidney at the memorial, see what she has to say. I might kick her ass in the process, but– I'll let you know what I find out."

Jonathan stood as well, wringing his hands. "So, are we a team now or something?"

Tess winced. "I wouldn't exactly call it that. Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry about Steve."

"No worries," he shook his head, almost smiling. "I'm used to it."

Theresa looked at him quizzically for a second, almost recognizing the sympathy she felt for him. But she would never call it that.

"Wait. Say that this theory does turn out to be true. What do we do from there?" Tess questioned.

Jonathan rubbed his neck, raising a shoulder. "We could try and catch it," he suggested.

Theresa almost laughed, but in an amused way. "Catch it? You say that like we're dealing with a raccoon or something."

He looked up at her. "Well I was thinking more like a bear, but..."

She did laugh this time, shaking her head.

"So how the hell are you supposed to 'catch' a monster, hm?"

Jonathan tapped his foot in thought. "We use something as bait, and then something to trap it in."

Tess leaned her head to the side. "I don't think it's as easy as it sounds."

Unsure of how to respond, he went silent. Theresa sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

"But it might work. We won't know until we try, right?"

Jonathan glanced up, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"Right."

She thought a moment longer, mentally approving of something. What, Jonathan was not sure. Tess pushed off of the wall, nodding to him.

"See you later, Byers."

notes.
unexpected brotp, theresa & jonathan????

but just wait until steve gets even more jealous <3 i have reasons for the evil things i do, and i do not do them with good intentions

we're coming closer to the end of season 1, and unfortunately i do not see tess & steve getting back together before then. lol

favorite quote from theresa so far?