HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

SOMETHING HAD CLEARLY PUT TESS IN a bad mood.

As she stormed into the Family Video store once again, Steve immediately frowned upon seeing her scowl.

"Tess?" he warily walked from around the counter, approaching her. "What's wrong?"

"Lucas is being a little asshole," she snapped, throwing up her hands. "Oh, and Rudy! You're not going to believe the audacity of that shithead!"

She paced in front of the store, Robin walking up beside Steve with a look of confusion.

"She's mad. Who made her mad? Do they know how stupid they are?" Robin questioned, Steve shaking his head.

"Hey, Tess– hey," he reached out to grab her flailing arms, having her face him. "What happened?"

Theresa tried to calm herself down. "I went to Benny's because I had a feeling that was where the basketball team went. Y'know, it's a popular spot, whatever. I found Lucas, and we kind of argued or– something like that– anyway, I'm about to leave and then Rudy... he comes up to me, blatantly hits on me, and I just– what the fuck!"

Steve immediately frowned. "Rudy did what?"

"He was flirting with me, Steve," she rolled her eyes, huffing. "Being a fucking weirdo."

He scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head. "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," Steve muttered, pacing back and forth.

Tess crossed her arms, briefly closing her eyes. Robin stood there, not knowing what to do now that both Tess and Steve were pissed off.

"Um... do you guys want to watch a comedy movie?" she suggested, raising her hands.

Both Theresa and Steve turned to Robin, giving her deadpan looks.

"Th-that's not helping, sorry."

She eased away while Theresa shook her head once more, picking at her nails with distress.

"I don't know what's gotten into Lucas. I don't really give a shit about Rudy, honestly, but I do need him to stay the hell away from my brother. I swear to God, I want to strangle him."

Steve raised his eyebrows slightly. "...Rudy or Lucas?"

She glared up at him with annoyance. "Now is not the time for stupid questions."

He held up his hands in surrender, frowning. Steve was not sure where Theresa's sudden moodiness had come from; he thought they were past that stage.

"Geez, alright then," Steve muttered. Robin peeked over a shelf from where she stood at the horror section, wondering the same thing Steve was.

Tess huffed, rubbing her temples. "I have a headache. I think I need a nap."

"I can drive you to your house," Steve immediately offered, Robin walking from around the shelves.

"You can't just leave me by myself on a Saturday!" she argued, Steve rolling his eyes and ignoring her.

He looked down at Theresa with a soft expression. "Come on, I'll take you home–"

The doors burst open just then, the three turning to see Dustin and Max walking in.

"Hey, Steve," Dustin rushed up to them. "How many phones do you have?"

Steve blinked. "Uh– two. Why?"

"Technically three, if you count Keith's," Robin added.

Max and Dustin exchanged a look, Max saying, "Yeah, three works."

Dustin shrugged off his backpack just then, ignoring Steve's questions as he threw it over the counter and then hopped over it himself, taking out a stack of tapes that appeared to be Steve's by his protests.

"What are you doing, man!" Steve frantically walked around the counter, Theresa and Robin following.

Dustin took a seat in front of the store's only computer, busily responding, "Setting up base of operations."

"Base of operations?" Robin questioned, picking up the tapes.

Steve sighed. "Get off of that–"

"No, I need it!" Dustin cut him off, typing away on the keyboard.

Tess shook her head with a frown. "For what?"

"I'm looking up Eddie's friends' phone numbers."

"Oh, Eddie," Steve said with annoyance, "your new best friend Eddie who you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game?"

Dustin gave Steve a look. "I never said that."

Theresa knit her brows, glancing over at Max who was already looking at her. Her eyes instantly darted away, clearly feeling a bit guilty from how she had ended their earlier conversation.

"Okay, pause," Tess raised a hand. "Someone needs to explain why you're here looking for Eddie's friends' phone numbers. Now."

Max turned to face the three older ones, giving a reluctant sigh.

Theresa crossed her arms with visible impatience, looking between Max and Dustin.

"Now."

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     THERESA HAD MUCH BETTER WAYS TO be spending her afternoon than calling weird dudes who were friends with Eddie Munson.

She hung a phone back to the receiver, rolling her eyes with irritation.

"If I have to sit through another conversation about your nerdy little board game, I am going to lose my goddamn mind."

Dustin gave her a look, then Steve who shook his head with a signaling look.

"Yeah, Tess, maybe we should give you another job besides talking to people," Steve suggested, easing the phone away from her.

She instantly scowled. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Steve gave her a knowing look. "Uh, no offense but... you've been kind of– uh– snappy. Today."

Theresa scoffed. "Excuse me–"

"Hey hey hey," Robin stepped in, trying to diffuse the situation. "Steve, we have a customer."

He narrowed his eyes at Robin, throwing his hands up in defeat and walking away at once.

Robin turned to Tess. Quietly, she said, "Hey, is everything alright?"

Theresa was clearly defensive, prepared to snap, but she held her tongue and calmed herself down before she replied.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she dismissed Robin.

"Hey guys," Max grabbed their attention. "I might have a lead."

They all stopped what they were doing to face her, Steve completely abandoning the customer and running over.

"Apparently Eddie gets drugs from some guy named 'Reefer Rick', and sometimes Eddie crashes there."

Tess tapped her chin. "Okay... so where does he live?"

"Well, that's the thing," Max grimaced. "No one knows. He's more of a legend than someone that people actually know."

"What about a last name?" Dustin questioned.

Max shook her head. "We don't have that either."

"Bet the cops know the last name," Steve suggested. "I mean, listen, if this... Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system."

Theresa leaned against the counter directly across from him, resting her chin on her hand. "Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think the cops are just gonna willingly hand over this information to us, a group of people who think this murder suspect is innocent?"

Steve raised a finger. "We don't know that he's innocent."

Dustin took offense to this. "Seriously?"

"Woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit," Steve defended. "I just, you know... I just don't think that we can rule it out."

Tess pursed her lips. "I don't think he did it."

Steve gave her a look. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, pushing off of the counter as she reasoned with herself.

"I don't know, I mean– sure, Eddie's weird, and a freak. But he plays Dungeons and Dragons with fourteen year olds. Doesn't seem like the killer type, you know? Plus, he's failed twice. I don't exactly think he has the IQ to commit homicide."

Dustin blinked a few times. "That was very backhanded, but I agree."

Tess drummed her nails on the countertop, chewing her inner lip in thought.

"I wonder if Reefer Rick ever comes to watch movies."

Robin looked up, catching on to Theresa's idea. She instantly turned to the computer, taking a seat and typing something.

"Twelve Ricks already have accounts here,"
she announced, the others crowding around the computer.

"That's a lot of Ricks."

Robin typed something else. "Let's narrow it down. Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?"

Tess shook her head. "Next."

They sifted through four other Ricks until they came across one with a suspicious amount of Cheech and Chong movies listed.

"Bingo," Dustin nodded with a laugh.

"Lipton?"

Robin nodded. "2121 Holland Road."

"That's out by Lover's Lake," Dustin replied.

Theresa tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Perfect place to hide."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     ALL PILED IN TO STEVE'S CAR, THE FIVE showed up to Reefer Rick's place.

Theresa led the way, despite Steve's protests, barging up to the front door and impatiently ringing the doorbell.

Of course, no response.

"Eddie!" Dustin shouted. "It's Dustin! Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear."

Theresa gave an eye roll. "That just makes you sound even more suspicious."

She took a step back, shining the flashlight in her hand off to the side. "Rick's obviously not here."

Tess took a few steps toward the side of the house, peering into the windows while Dustin continued to shout.

Max followed Theresa, who stopped abruptly when she saw a building not too far from the house.

"What are the chances Eddie's in there?" Tess questioned.

Max gave a shrug. "It's worth a shot."

Calling over the others, they all went down to the boathouse, shining their flashlights through the grimy windows for any sign of life.

Theresa stopped at the door, reaching for the handle when Steve stopped her.

"Hey, hey! Why don't you let me go–"

"Oh my God," she rolled her eyes. "We're not having this conversation again."

Steve knit his brows. "Again? What do you mean, 'again'–"

"Every time we are in a potentially dangerous situation together, you always try to 'protect' me and I always tell you no," Tess shortly replied, tilting her head matter-of-factly.

Steve stared at her for a moment, then scoffed. "Well I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Have I not proven by now that I am perfectly capable of handling myself, Steve?"

Robin, Max and Dustin all looked back and forth between the two, fully engaged in their conversation.

Steve halfway shrugged. "W-Well, yes, but–"

"But nothing," Theresa cut off. "I'm going first."

He narrowed his eyes, clenching his jaw with some annoyance. Steve finally sighed, not giving a verbal response but instead glancing away.

"Besides," Tess muttered, turning the doorknob, "everyone knows I'm in charge anyway."

Steve reeled at that, eyes wide in disbelief. "That is not true, what–"

He turned to the others, who all had the same expressions that told him they were agreeing with Theresa.

She walked further into the boathouse, shoes creaking with each step. Steve grumbled sorely under his breath, looking around.

Max stuck close to Tess, who called Eddie's name but unsurprisingly received no response.

Steve reached over to the wall, picking up an oar. He went forward to the boat covered in tarp, jabbing at it with the tail end.

They all turned to look at him, perplexed.

Theresa slowly tilted her head, shaking it. "Steve."

He gave another stab, Tess sighing.

"Steve!"

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

He glanced over. "He might be in here."

Dustin squinted. "...So take the tarp off."

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!" Steve shot back.

Theresa turned her back with a deep exhale, following Robin and Max to the other side of the room.

"Look," Max said, picking up a piece of trash from a fast food bad. "Someone was here."

Tess gave a shrug. "Maybe he ran. Seems like an Eddie thing to do."

Robin looked up at her. "How do you know?"

She backtracked, stammering. "I-I was just guessing. I mean– he ran away from the murder scene too."

Robin eyed her for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Amidst Steve and Dustin's bickering in the background, a blur suddenly shot from underneath the tarp and lunged at Steve, forcing him backwards into the wall.

Everyone gasped, Theresa stepping forward and shining the light to see what was going on. Eddie had a broken glass bottle to Steve's throat, clearly feeling threatened by their presence.

While everyone else was frightened, Tess was merely annoyed. She crossed her arms, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Eddie!" Theresa snapped, drawing his attention. "Put that bottle down, now!"

He glanced back, confused at first. Eddie looked back at Steve, keeping his eyes on him.

"Sinclair?" Eddie questioned, puzzled.

"Genius," she sarcastically replied. "Now put the bottle down."

His eyes darted back to her, keeping a grip on Steve. Eddie was not budging.

"Eddie," Dustin tried to reason. "We're here to help you. You know Steve, don't you? He's not gonna hurt you, right Steve?"

Steve vigorously nodded. "Y-Yeah, right, yeah."

Theresa still kept a close watch on Eddie, who had a firm grip on the jagged bottle. She knew he would not do anything, so Tess did the unexpected.

"Alright, that's enough," Theresa said, walking forward without hesitation and grabbing Eddie by the back of his jacket.

She yanked him back, snatching the bottle out of his hand as Eddie stared at her in disbelief while the others observed in shock.

"Holy shit, you're crazy!" Dustin exclaimed, grabbing his head.

Tess stood between Steve and Eddie now, the Munson boy blinking at her dumbly while Steve leaned forward and clawed at his throat.

"What was that for?" Eddie spat, though in all honesty he was a bit intimidated. He always had been intimidated by Theresa Sinclair.

She rolled her eyes curtly. "Oh please. It's not like you were gonna do anything anyway."

Everyone else seemed to be catching on that Theresa and Eddie were clearly familiar with each other.

"Wait a second," Robin interjected, raising her hand as if to ask a question. "Do you guys– do you guys know each other?"

Tess met Eddie's eyes, sending him a silent threat that he blissfully ignored. He took a few steps back, collapsing against the wall as he was tempted to laugh.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" he inquired, Theresa's jaw tightening.

Steve looked up, confused. "Tess, what is he talking about?"

Eddie did laugh this time. "Oh, you've got everyone fooled, don't you Sinclair?"

"Eddie–"

"When Theresa first moved here, no one liked her. They were all scared of her and shit– I was too. But I was little Tess Sinclair's only friend for about four months until you ditched me, right?"

Tess glanced away, irritated. "That's not what happened–"

"Yes it is," Eddie antagonized in a singsong voice, Theresa shooting him another look.

"If you don't shut up, I will report you to the cops," she warned, pointing a finger.

He raised his hands in mock surrender, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Theresa looked at him a moment longer, ensuring that Eddie knew she was being serious.

"Do not test me."

notes.
tess and eddie being ex friends??? who would've thought

i think it makes perfect sense though, especially since we all know theresa is a secret nerd 🤭 the way she defended eddie without even realizing it though, she knew his dumbass wasn't capable of murder

the way these mood swings are gonna be hitting her EXTRA hard 😭 we already know she can be quick to get in a bad mood regardless, now it's gonna be 10x worse

building up theresa vs. vecna is gonna be fun, but i won't tell y'all when it's gonna happen 🤫

favorite friendship with theresa so far?

i miss her and jonathan 💔 they're reunion is gonna be so cute