"Harrington, what are you doing with my brother?" Tessa asked accusingly. She leaned in the passenger window with a smirk.

When she saw Steve Harrington's car pull up in the driveway, she had teased Dustin about it. His big brother had already given Dustin too many hairstyling tips. Tessa could still smell the hairspray from outside.

"Oh, c'mon Tess, I'm just taking him to the dance," Steve smiled mischievously.

"You just dropping him off?" Tessa looked at him from under her lashes.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping to catch a ride to the party at Williams house?" Tessa smiled. "Otherwise I will have to walk… and it's a pretty dark night… and Hawkins isn't as safe as it was…."

"- Fine! I'll give you a ride," Steve relented.

"Yes!" Tessa made a quick success gesture and jumped into the back seat.

Dustin came to the door and sighed. He said goodbye to his mother before coming down the steps to the car.

He huffed in the front seat as Tessa reapplied lipstick in the back.

"Did you have to come with us?" Dustin said with folded arms.

"Like I would embarrass you," Tessa rolled her eyes and started smudging her eye makeup a bit more. "Out of the two of us, I'm the least embarrassing one."

They pulled up to the dance and Dustin had finally stopped huffing. Tessa was surprised he was nervous.

"Here we are," Steve said coming to a stop. "So remember once you get in there –"

Dustin turned to him and nodded: "- Pretend like I don't care."

"You don't care," Steve repeated.

"I don't care," Dustin repeated.

"There you go, you're learning my friend," Steve said. "You're learning."

Dustin moved to turn the rear-view mirror towards him.

"Hey…" Steve started.

"What?" Dustin asked, still fixated on trying to see his hair.

"C'mon you look great, okay? You look great, okay?" Steve said taking back control of the mirror. "Now you're going to go in there and –"

"Yeah?" Dustin said.

"Look like a million bucks," Steve continued.

"Yeah!" Dustin agreed.

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead!" Steve said.

"Like a lion!" Dustin agreed then made what Tessa could only believe was the worst lion noise she had ever heard. She looked out the window to try and avoid the embarrassment.

"Don't do that, okay?" Steve said.

"Okay," Dustin replied softly.

"Good luck," Steve said as he offered Dustin his hand which Dustin took eagerly. They both nodded to each other in some sort of bro code before Dustin got out of the car.

Steve and Tessa sat in silence as they watched Dustin walk into the dance. He stood chatting to one of the teachers when Tessa noticed that something else had taken Steve's attention. Tessa sighed when she realised it was Nancy.

"C'mon Harrington, let's get to this party," Tessa ordered, and she crawled into the passenger seat haphazardly.

"Could you not walk around? What are you? 12?" Steve chided and batted at her while she fell into the front seat.

"Let's get going Steve!" Tessa commanded with an exaggerated finger pointing ahead.

…..

The party was boring. Tessa had expected as much, but she had hoped for something a bit more exciting. She downed what was left in her red cup.

Steve had drifted off to find his friends and left her alone. Some of the girls she knew, Alex and Katie, had decided to skip this event - something they had neglected to mention at school the previous day.

While Williams was not known for throwing the best parties, Tessa was not sitting at home while her brother was out embarrassing himself for some girl. Her mother wasn't exactly great company either. She would rather be anywhere but in the house.

She went back into the kitchen to find some very drunken boys arm wrestling each other. Some stragglers were watching on with a cool nonchalance.

She was not drunk enough for this. She quickly downed another drink before leaning down on the table between. The boys both looked up at her but didn't stop the battle.

"How's it going boys?" Tessa shouted over the loud music. "Who's winning?"

They were both struggling. Tessa knew them both from Math. Dick and … Jake? The drunken idiots turned to her with giddy smiles.

"Jake is most certainly losing!" Dick chuckled. His brown floppy hair was sticking to his forehead from the heat of the place.

"No! Dick is losing!" Jake retorted with a slight slowness.

"I think I can beat one of you," Tessa made the statement and both guys raised their eyebrows.

….

The games had escalated to such a point that Tessa had forgotten how much she had been drinking.

She had foolishly suggested that they should see who could jump into the pool in the back yard with the most finesse.

Tessa had competed in acrobatics at state-level which the boys at school usually loved to make inappropriate jokes about. She loved to show them up at every opportunity. It wasn't her best quality but nonetheless, it was fun. All those years of training had to get her something so why not drunken bets? She had made enough money over the last year to buy a levi jacket.

As she stood on the diving board above the freezing water, she could feel some disapproving stares. Her jeans were folded neatly on one of the icy deck chairs. There she was standing on a frosty diving board at the start of winter, wearing only a boxy over-sized shirt, her boxer briefs and her drunken smile. Her feet were turning red but she couldn't feel them so she didn't mind.

Jake had gone first and stood at the side of the pool shivering in the cold. His white t-shirt clung to scrawny chest while Dick stood beside him fully clothed.

"Tessa! What are you doing?!" Steve burst through the small crowd with a look of worry on his face. Tessa made a mental note that non-drunk Steve was a bit of a buzzkill."It's freezing out here!"

"Shut up Harrington!" Billy Hargrove appeared next to him wearing an unbuttoned shirt and dishevelled hair. Tessa was sure he would smell great if she didn't despise him for nearly running over her brother.

Tessa felt a hand at her back trying to pull her back from the board. She pulled away and nearly slipped.

"Right everyone shut up!" Tessa shouted over the crowd. There was hush but there was still drunken cheers in the background. She turned to Dick. He stood to attention like a war-shy young soldier.

"20 Bucks if I can do a front flip into the pool, right?" Tessa asked. Dick nodded sheepishly as if suddenly sober.

"Right let's get a countdown going!" Tessa shouted. "Five!" She started them off. The countdown continued, and she pushed the cautious person behind her away. She started to focus and position herself. She looked up to see Billy Hargrove licking his lips in the sleaziest way possible. She groaned inwardly and steeled herself for the jump.

"Two!" The crowd cheered. She grinned widely and moved slightly, trying to find her correct footing. Suddenly it was like her old gymnastics coach was standing next to her, screaming in her ear about her footwork.

"One!" The crowd screamed.

Tessa lunged forward and bounced on the diving board, propelling herself into the air. She manged to flip herself round. She hit the water arms first with a smooth dive. The water pushed her down. For a moment she had to remind herself not to breathe in. She let herself sink and could hear the cheers at a distance.

After a moment she broke the surface with a gasp. The water was freezing.

The drunken crowd was cheering – well some were falling over. Dick rushed forward to offer his hand but was pushed out of the way by Billy.

Tessa sighed but took it, eager to get out of the freezing cold water.

"Hi," Billy gave her his signature smile. "That was quite a jump you did there." He smiled.

He managed to snake his hands around Tessa as he pulled her from the water. She was suddenly conscious that she wasn't wearing a bra with her shirt. His eyes flicked down as he noticed the same thing. He licked his lips again. If she was dumber than she looked, Tessa would have found that gesture somewhat attractive but unfortunately for Billy, Tessa had seen these sleazy tricks before.

Once she was standing, Tessa pushed away from him and caught Steve's eye over Billy's shoulder. He noticed her predicament immediately and gestured for them to leave.

"Thanks Billy," Tessa grimaced and pushed past him. "I can look after myself from here." Billy went to say something but Tessa had already walked by.

Dick scurried behind her and offered her the twenty bucks. She nodded with a smile and snatched it from his fingers.

"I don't have to do the jump, Tess," Dick pleaded from behind her. "R-Right?"

"Do what you want Dick," Tessa glanced back at him as she strode with purpose. Billy was still watching her with interest. "I don't care."

Tessa met Steve and he escorted her to his car.