"Steve! Steve what are you doing?!" Dustin asked. Steve had picked up his baseball bat and turned to face them both.

"Just get ready," Steve offered the lighter to Tessa. He tossed it to her and Dustin sneaked in to grab it.

"Wait!" Tessa shouted but Steve had already hit the ground. Tessa watched from the roof as Steve whistled and encouraged the monster to try something better. Max scooted past Tessa to talk to Dustin. They were whispering to each other, but it was Steve, Tessa was concerned about.

The mutant dog surged at him as the guys shouted in panic. Steve raced towards the bus and fell inside. They closed the door. All Tessa could hear was shouts and cries.

….

Tessa burst up from her bed. She was drenched in sweat. Those stupid demon dogs were still giving her nightmares. Peeling off the covers, Tessa decided to try and get dressed for school. She stood then swayed. The sick was traveling up her throat. She scrambled through the house to the bathroom to vomit. Her hangover hit her like a freight train. She clung to the toilet and let out a cowardly whimper.

She got dressed in a fog.

When she finally got to school, she padded lazily through the parking lot.

She spotted a blue camaro, then struggled not to heave.

Billy swung the car into a space directly in front of her and she quickly kept walking.

"Henderson," Billy called. Tessa didn't turn and hugged her books closer to her chest. "That was quite a stunt you did last night. A girl like you is hard to find." Billy didn't have to sprint to catch up with her.

With her hangover, she was probably walking the speed of a zombie with one leg.

"Oh, piss off, dickhead," Tessa mumbled and tried not to look at him. Her sunglasses were hiding her darkened eyes which felt like they had a bucket of sand in them.

"Oooh, so touchy this morning," Billy smirked. "I'm only trying to pay a pretty girl like you a compliment."

Tessa stopped in her tracks to give him her full attention. The waft of his cigarette hit her nose and suddenly she was craving one.

"Will you give this pretty girl a smoke? Maybe then I'll entertain you," Tessa gave him a lopsided smile then bit her lip. Billy's eyes glinted at the sight, he bit his lip then rummaged through his denim jacket pockets. He produced a cigarette which he then kindly lit for her.

She inhaled deeply, looked at him then continued walking.

"C'mon," Billy whined. "Give me a chance, Henderson."

"Don't you have some bimbo you can fixate on?" Tessa quipped.

"Why would I go after some bimbo when I would rather get to spend time with a gal like you?" Billy had to jog slightly to catch up with her.

"Fuck off Hargrove," Tessa smirked as she flicked away the cigarette butt.

Billy stopped, and sighed in frustration. Tessa kept walking.

"Henderson, you'll go out with me eventually!" Billy called as Tommy joined him.

"Keep dreaming, dickhead," Tessa shouted back.

….

Tessa realised that she would be having a difficult relationship with her food at lunch. She pushed some of the items of stale food around the plate while Alex and Katie yapped on about the rumours about last night.

"Did you really jump into William's pool? Naked?" Alex spluttered excitedly. Tessa looked up and was suddenly struck by the volume of Alex's black hair which had been backcombed to an inch of its life and bathed in hairspray.

Tessa snorted, "No." She paused as the two girls waited eagerly for further detail. "Okay, I was in my briefs and shirt. No big deal!" The girls started giggling as Tessa rolled her eyes.

"It was so cold last night!" Katie scolded. "I can't believe you challenging those two idiots."

Alex nudged Katie: "At least she had Steve to give her a ride home." Katie's mouth dropped open.

"Are you sleeping with Steve?" Katie stuttered. "I bet on Billy."

Tessa tried not to heave again. "My god. That asshole."

"Yeah well… that ass though…" Alex played with the food on her and tried to hide a smile.

"And just to clear things up, I'm not sleeping with Steve," Tessa clarified. "He's been looking out for my brother… We're just friends. He gave me a lift home after picking up my brother from the Snowball Dance."

"We're just friends," Katie giggled. "Yeah I'll buy that when you stop staring at him like a hero."

"Shut up!" Tessa flicked some food at Katie with her fork.

"Hey!" Katie squealed and quickly dodged the flying mashed potato.

"Well I think Steve is quite the catch," Alex stated. "Nancy is missing out. Jonathan is a bit creepy. What with all that photography stuff..."

"I forgot Alex," Tessa chuckled. "You're marrying Kevin Bacon!" She made a shocked face and watched Alex's eyebrow curl in annoyance.

"I'm just saying my opinion Tess," Alex protested.

"I'm just teasing Al," Tessa smiled. She took a bite of her food and heaved. She spat it back into the plate like a toddler.

"Jeez! Tess do you have any manners?" Katie mumbled.

Tessa shrugged and looked around the room. Steve was chatting to some of the boys at the other end of the cafeteria. He turned and caught Tessa watching him. He smiled but then turned to leave.

"I'll see you guys in a bit, okay?" Tessa said.

Despite her friend's protests, Tessa pushed off from the table and walked quickly to follow Steve.

He was walking to his car in the parking lot when Tessa finally caught up with him.

"Hey! Steve!" Tessa called as she ran towards him. "Steve!"

When Steve stopped to look at her, she bent over and gasped for breath. Dizziness ran straight to her head. She breathed out loudly.

"What you doing in school? You need to start handling your alcohol better," Steve chuckled. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Shut it Harrington," Tessa heaved. "I just wanted to say thanks for last night."

"Don't mention it," Steve smiled.

"No, I should thank you properly sometime," Tessa smiled. "If you hadn't saved me, I'm sure Billy would have tried to take me away in that camaro of his."

Steve shrugged and looked up from under his lashes, "I'm sure you could have handled him, Henderson, I've seen you beat monsters, so that douchebag would be no bother." He smirked.

"Yeah… unless I had another three beers which is usually when I make bad decisions," Tessa shoved her hands into her levi pockets. "Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks Harrington." Tessa smiled weakly before she stepped forward to place a soft kiss on Steve's cheek.

"Thanks," She smiled as she backed up and turned back to the school.

Steve just stood there next to his beat up ride with a smile on his face.