When Teddi said that she was desperate for cash, she meant it. After she had secured her job at the video store she had driven around Hawkins and applied to literally every place in town that had been hiring. On Thursday night she had gotten a call from one of the lifeguards at the public pool. They were in dire need of some new staff and asked if she'd be willing to help out on Saturday. During the Fall and Winter they taught swimming lessons at the Hawkins High indoor pool, and seeing as Teddi spent most of her time these days around kids she figured she could handle it.
It was a part time job. Her shift would end in time for her to still make it into the video store and they were paying surprisingly well. It almost seemed too good to be true. But she brushed the feeling off. There was no way she was turning down the cash. Even if the kids in class started vomiting pea soup while their heads spun around.
She showed up twenty minutes before her shift. It was a habit. Teddi had a problem sitting still and she'd rather look like overzealous than sit in her car and watch the minutes tick by. And thankfully she knew someone she'd be working with. A girl named Heather that she had a few classes with. She was nice, even for being one of the popular girls. "You have no idea how glad I am you're here," Heather said with a grateful sigh. She was leading Teddi to a supply closet to find her a suit and whistle. "We've been spreading ourselves out pretty thin. I was sitting up there nearly my entire shift yesterday while the guys handled everything else," she said, nodding to the tall chair that overlooked the pool. "They were running around like headless chickens" she laughed.
A guy named Freddy had been the one that called Teddi about the job. And Heather had mentioned a girl named Katie would be the one to relieve Teddi at the end of her shift. If there was anyone else, Heather hadn't mentioned them yet. "Okay, so the girl's locker room is right over there so you can change. I'm up first on the seat, so I think Freddy is gonna find someone to show you around. He's handling the only class we have today so you don't have to worry about that. And training is pretty simple. You'll catch on in no time, don't worry." Heather said with a reassuring smile.
"Oh yeah, don't worry about me! I worked at the pool back home for a few summers," she waved a hand. "You go and I'll find Freddy. Holler if you need anything." Teddi assured her. Heather gave a playful salute and walked off to get the gym ready to open and Teddi ducked into the locker room.
Billy swung the gym door open, removing his sunglasses and tucking them into the front of his crewneck sweater. He gave a short wave to Heather before disappearing into the small room that they had claimed as their break room. Freddy was already there, parked in front of the vending machine as he decided on a snack. "Hey, Hargrove," he greeted. "I got a favor. We have a new girl starting today. Can you show her around?"
Billy raised an eyebrow. "New girl? When did that happen?" he knew Heather and Freddy had been considering hiring someone new for awhile. Things definitely weren't as busy as they would be during the summer, but the amount of kids looking for something to do during school break was running them thin.
"Hired her Thursday. She's just here for a few hours a day, but it's when things are busiest. But y'know, don't go scaring her off huh?" he teased. Billy chuckled. He had to admit, there had been a few girls that had come and gone in the short time since he had been hired. He couldn't make any promises.
"Yeah, yeah. I got it. So no testing her on her CPR skills then, huh?" he joked. He pulled his sweater off, throwing it into his duffel bag and tossing it aside. Freddy laughed and shook his head, calling 'later, dude' as Billy walked back out to the pool. He froze when he saw the girl's locker room door swing open and Teddi walk out. Great. Freddy definitely wouldn't have to worry about him chasing this one off. If anything it would be the other way around.
Teddi was surprised to see Billy there. She never would have guessed he'd be a lifeguard, or rather anything that dealt with kids. She was also surprised to see how annoyed he looked once he spotted her. Teddi watched as he made his way over with that angry stomp of his, admittedly very confused as to why he seemed so bothered by her. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Teddi blinked a few times. "Uh...I work here." she offered, looking down at her swimsuit that read "Hawkins pool lifeguard" like his own. Now it was her turn to look at him like he had grown a second head.
"You work at the video store." he said with an accusing tone.
"True. But I needed the extra cash...should I lie and say I'm here to ruin your life? That kinda seems like the answer you're looking for..." she tilted her head to the side. Billy let out a short huff. Teddi wondered briefly if he was still upset about the night before. After he stormed out, Keith had explained that Billy was somewhat of a ladies man. So the fact that she not only hadn't been drooling over him, but teased him had probably hadn't made him too happy. She had to admit it was a little funny though. Men could be so sensitive.
But Billy didn't say anything. He simply turned away and stalked off. Teddi paused briefly before rushing to catch up to him. "Are you gonna be the one showing me around?" she asked. He only let out a grunt. "I'll take that as a yes...is this because of last night? Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you-"
Billy let out a harsh laugh. "You really think you could embarrass me?" He asked as he lead her into a laundry room. "I don't give a shit if some weird girl isn't into me." Teddy definitely didn't miss how defensive his tone was. He was so worked up that he didn't even bother explaining what they were doing. He just dumped out a basket of dirty towels onto a fold out table and started sorting them.
Teddi tried to mask the amused look on her face as she watched him. His jaw was clenched tightly as he worked and the tops of his ears were growing red. She joined in to help him sort the different sized towels. "I didn't-"
"I am swimming in pussy-" he spat. Teddi cut off whatever else he was about to say with a loud snort. Billy looked at her incredulously. What the fuck was up with this chick?
"Did you honestly just say that?" She asked, still snickering. "God, you're just a regular Prince Charming aren't you?"
Billy leaned forward and gave Teddi an accusing look. "What are you, like a lesbian or something?" that for some reason only made Teddi laugh harder. "What the fuck is so funny?" he demanded.
Teddi shook her head, her laughter dying down. "Nothing. Sorry. It's just...you think because a girl isn't all over you that it means she's a lesbian?" she asked, her laughter bubbling back up again. "No, I'm not a lesbian. I just don't like assholes."
Billy scoffed and shook his head. He gathered up a pile of towels and threw them in the wash before grabbing new, clean towels from the dryer and bringing them back to the table. The pair silently began folding towels. Teddi hated it. "...Did your sister like the movies?" she finally asked, fully prepared for more snappy remarks.
Billy narrowed his eyes at her as if she were speaking another language. "What? Oh...I don't know, I guess," he shrugged.
"Did you like it?" she asked carefully.
Billy was quiet for a moment, like he was trying to decide whether he had or not. "...I've seen worse." he finally said. Teddi guessed that was as close to a compliment as she'd ever get from him.
"You don't seem to be the type to go to the movies a lot." she observed. It was hard to imagine a guy like Billy being cooped up in a theater or choosing to stay home with a rental instead of doing...whatever it was that he liked to do.
"If I do I'm sure as hell not watching the movie." he smirked. Teddi rolled her eyes. He just couldn't turn it off. But she'd take the mindless flirt over his antichrist side. She wouldn't push her luck though. Teddi went back to silently folding towels, extremely grateful when Billy flipped on the radio that was sitting a little precariously on a fold out chair in the corner of the room.
He could practically hear Max giving him shit for being an asshole. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'You need to learn how to chill the hell out', she had said. 'You can't keep acting like such a psychopath'. So he started to learn to bite his tongue a little more often. He noticed people didn't mind being around him as much now. He could joke around with Freddy and the girls at work. Things felt just a little bit more normal. A little bit more like back home. But god sometimes it was hard to keep the anger at bay.
"What do you need the cash for?" He asked suddenly. Teddi looked up at him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "You said you needed extra cash. What's it for?" He corrected himself.
"Oh, yeah. Well, mainly college I guess," the look on his face told her that was exactly the answer he had been expecting. "Honestly if it'll get me out of here then I'll take it." she said with a shrug.
Billy raised an eyebrow. Aside from maybe Max, he hadn't met anyone else that didn't love living in Hawkins. "You hate it here too, huh?"
Teddi looked around as if someone was listening in before letting out a heavy sigh. "It's so cold. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's cold in New York. But there was at least stuff to do. All there is here is the video store, the arcade and...cows. I don't know how people stand it." she was surprised when Billy actually laughed. A genuine laugh.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I'd rather chew off my own foot than stay in this shit hole much longer." that's something at least, Teddi thought. Something they had in common. It wasn't like she was going to go out of her way to become friends with Billy. If that was even possible. But if they were going to work together she at least wanted to be able to be in the same room without him wanting to strangle her.
There was something she couldn't really figure out about Billy. He wasn't just your average angry guy. Her dad was an angry guy. He had two modes. Angry and quiet. Thankfully over the last few years the quiet side had taken most of the control. But with Billy it didn't seem like it was just hot and cold. Angry and quiet. There were these moments that would peek out where she could see him as a nice guy. A little cranky, but a nice guy. But then they were gone almost as fast as they arrived.
She decided she wouldn't press on the matter. She didn't want to get involved with whatever was going on with him. She would be cordial, and that was that. Mostly anything to keep him from saying pussy ever again.
So they worked in silence to finish up the rest of the laundry. Billy gave her a tour, gave her a brief rundown of the pool rules and showed her where they kept the pool chemicals, supplies for lessons and anything else she might need. And while there were no more arguments between them, Teddi had to keep herself from rolling her eyes every time she caught Billy blatantly checking her out.
Before she knew it her shift was up. She headed back to the locker room to change back into her winter wear and stopped by Billy who had relieved Heather from her post. "So, thanks for showing me around. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Billy looked almost surprised she was thanking him. "Uh, yeah, sure...later." he mumbled awkwardly. He wouldn't meet her eyes, almost like if anyone overheard their conversation they'd think he wasn't cool anymore. Teddi only let out a small laugh, waving at him and heading out into the cold, wintery weather. She decided this would be a good fit. It got her out of the house for a few extra hours, and Billy wasn't anything she couldn't handle.