"This is bullshit! She's gotta be cheating!" Dustin spat out, smacking his hand down onto the Dig Dug console in front of him. Lucas, Mike and Will all crowded around him, each holding in their laughter. "No one can beat me at Dig Dug!" he insisted, whipping around to glare at his snickering friends.
The Palace Arcade was particularly crowded for a weeknight. Kids were lined up elbow to elbow, anxiously awaiting their turn at some of the many new additions Keith had purchased over the last summer break. A small group of girls were crowded around him at the prize booth, each demanding that he count their tickets because they definitely all had enough for a new My Little Pony figurine. Tucked in the far corner were a trio of high school boys who were loudly cheering on their friend who was taking a game of Pac Man far too seriously. The sound of the beeps and chirps from each of the games combined with the Devo song playing on the subpar sound system were just barely enough to drown them all out.
And of course, there was Will Byers and his friends who were there to make sure they left their mark on the high score of any game they could get their hands on.
Max Mayfield leaned against the game casually, a smirk on her face as she watched Dustin throw his fit. "No one? 'Cause it sure looks like someone did. What's that say there above your name?" she asked, leaning in to get a closer look. "Mad Max?" she asked, smiling widely.
"Yeah, for now," Dustin argued. "I refuse to give up my high score." he turned back to the screen quickly, stretching his fingers out and rolling his shoulders before grabbing the joy stick.
Lucas groaned beside him. "Dude, just give it up already. It's getting hard to watch. She's better than you. It's easier to accept defeat, trust me." he placed a comforting hand on Dustin's shoulder, who quickly swatted it away.
"Hey, do I have to break you guys up again? I don't want any repeats of the Dragon's Lair incident." the kids all turned to look at Teddi, who stood behind Max with her arms crossed firmly in an attempt to look stern. Last August the boys had gotten into an argument that had ended in Dustin biting Lucas. Teddi still wasn't entirely sure what they had been fighting about, but Keith had banned the both of them for the next two weeks.
"That was a one time incident, Teddi. I let my emotions get the best of me." Dustin insisted.
"You always let your emotions get the best of you." Lucas argued. Dustin's head whipped to the side to look at his friend in shock.
"He's right," Max agreed, nodding. "All the time."
"Oh great," Dustin scoffed. "You two start dating and suddenly it's gang up on Dustin!"
Teddi held her hands up. "Guys, I have less than an hour until I get to go home. Can we save the bloodbath for when I'm not working?" she noticed Mike and Will had suddenly disappeared sometime during the argument. She assumed they were probably trying to enjoy the Arcade before it closed for the night instead of listening to Dustin and Lucas bickering all night. She definitely couldn't blame them. "I have some machines to clean," she pointed her finger at the two boys. "Don't make me separate you two." she teased, turning and heading for the back room.
Now that it was Fall, Teddi had started to pick up more shifts at the arcade. So many shifts that the arcade had almost become like a second home to her. She woke up, went to school, headed to the arcade, made it home just in time to get a semi decent amount of sleep and then she'd start the whole thing over again the next day. She liked it though, the heavy schedule. It kept her busy. There wasn't much time for her mind to wander. And boy did she have a lot to distract her.
Maybe it was unhealthy. Maybe she should give herself time to go out and be a normal teenage girl. But the idea of busying herself fixing the coin dispensers of the game consoles, using the rickety, old vacuum to suck up all of the trash and snacks (most of which she was sure belonged to Keith and not the kids) that were left behind throughout the day, and finishing up her homework when things were slow was just so much more appealing to her. And on a busy night like this when there were arguments to break up and kids constantly running up to her begging her to fix their problems, time went by quickly.
Slowly but surely the arcade began to empty. The cheering and shouting subsided, and Keith ducked out twenty minutes before closing to avoid closing the place down. It was quiet now. No more beeps and trills from the screens. No more music playing over the speakers. The Palace Arcade was officially closed for the night. Teddi was making one last round through the rows of games, making sure everyone had gone home for the night and that everything was in its place.
She stopped short once she reached the front door, jumping slightly when she noticed the boy standing there. "Will! I didn't know you were still here. You're so quiet." she laughed softly, placing a hand over her heart.
Will turned to her, flashing a sheepish smile. "Sorry. My mom should be here soon. I can wait out by the sidewalk-"
"No! No, it's okay," she threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the dark, lifeless arcade. "Actually, how 'bout I wait with you out there 'till she gets here?" she asked, pushing the door open for him. "Don't tell anyone, but this place always sorta gives me the creeps at night after everything gets shut off." she chuckled. Will let out a short laugh, stepping out into the cold air ahead of Teddi.
She turned to lock the door, tossing her bag down onto the ground and taking a seat on the curb in front of them. Will joined her, the two falling into a comfortable sort of silence. It was often like this between Teddi and Will. He'd always been the quiet one. Teddi didn't mind it. She knew that Will had always sort of been off in his own little world; where he was Will the Wise and he and the gang went on magical adventures and slayed monsters. Plus, it had always made babysitting him a dream.
Teddi pulled her legs to her chest, rubbing her bare skin to try and warm herself up. She glanced at Will out of the corner of her eye. He looked...distant. Like he was a million miles away from Hawkins. Sad, almost. Not the same Will Byers she knew.
"...You okay, kid?" she asked finally.
Will blinked a few times, as if he was surprised by her question. He nodded enthusiastically, but his sad expression remained. "I'm fine," he said quickly. Teddi shot him a look, and Will sighed. "I'm...a little less than fine, I guess." he confessed with a short laugh.
"You wanna talk about it? Not to toot my own horn, but I'm sort of an awesome listener. I give pretty good advice too on occasion." she bumped her shoulder against his, Will's smile becoming a little more genuine.
Will looked out ahead, his eyes trained on the sky. "I still feel like I'm there sometimes. You know, the Upside Down?" he said it quietly, like he thought someone was listening to them. "It's like...one second everything is fine. Normal. And then I blink and I'm back…"
Teddi still had no idea what it had to have been like for Will when he'd gone missing the year before. She'd been there herself, to the Upside Down. It had all been over in the blink of an eye. It was hard to imagine what might have happened to her if Billy hadn't been there to pull her out. The fact that Will was there next to her now was nothing short of a miracle.
"...Does your mom know about this?" she asked carefully.
Will shook his head. "Sometimes I think about telling her, but she worries so much already." that was putting it lightly. Joyce Byers was almost neurotic in the way she treated Will since he'd returned to Hawkins. Not that Teddi could blame her. She imagined if she had a son that had been through everything Will had she'd make sure he never went anywhere without her knowing about it either.
Teddi wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders, pulling him close to her. "Well, I know it's way easier said than done, but I think you should. She'd do anything for you. It's good to have someone that you can talk to about anything, you know? Talking's good. It keeps us all sane. And we definitely need to keep sane after all of the crazy shit we've been through," she said with a snort. "And if it's still too hard to tell her or Johnathan, I'm always here. I might not be as badass as Will the Wise, but I can totally relate to the whole alternate dimension travel thing."
Will laughed, a genuine laugh this time and nodded. "Thanks, Teddi. Seriously."
"Anytime."
There was a honk, and the two looked up to see Joyce pulling into the parking lot. She waved at the pair, rolling the window down and leaning over. "Thanks for watching him, Teddi! Sorry I'm late!" she called as Will made his way over to the car.
Teddi grabbed her bag, zipping her black, puffy coat up and waving back. "It's no problem. I'll see you around, Will," Will waved back wildly once he was safely inside and buckled up tight. Teddi waited until they drove off to head to her van. She flicked on the heat, sinking down into her seat and letting out a heavy sigh.
"You sure are great at giving out advice you can't follow yourself." she muttered to herself, rolling out of the parking lot and finally heading home for the night. Teddi's mental health had been less than stellar since Will's disappearance, and it was quickly declining. Not that she'd admit that to anyone.
Hawkins was quiet. It easily reminded her of the night Will had gone missing. She could still remember it; Billy driving her home from the arcade, hearing that horrible scream from the Demogorgon. Teddi swallowed loudly, gripping onto her steering wheel tightly. It was all over now. She wouldn't have to hear that sound again. It was over.
Still, when she parked in the driveway and shut her van off, Teddi shamelessly dashed up the walkway and inside to the safety of her home as if something was chasing her. She scoffed at the idea of acting so childish. She almost wished she could go back to a time when her father was the scariest thing in Hawkins.
Teddi headed down to her bedroom, flipping the light on and tossing her bag aside. She plopped down on her bed, blindly reaching for the remote for the TV. Usually she fell asleep with it on. Letting music videos on MTV run all night helped her sleep better than when it was quiet. When she did sleep, anyway. Teddi let out a huff, falling back onto her bed and kicking off her boots.
Her anxiety about sleep had gotten worse lately. She was lucky if she got a couple of hours a night. The nightmares made her dread going to bed every night. It was an endless cycle of being stuck in the Upside Down. Running through a twisted version of Mirkwood while the Demogorgon chased her. Screaming herself hoarse as she tried to find her way back to the Gate and to Billy who was calling for her.
Billy.
Teddi cast a quick glance over at the white, shell shaped phone that sat on her dresser. You could call him, she told herself. It wasn't that easy. She knew it wasn't. It had been months since she'd last spoken to Billy. He'd been different ever since Will was found. It was a slow change. Teddi almost hadn't noticed. Afterall, Billy was...Billy. He'd always had a bit of an edge to him. A short fuse. But that fuse had grown shorter and shorter, and by the summer Teddi could barely stand to be in the same room as him.
They had always bickered. It had always been harmless. But Billy's comments had become more and more biting. It had gone from sassy comebacks to full on insults. His angry outbursts came more often and were starting to be pointed in Teddi's direction. "You're one bad day away from turning into Neil!" she'd told him. "I'm not gonna sit around and let you turn me into your punching bag. Stay away from me."
Teddi sighed again, rubbing her eyes roughly. It made her feel pathetic, wanting to call Billy. Like she was Susan or her own mother. Pining for someone who treated her so horribly. She'd tried her hardest to look past it all. It was Billy. Teddi knew that he would never hurt her. There had to be a reason he was acting so coldly towards her. Maybe if she had been more patient he'd tell her what was wrong…
Teddi shut her eyes tightly, stopping any tears from falling. She needed sleep. That was all. The insomnia was making her feel delirious. Not bothering to change, Teddi crawled up her bed and under the covers, breathing in and out slowly as she tried to push any and all thoughts of Billy and monsters and alternate dimensions from her mind. Sleep came quickly; a rare, dreamless sleep that Teddi had been chasing for months.
"Heather, a vampire is like...the most cliche Halloween costume ever." Cheryl Burns said with a loud scoff.
Heather narrowed her eyes, her pencil tapping angrily against her notebook. "Oh, and a playboy bunny isn't?"
"It's a classic. Classic and cliche are like two totally different things. Will you two please tell Heather there's a difference?" Cheryl dramatically threw her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder, sending an almost threatening glance in Teddi and Nancy's direction.
The four girls were sat around a picnic table outside Hawkins high school, just as they did every morning before classes started. Teddi had grown closer with Heather and Cheryl over the last summer while they worked together at the public pool. Heather had fit along with Teddi and Nancy swimmingly (no pun intended) while Cheryl had all but bulldozed her way into the group. But Cheryl had been a surprising comfort after Teddi's break up with Billy. Maybe it was because Cheryl had once been where Teddi was. Either way, Cheryl had definitely given her an ear to vent to about how completely awkward it was to have to work with an ex boyfriend.
"Well...technically there is a difference," Nancy started carefully. "But either way, you can't go wrong. Right, Teddi?'
Teddi nodded a little too enthusiastically. She hadn't entirely been listening. "Oh, totally. Great choices. You guys'll look hot." Heather and Cheryl both looked pleased with Teddi and Nancy's responses. They'd been arguing over what they would be wearing to Tina's Halloween party for an entire month. Teddi was willing to say anything to just make it all stop.
Cheryl eyed Teddi carefully. She hated it when Cheryl looked at her that way. Like a tiger that had spotted it's prey. It still made Teddi squirm. "What are you gonna wear to the party, Teddi?" she asked. Nancy's eyebrows shot up in surprise while Heather practically looked giddy.
"Please tell me you're going!" Heather exclaimed. "We can all four go. We can get matching costumes!" Cheryl rolled her eyes at the idea.
Nancy let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "You guys can count me out. There's no way I can talk Johnathan into going. As much as I love the whole matching costume idea," she scrunched her nose. "I think we're gonna watch movies at my place and give candy to trick or treaters."
Heather visibly deflated, looking over at Teddi with her big, sad, brown eyes. "Please say you'll go and you won't hold yourself up in your basement watching all those gross horror movies like a total loser...I mean, no offense…"
Teddi let out a snort. "None taken...I guess it can't hurt. Steve said he wanted to go anyway." she said with a shrug.
Cheryl's red, glossy lips formed a nasty looking smirk. "Steve, huh? I didn't realize you two were together."
Teddi's eyes widened, holding her hands up in defense. "Whoa, no. We are not dating. Like at all. God, that would be like...Nancy dating Mike." Nancy pulled a face as she mumbled out a gross. While Teddi did spend a lot of what little free time she had with Steve, there was definitely nothing romantic between them. As much as everyone seemed to think that there was.
The sound of a rumbling engine caught the girl's attention. They turned to look back at the parking lot as Billy's Camaro drove into view. The Camaro slammed to a stop before Max quickly hopped out, throwing her skateboard down and riding off towards the middle school without so much as a glance back at her brother.
The engine cut, and Billy emerged. His clothes stood out from the other students around him. While everyone else was bundled up in warm layers and sweaters, Billy had on a thin, white t-shirt under his denim jacket along with his signature pair of snug fitting jeans. He slammed his door shut, his eyes flickering up to meet with Teddi's. His face was calm. If he felt any sort of way about seeing her he wasn't going to let it show. Teddi's jaw clenched, trying to force herself to match his careless expression.
Their eye contact was broken as Steve sat down next to Teddi, gently bumping against her. Steve said something to the girls, Teddi hadn't really heard him. She flashed him a quick smile, looking back to where Billy was standing. His expression was cold now. He sneered at her, his eyes not looking away as he grabbed his pack of smokes from his jacket pocket and lighting one. Billy let out a short huff of a laugh before turning away from Teddi and heading towards the school.
"Jeez...he's in a good mood, huh?" Steve said jokingly as the group watched Billy's retreating form. Steve looked over at Teddi, his expression softening into a sort of sheepish grin when he realized his comment hadn't been well received.
Nancy frowned at him before giving Teddi a reassuring smile. "How are things with you and Billy?" she asked.
Teddi shook her head, turning away from the school's entrance. "They're not...anything," she said with a soft laugh. "We have some classes together and I see him sometimes when he picks Max up from the arcade, but that's about it. I haven't spoken to him since like...August."
Steve let out a scoff, turning to look back as if he expected Billy to still be glaring at them. "Yeah, me either. Any time I see the guy it's like he wants to kill me. The hell's his problem?" Teddi had definitely noticed the shift between Billy and Steve. She'd wondered if maybe they'd gotten in a fight and they'd kept it from her. Steve had denied anything happening. He swore up and down that everything had been fine up until Will was found. It only confirmed Teddi's suspicions that Billy was hiding something.
Feeling her anxiety start to spike, Teddi grabbed her books and stood up from the table. "I think I'm gonna head to class. I'll see you guys at lunch." she mumbled, turning and heading towards the school before anyone had the chance to respond. Teddi let out a slow, shaky breath. Was there ever going to be a time when thinking or talking about Billy didn't set her on edge?
"Teddi!" it was Nancy. The brunette hurried after her friend, her books clutched tightly to her chest. Teddi slowed down, offering Nancy what she hoped was a convincing smile. "Sorry, I just...are you okay?" she asked as she fell into step along with Teddi.
"Me?" Teddi said with a small laugh. "I'm fine," Nancy shot her a look. Teddi bit her cheek, groaning slightly. There was never any fooling Nancy. "...I wish I could go back in time," she confessed. "Like, to before all of...everything. God, that doesn't even make sense…"
Nancy shook her head. "No! Trust me, I understand. Back to when all we had to worry about was school, and boys and everything was normal," Teddi let out a relieved sigh and nodded. The two fell into a sort of comfortable silence, Nany's lips forming a thin line. "Sometimes...I wonder if I could go back in time if I could save Barb. Like, maybe if I hadn't ditched her that night at Steve's…"
"Nancy, that was not your fault-" Teddi argued.
"Sometimes I know that. Sometimes I know that none of us could ever account for…" Nancy drifted off, looking around her to make sure there weren't any other students listening in. "For what happened. But then...I don't think about her every day like I used to. I'm afraid I'm forgetting her. Like, one day Barb is just going to be this girl that I knew when I was younger."
Teddi stopped, pulling Nancy aside and resting her hand gently on her friend's shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "None of us are ever going to forget her, Nance. You won't forget her."
Nancy's eyes pooled with tears as she let out a loud sniff. "Everyone else in town is. They think she went missing. Like she'd ever run off…" she wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hands. "I have dinner with parents every week. I want so badly to tell them what happened, but I can't, you know? How do you even begin to explain any of that?"
After Will had been found, it had been reported that Barb's disappearance had been unrelated. As far as anyone else in Hawkins was concerned, Barb had run off and the police just simply hadn't been able to follow her trail. It was extremely frustrating for Teddi and her friends to know that Barb had been lost to the Upside Down and were completely unable to tell anyone the truth.
Teddi wished she could go back in time along with Nancy to save Barb.
"Do you think any of this is ever gonna go away?" Nancy asked. "Do you think we'll ever get to be normal again?"
"Probably not," Teddi said, the two girls letting out short laughs. "Not completely anyways. But I guess all of this like...builds character or something." she said with a playful eyeroll.
Nany scoffed. "I think I've had enough character building for a lifetime" she shook her head. "...Are you sure you're okay? You know if you ever need to talk I'm just a phone call away…"
Teddi nodded enthusiastically just as Will had the night before. "Positive, Nance. And I appreciate it, seriously...I should get to class. I'll see you at lunch?" Nancy nodded, the girls giving each other a quick wave before going their separate ways. Teddi took in a deep breath, shoving the urge to skip school all together and heading to her first period.
Billy was already in his seat when she walked into the classroom. He was lounged back lazily, a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes as a somewhat pathetic attempt to hide the fact that he slept through English every morning. Teddi always did her best to ignore him. To fight any urge to glance back at him or throw an eye roll when Mr. Prescott was getting particularly long winded. It was a bit unsettling if she was honest. Not knowing whether Billy was ever watching her or truly sleeping.
She was doodling a small jack-o-lantern on the back of her notebook when Mr. Prescott finally strolled in with a smile that was much too chipper for the early hour. He was a tall, somewhat awkward looking man. He always had far too much product in his hair, and tiny, round glasses that sat at the tip of his nose. "Good morning, class!" He greeted the room. No one replied. They never did. "I've got a little treat for you all today. Hopefully something to get you all into the Halloween spirit!"
Mr. Prescott turned to the chalkboard, quickly scribbling 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' in his messy handwriting. "The Shadow over Innsmouth is an H.P. Lovecraft classic. Anyone familiar with his work?" he asked, turning back to face the class. Teddi tentatively rose her hand, knowing she'd be the only one. Mr. Prescott smiled at her, throwing up a quick thumbs up. "Teddi! You never disappoint me. For those of you who don't know, H.P. Lovecraft is somewhat of the godfather of horror. A lot of modern horror is inspired by his work. I chose this story in particular because the setting is not totally unlike our town of Hawkins,"
Clasping his hands behind his back, Mr. Prescott started to pace the front of the classroom. "We start off with our lead character, Robert. He's touring the state of New England, a sort of coming of age trip, when he hears word of the town of Innsmouth. It's this mysterious little town that he immediately feels drawn to. He has to visit. When he gets there it seems like any other small town in America. This tiny little fishing village where nothing really ever happens," Teddi could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. This was a little too close to home for her tastes.
"Eventually, Robert seeks out one of the villagers; Zadok Allen, to answer some of his questions about the strange things that he hears happen in Innsmouth. Zadok tells Robert about the Deep Ones. They're these...creatures, monsters, a merchant from Innsmouth discovered," Teddi's mouth went dry. She dared to spare a look back at Billy out of the corner of her eyes. He seemed completely unbothered. The room around Teddi is quiet. She almost wondered if all of her classmates were holding their breath like she was. "This merchant, Obed Marsh, decides that in order to keep these Deep Ones happy and earn their favor that he'll provide them with human sacrifices. He even establishes a cult, worshipping these creatures!"
Teddi remembered the sedans. The government agents storming the middle school and Mike's house. She remembered the woods. The glowing tree that led to the Upside Down. She shut her eyes tightly, her fingers clenching the corner of her desk as she wished the tingling feeling growing in her hands would go away and not bring on a panic attack.
"Obed and his fellow cult members were eventually arrested, of course. But without human sacrifices to keep these Deep Ones happy, I'm sure you can imagine-" Teddi could hear the horrible scream that came from the Demogorgon. She could hear it's footsteps thundering behind her as it chased her and her friends through the Byers' home. The way Billy screamed when it attacked him…
Teddi jumped up from her seat and ran from the room in a flash. She headed down the hallway as fast as her feet could carry her, not daring to stop until she was outside in the parking lot. Collapsing against the hood of the car in front of her, Teddi could hear her breathing coming out in ragged gasps as she tried to calm herself. It's gone, she told herself. The Demogorgon is dead. The Gate is closed. It's all over.
Her breathing began to slow. Her heartbeat calming. Teddi stood up straight, breathing in and out slowly as her nerves started to settle. I'm fine, she reminded herself.
Teddi opened her eyes, looking down at the blue Camaro that sat in front of her. Billy's Camaro. Her jaw clenched, her bottom lip wobbling wildly as she dug the heels of her hands into her eyes before letting out a loud sob.
Billy kept his eyes trained on Teddi as the teacher rambled on about his ghost story. He wasn't sure why. Something in him, the good part of Billy, told him something was wrong. Slowly the blonde grew more and more visibly upset with each added detail Mr. Prescott presented dramatically to a class that wasn't listening. Billy knew why it was affecting her so harshly. There was no mistaking the fact that Mr. Prescott's story mirrored the nightmare they had lived through not even a year before.
Billy felt his leg bob up and down quickly with each passing moment as if Teddi's anxiety was bleeding out into the air around her. Her fingers grabbed the corner of her desk, the skin turning while from the pressure. Her shoulders hunched forward and her head bowed as if she were trying to shield herself from the story.
"It's hard not being able to say anything to her, isn't it?" the voice in his head asked, the hissing whisper sending a chill up Billy's spine. "You can't comfort her. She's scared of you. That's what she's thinking. She's remembering how you snapped at her when she was only trying to help. You told her there was nothing to worry about. You pushed her away and right into the arms of your best friend." Billy's hands clenched into fists, his own fingers turning white from the pressure.
His jaw shut so tightly he thought his teeth might crack. It wasn't true. He knew that. And yet Teddi looked at him now like he was a stranger. Like somehow everything that had ever happened between them was suddenly some far off dream. Maybe...maybe the voice was right after all.
Suddenly Teddi jumped up from her seat and bolted from the room, ripping Billy out of his thoughts. Everything immediately went quiet. Mr. Prescott looked helplessly between the rest of his class and the door, clearly unsure of how to handle the situation. Then all at once, the whispering began. Suddenly everyone was gossiping about Teddi.
"What, she can't handle a little ghost story?" a girl a few seats away whispered to her friend before the two burst into a fit of giggles. "What a freak. No wonder she hangs out with Zombie Boy and all his weirdo friends."
Billy knew that a comment like that wouldn't have bothered Teddi. Rolled right off of her like water off a duck's back. Billy had never been able to let things go as easily as her. He still felt the need to protect her somehow. But instead throwing a "hey, how 'bout you mind your own business and stop acting like such a bitch." and definitely getting detention, he decided it was better to focus on Teddi.
Billy stood, ignoring Mr. Prescott's protests and headed down the hall after Teddi. Would she even want him there? Maybe not. It had been months since they'd spoken and he'd admittedly been a dick since then…well, more of a dick than usual. But he felt compelled to follow after her. Even if it was only to make sure she was okay.
Eventually he found her in the parking lot, her back to him and standing in front of his car, sobbing into her hands. "You did this," the voice hissed. "She hates you."it reminded him. He knew that. Why wouldn't she?
Now Billy just felt stupid for following her. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, not sure whether to say something, to make a noise and let her know that he was there, or to turn around and head back to class and leave her alone.
Teddi sniffed loudly, her body going still. She let out a small whimper, her head moving just slightly as if she wanted to look over her shoulder but was too scared to. She wiped her eyes, finally turning to face Billy. They stood there for what felt like forever, neither of them moving or speaking.
Teddi moved, like she was going to rush over to Billy, but immediately thought better of it. Instead she crossed her arms almost protectively across her chest. Billy rubbed at the back of his neck, looking out into the parking lot. "...You good?" he finally asked. Idiot. God, he was an idiot.
She let out a soft laugh. "Yeah,I'll be fine. It was stupid anyways," she shrugged, not making eye contact with him, clearly still embarrassed. Billy reached into his jacket, pulling out his pack of smokes and his lighter. Silently he took a drag, handing it over to Teddi who accepted it with a sheepish smile. She took a long, slow drag, her eyes shutting as she exhaled the smoke. "...Thanks, Billy. For coming out here. You didn't have to." she said, this time more confidently.
Billy could only offer her a shrug. He felt trapped. Like he was a prisoner in his own body. And the feeling was growing worse day by day. He wanted to hug Teddi. To tell her that everything was going to be okay and that he loved her and all of this Upside Down nightmare would end and that they could go back to being normal. Even if he knew that that was a lie. But he couldn't. That good part in him was screaming out to her and neither Teddi or anyone else could hear it. And that good part was getting harder and harder for him to hear.
"...You wanna get outta here? Cut the rest of the day?" Billy found himself asking. He felt embarrassed for some reason. He couldn't seem to look directly into her eyes as he waited for an answer.
Teddi smiled a little, biting her bottom lip. "I...I shouldn't. I mean, I really don't wanna go back to class, but I can't keep letting this bullshit ruin my life, y'know? Everyone already thinks I'm weird, might as well go and face the music." she sighed, passing the cigarette back to him.
Billy nodded, taking a quick drag before flicking the butt away. Now he wouldn't even look in her direction. "See?" that voice said. "She hates you."
Teddi hesitated a moment. "...See ya, Billy." she mumbled, looking down at her feet before walking past him. Billy let out a huff through his nose, lighting another cigarette. He flicked his lighter open and closed harshly as he began to pace in front of his Camaro.
Nothing was ever going to be normal again, was it?
The day had passed by in a blur. Now Teddi was closing up the Palace Arcade, but she still felt just as frazzled as she had earlier at school. After she'd gone back to class she'd closed herself off from everyone. She hid away in the library during lunch, not ready to deal with all of the questions her friends would most definitely ask after the news had spread through school. Most of her shift at the arcade was spent fixing up machines and cleaning up. Thankfully her shift had passed by in a flash and now she was in the home stretch. She just needed a good, long night's sleep.
Teddi found her thoughts drifting back to Billy every so often. She'd been shocked to see that he'd followed her out to the parking lot to check on her. They'd barely said five words to each other, but it was the most they'd spoken in months. Still, it was nice. In a weird way.
She hopped into her van, turning her radio up loudly in hopes of drowning out her thoughts as she nearly peeled out of the parking lot.
It was no secret that Teddi missed Billy. She desperately wished that she could just somehow fix everything. Fix whatever it was that was making him act so coldly towards her. Fix everything that was driving a wedge between them. It felt almost normal today in the parking lot. Like it was just another day that they'd decided to cut class and go smoke in his car. Maybe if Teddi had squoze her eyes shut and wished really hard everything could go back to the way they'd been last October.
Stranger things had happened, but even otherworldly monsters and wishful thinking were no match for Billy Hargrove and his stubbornness.
Teddi slowed her van down as she drove through the woods. She hated driving there at night. Bad memories aside, everything looked the same and it was embarrassingly easy to miss her turn and get lost. She leaned forward as her car nearly crawled through the trees, squinting to find the small dirt road she was meant to follow.
It was an uneven pathway. Her van wobbled and rocked as she drove further and further into the woods. Eventually she saw a glimpse of light through the trees, letting out a sigh of relief that she hadn't gotten lost.
She parked the van in front of the tiny cabin, grabbing a stack of video tapes from her passenger's seat and hopping out into the cold night air. Teddi hurried up the steps, the old, rotting porch creaking loudly under her boots. She knocked on the door quickly three times and dig through the coat of her black, puffy jacket for the spare key.
The warmth inside of the cabin was like a nice, tight hug. Teddi hung her jacket by the door, smiling at the head of messy, brown curls that was sitting just a little too close to the TV. "Hey, ET. I brought you some more tapes to keep you busy." Teddi announced, moving around the couch and setting the stack of movies onto the creaky, old coffee table.
El quickly turned away from the TV, smiling widely as she snatched the stack and began shifting through them while Teddi plopped down on the couch. Hopper's blazer hadn't been parked in it's usual spot out front. And the cabin was eerily quiet without him. Teddi looked over her shoulder at the clock hanging in the kitchen.
"He's late again, huh?" she asked with a frown. El pulled a face, nodding and sliding one of her new tapes into the vcr player. It was a little unusual for Hopper to be late. He was usually a stickler for being on time, and he was even more of a stickler for keeping his schedule when it came to El. "I'm sure he'll be here soon," Teddi said with a shrug. "Probably some kids egging a house or something." she rolled her eyes with a smile.
Hopper usually hated Halloween. "These damn kids find a new way to make my life hell every year." he'd always say. Teddi had lost count of the Halloween's that had ended with her, Billy and Steve getting a ride home in Hopper's Blazer after he'd caught them egging or tping houses or sneaking out to the junkyard to smoke weed.
As if those fond memories had somehow summoned him, the sound of Hopper's loud footsteps coming up the porch made the girls turn to watch him walk in. He gave them both a tight smile as he hung his coat and hat up next to Teddi's. "You're late." El said firmly.
"I know, I know. I shoulda called. Sorry, kid," he apologized, patting Teddi on the shoulder in a very Hopper like greeting. El shut the TV off, getting up from her place on the floor and hurrying off to the kitchen. She stood on her toes, pulling three tin covered TV dinners out from the microwave. "Hey, you okay?" Hopper asked, frowning down at Teddi as she stood from the couch.
Teddi hadn't realized how...clenched she felt. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, smiling up at him as convincingly as she could manage. "Me? Pfft, yeah. It's just...you know, normal teenage stuff." y'know, if normal teenage stuff meant your boy- ex-boyfriend acting super weird and having full on ptsd, she thought to herself.
Hopper didn't really look like he bought Teddi's excuse, but he'd never really been one to pry. Teddi had always liked that about him. After El came back to Hawkins, Teddi had found it pretty difficult to stay angry with Hopper. So she'd given up her silent treatment and helped Hopper move his things from his trailer out to his cabin in the woods in order to keep El away from any prying eyes. Now it was almost a year later, and Teddi made a point to visit the two as often as she could.
It made things a little easier after she and Billy broke up. Something to keep her mind off things. Where her relationship with Billy crumbled, her relationship with Hopper and El grew stronger. And these dinners together were nice. It was sort of like getting the family she'd always wanted. A sister to bond with over movies, a dad that was there to vent to if she needed it. It was nice. Normal.