Chapter Text
5 Minutes After the Incident
A disaster of the highest order. So horrific and humiliating that she would never be able to come back from it again.
The party around her barely noticed the girl in the basketball shorts running out with the residue of makeup streaks on her face. Maybe they didn’t notice her now, but there was no way in hell that people wouldn't hear about this soon enough.
By Monday she’ll be notorious, her name cackled along the halls. Maybe some kook would even write the entire incident on her locker and she would never live up to the shame of it all.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit .
“Tully!” A voice called out through the yard she was halfway across, but she ignored it. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. “Tulsa!”
A yelp of frustration burst from her lungs as soon as her car door shut behind her, and her hands covered her eyes as she threw her head back against the headrest.
The very worst part of it all, was that it was her fault.
Stupid revenge, stupid makeup, stupid alcohol, and stupid, stupid Steve Harrington.
3 Days After the Party
Stupid names lead to stupid people.
That’s what Tully’s mother told her when she was five years old. It was the woman’s reasoning for the ‘wonderful’ and ‘meaningful’ names she came up with for her children while high in the back of a caravan. Back then she was delusional and high - now she was just in denial.
If only her mother had realized that ‘Tulsa’ was just about the stupidest, most meaningless name in the entire world. There is nothing wonderful or meaningful about being named after the city you were born in the back of a van in. Why couldn’t she have been born in some normal sounding city like her siblings - Joliet and Francisco and Eugene were passable. Tully wasn't much better as a nickname, but it’s better than Tulsa.
Tully could at least blame her mother and father’s crappy naming for her stupidity sometimes, but she may have just topped it. There is nothing quite as stupid as ruining your own social reputation out of spite.
She wasn't ready to face the consequences of her actions yet. No. Sitting in her car and hiding her face was a much, much better option.
There was the temptation to start the engine and drive far, far away from this place. But then she remembered that she had a quiz in physics class and if she missed it she would cost herself those points.
She groaned and drove her head backwards into the seats headrest. And to think she worked so hard to get those good grades, just to prove that book smarts have nothing to do with actual common, worldly skills - like not making a fool out of yourself.
She would have to face this straight on - eye-bags and all. Sleep evaded her the entire weekend, and when she did get even a few minutes of shuteye, horrific nightmares of terrible parties and vengeful jocks plagued her.
“What the hell are you doing in there?”
Tully jumped at the harsh taps on her car window and her hand flew to her chest, resting the heart that nearly launched out of her chest in surprise. “Jesus.”
The intruder didn’t have the voluminous head of brown hair that she was worried about seeing. Infact, the shoulder length bob was different from both of the guys she was trying to avoid at the moment.
Tully gave one last dramatic sigh, and finally unlocked the door so she could accept her fate and walk straight into the lion's den.
Robin’s arms were crossed over her chest and beneath the light layer of eyeshadow was a burning glare. “You ignored every single one of my calls this weekend.” She said, and clicked her tongue. “And you left me at the party.”
Tully flinched at the mention of the cursed event. Robin might not know any better, but it still sent her already fried nerves into overdrive. “I was worried that Erik was calling.”
“Oh, I’m sure he was, because I was fielding calls from him all weekend demanding that I explain what happened with you and Harrington since you weren’t answering your phone. Problem was, I don’t know. Can you believe that?” Robin crossed her arms and let the sarcasm drip from her like thick caramel. Tully pursed her lips and avoided her friend's eyes. “He doesn’t believe that I don’t know what happened between my best friend and Steve Harrington. I can barely believe it myself.”
Robin wasn’t stupid, Tully knew that. But she hoped that her intelligence would drop a few decimals for a couple days until she forgot about the entire event and it would pass by like it never happened. In fact, she hoped the entire school would do the same - especially said boy.
She turned to walk away from her car to the school, and Robin scoffed, catching on easily to the avoidance.
“Try all you want, Tully. But I’m not letting this drop until I know what’s going on.”
“It’s really not anything important.” She lied.
“Right. So unimportant that you haven't met my eyes for the past five minutes.”
Challenged by Robin’s words, she turned to meet her eyes and made a point to hold her suspicious glare intensely as she walked towards the school. “Nothing happened.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want.” They reached the school entrance and Tully hesitated with her hand on the cold handle. Carefully, her eyes scanned through the small glass window, searching the buzzing hallways.
So far, no one had approached her to tease or yell out some insult - aside from Robin. Still, anything could go wrong at any moment. With that many bodies crowding such a small area, whatever news had been spread since Friday night would likely catch up to her fast.
“What are you doing?” Robin followed Tully’s eyes through the window, trying to see what she was focused on.
Simmering, Tully lowered her head and pushed open the doors, “Nothing.”
“Right.” She wasn't convinced.
If Robin didn’t already know what happened, Tully wasn’t going to be the one to utter those words out loud. It pained her to even think about it, much less talk about it. Besides, some random classmates will likely do it themselves once they walk in because there is no way the rumors hadn’t already spread.
A part of her half expected the entire student body to turn to her at once and start laughing. But when she started the trek from the doors to her locker, not a single person spared her a second glance. Odd.
This was not what she expected. In fact, it was entirely unprecedented. She’d spent the entire weekend steeling herself for this inevitable moment, and somehow, somewhere, it didn’t happen.
“You’re acting really weird.” Robin, ever the observationalist, noted and eyed Tully suspiciously as she looked around the hallway in confusion. “Considering that nothing happened. The same ‘nothing’ that had you sprinting from that party like your life depended on it.” Again, that sarcasm. Robin made quotation marks with her fingers around the word nothing, making it very obvious she didn’t believe her. And why would she?
Joliet would say lying was all in the details, all in the stories that you lie with that make it believable - just enough to be believable, but not too much to lose track. And if anyone knew how to lie, it was Jolie. Well Tully couldn’t lie for shit and her details and stories always mixed up into something that was easy to pick apart.
“I wasn’t feeling well. You know, just needed to get out into the fresh air. Clear my head a bit.”
Tully cringed even harder. That lie may have been worse than the first.
Discouraged by her failed attempts at diverting her friend, Tully looked away to regroup her thoughts and get herself out of this mess without having to tell the truth.
Unfortunately, the horrific truth stood right in front of her face. Or, more accurately, about ten feet down the hallway with his perfectly moussed hair and an alarming purple bruise on the side of his neck. The worst part was that he was staring right at her. No, he was coming straight towards her.
“Uh,” Tully backed away, her eyes wide and alarmed as her fingers immediately tightening her hold on her books, “I’ve got to go.”
Tully turned and left a very confused Robin behind, and an even more confused Steve Harrington watching her leave down the middle of the hallway.
1 Week Before the Party
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Tully approached the booth and slid into her seat right next to Erik. She leaned over, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “There were more books to shelve in the library than normal.”
Erik jumped, and spun to look at her, surprised by her sudden appearance as her hand rested comfortably on his back. She didn’t realize he hadn’t noticed her approach until his wide green eyes looked up at her.
She might have been able to brush off the way she could see his entire iris, or the way a vein jumped in his jaw, but she couldn’t ignore the fidgeting of his hands or him urgently looking around the area.
If she didn’t know better, he looked like he was scared.
She raised a brow.
“Babe, what are you doing here?” He said, and glaced over his shoulder. Tully’s smile drooped, and she followed his gaze, but it yielded nothing of note in the area. She narrowed her eyes and turned back to him.
“What do you mean? You told me to meet you here.”
“I did?” His voice was a higher pitch than the normal husk that she was such a fan of. He swallowed, and she clocked in on the subtle movement. A mental list started to build in her mind, checking off all the signs of a nervous man.
She didn’t like it one bit - a twisting in her gut told her that something wasn’t right.
“Yeah,” Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out the piece of notebook paper that had the quick message scrawled on it in messy handwriting identical to his. She slid it across the table to him, and he picked it up. “You left this in my locker.”
His brows furrowed as he read over the note - Meet me at Benny’s after practice - It read with a familiar little doodled heart at the bottom. It was just like the other cutesy notes he’d left her when they started their relationship six months ago.
It was a pleasant surprise to get another one, since he’d stopped leaving them for her a couple months ago.
She’d even tried to rush her tutoring session with some freshman because she was so excited that he was showing some of the same romantic gestures as before - until she saw the way his face still looked confused. He bit at his lip and read the six simple words three times longer than it should take.
“Oh right.” He swallowed. “I almost forgot.”
Tully’s stomach dropped. “You almost forgot but you’re here waiting for me?”
He turned to her, his mouth opening and closing, no answer to be found anywhere from him.
“You did leave this for me, right?” She asked, and her heart sunk the longer he looked like a mouse caught in a trap. A part of her begged him to smile, and go back to normal, and assure her that yeah he did leave it for her and that now they are just going to buy some milk shakes and chow down on some greasy burgers.
But he was incapable of coming up with anything like that, “Let’s go, okay?” He grabbed her hand and shuffled her from the booth. She ran on auto as he pulled her with him, an uneasy pull of her brow as he attempted to pull her after him.
Unfortunately, his delay in response costed him the charade.
They turned, and all the little scattered crumbs from the last few minutes came full circle to reveal the entire picture.
He froze, and Tully paused with him when she took in the girl standing right there, wearing the green letterman jacket with the four letters of Erik’s name embroidered over the right chest.
Joliet didn’t look one bit surprised, or even afraid.
In fact, a small smile graced her perfectly pink lips.
The worst part is, Tully wasn’t a single bit surprised to see her younger sister standing there - the perpetrator of everything that went wrong in her life. If anything, she was more surprised that she didn’t realize it sooner.
The crumbs of clues that something wasn’t right in her and Erik’s relationship were older than just today. They were months of stale path markers of his increasing distance: him too busy at the same time her sister wasn’t home, his lack of affection, and probably the most obvious, Jolie’s near constant curiosity about him.
If any of those should have been a blowing red flag that something was wrong, it was everything Jolie did. She should have known the moment her sister found out about her boyfriend that she would try and ruin something good.
The problem is, the last six months were a rosy lovely time through Tully’s eyes, but even red flags look normal with rose-colored glasses.
Tully pulled her hand from Erik’s grasp and took a step away from him. He spun to her, but she wasn’t focused on him.
Her intense glare remained fix on Jolie, who bit her lip as her smile grew and shrugged her shoulders in Erik’s oversized jacket, “Whoops.”
If Tully got her way, she would throw herself at her sister right now. Leap across the restaurant and grab at her silky, permed hair and leave bruises on that perfect face. Oh, even just thinking about doing that gave her so much satisfaction.
But in reality, that would never turn in her favor.
She’d be the one to get in trouble. Jolie would get exactly what she wanted - a reaction.
As kids, Jolie would nod and say sorry with teary blue eyes, but as soon as their mothers back was turned, she would reach out one more time and yank on Tully’s hair as hard as she could then run off screaming that Tully hit her. At the end of the day, Tully was always the one in timeout - no matter how much she defended herself - and Jolie was always the one coming into the room just to rub it in.
God. It was so easy for Jolie to fool anyone she wanted. Those pixie-like features and perfectly permed light, blonde hair had any guy at her feet as soon as she wanted. Innocent doe eyes got her everything she wanted from the time she was born.
Tully never stood a chance.
Brown eyes never got as much as blue, and hair is only interesting if you can compare it to spun gold.
Rubbing salt into the wound was Jolie’s favorite pastime. She stepped forward, filling the space next to Erik and wrapped her arm around his, and wrote down the moral of this story with her eyes so only Tully could read it.
Look what I have and you don't , it said.
“We might as well tell her, baby.” Jolie said to Erik. Her voice had the sweetness of cough syrup and Tully wanted to gag. Or maybe puke. She wasn't sure.
Erik pushed Jolie’s hand off him and stepped forward, desperate to hold onto whatever he believed Tully could offer him that Jolie wasn't already.
As much as she hated to admit it, her heart squeezed painfully. She could easily let herself give in. Forgiving him and keeping those rosy glasses on is exactly what her heart wanted her to do.
Erik was her first everything. She gave a part of herself to him and it was impossible to take it back so why not just stay close by to those things gave away?
But she couldn't do that. Her mind and pride could never let her.
“Babe-” Erik, so ready to defend and lie, reached out to her.
She raised a hand and stopped his advances and words. He looked like he was going to cry - watery lines grew at the bottom of his lids.
She took a deep breath, “No need to tell me. I understand perfectly.”
Without waiting for a response, she pushed past Erik and Jolie, resisting the urge to turn and slap either of them.
The small bells over the door rang as she walked out of Benny’s. It took an absurd amount of strength to keep her back straight and chin raised as she walked towards her car parked at the middle row of the small parking lot.
A few seconds later, the bells jingled again and the sound of sneakers on the gravel caught up to her.
“Babe, wait.” Erik’s hand closed around her upper arm and spun her around, “You’ve got to believe me. She threw herself at me first. I really tried to resist.”
Tully stared up at him. Six months. Six fucking months coming to an end like this .
In her mind, she imagined herself screaming in his face, pounding her fists as hard as she could on his chest and making sure he heard just how hurt she was. She would scream and shout and make him feel as horrible as she felt.
But she didn’t. She couldn’t.
I will not cry. I will not do anything.
She smiled, and laughed.
Erik, caught off guard, let go of her arm and narrowed his eyes.
“Thank you.” She said.
“What?”
“I feel so much better.” She sighed dreamily, like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.
“You’re not mad?” He asked, apprehensive and searching her face for a sign of the anger she was hiding barely under the surface. She had to wrap this up, and quick before it shone through.
“What? You think you are the only one who can have some fun?” She laughed, and rolled her eyes trying to push back the tears that still threatened to appear. “Be real, babe . It’s 1984. You just made it so much easier.”
She turned and walked away. The smile fell as soon as she was turned away under the weight of the blatant lie. If she faced him for much longer, he’d be able to tell immediately that it was false.
She’d never had fun with anyone else. But it felt much better to make him think so.
There was no need to look at him to see the confusion run over his face, and then finally settle into anger by the time she reached her car.
“You fucking whore.” He yelled. For a moment, Tully genuinely laughed to herself at the blatant irony of his statement. “Heartless bitch.”
Without turning to see how red his face was, she lifted her middle finger and flipped it over her shoulder at him before climbing into her seat, starting the car, and leaving him in that parking lot without a look back.
3 Days After the Party
The phone rang and rang.
Tully ignored it. She had to have this five page essay done by the morning and the last thing she wanted was to be caught in a never ending conversation on the phone with Robin or worse yet, Erik. Man, that guy was persistent.
The ringing stopped.
And then it started again.
She sighed.
“Are you going to get that or what?” Jolie appeared in the doorway and glared daggers at her. Tully furrowed her brows, in disbelief.
Tully smiled, making it as sweet as possible, “Why? Don’t want to talk to your boyfriend ?”
Jolie smirked, “Oh, Tulsa. You know I’d never actually date him. It was just a bit of fun. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
“That’s okay. I’m doing perfectly fine. Have all the fun you’d like.” They held each other's glares. Jolie pulled off the beauty Queen smile with cutting accuracy, and Tully was forced to hide behind her sarcastic grin.
“Get off your lazy ass and tell him to stop calling. I’m sick of him.” Jolie turned and left the room as Tully flicked her middle finger at her retreating back.
The phone kept ringing.
She really didn’t want to give Jolie the satisfaction of getting her way, but her nerves were being grated with each of the chimes. It’s likely she’d feel better if she told off the person on the other end for calling nonstop.
Groaning, She got up and stomped to the phone and picked it up.
“Hello?” Her basic greeting was harsh, and the annoyance in the single word was obvious to the person on the other end.
There was a pause on the other end. “Uh, Hi. Is Tulsa there?”
Her annoyance slowed in the wake of confusion, and she tilted her head. The voice was male, that was for sure, but not Erik. She could tell Erik’s voice in the dark, but this, while somewhat familiar, wasn’t one she couldn’t pinpoint.
Boys calling the house was normal. Boys calling the house for her? Not normal.
“Who’s this?”
Another pause. What the hell?
“This is Steve Harrington.”
What the hell?!
The phone nearly fell from her hand as her grip loosened in shock, and her stomach sank in renewed humiliation. Paranoia struck her and she looked over her shoulder into the hallway, afraid that Joliet would appear like she usually did.
“Hello?” He asked, and her attention snapped back to the phone. Her back pressed against the wall and she cupped the bottom of the receiver to talk into it.
“How the hell did you get my number?” She said, her voice hissing in a loud whisper.
“Oh, uh. You’re Joliet’s sister, aren't you? Tulsa Harding.”
She closed her eyes and groaned internally. Of course. Of course that is how he got her number. Know one sister, know the other - kind of. “What do you want?”
He cleared his throat, and Tully opened her eyes. If she didn’t know any better, he sounded uncomfortable. Well good. Because she was very obviously avoiding him in the hallways earlier today and he was still trying to approach her. He should be embarrassed. “I just wanted to check on you and make sure everything is okay.”
Silence.
Check on her? Why would ‘King’ Steve want to check on her? More importantly, why hadn't he told anyone yet what happened between them? He sensed her confusion through the line and backtracked.
“It’s just you left so quickly the other night-”
“I’m fine.” She snapped, forcing him to stop. “I would really appreciate it if you could forget that anything ever happened.” She bit her lip, and waited for his response.
Please say yes. Please say yes.
“You left a bruise on my neck, you know? And you left your clothes in my room.”
She winced. She did know. She saw the bruise at school earlier today and it was just another unpleasant surprise she wanted to ignore. She had decided to consider the entire outfit a lost cause. She did feel bad about the bruise though. Bad enough to soften her tone a bit, “I don’t care. Please pretend nothing happened. Thank you. Bye.”
She slammed the phone down and stared at it.
She waited for it to ring again, for the sound to strangle her and tear her down. But it didn't. She let go and backed away.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway again, and Tully spun to see Jolie coming right at her. Her doe eyes were narrowed and her normally bitchy expression was downright demonic. Lost was the sweet sarcastic smirk.
“What, the fuck , did I just listen to?” She snapped and stepped up so her face was in Tully’s.
Tully’s eyes widened as the realization settled on her like an uncomfortable wool blanket. “You were listening?” She crossed her arms to cover the frantic panicking of her heart, “You shouldn’t have made me answer the phone if you were going to eavesdrop on the other line.”
“I wasn't going to until I heard you whispering.”
“It’s none of your business.”
Jolie didn’t like that and her eyes burned through her. “Why the hell was Steve Harrington calling some gross little freak like you?”
Always with the insults. Always kicking her down where it hurt. Always with the same jabs and hits and punches about the things Tully couldn't beat her at. And she was sick of it.
This all started because of those things, and she had decided after the party to forget about this revenge scheme because it was clear Tully didn’t have what it takes to beat Jolie at her own game.
But staring at her little sister, hearing those things come from her mouth for the thousandth time, she was starting to change her mind.
She had a potentially deadly weapon in her grasp that could silence Jolie forever, and in her anger and frustration, Tully chose to use it. No matter the consequences.
She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked, feigning confidence. Jolie’s brow raised in confusion. “I guess Steve doesn’t think I’m a gross little freak because he slept with me at the party on Friday.”
The air between them went still, and the ticks of the clock on the wall kept track of the 5 seconds it took for Jolie to respond. “What?”
Tully’s chest puffed in victory, and her confidence grew exponentially the more devastated her sister's face grew. “And he must have loved it since he’s so desperate to talk to me.”
“You’re a fucking liar.” Joliet’s eyes narrowed even more than they were and she crossed her arms.
“Oh, am I? Well if you don’t believe me, then go ask him for yourself.”
Jolie scoffed, but her face was growing red and her lip unsteady, “I will. And I’ll make sure that everyone knows how pathetic and disgusting you are.” She leaned forward and spat the words into Tully’s face, but Tully, high on the reaction, stood unphased.
Was this the high that Jolie thrived on? The chest-puffing, shoulder straightening confidence at seeing her sister stumbling and caught off guard. Well if it was, it was only worth it for about three seconds before the panic started to set in as Jolie stormed from the room.
Shit. Shit. Shit Shit.
What had she done?
She was already sitting in a shallow hole, and now she carried her own shovel and dug her own grave.
1 Week Before the Party
Tully wailed into the pillow, soaking the fabric with her tears.
Somehow, she’d managed to hold in every single drop until she showed up on Robin’s porch. As soon as her friend opened the front door, she broke down and everything she had hidden from Erik and Jolie at Benny’s came pouring out like a waterfall.
Robin, having sacrificed her bed, sat next to her friend and rubbed her hand up and down her back comfortingly after listening to her blubber the entire story to her.
“Your sister is a bitch.” Robin said, shaking her head in sympathy. “She might even be a sociopath.”
“I know.” The words were weeped, barely coherent, into the muffling pillow.
“A million guys throw themselves at her, and she just had to go after Erik. I don’t even see what’s so great about that cheating bastard. No offense.”
“She did it because he was dating me.”
“And he let her - they’re both compliant in this. Who knows how long this has even been going on.”
Tully cried even louder. It hurt to be reminded of what she already knew - the betrayal was still raw.
Robin sighed and patted her back rhythmically. “There, there. Let it all out, and then we can come up with a way to get back at them.”
Tully’s sobs slowed slightly, and she lifted her head, blinking through the light and blurriness left behind from her tears. “What?”
“You’re not going to let them get away with that, right?”
She might have considered that a few years ago, but now the reparations of trying to put Jolie into her place far outweighed the benefits, because nothing ever went her way. “I’ve learned to ignore it.”
“Why the hell should you ignore it? If I were you, I’d take a page out of her book and make her eat the damn thing.” Robin said animatedly, throwing her hands up. Tully, stared up at her. Robin was never much of a vengeful type, so seeing this side of her was a bit shocking. Robin noticed her stare and crossed her arms. “I’m serious. If she likes to be a bitch so much, then just become an even worse bitch. Cheat with her boyfriend or something.”
“She doesn't have a boyfriend.”
“No, she doesn't.” Robin nodded in agreement, then a small, mischievous smile set on her mouth. “But even she isn’t immune to obsessing over a very specific boy for nearly a decade.”
Even though her face was puffed from all the crying, Tully still managed to raise her brows as Robin’s meaning finally made sense to her. “You mean-”
“Steve. “The Hair.” Harrington.” Robin nodded, satisfied with herself.
“You want me to-”
“Seduce the son of a bitch. Nothing will drive Joliet crazier than you getting the guy she’s been unsuccessfully pining for since the third grade. Plus, it will just back up what you said to Erik. Kill two birds with one stone.”
Tully’s mouth dropped open.
This was an outlandish suggestion, even for Robin. She was fairly certain that Steve Harrington didn’t even know her name. For her to get enough of his attention to seduce him sounded… impossible. A shudder ran up her spine at how horribly she could potentially humiliate herself if she really tried to do something like this.
“There’s no way he’ll sleep with me.”
“Then just get him to kiss you or something. Something that not even Jolie could get from him.”
Tully stared at Robin, astounded and amazed. “When did you come up with this?”
“I had a lot of time to think while you were ruining my pillow case.” Robin pointed at the pillow, which was indeed covered in a dark wet spot where Tully’s tears had soaked through the fabric. Tully rubbed her hand over it sheepishly in a poor attempt to fix it.
She bit her lip and sat up, brushing at the red skin under her eyes. “I don't know.”
“Aren’t you angry at them?”
Angry?
That was an understatement.
She was always angry at Jolie, but this was different. She was rabid with rage. Pent up rage for so long at being wronged by the person who was supposed to be a best friend for her entire life and betrayal from the boy she was starting to love.
Hiding it was just her first instinct now.
Tully nodded, and wiped at another tear that fell from her eye.
“Tap into that inner bitch, I know she’s in there somewhere. Bring her out and show her to the world. It’s about time you stand up for yourself.”
Everyone already thought she was a bitch. The entire school thought so. Hell, the entire town thought so - even her family. Jolie had made sure of that.
Joliet Harding, the pretty nice cheerleader and her nameless bitch sister with straight A’s - an iconic duo that was only half remembered.
She was sick of it.
“How do I get to Steve?”
“I think there’s a party next week at his house. That’s the perfect place to get his attention.”
Tully nodded again, and cleared the last of her sobs from her throat. “I guess we have a party to plan.”
4 Days After the Party
TULLY POV
Tully never walked through the school hallways so fast before. She may as well be running, shoving past students who told her to watch out.
The panic eating away at her insides made it hard to care while she searched frantically for any sign of the infamous king of Hawkins High.
Jolie hadn’t gotten to him yet. She knew that for certain. If she had then Tully would already be buried alive, but she still sat in her grave anxiously waiting for a trial - by fire or whatever else.
Her heart jumped in hope when she saw Steve round the corner straight ahead, and by all merciful gods, he was alone.
Now she really was running.
He didn’t notice her at first while he looked down at a notebook with his eyebrows furrowed. He scratched the top of his head, and if Tully hadn’t been more worried about other things, she would say he looked frustrated.
Her shoes tapped quickly on the tile as she sprinted at him, and the sound triggered his attention. His eyes snapped up and widened when he saw that it was her and that she was coming right at him.
His walk froze, his hands rose defensively, and he flinched as she slid to a stop. Her clammy hand grabbed his raised wrist and pulled him after her down the hallway and into an empty classroom.
He stumbled in, confused, and when she shut the door behind them, he turned.
“Uh,” He looked from her - panting and red in the face - to the door, “What is happening right now?”
“Okay. I know yesterday that I told you to pretend nothing happened, and to just ignore me, and I meant that. But that was yesterday, and now I need to take that back, okay?” She said, and paused long enough to take a breath. “I really, really need you to do me a huge, gigantic favor. My sister is going to ask you if we slept together and instead of pretending nothing happened I need you to say yes. Can you do that? I know you owe me nothing, but my life will be over if you say no.” Her hands gestured dramatically the entire time she spoke, and he leaned away like he was afraid she was going to accidentally hit him.
She gasped, and drank in the air after no breaks between her words. Did he even catch everything she said?
He stared at her, she stared at him. She gulped and her eyes flicked down at the healing bruise on his neck, then back to his face. He smirked.
“You told your sister we slept together?”
Her eager expression dropped - was that all he took away from that entire begging request? What about the part where she said her life would be over?
“Yes. I did, okay? She overheard our conversation, and believe it or not, she makes my life a living hell on the daily so I was upset and she was insulting me and I wasn’t thinking so I told her we slept together just to make her mad but then she…I’m sorry I’m rambling aren't I?” Tully’s head dropped and she ran a hand over her face in frustration. She was ruining this. One simple request, that was all she was asking and she couldn’t even do that right. “My point is, I need your help.”
He tilted his head, studying her.
She raised her hands and pressed her palms together, and begged. She didn’t have doe eyes like Jolie, but she could certainly try to. “Please, please help me. I’ll do anything.”
STEVE POV
Honestly, Steve couldn’t even remember this girl's name before friday.
For the past ten years he always thought of her as ‘Joliet’s sister’ and nothing else.
Until she showed up at that party, caused a lot of trouble, and he decided knowing another name wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get that damn name and that damn night out of his head since.
His hand raised subconsciously and prodded gently at the pink bruise on the side of his neck.
This was all very bizarre. She was very bizarre.
One minute she’s all over him, the next she’s leaving a mark on his neck, the next she’s telling him to leave her alone, and now…
Now she looked fucking adorable.
Who actually does that? Who holds their hands together and pouts their bottom lip and makes puppy dog eyes to get what they want? And dimples. It was those dimples that got him on Friday too.
This was way too bizarre for him right now.
He laughed and shook his head - running a hand through the soft strands of his tousled hair. He had a quiz in the next class, one that he was sorely underprepared for - again. The last thing he wanted to think about was whatever the hell was going on here.
Even if she was batting her lashes and giving him a look that almost made him give in.
Maybe he shouldn’t have called to check on her.
He couldn’t deal with this right now. Not when his grades were hanging by a very thin line and he needed to focus. Steve turned and left the room, ignoring the way her hands dropped and shoulders drooped in disappointment.
He didn’t stick around to see if she was going to follow him from the room either and walked towards his class while trying to memorize every single word on his note page in the next ten minutes.
God, he was doomed.
If the year was starting like this, how would he ever be able to convince his dad that he was serious about college?
He’s screwed.
“Hey Steve.”
Jesus. What now?
He stopped walking as his path was blocked, and looked up to see more people approaching him, led by the one and only Joliet Harding.
He just couldn't get a break could he? One sister, now the other.
Tulsa’s request flew through his mind as fast as she said it minutes earlier.
So she wanted him to lie to Joliet to piss her off? It was an interesting request for sure. Most people saw that the sisters weren’t exactly in the same friend group, but this felt like much more than a normal sibling fight.
The last thing Steve wanted to do was get in the middle of all…this. He learned the lesson once or twice about getting in between girls.
“Hi, Joliet.”
“I love the outfit.” Her eyes scanned him with gracious intensity.
He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, because he was dressed as normal as any other day.
Joliet was hot. For sure. He’d give her that.
But in third grade she had smothered him beyond belief with her crush and it never did quite go away. The popularity she carried with her through the rest of their schooling until now just made it even more difficult.
He liked girls. Don't get him wrong. He loved them even.
But he liked to keep things simple, like to not worry about things like carrying on a relationship. High school romance never lasted anyways so he figured he’d just have fun while he can. Well, that was the plan until his parents busted him last weekend and threatened his future.
Unfortunately, he had a feeling that if he had fun with Jolie, it would quickly become less than fun.
“Thanks.” He gave her an unenthused smile and moved to walk past.
Her perfectly primed hand rose up and placed against his chest, stopping him from leaving. He froze and stared down at her hand and furrowed his brows at her.
“I have a question.” She said. He had an idea where this was going. “My sister told me something weird last night.”
“Oh?” He feigned interest.
She nodded with her hand still resting on his chest. “I know it sounds insane, but she said that you two got very comfortable at the party on friday. Is that true?”
Steve scoffed and looked at the ceiling. Maybe this was his karma for not putting school first all these years.
He should have focused on grades more than girls and parties from the moment he stepped into Hawkins High School and maybe he would be like all those valedictorians who get perfect grades and have their picture hung up on the wall -
His eyes snapped to the line of pictures that hung on the honor wall.
Every year the highest scoring students got to have their picture posted for the entire school to see just how smart and successful they were.
And right there, in the top left corner was a now familiar face, grinning with dimples and all under the name ‘Tulsa Harding’.
His hand clutched the notebook he was holding, and he looked behind him.
There she was.
She stood behind a group of kids watching the interaction between him and Joliet with anxious eyes. He wasn't sure if she had been trying to follow him or not, but her eyes were wide and her top teeth bit at her bottom lip in worry. She jumped slightly when she realized that Steve was looking right at her.
There was a final plea in her expression.
‘I’ll do anything.’
She said that. She said she’ll do anything .
He smirked at her, and her face fell.
When he looked back to Joliet, she had noticed Tulsa there too. The confidence in her cocky stance had slipped a bit and her attention flicked back and forth between Steve and Tully, trying to understand.
“Yeah, that’s true.” He said.
Jolie stiffened, her face dropped, and her brows furrowed.
“What?” It was a breathless question, like she couldn't quite believe she even needed to ask it.
“Why wouldn’t I?” A mischievous glint sparked in his eyes, “She is my girlfriend after all.”