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HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1983.
STEVE STARED AT THERESA IN disbelief for a moment.
"Y-You want me to what?"
Tess rolled her eyes shortly. "Never mind. I knew it was gonna sound dumb."
She started back toward her house but Steve stopped her. "Wait, wait! Tess!"
He grabbed her arm gently, Theresa facing him with an expectant look.
"It's not dumb. I-I just wasn't expecting you to ask that."
Folding her arms, Theresa's expression slowly softened. She dropped her head. "Well I just– yeah. I'm worried about Priya. And I don't want to think that she might be..."
Steve understood what she was saying without Tess having to finish her sentence. He nodded, hesitantly reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," he spoke softly.
Theresa looked up, meeting his eyes.
"Of course I'll help you," Steve continued. "That's what friends are for, right?"
Tess slowly began to smile, poking her tongue in her cheek.
"Right."
She looked at him a moment longer, then drew in a sharp breath. "Alright. So we'll start looking tonight. Meet me at St. Mary Avenue at eight o'clock."
Steve stumbled on his words, taken by surprise at how quickly Theresa had thought this out.
"Tonight?" he echoed with uncertainty.
Tess shot him a look. "What, are you chickening out already? That's Priya's neighborhood. We'll start looking there."
"Don't you think the police have already looked there? I-I mean, why don't we look at my house and see if she left something behind?"
She frowned, eyeing Steve. "Why do I feel like this is just an excuse to get me to come to your house?"
Steve winced. "...Okay, I can see where you might have gotten that, but that's not what I meant. I swear."
Theresa broke into a laugh, replying, "I know, I'm just messing with you. But we'll still start at St. Mary, and then maybe... we can go to your place."
