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HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1984.
THERESA HAD BEEN AVOIDING STEVE.
Well, not avoiding him per se, but rather... avoiding a certain conversation with him. She knew he wanted to talk about it, and Tess wanted to do anything but talk about it.
"So what'd you think?" Steve asked as he and Theresa walked out of the movie theater, stepping out into the cold December air. It had been almost a month since their battle with the Demodogs, the fight with Billy, and setting the underground tunnels on fire.
Tess looked up at him with a small smile. "It was an... interesting movie."
Steve rolled his eyes, knowing that meant she did not like it.
"Are you serious? It was The Terminator! That was literally the coolest movie I've seen since Indiana Jones."
She burst into laughter. "I mean, sure, Arnold Schwarzenegger looked pretty good. That was basically the whole plot of the movie."
Steve shook his head in disbelief, walking alongside her down the sidewalk.
"That's all you took away from it?"
Theresa shrugged, then nodded. "...Pretty much."
He sighed, dropping his shoulders. Steve could not even be upset with her in the slightest, because he had been lucky enough for her to even agree to go. She had seemed a bit distant since that night, not completely different but... something had changed.
Steve wanted to address it, to at least ask her if she was doing alright. But he only observed her from afar, often finding himself daydreaming about her in class. They made an A on their Physics project– no surprise there– and that seemed to bring them closer together. Steve had randomly thanked Mr. Morris one day, not even giving an explanation as to why. But truly, if it were not for him, Steve had no idea if he and Tess would be on good terms at that very moment.
"I wanna go see the Christmas tree," Theresa remarked, drawing him from his thoughts. She was referring to the tree in the town square, which was done annually.
He had no objections, smiling down at her. "Your wish is my command, Miss Sinclair."
Grabbing her hand, Steve began to run down the sidewalk while Tess had no choice but to run with him, yelping a bit as he took her off guard.
"Steve!" she weakly protested as he laughed, leading her to the town square where the giant Christmas tree stood.
He finally came to a stop, Theresa placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
