the next day, school seems to be buzzing. mostly, its the gossip about tj's brother, who had been the life of the party the night before. tj is already sick of hearing about it by second period. the looks she gets are equally annoying. tj knows she has the power to rule the school alongside billy, but she wants nothing to do with this shithole town or anyone in it. as soon as she graduates, she plans on  making her way back home to sunny california.

she tries hard to pretend she doesn't notice the looks she gets from other girls, but its growing increasingly hard to not notice by the time lunch rolls around. when the bell rings, ending her last class before lunch, tj quickly makes her way out to her bronco with her sack lunch so she can get away from the wandering gazes of fellow peers.

because of the november chill, few students are outside and this relieves tj more than anything. halfway through her sandwich, a figure approaches tj. with her nose stuck in her chemistry book, she doesn't notice until their shadow catches her attention. tj sighs, prepared to go off on someone. she's surprised to see it's the kid from the party last night, steve.

"hey," he greets, his voice low. he sounds somewhere between sad and irritated and tj is curious to know if it's that girlfriend of his again.

"you look even worse than last night," tj comments.

"that's supposed to make me feel better?" steve mutters, leaning against the opposite fender. he runs a hand through his hair, instantly messing it up.

"listen, i'm not a therapist. i'm probably the last person you should go to to feel better."

steve remains silent. he doesn't move to leave tj, so tj assumes he didn't care one way or the other if she is going to actually try and cheer the guy up.

"your brother's an asshole," steve says suddenly and tj scoffs.

"i could have told you that," she says. "least you didn't share the womb with him."

this makes steve chuckle, but only a little, and then he's back to glaring at the blacktop again.

"i feel like a loser," steve says.

tj shrugs. "welcome to the club. it's even more fun when you don't give a shit."

"i used to rule this school. now it's your brother. and me and nancy are done, i think. and i got my ass kicked in basketball. and i don't think i'm gonna get into college."

tj hums in thought. "anything else?"

steve frowns again. "you're really bad at playing supportive friend."

"listen," tj says, slightly surprised steve is already labeling her as his friend. they barely know each other. "you gotta let that shit go. high school isn't forever. trust me, i used to run the show with my brother. i was one of those popular girls that got a high from stepping all over everyone else. now, i'm just trying to keep my head down. as soon as we graduate, you're gonna find life to be a lot harder than it is now. in adult world, no one gives a shit."

steve nods, taking in tj's words. "so i should give this up, huh?"

"just the tough guy act," tj says. "people are a lot more fun when they don't try so hard. you're gonna meet all kinds of people in life and they're gonna be from all different backgrounds. you'll get new girls, new friends, new styles... i realized on the drive from cali that none of this shit is worth giving yourself up for. real people like real people."

"but i'm real," steve tries to defend.

"are you? or are you butthurt because you lost a game of p.e. basketball to a nikki sixx wannabe?"

steve grins. "you have it out for your own brother?"

"no. he's about the only family i have. i just know he's not gonna make it anywhere in life. you, on the other hand, seem to be a little bit more bendable. you at least have potential."

"thanks. i think."

tj smiles at steve. "if we're gonna be friends, you gotta get used to me being blunt."

"at least you're real about it."

"real people like real people," tj repeats.

after lunch, steve and tj walk to math together. they sit on opposite sides of the room, but tj notices steve won't  stop glancing her way every so often, almost like he's trying to get her attention. tj ignores him for the most part, trying to keep her attention solely on the lesson. when the teacher breaks them up to do partner work— something tj never understood for math class— steve flocks straight to her, taking over the seat from the kid in front of her.

"i'm sorry, who told you I was a wizard in algebra?"

"i just assumed, since you're taking chemistry..."

"dude, i'm just giving you shit."

steve nods. "what are you doing after this?"

"um, gym," tj replied.

"uh, no, I meant after school."

"probably going home, avoiding my parents, and doing homework."

"you wanna hang out? i mean, like study or something?"

"what, am i your rebound?"

steve blinks at her incredulously. tj smirks.

"i didn't mean—"

"steve," tj says. "i'm joking."

"oh. you know, you really can't tell with you."

"you'll get used to it. anyway, I don't think hanging out is such a good idea. not at my place, at least. my dad is an asshole and, from what I can tell, you don't get on too well with billy."

"right. um, some other time?"

tj shrugs. "sure. it's not like I have any other guys tripping over themselves to hang out with me."

steve glares. "tj, come on," he begs. "i really didn't mean it like that."

"steve."

"yeah?"

"i'm joking."

•

tj walks into her house. no cars were out front, so she assumed everyone else was off doing whatever. tj is glad she has the house to herself again. she knows it won't be long before billy comes bursting in to give her shit or her dad comes in to yell at her over something stupid; what little time she has in solitude, she soaks up.

she desperately wishes to be back home, sitting on the beach in the sun. she could be far away from her dad and her brother and enjoying life with her friends. now, the only promise she has of returning to california is if she gets accepted into berkeley like she so desperately wants.

her gpa is shattered, due to her previous years of just skating by, but she decided on putting in hard work this year in the hopes she can turn everything around and make it into university. she still has until may to fix it and she has high hopes of bumping herself up to at least a 3.0. tj has a long way to go.

around five, tj hears the front door open and slam. she quickly jumps up and locks her bedroom door. she doesn't want to be bothered. not by her dad, not by susan, not even max, who she rarely speaks to but actually tolerates most out of her family. and max isn't even blood related to her.

billy, she can take in small portions. sometimes they genuinely get along. since tj had decided to give up her partying and hit the books, it seems it's a rarity for them to get along. regardless, billy still looks after her, even if he hates to admit that he does. since their mom had died, billy and tj really only have each other.

there's a knock on her door. "tara?" the only person that calls her tara is her dad. "did you pick up your sister from school?"

"billy was supposed to," tj responds.

"that goddamned kid," her father grumbles. "open this door."

"why?" tj responds, but that's a huge mistake.

"tara-jane open this damn door!"

tj drops her texts and, boots still on, scrambles over to her window and throws it open. she grabs her keys off her desk and swiftly climbs through the window and out into the cold. quickly, she runs around the house to her truck and climbs in before peeling out of the drive and down the road.

tj doesn't know where to go. she doesn't know anyone in this town except steve and she has no idea where he even lives.

tj usually runs away when her father's in a dangerous mood. since he and susan had gotten together, the violent outbursts like this are rare. even so, tj doesn't like to stick around to see if she'll get screamed at or hit. he hasn't hit her since she was a child, but she knows if he could do it then, he'd most certainly do it now.

tj drives around for hours before finally pulling into the school parking lot and killing the engine. she's scared to go home, and tj admitting that she has fears at all. she's supposed to be hard and cold and fearless, like billy. that's how she's made it this far.

but tj is alone, and when you're alone, fears have a unique was of creeping up on you. the darkness around the school provides no reassurance. the longer she sits there alone, the more she realizes how much hawkins gives her the creeps. tj can't quite pinpoint why or how, either, and that drives her crazy.

•

the next morning, tj wakes up to the sound of cars pulling into the lot. she jumps as she notices people are starting their day already. how she'd slept so long in her truck, tj has no idea, but she knows she's screwed. she hadn't come home last night after running away, something that's gonna get her in deep shit, and it's now almost the start of school; tj has neither clean clothes nor any of her homework or books for the day.

she curses lowly and startes up her truck. a car pulls in next to hers and she's surprised to see its steve. she rolls her window down as he approaches.

"hey," he greets, sounding a little better than the day before.

"hi," she replies, voice hoarse.

"hate to say it, but you look like shit," he says.

"aren't you sweet?"

he ignores her comment. "what happened?"

tj shrugs. she didn't want to go into details about her night. "nothing. um, i need to run home before school starts."

steve cocks an eyebrow. "why?"

"uh, i forgot my homework."

"oh. well, i can wait for you?"

she shakes her head. "i'll probably miss first period."

"okay. well, i'll see you at lunch?"

tj nods, doing her best not to smile so wide at him. tj pulls out of the lot and heads for home, praying her dad isn't there to greet her.