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21:40 | October 31st, 1984 – Tina’s Halloween Bash
From the moment Nancy had gotten in the car, Steve had known something was wrong. She was unusually quiet on the way to the party, just staring out the window. He wasn’t sure if she was mad at him or what, but ever since they’d talked about his college application essay this morning, she’d been unusually quiet. Finally, they pulled up to Tina’s house. After an eternity of excruciating silence, the steady thump of the base and heavy metal coming from the house felt like a miracle. The house was so crowded that people were scattered all over the front lawn. They were really late. But this was gonna be fun, right? He was Steve Harrington. He didn’t just go to parties; he was the party. You got this Harrington. You got this!
Nancy got out of the car and Steve, hurried around to the other side, draping his arm over her shoulders and walking up the path with her. There was a huge crowd blocking the entrance, shouting numbers and Steve wondered what the hell was going on. When they reached 42, everyone started shouting and cheering and the crowd broke apart enough for Steve to see what had everybody so excited.
That new kid – the asshole with the long hair – Billy was finishing up a keg stand and everyone outside was chanting his name. Billy immediately zoned in on Steve and strode over with this obnoxious swagger. Honestly Steve was so done with this guy, and of course, Tommy was right next to him. Steve hadn’t talked to Tommy in a few months, ever since Nancy pointed out how much of a douchebag he was. She was completely right, and he didn’t miss this guy at all, even if he didn’t really have anyone to hang out with anymore.
“We got ourselves a new keg king, Harrington.” Tommy gloated, as though Steve actually cared.
“Yeah! Eat it, Harrington,” Some other dude chimed in.
Nancy rolled her eyes and pushed Steve off her, stalking off into the house. Damn, he must have really messed something up. Billy stared at him smugly, partially blocking his way.
“Whatever.” Steve huffed halfheartedly, hoping to avoid another fight with this asshole.
Billy stared at Steve, a smirk on his face, leaning in uncomfortably close. So close that Steve could smell his sour beer breath. For a tense moment, Steve thought this so-called “keg king” was gonna start something.
But instead, Billy smiled and said, “Enjoy the party, Harrington.”
Then Billy slammed his shoulder into Steve – clearly on purpose – and strutted off, probably to flirt with one of the many girls losing their shit over him.
Steve shook it off – the other guy obviously just wanted to get under his skin – and jogged to catch up with his girlfriend. Nancy was already at the punch bowl grabbing a solo cup and dipping it beneath the dry ice mist and into a red liquid that, based on the three empty bottles piled next to it, probably contained a metric shit ton of vodka. She tipped her full cup back and started chugging. Shit. It was a party, some drinking was expected, but she was a lightweight. Shit. This is bad.
“Hey! woah, woah, woah,” Steve touched her shoulder lightly when she didn’t slow down. “Take it easy. Take it easy. Nance. Nance!”
She jerked back from his touch like it burned.
“Just being a stupid teenager, isn’t that what you wanted?”
She filled the cup all the way up a second time and downed it in one gulp. Some guy in a toga cheered her on. She filled it up again and walked away, throwing him a sarcastic salute. Not Steve’s favorite party so far. But they could bring it back.
He followed Nancy over to the center of the house and they started dancing. She was clearly drunk, flailing her arms everywhere and drinking more from her cup as they danced, but at least they were finally having fun. Steve beamed. Now this! This is a party! Dancing. Having fun. Just being a teenager while they still could. Not worrying about college or jobs or any of that adult shit. But then Nancy started stumbling back to the punch before the song even ended. Steve followed just behind her, a knot of dread building at the pit of his stomach. If she had any more of that stuff, she’d get absolutely shitfaced.
“Hold on.” He grabbed her arm right as she went for the punch bowl.
“Get off.” Nancy slurred, trying to get away from him.
“You’ve had enough okay,” Steve said firmly, gently pulling her back. As her boyfriend, he couldn’t let her make a fool of herself, he knew she’d regret it tomorrow.
“Screw you!” Nancy wrenched her arm out of his grip and filled up her cup all the way.
“Nance,” Steve pleaded, “Hey. Hey. Stop. I’m serious.” Steve tried to pry the cup out of her hands but she held onto it with a surprisingly strong grip. “Put it down.”
“Steve! Stop!” Nancy yanked the cup backwards and it spilled all over her white shirt.
“OoooooHHHhh!” Everyone at the party cried in unison and stopped dancing to stare at the drama unfolding.
“What the hell?” Nancy glared at him, and tried to walk past him but he caught her arm.
“Nance.” He lowered his voice. “Hey, I’m sorry. Come on lemme take you home.”
“No! You wanted this!” Nancy accused, her voice slurring even worse than before.
“No, I didn’t want this. I told you to stop drinking.” Steve frowned. He could still feel everyone staring at them. They really needed to get out of here. “Come on, let’s go.”
“It’s bullshit. This is bullshit. It’s… bullshit!”
The room was dead quiet. Nancy’s yelling seemed to reach every corner of the house. Steve reached for her arm, but she stared at him with so much anger that he froze and his hand just hovered awkwardly in the air between them.
“Bullshit!” Nancy shouted again and Steve flinched.
“No, it’s not bullshit. Okay? It’s not–” Steve started but Nancy cut him off.
“No. You. You’re bullshit.”
Steve’s heart stopped.
“What?” He asked in a small voice.
“You’re never getting into college. So, what are you gonna do? Wait for me?” She emphasized her words with a sarcasm that seemed too sharp for someone so drunk. “So that I can come back and give up MY CAREER and be your little housewife and then we’ll be EXACTLY–”
“Nancy–” Steve felt like he was going to throw up.
“EXACTLY like our parents. PATHETIC AND DEPRESSING! I’m going to be something, Steve! Not everyone wants a WORTHLESS. BULLSHIT. LIFE.”
People cheered and whistled as Nancy stalked off. Steve turned and braced his hands against the counter behind him.
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath.
The loud hum of background noise picked up again as everyone went back to whatever they were doing before. Steve just kept staring at the counter. He could feel something prickling at the corners of his eyes and he swore again, quickly wiping it away. The last thing he wanted was to cry in front of all these people. He stared at the punch bowl, that stupid fucking punch bowl, just sitting there. Maybe he should just get drunk too. Maybe then he could forget everything Nancy said.
His hand moved toward the stack of solo cups but he paused.
He was taking Nancy home. If he got drunk who would drive her back? Fuck. He really, really wanted to get drunk right now, but he loved Nancy and needed to make sure she got home safe. Sighing, Steve grabbed a plate of brownies instead. He’d just have to eat his feelings.
Steve pushed through the crowd, almost dropping the plate a couple times when people bumped into him, and finally making his way to the bedrooms at the back of the house. He heard a girl moaning behind the first door and the second was locked. He was really starting to hate parties. He opened the only other door and stopped when he saw a girl already sitting on the bed. She had shoulder length brown hair and freckles, and was wearing a lab coat, a baggy black shirt, and large round goggles on top of her head. Steve didn’t recognize her, but based on the annoyed look on her face she knew him. Or at least knew of him. She also probably didn’t like him. But he was desperate.
The girl stared at him awkwardly for a moment before slowly leaving the bed and easing the door closed again. Steve braced his foot against the door to keep it open and she frowned.
“Hey… I’ve had a pretty shitty night… Could I hide in here for a while?”
“Uhhhhh…” The girl did not look convinced. “Maybe use a different room…?”
The girl stared at him awkwardly, waiting for him to move.
“I’ll share the brownies?” Steve tried, waving the plate in front of her face.
Steve smiled but the girl was still awkward and tense. He frowned. She was clearly immune to his Harrington charm. Finally, he sighed and decided to go with honesty.
“All the other rooms are taken.”
“…Fine.” She sighed and stepped aside from the entrance.
The girl got back onto the bed, pulling her legs up underneath her, and Steve sat in a nearby office chair, setting the brownies on the desk in front of him, so that she could reach them. They sat in silence for long past just awkward, descending into new levels of uncomfortable that Steve hadn’t even known were possible.
“So, I’m Steve…”
“I know.” The girl nodded.
Well, he was pretty popular, or he used to be before Billy started trying to singlehandedly ruin his reputation. Anyway, it wasn’t that weird that she already knew him.
“Right, and you are…?” Steve prompted.
She blinked a couple times.
“Robin,” she said incredulously.
“Nice to meet you.”
Robin frowned at him. “We have a history class together?”
“Uhh…?”
“I sit behind you!”
“Oh… Right.” Steve nodded and pretended to remember, even though he still had absolutely no clue who she was. He searched around for another topic, anything to change the subject. “Uh, what are you dressed as?”
“Oh… um, Frankenstein,” Robin crossed her arms.
“Isn’t Frankenstein a monster with stitches and green skin?” Steve gestured to his face to illustrate his point.
Robin looked at Steve like he was an absolute idiot.
“No. That’s Frankenstein’s monster. The monster doesn’t have a name. Jesus, it’s required reading! You took freshman English right? I mean in our class Mr. Hauser spent an entire week talking about how the characters only ever refer to Frankenstein’s creation as ‘the monster’ or ‘it,’ and how the creature’s never given a name, and how, despite what it seems like initially, that really represents his creator’s lack of humanity more than his creation’s.”
Robin leaned forward with an unexpectedly intense look on her face. “And he didn’t even mention the fact that the person who created him or really, created it – you know Victor Frankenstein – he’s the one the book and movies are named after, despite the story focusing more on the monster. And yet! Everyone always calls his creation Frankenstein, which if you think about it is really ironic because–” She glanced at Steve and broke off her sudden rant, mumbling, “I’m the mad scientist from the book Frankenstein… by Mary Shelly.”
“Right… Cool.” Steve nodded and looked away, grimacing, and Robin just stared uncomfortably at the ground.
They both reached for the plate of brownies at the same time. Steve was already regretting his decision to come in here. This girl was… kinda weird and basically impossible to talk to. He’d only stay in here a little longer, then he’d get back out there. He popped an entire brownie into his mouth and looked up to see Robin shoving two into her mouth at the same time while she snatched a third. He grabbed another one and had eaten half of it when he gagged and pulled a leaf out of his mouth.
“Ugh. Why are there leaves in this? Is this a prank or something?”
“Steve…” Robin stared at the brownie in her hand. “Where did you get these?”
“Uh…”
Now that he thought about it, who would bring brownies to a party? No one ever brought food… Oh shit. Robin slowly and deliberately placed her uneaten brownie back on the pile, and Steve put his half-eaten one next to it. Well, someone else is going to have to drive Nancy home, because I’m getting high with Victor Frankenstein.
Steve thought it would be even more awkward being high with Robin, but half an hour later they were chatting like best friends. Talking about the weirdest shit from whether moths had mouths (they probably did) to how Reagan was handling the cold war and the commies (which Robin knew way too much about). They talked for hours and Steve couldn’t stop smiling. He hadn’t talked with someone like this in a really long time. God, he needed friends. Maybe he was pathetic. Nancy is probably right.
“Why Nancy, though?” Robin asked out of nowhere.
“Huh?” For a brief, terrifying second, Steve thought Robin could read minds.
“Like why Nancy? Like, why are you dating her? I mean yeah, she’s pretty, like really pretty. But she’s so… prissy and shallow. I mean… I can’t believe Barb was ever friends with her, she’s just…” Robin made a gagging noise.
“Oh! No. She’s– she’s not like that at all.”
Robin snorted. “Aren’t you hiding here because she yelled at you?”
“Well, yeah but. I mean. That’s… different.” Steve started spinning his chair around and around, enjoying the woozy feeling in his head. “She doesn’t normally… She doesn’t– you know…? She’s nice! And she’s pretty and smart. Really smart.”
Robin put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. “I’m just saying like there are way better girls.”
“Pfft. Better than Nancy? No,” Steve shook his head as he spun in slow circles, making himself a little dizzy. “She’s pretty and smart. And nice, did I mention she’s super nice?”
“Okay, but. Like,” Robin rolled onto her side to face him. “Tammy. Thompson.”
“Wha– Tammy? No.” He was sure she must be joking but as the chair turned, Steve saw Robin’s serious expression come in and out of view. “No, no. You can’t even compare them.”
“Seriously Steve?! She’s perfect. Tammy is perfect. She’s pretty and perfect and she’s obsessed with you. Do you know what I’d give to get Tammy Thompson to look at me that way! She’s gorgeous and amazing and talented. God, I like her so much.”
“You like Tammy Thompson…? But she’s a girl.”
“Shit… Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
Steve stuck his feet down and stopped spinning abruptly. He slowly turned his chair to face Robin, cocking his head. Her eyes were wide. She was really freaking out about this. But why is she freaking out? What am I missing? He felt a lot more clear headed now, so he should be getting this. She was panicking like she’d just said something wrong, something she hadn’t meant to…
Then it clicked. “Oh.”
Robin grabbed a pillow, shoved her face in it, and started screaming into it. So… she likes girls. Okay. Wow. He hadn’t expected that. He’d never met a lesbian before. And it might be a little different but… Well… Did it really matter? This was the first time in so long he felt like he’d had a real conversation with anyone (even if they’d been high for 90% of it), so honestly who gives a shit who Robin liked.
“Sure, she’s cute,” Steve sat next to Robin on the bed. “But there’s no way she’s better than Nancy. I mean… she’s a dud.”
Robin slowly removed her head from the pillow and stared at him.
“What?”
“I said… Tammy Thompson is a total dud.”
Robin blinked a couple times and suddenly she burst out laughing and Steve couldn’t help but join in. Soon, their conversation devolved into them both making fun of Tammy Thompson’s singing voice, with Steve belting out an off-key rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart that ended with both of them in stitches and someone knocking on their door to ask if they were alright. All in all, not the worst party he’d been to.