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theautisticbarbie · 1 year

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A Bird of Praise

Act II

Chapter III: Fall into Chaos

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Word count: 8,642 (yeah this one is a DOOZY I apologise but it’s worth it! I promise!)

Chapter summary: When school starts again in the fall, things are very different for Tara with Billy around. Unfortunately, that’s not all for the best. When the two attend Tina’s Halloween rager, the night ends on a sinister note.

Warnings: abuse, domestic violence, mentions of police intervention, cheating, RAPE (No because Jason was literally giving Brock Turner the moment I laid eyes on him)

Tara had been fumbling with her makeup for a good 10 minutes. The Homecoming Pep Rally started in 5. First, it was making sure her eye shadow blended correctly, then she fought with her false eyelashes. All while dealing with a black eye that she worked hard to make sure nobody could see.

Oh yes. The black eye.

It started when Billy picked her up from ballet practise. Tara noticed a bra that was definitely too small to be hers under the car seat.

He had been cheating on her. Again. When she confronted him about it, he went on and on about how he had needs and now that she was cast as principal for the upcoming Halloween show, something which he belittled her about despite this being something she strived for since she started dancing, she was unable to satisfy them. The two argued and it came to a head when Billy asked Tara for a beer. Oh yeah. Tara’s mini-fridge was now almost exclusively housing his alcohol supply. When she refused to let him get drunk on account of the fact that she wanted to talk this out, he struck her across the face.

He got his stupid beer in the end. And when Tara woke up the next morning, she woke up to a sea of grovelling and how it was really Neil’s fault that he was like this and he loved her and never actually wanted to hurt her and that he would change.

He said that he was trying to get into counselling but that he had to do so behind Neil and Susan’s back since they didn’t believe in that sort of thing.

Tara, of course, didn’t buy any of it, but the first time she told him that she needed a break, she came home from work to see police cars lined on the street, Susan crying, an ambulance examining a very bruised and battered Max, and Billy and Neil sitting on the curb in handcuffs.

Tara, of course, asked Daniel what happened. Billy apparently blamed Max for Tara wanting a break and the two got into it, with Billy quickly making the situation physical. Neil walked in on Billy beating Max and decided to intervene… by physically wailing on Billy. Susan was terrified and called 911 when Neil started choking him, going on about how he should have “taken [his] sorry ass out of this world” a long time ago, and when the police arrived and saw what was going on, they quickly slapped the cuffs on them both.

Thankfully, or not depending on how you looked at it, nobody was ultimately arrested. Afraid of what Billy might do to Max if she tried that again, she stuck by him, for better or worse.

Once Tara got her makeup the way she wanted it, she got into her costume. Her and a few others were doing performances from the Ballet Team. Tara was doing Kitri’s Act I Variation from Don Quixote.

Because many of the other ballet team members were also either on colour guard, roller derby, the swim team or cheerleading, there weren’t a whole lot of dancers who were willing to toss their hats into the ring for solos. So stepping up for that was a great and very easy way to get into Ms McIntyre’s good graces, and your chances of making principal went up significantly.

Once it was Tara’s turn to perform, she gave it her all. Kitri’s variation was very intense, but the fact that she made her own costumes for competitions, which she could most definitely repurpose for solos, gave her that extra boost of confidence.

She blew a kiss at Billy at a moment that seemed appropriate and finished out her solo strong.

Tara walked off stage to catch her breath and heard that some girl named Irenia was next. Oh yeah. She had seen her in class but she only ever danced background. Never principal.

As soon as the music started, Tara immediately recognised it. Irenia’s variation was from La Esmeralda.

Immediately, she wondered if Billy was leering at her. Was she going to catch him making advances towards her? Was she going to reciprocate. All of these thoughts ran through her head.

And she hated it.

Tara was never a jealous person before Billy. He made her this way with his rampant unfaithfulness.

After the pep rally, Tara was approached by a male classmate in the hallway asking if he could copy her notes. She hurriedly told him to meet her in the library after class before fleeing. Because as many girls as Billy entertained, heaven forbid if he ever caught her interacting with another man.

Nobody cared about messing with Tara Newman’s man, but EVERYONE knew to stay away from Billy Hargrove’s girl. Despite it only being a month since he started going to school here, he VERY quickly made a reputation for himself. Though, the body language from the other jocks made it clear that his popularity came from fear. Not adoration. And Tara immediately felt the difference, which was the silver lining of all of this. The remarks that referred to Tara as “retarded” or other such things came to a near complete stop, and whenever she DID hear such occasional murmurs, all she had to do was look in the general direction in which it was coming from and their tune IMMEDIATELY changed.

Tara had to admit, seeing Jason Carver look like he was going to shit himself just because she raised her head was pretty satisfying.

She still sat by herself at lunch, but she didn’t have to go out of her way to find a spot like she used to. Usually, when she walked into the cafeteria, some group will quickly make remarks about how they were “just leaving” before hurriedly eating lunch elsewhere.

That was, of course, part of the few occasions in which Billy didn’t practically drag Tara to what he claimed as “his table” with the other jocks. Tara felt like a total stranger there, never spoke, never ate more than a few bites of her food, usually because Billy berated her for being such a “gross eater” anytime she tried to satisfy her human need for sustenance, and just generally didn’t want to be there at all. Especially since she was the only girl there not in a cheer uniform.

There was one table, however, that never made way for Tara on the few occasions where she was able to eat in peace, and these were people that absolutely nobody at school wanted to be associated with at any capacity. And it was a group that her brother was part of.

The freaks. Hellfire Club.

Their leader, who for some reason looked vaguely familiar, was not afraid of Billy AT ALL. In fact, he openly mocked him for seizing the top of the hierarchy through fear, something which his cohorts adamantly denied even though it was glaringly obvious. He sometimes even stood on top of their table to drive the point home. Shockingly, though, he seemed to go out of his way to keep Tara’s name out of his mouth. Perhaps he wasn’t as fearless as he touted himself up to be.

For some reason, though, this always triggered a thought in Tara’s mind. It could be much worse. Her old middle school bully, Eddie Munson, could be there making her life a living hell. He was definitely bold enough to do so even knowing that Billy would have crushed his windpipe without hesitation. She never quite understood what was going on in that buzzed head of his. Once in a blue moon, he was genuinely kind to her with no clear ulterior motives, but as soon as she started being nice back, he was right back to his erratic shenanigans.

After that Halloween prank, though, she went to great lengths to avoid him all together. If she was doing her math correctly, which she would be the first to admit she didn’t always do, Eddie graduated during Tara’s freshman year, during which she made sure to duck anyone with buzzed hair and skull t-shirts.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen ANYONE like that around town at all in a few years. She definitely saw Wayne every now and again. It was a small town, so it’s not as though she should have never seen him ever again, so that made her wonder what happened to make him drop off the face of the earth.

She had a few theories. One was that Eddie finally pissed his uncle off with his shenanigans and got sent to military school. Another was that he crossed the line of no return and got sent to prison. Or he picked a fight with the wrong person and got killed for his troubles. Or maybe he went off to college and didn’t come back.

The world may never know. Either way, Eddie’s replacement, whose name Tara never could quite catch, mostly on account of the fact that if word got out that she was poking around freak business, that could come back to bite her in the blubber, was definitely favourable to Eddie. Tara tried to get it out of her brother, but he was even more hostile about her butting into his personal life. Either way, whereas Eddie was indiscriminately destructive and menacing, especially towards special Ed kids, this new guy only went after people who deserved it.

A few days before the showcase, during which, her mother thankfully had time off to see, Tara got a call after rehearsal, on a cellphone which her father purchased for her and her mother explicitly told her was for emergencies only, stating that Daniel didn’t come home. That was definitely strange. Unless she got her days mixed up, which definitely happened from time to time, Hellfire club wasn’t meeting today.

“I’ll go to Gareth’s house to see if he might be over there!”

“Please do! I feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack!”

Tara pulled up to the Emerson household, only knowing it’s whereabouts thanks to that one time Daniel’s motorcycle needed the spark plugs replaced, forcing Tara to give him rides everywhere until that was done, and knocking on the front door.

“Oh hello there! You must be Daniel’s sister!” a woman started in a midwestern accent. “Oh I have just heard so much about you, but I don’t think I ever quite caught your name!”

“It’s Tara, ma’am. Is my brother here? Mom’s kinda getting worried.”

“Oh there’s no need for that! ‘Mrs. Emerson’ is just fine! My husband dropped them all off at the arcade not too long ago! They should still be there!”

“Thanks! I appreciate it!”

“Oh of course! You come back anytime, Tara! Don’t be a stranger!”

“Will do! Thanks again!” Tara called, getting back into her car.

The arcade. Of course. Everyone in her immediate circle, from the boys she chaperoned on occasion to her brother and his cohorts was flocking there every chance they had.

Tara had taken Max there a few times during Billy’s fits of drunken rage, and she took a liking to the place immediately, but now it seemed as though everyone and their mother wanted to be there.

Tara pulled up to the building to see a full blown argument already taking place. Not only was her brother and his party involved, but so were the 4 little troublemakers who now made it their business to be there on a regular basis.

“Hold on!” Tara said, quite literally inserting herself between the bickering parties.

She took the pause to asses who was present. Obviously there was Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas, but her brother’s party was not only missing a member, the unidentified mullet man leader, but there was someone among them who she hadn’t ever seen at all. This man also had a mullet, but it was much lighter in colour, closer to an almond brown, and sparse. He was also very clearly too old to still be in high school. And then there was Keith. Because of course Keith started this because Keith’s general attitude of being an elitist, territorial nerd was always bound to cause conflict. Tara fondly remembers the day Daniel beat him within an inch of his life as though it were yesterday. Of course, Keith made it out to be a valiant duel and acted as though he only barely lost.

“Now, what is going on?” She finally asked.

“Keith knows who MADMAX is and won’t tell us!” Mike blurted out.

“Who?” Tara asked in confusion.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out!” Lucas said.

“Whoever this guy is, he keeps kicking our asses,” Daniel said, pointing to the Space Invader scoreboard.

The scoreboard went as followed.

81,978 MADMAX

53,431 DANMAN

“Woof!” Tara said, observing the scoreboard. “She whupped you good!”

“She?” Suddenly everyone was staring at her as though she had something they wanted.

“I’m just saying,” Tara began defensively, “if you presume MADMAX is a boy, you might not find him.”

“No way!” Dustin said. “You know something!”

“I don’t have a clue who this person is. I’m just saying that you should keep an open mind if you hope to find them,” Tara said.

“Girls don’t play video games!” Daniel declared. “Not like this!”

“So,” Tara said, trying to change the subject. “Daniel, were you courteous enough to make introductions?”

“Dude, we literally just got here! Cut me some slack!” Daniel said.

“Okay,” Tara inhaled sharply, “Mike, Lucas, Will, Dustin,” she gestured to Daniel’s party, “You’ve met my brother, Daniel. This is Gareth, Jeff and….”

“Rick!” The almond brunette introduced himself. “Pleasure.”

“Rick,” Tara repeated. “You know, I don’t think I ever caught your leader’s name. Crazy black hair. Denim jacket. Kinda on the wild side. Where is he, anyway?”

“What do you care, Tara?” Gareth asked, seeming particularly cross.

“He had to handle some business,” Daniel answered.

“Business?” Tara asked.

“Yeah. He owns a small business,” Daniel said.

“Oh that’s nice! What does he do?” Tara asked curiously.

“He sells… plants,” Daniel said hesitantly.

“Oh wow! I didn’t know you could make money off of that!” Tara said.

Jeff and Gareth literally could not help but chuckle out the sides of their mouths.

“Actually,” Rick interjected. “It’s quite profitable. I’m his business partner. I provide the plants and he sells them.”

“Oh so he’s like a middle man!” Tara said.

“Exactly,” Rick said.

“It’s pretty late, though. Who would want plants at this time of night?”

Jeff and Gareth literally collapsed to the floor with laughter.

“What’s wrong with them?”

The next day, Tara drove herself to school mostly because she was not in the mood to argue with Billy at all. Especially not so close to her performance of her number 2 dream role with dress rehearsal happening today. The Halloween showcase was a production of Giselle and she had the lead. Never, in a million years did she think she could shoot her shot and get her number 2 dream role. The only way this could have been better would be if it was her number 1 dream role. Odette from Swan Lake.

But number 2 would suit her just fine considering everything else going on in her life at the moment.

On her way to dress rehearsal, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Tina holding an orange flyer.

“Tara Newman. Just the person I wanted to see.”

“Oh, hi, Tina.” Tara was confused. Her and Tina never had any kind of squabble but they definitely weren’t friends. So what would she want with her?

Tina handed Tara 2 flyers. “My Halloween bash is tomorrow. See to it that your boy toy gets the other, will ya?”

Oh. Of course. Because no girl genuinely wanted to be Tara’s friend anymore. Everyone who knew her boyfriend strayed was making it their business to get into his pants.

Still, it was nice to actually be invited to a party as allowed to people going out of their way to tell her she wasn’t welcome. It’s not as though Tina couldn’t have simply given Billy an invitation and conveniently forgot to invite his girlfriend, knowing he, being the cheater he was, would have simply not put up a fuss and gone with whatever girl was there whom was quickest to get into his pants.

Gosh, these trains of thought really had her questioning her life choices. Max. She was doing it for Max. Right. Max. Because Tara drove herself to school today, Max was stuck getting rides from Billy and being front and centre to whatever shenanigans he felt like doling out today. Hopefully Max won’t be too resentful of her for just needing a day off from that.

“Hello?” Tina asked, waving a hand.

“Oh!” Tara exclaimed, snapping back to reality. “Right! I’ll pass this onto him! Thank you!”

The dress rehearsal went relatively smoothly. For some reason, all the chaos she endured was excellent fuel for the mad scene.

“Wow!” Ms. McIntyre exclaimed through applause. “I don’t know where that came from, Tara, but keep it up!”

Immediately after dress rehearsal, Tara had a doctor’s appointment. The other and more pressing reason why Tara didn’t wanna deal with her boyfriend today.

Truthfully, after the debacle with Will’s disappearance, Tara was far worse off. Those Men in Black were quite adamant about forcing Tara to spend the rest of her life contained in cell the size of a king size bed. Especially because it didn’t take long to figure out that she indeed had psionic powers that she couldn’t control and was a survivor of the New Belgium Lab fire when official records indicated that there weren’t any survivors at all.

Thankfully, Dr. Sam Owens, who had worked with Tara during her stay in New Belgium, was on her side and had enough pull to convince the powers that be that her powers could indeed be controlled. It also helped tremendously that any files that indicated how dangerous her uncontrolled powers could become and what they were known to be capable of were destroyed in the fire.

What works against her, however, was that she had almost no memory of her stay at the lab. Just the burning building and a few phrases. That’s it.

When Tara arrived at the Hawkins Lab, her mother and Daniel were there waiting for her.

Once she got situated and they took her vitals and blood, they hooked her up to a heart and brain monitor.

Dr. Owens came into the room a bit flustered. “Sorry, my earlier appointment ran a little late. Why don’t we get started.”

They started with a memory exercise. It was a simple game of concentration. Afterward, Dr. Owens tried to see if they could work to bridge any of the gaps in Tara’s memory.

“Think of it like a puzzle. You have smaller pieces and you just keep putting those together. Then the bigger pieces will just naturally fall into place.”

It was no use. She was no closer to putting things together than when Will went missing.

“We all start somewhere. Before Will went missing, you had no memory of New Belgium whatsoever. By the time he was found, little bits came back. That’s something. We just have to work our way backwards.”

Tara’s body language indicated that she wasn’t convinced that this had any hope whatsoever.

“Why don’t we see where we are with control?” Dr. Owens offered to change the subject. “Have you been practising your exercises?”

“Yes, I have!” Tara perked up. “I know it might seem weird, but I’ve been practising on pointe shoes and it’s really been helping!”

“Well, that’s the idea! Let’s see what you’ve got, kiddo.”

A rubber bouncy ball and a row of glasses were brought out.

Tara used her powers to lift the ball and drop it in the first glass. Then she moved to the second glass. Then the next one over. Things were going over great until she got to the last few glasses. Once she got to the second to last glass, she slipped up and lost control of her powers again. The glasses broke and the rubber ball fell to the ground.

“No!” Tara protested. “That’s not fair! I had it! I did it perfectly at home!”

“Hey! Hey! Hey! It’s okay! You’re doing much better! Remember when we tried it the first time and the ball just flew into the opposite direction?”

Tara bawled into her hands. The silence among the others while they waited for her to calm down was palpable.

“I think,” Dr. Owens started, “what you need to understand is that recovery isn’t linear. And there are going to be bad days. And that’s okay. Why don’t we just take a deep breath.”

Tara inhaled and exhaled a few times.

“Good. Now, how are we doing on avoiding stress? Where are we at? Scale of 1-10?”

“Uhhh… err… well…”

“Tara, I can’t help you unless you’re truthful.”

Tara took a hesitant breath. “10.”

“Okay, do we know what might be causing that level of stress?”

“Well, I got a principal role in the Halloween dance show! We’re doing Giselle! It’s my number 2 dream role, but it’s a lot of work.”

“Let me guess. It’s about a girl named Giselle?”

“She lives in a village in the Rhineland with her mother, Berthe, and a hunter, Hilarion, whom she thinks of like a brother. She also has a weak heart. One day, a prince named Albrecht comes to the village disguised as a lowly peasant. He meets Giselle and the two fall in love.”

“Sounds like a typical fairytale. And you’re playing Giselle, I presume?”

“Yeah! I’m really excited, but it’s just a lot to memorise, but I’ll get used to it!”

“Well, that seems kind of trivial to warrant a 10, don’t you think?”

“Well… there’s also the fact that these kids that I babysit have been getting into more trouble than usual.”

“That’s all?”

“And… my boyfriend is being kind of a jerk.”

“Boyfriend?” Eleanor interjected, having not been aware of her and Jonathan’s short lived relationship at all, let alone the new one she started with Billy.

“He’s just going through a lot at the moment! He just moved here all the way from California! That’s 2000 miles away! He’s having a hard time adjusting!” Tara rationalised, quick to defend him.

“So I haven’t met this boy?” Eleanor asked, crossing her arms.

“Mom, you are literally never home!” Daniel quipped.

“Excuse me, young man, but I have a right to know what goes on in my home! Has your father met him?”

“No, but I can arrange that! We can have dinner at the house next time you’re off!” Tara offered.

Eleanor simply sighed in response.

“It won’t be hard to arrange,” Daniel added in. “They’re literally right across the street. You’ve probably already met them.”

“I see,” Eleanor said.

“Hey, Dr. Owens?” Tara asked, trying to change the subject. “Can I ask you a question in private?”

“Of course, kid.” Dr. Owens looked at Eleanor and Daniel. “Give us a moment?”

Daniel and Eleanor walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

“What I wanted to ask,” Tara started awkwardly, “was… well… my boyfriend already told me that you can’t get pregnant if you’re a virgin. So I was wondering if you, as a doctor, had a better idea of how many times it would be before that’s a risk.”

Dr. Owens looked as though he was going to shit a brick.

“Well, Tara, to be perfectly honest with you, that’s not really my area of expertise. I’m a neurologist. My expertise is brains. That question might be answered more efficiently by a gynaecologist. You could talk to someone at Planned Parenthood. Or maybe your mother.”

Dr. Owens sat up. “Why don’t I give you some privacy to get dressed and we can talk with your mother and your brother about where to go from here?”

Eleanor and Daniel sat in the office across from Dr. Owens as he spoke.

“Eleanor, if I may speak freely, I feel like we’ve hit a plateau. Which I would like to emphasise is perfectly normal and DOES happen from time to time.”

“So what do we do?” Eleanor asked.

“Well, I understand that the nature of your job won’t make this easy, but I feel like strengthening your relationship with Tara is a good starting point.”

“I’m trying, but she’s not making that easy!” Eleanor retorted defensively.

“Well, I feel like the best thing you can do is make yourself approachable. She might surprise you if you give that a try.”

Eleanor folded her arms and gave Dr. Owens a glare that would have vaporised him if looks could kill.

The next day, Tara anxiously helped gather the costumes for the performance. She was being helped by Spencer Christiansen, her dance partner whom was playing the role of Prince Albrecht. Once all the costumes were loaded onto the bus, she took it upon herself to head over to the middle school and gather the junior troupe.

When she had all of the juniors rounded up, she spotted the 4 troublemakers decked out in Ghostbusters costumes. The four were very clearly embarrassed to be the only ones dressed up.

“Hey guys! I love your Ghostbuster costumes!” she called, hoping to make them feel better.

“Thanks!” Dustin called back.

“I gotta go, but have fun and get lots of candy!” Tara said, hurrying off with the juniors.

Between the middle school dancers and the high school dancers, there weren’t a whole lot of seats left by the time Tara got to sit down. It was pretty slim pickings.

“May I sit beside you?” Tara asked, spotting an empty seat next to Chrissy Cunningham.

“Sure!” She replied.

It wasn’t a long ride. Despite being called the Indianapolis Regency Theatre, where all of the ballet performances were held, it was right at home in Hawkins and only a 15 minute or so drive from the school. Apparently the mayor of Hawkins at the time that it was built saw the opportunity for city revenue and lobbied to have it built right in the city. The investment turned out to not be as fruitful as he hoped, though, because by the 1970s, it was being used almost exclusively for the dance showcases, school plays and high school graduations. Nobody else was interested in using that space. Because of that, it’s literally completely empty most of the time.

Once the bus started driving, though, Tara immediately regretted her decision. Not only was she awful at small talk, but she was sitting next to the queen of Hawkins High, who was going to know firsthand how socially inept she was. And once that happened, no amount of Billy being a brute was going to protect her from the hazing that would occur in dance class. Her one safe haven in this cesspool.

“Are you excited?” Chrissy asked, bringing her back down to earth.

“Oh! Y-yeah! I’ve never danced principal before!”

There was an awkward pause.

“So what’s it like?” Tara asked curiously. “Being cheer captain?”

Chrissy was confused by Tara’s questioning, but entertained her nonetheless.

“It’s fun! We have all sorts of fun routines and it’s always so exciting! Why? Were you thinking of trying out for one of the new spots?”

“I really honestly can’t see myself ever being a cheerleader.”

“I mean, I never imagined myself as Queen Myrtha, but I guess Ms. McIntyre saw something I didn’t.”

“Of course she did! You’re an amazing lead dancer! It only makes sense that you would be Queen Myrtha!”

“Well,” Chrissy started, “when I see you, I see someone who always tries to cheer people up! Whenever you’re with the younger students, you always encourage them to keep going! You would be a perfect cheerleader!”

“You really think so?”

“Try outs for the open spots are later this week! You should come!”

It wasn’t until act II began that Tara realised that this was real. That she was really dancing a principal role. Her number 2 dream role. When she walked onto the stage clad in her white phantom romantic tutu, the reality set in.

After performing the apparition sequence, her heart was pounding. It was such an out of body experience.

The rest of act II went amazing. The curtain closed with thunderous applause.

To start off the curtain call and bows, Principal Higgins came out with Ms. McIntyre at his side.

“Wow!” he started. “Every year, the Ballet Team blows me away. Every single year. And it’s all thanks to our amazing director, Lindsay McIntyre!”

Ms. McIntyre took a bow and Principal Higgins handed her the mic.

“Thank you! I’ve danced all over the world, but nobody amazes me more than my students!”

Ms. McIntyre handed the mic back to Principal Higgins, who continued.

“Lindsay wears several hats at the ballet program. In the morning, she teaches the high school students and the middle schoolers in the afternoon. And I know that might seem like a short drive, but believe me. If you’re walking, it’s quite the trek. But she does it all every day without complaint and we thank her immensely for it!”

Principal Higgins handed the mic back to her.

“Speaking of students, this night wouldn’t have ever been possible without them. They all put in a lot of effort to make tonight’s show great. I also want to thank our principal cast. They deserve a round of applause.”

Chrissy, Spencer and Tara entered the stage and took a bow.

“I wanna start with Chrissy Cunningham, our Queen Myrtha,” Ms. McIntyre started. “Chrissy juggles being cheer captain and dancing principal with the team and has never complained once. She always steps up. I’ve always been able to rely on her. And tonight was no different.”

Chrissy bowed again and stepped back.

“Next we have Spencer Christiansen, our Prince Albrecht. He’s been a real trouper. His dedication to the program shows. He’s easily one of the most talented dancers I think I’ve ever had. And sadly, we’re losing him soon because he graduates in June. But we’ll cherish him while we still have him! Give it up!”

Spencer took a bow and stepped back.

“Last but not least, we have our star of the show, our Giselle, Tara Newman.”

A stagehand came out and surprised Tara with a bouquet of red roses, surprising the girl.

“Tara has been with us since the very beginning. When she heard there was going to be a ballet program at the middle school, she was the first person to sign up. It started as a summer break program, but it blossomed into what it is today. And Tara grew with the program. I’ve seen her tireless dedication since day 1. And it’s all paid off. Give it up!”

Tara bowed and stood back.

“Let’s give it up for the rest of our dancers!”

The rest of the ballet team, both the middle and high schoolers, came out and took a bow.

After the curtain call, the dancers got dressed and waited in the foyer to reunite with their parents.

“Congratulations, Tara!” Joyce said, giving Tara a big hug.

“You really got the stuff! I didn’t know a teenager could dance like that!” Bob said.

“Thank you,” Tara said. “Both of you.”

“That was, uhhh… pretty bad-ass,” Jonathan said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“Huh. That’s an interesting way of saying it,” Tara remarked.

“Well, we have to go get ready,” Joyce remarked, “but it was great seeing you and we really enjoyed your performance!”

Tara waved them off when someone in a proper suit put a hand on her shoulder from behind.

Given Tara’s string of most recent experiences with men in suits, Tara nearly jumping out of her skin seemed pretty reasonable.

“Sorry!” the man said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He took out a business card. “I’m with the New York Ballet Company. You have some serious talent. Have you ever thought about living in the big apple?”

“Well, to be honest, it never really—“

Tara heard the roar of an engine. By now, she was perfectly attuned to it. There was only one car in the world that could possibly be.

“I’m sorry! I have to get going!”

“I understand! You have my information! Please, let’s keep in touch!”

Sure enough, Tara walked outside of the theatre to see a 1979 Camaro loudly blasting “Wango Tango” by Ted Nugent. The window rolled down and she was instantly blasted with the smell of cigarette smoke.

“What’s with the roses?” Billy asked.

“They were a gift. It’s a custom for principal dancers,” Tara meekly replied.

“All right, shitbird. Back seat. Move it.”

Max got out of the passenger seat looking like a nervous wreck and moved the the back seat without a single word, slamming the car door before Billy turned to Tara.

“You gonna get in or are you gonna keep standing there like a dumbass?”

Tara sighed and got in the passenger seat, fumbling the roses and her dance bag.

“I thought we were gonna meet back at my house,” Tara said looking at Billy with confusion.

“Yeah, well I changed my mind,” he responded flatly.

“So you got roses?” Max asked, clearly eager to change the subject away from whatever Billy was intent on confronting her about.

“I did! It’s customary! It’s a sign of a great performance!” Tara said.

Billy let out a hearty chuckle. “You hear that, Max? A great performance! We might have been able to catch it if you had brought your ass out sometime this century instead of making me wait!”

“It’s all right! There’ll be other shows! We still have the Nutcracker coming up!” Tara said as though Billy had any actual interest in seeing her dance and wasn’t just looking for more reasons to give Max grief.

“Ah! More of you grabbing Christiansen’s crotch? You gonna try to go home with him, then, too?”

“Is that what this is about? Billy, I’ve told you 1000 times! Spencer is gay! He has a boyfriend! You’ve literally seen them making out!”

“Yeah but the thing is, doll face, while I was waiting all of eternity for the little shit to grace me with her presence, I overheard Harrington say that he was going to your show.”

“Yeah! With his GIRLFRIEND! Who happens to be my friend!”

“Oh! You still believe that one-sided show of charity is friendship?”

“What are you even saying, Billy?”

“What I’ve already said 1000 times. Nancy isn’t really your friend. She just pretends to be because being nice to the retarded kid looks great on college applications.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Billy, stop!” Max interjected.

“I didn’t say it. Nancy did. You should hear all the shit she says about you behind your back. Especially to Harrington.”

“Nancy would never say that about me…” Tara said, clearly wrestling with denial.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, beautiful,” Billy said, taking a drag of his cigarette.

Tara fumbled her roses, unwittingly bringing the business card to Billy’s attention.

“Whatcha got there?” he asked, quite literally snatching the card away.

Tara tried to snatch it back as he held it up out of her reach to examine it.

“Would you please keep your eyes on the road?” Tara pleaded.

He held it up and read it aloud. “New York City Ballet” he turned to Tara. “You’re gonna leave me? Go fuck some New York dancer boy?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“You hear that, Max? Miss famous dancing star is gonna make it big in New York! The city that never sleeps! She’s gonna leave us in this shithole for some bigwig!”

“No, she’s not!” Max bit back.

“All I did was talk to someone from the company! We barely got in a proper ‘how do you do’ before you literally zipped into the parking lot!”

Billy only scoffed in response.

“Besides, I still have my sights set on the American Ballet Theatre. They tour across the country!”

“Ah! Of course! The cross country all you can fuck buffet! Because why settle for one man’s dick when you can have upwards of 50?”

“You’re the one with a different girl’s panties in your car every week!”

SLAP!

Max fell back in fear, watching Billy strike Tara.

“You said you wouldn’t do that anymore…” Tara quietly mumbled, rubbing her cheek.

“And you said you’d stop pissing me off, but here we are!”

“I hate you…” Tara said under her breath.

“What was that?” Billy asked, shooting Tara a death glare.

“I said I hate you!” she declared angrily.

“Well, tough shit, because I’m the best you’ve got!”

“You drink! You cheat on me! You call me names! You hurt me! The only thing you haven’t done is kill me, and I know that’s only because you can’t!”

Max fell deathly silent, looking as though she’s seen a ghost. Her face turned as white as a sheet.

“No?” Billy asked. “Who would stop me? We’re in the middle of nowhere. Plenty of places to hide a body.”

Tara looked at Max in disbelief, only now seeing the mortified expression on her face.

“Don’t look at Max. She’s 13. She’s not gonna help you. I could snap both of your necks and dump this piece of shit car in Lovers Lake!”

“Pull over and let me out.”

“Yeah, no. That’s not happening, sweet cheeks.”

“I said let me out! And I’m breaking up with you!”

“Jesus Christ! It’s a joke!” Billy laughed hysterically.

Tara fell silent, deciding to simply endure whatever else came out of his mouth.

“Wouldn’t last a fucking second in New York,” he said to himself, turning his eyes back to the road.

Once they made it back to Cherry Road, Billy popped out of the car with Max and Tara following suit.

“Why don’t you head on inside,” Billy told Tara. “I’ll be there in just a sec.”

Tara went into her house, cursing the fact that she gave Billy a spare key before she knew what a monster he really was.

Daniel was in his room getting dressed in his Halloween costume. He was going to Tina’s bash as Kaneda from “AKIRA” a new manga he’s been reading.

Tara put the flowers in a vase by the window sill, before turning her attention to her mother, who was washing dishes to get that done before she had to head back to the airport for the overnight flight she was scheduled to work.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“You know how you can’t get pregnant if it’s your first time?”

“What??” Eleanor looked absolutely flabbergasted.

“Well, Billy already told me about how it’s gotta be a few times before you actually can get pregnant. So I was wondering like when would it be good to start using condoms?”

“Tara, you should ALWAYS use a condom no matter how many times it’s been!”

“Oh…” Tara replied awkwardly.

Tara went upstairs to change. She was going as Lum from Urusei Yatsura. She made the costume herself with some yellow stretch fabric and a black sharpie. Once she walked into her room, she was instantly hit with the smell of cigarette smoke. She hated it. She tried to tell Billy to take it outside, which is what her brother did, but he all but gave her the finger. And now her room reeked of cigarettes because of it. His ash tray was right on her night stand. One that Tara purchased from Goodwill so he would stop putting out his butts directly on the wooden surface.

Across the street, Tara could see into Billy’s room. Specifically, she could see Billy arguing with Max while gathering the pieces for his costume. She then saw him slap Max, who flipped him the bird before running off.

Once Billy had his things gathered, he went back across to Tara’s house. Eleanor opened the door to see this man for herself.

“Well, I’ll be,” Billy said, flashing his charismatic smile. “I didn’t realise Tara had a cute older sister.”

“Billy, I presume?” Eleanor asked, not affected even in the slightest by his charm.

“So I see my reputation precedes me,” Billy said, trying once again to charm Tara’s mother.

“It certainly does. And I’m going to lay down a few ground rules with you. If you want to continue having sex with my daughter, you need to wrap it up. No exceptions. I also don’t want her drinking any alcohol. She takes medications that don’t mix with it. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Billy said, taken aback by Eleanor‘s no nonsense demeanour.

“Good,” Eleanor said, letting him pass.

“Sheesh! You mom’s a hard-ass!” Billy said the second he walked into Tara’s room without so much as a ‘hello’.

Tara instinctively gasped and covered her exposed chest.

“Babe, we fuck almost every night. There’s no need to cover yourself.”

Tara sighed and continued getting ready. Billy also got himself changed, occasionally fondling Tara while doing so.

Once the two were dressed, Billy looked her up and down. “Well hello there, sexy kitty.”

“I’m not a kitty,” Tara said matter-of-factly, “I’m an alien robot.”

“An alien robot,” Billy said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s from a book I’m reading.”

“Right.”

“And what are you supposed to be? A sexy biker?”

“You’re kidding me, right? Are you really trying to say that you’ve never seen ‘The Lost Boys’?”

“Should I have?”

“Yes. And we’re fixing that tomorrow night.”

Once they pulled up to the party, Billy saw fit to immediately suck face with her before they could even get out of his car.

“Wait… Billy… maybe we should wait until after the party to do that…”

“Or we could find a nice quiet place inside.”

“To have sex in a stranger’s house?”

Billy condescendingly patted her on the head. “You’re adorable.”

It didn’t take long for them to start fighting at all.

Billy saw the keg, got curious and asked what the current keg stand record was.

Then he declared that was amateur ranking and could beat it no problem.

Tara had the nerve to remind him that someone had to drive them home and they both knew good and well that if she touched his steering wheel, there would be 2 funerals.

The argument ended when Tara quite literally walked away while he was in the middle of a sentence.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going back inside! It’s freezing out here!”

“You wouldn’t be so cold if you would just juice up!”

Tara went back inside holding she would run into someone she knew. Her anxiety was really starting to kick up.

Her reprieve came when she felt something grab her arm and turned around.

“Nancy! Hi!”

“Tara, what are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?”

“I was invited! And this happens to be one of my favourite characters in this new book that I—“

“I don’t care! Go home, Tara! And put some real clothes on!”

“Why do you always turn me away? I thought we were friends!”

“Tara, nobody likes you enough to invite you somewhere because they enjoy your company and nobody sure as hell thinks of you of all people as a party person! Someone is clearly setting you up! Go home! Now!”

“What the hell’s going on?” Steve interrupted, noticing the arguing.

Tara stormed off and made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a solo cup and decided to have at the spiked punch. After a few swigs, she definitely felt lighter on her feet. She approached Steve and Nancy, defiantly looking the latter dead in the eye and downed her entire cup before going back for seconds.

With the beginnings of alcohol coursing through her veins, she decided to make her way back outside, hoping that what he said about booze making you feel less cold held merit.

“Did you lose Ataru again?” she heard someone call to her.

She turned around to see the unnamed mullet man who led Hellfire Club sitting on the couch.

“You recognise my costume?” Tara asked.

“How could I miss Lum the Invader Girl?” he asked.

“And, I’m sorry who are you supposed to be?” she asked, sitting on the floor in front of him.

“Ozzy Osbourne. The man. The legend.”

“That’s nice! My brother listens to a lot of Black Sabbath! He’s actually where I got my costume idea from. I saw him reading the manga and I refused to believe that my brother would read anything for fun, so I had to see it for myself. And it turned out to be good!”

Tara took another swig of spiked punch.

“Not to be rude, but how did you get invited to this party? I thought nobody liked you!”

“Simple. I’m here on business.” mullet man said, gesturing to a black lunchbox which immediately wafted the smell of weed.

“Oh, so that’s what my brother meant by selling plants.”

“Business is booming.”

“Buy some drugs or beat it, skank!” a girl said, plopping herself squarely into mullet man’s lap. “He already has a girlfriend!”

“Brenda, chill. We were just talking.”

“And now you’re done talking! Get lost, whore!”

Damn, fumbled again before she could get his name. And she was this close, too.

She looked down and noticed her punch was nearly empty.

“Why don’t I top this off for you?” Jason asked, taking her cup.

“Oh wow! Thanks Jason!”

“Anything for Billy Hargrove’s girl!”

Of course Jason Carver was just trying to kiss up. It was fine, though, since Tara was reaping the benefits.

Once he came back with a full cup, Tara immediately took a sip. The taste seemed kind of off, but she was too drunk to really pay it any mind.

Right on cue, Billy came back in, having been crowned the new Keg King, kicking Steve off of his throne.

“Where’s my girl?” Billy called.

Tara immediately went for her boyfriend and drunkenly clung to him.

“Billy, you were right,” she slurred.

“No shit. I’m always right.”

Tara clung to him. “Nancy’s such a jerk. She tried to tell me to go home and told me nobody actually liked me.”

“You Nancy Wheeler?” Billy asked, having made a beeline to her with Tara in tow, ready to give her the mother of all drunken verbal massacres.

“My girl‘s got a bone to pick with you!” he said, bringing Tara to the forefront.

Little did they know that Nancy was equally as inebriated and without a filter.

“Tara, I told you to go home,” she slurred. “Why are you still here?”

“She’s with me!” Billy declared.

“Yeah right! As if Tara would EVER go for someone like you!”

“You know something, Nancy,” Tara started. “I thought you would be a good friend! But you just used me! You felt sorry for me! You didn’t actually want me around and you treated me like a baby! Well guess what? Everyone loves me now and I don’t need those kind of friends!”

“That’s right, babe! Tell the bitch off!” Billy cheered.

“You never wanted to be my friend! You just wanted to say you were friends with the retard so you’ll feel better about yourself!”

“You know something, Tara?” Nancy slurred, downing her spiked punch, “I’m fucking tired of constantly being your baby sitter! Like, you’re older than me and I’m the one who has to be more mature and responsible! It’s bullshit! And you’re bullshit! And everything about you is bullshit! And whatever you have with this douchebag is also bullshit!”

“Sounds like code for ‘I lost the argument and I just wanna say something back!’ to me!” Billy declared.

“Hey, man, let’s just take it easy,” Steve said, trying to diffuse the situation. Tara took a chug of the punch and went back to get more.

Elsewhere, some other dude got Daniel’s attention.

“Bro, you know that cute blue haired girl from the comic you read?”

“Are you talking about Lum?”

“Dude, there’s someone dressed as her getting absolutely shitfaced.”

This was a once in a lifetime chance for Daniel. If this wasn’t a set up, a cute girl dressed as Lum? He was definitely gonna shoot his shot.

Once he got to the kitchen, he turned put a hand on her shoulder, flashing his grin. “So what brings you here all the way from Tomobiki—“

He trailed off as soon as he realised who it was.

Daniel immediately bolted into the living room, absolutely livid.

“Who the hell has been giving booze to my sister?”

Daniel held up the drunk Tara.

“What’s your major malfunction, Newman?” Billy asked.

“My ‘major malfunction’ is that my sister can’t have alcohol! It mixes bad with her heart medication! She could get really sick! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Tara suddenly puked on the floor.

“Okay, okay,” Jason said holding up his hands. “Looks like I’m gonna have to play the good guy.”

He took Tara out of Daniel’s arms. “Come on. Let’s find you somewhere to lay down.”

Jason took Tara to an empty bedroom and locked the door behind them. He lied Tara down on the bed and began undoing his pants with a malicious smirk.

Time passed and Tara stumbled out of the room with blood stained panties, smeared makeup and bruises. She was in a daze, as though she couldn’t believe what just happened to her.

She passed by Nancy, who was being escorted home by Jonathan. Terrific. The literal last person on earth that she wanted to see right now was her ex.

“You know something, Tara,” Nancy said, drunkenly beelining towards her, calling attention to the giant punch stain on her costume. “I’m just trying to help you, you ungrateful bitch! You’re always looking for attention and you’re gonna end up getting it from the wrong person! And when that happens, don’t come crying to me because I warned you!”

“Nancy,” Jonathan gently grabbed her, “let’s just go.”

The earth was spinning. All Tara wanted was the comfort of her boyfriend. She looked high and low and when she finally found him, it was in another bedroom, making out with two girls at once and clearly intent on going much further than sucking face. She winced when she saw one of them undoing his pants and decided to walk away.

The hurt and betrayal she felt was momentarily overtaken by a sense of vengeance. She beelined for her assailant to accost him.

“Jason!” she called out, getting his attention. Once she had it, she extended her arm outward.

And that was it. Nothing happened.

Her psionic powers were being suppressed by something. Perhaps the alcohol or the roofie. Either way, all she did was embarrass herself.

“Holy shit! Tara is wasted!” someone jeered. People began to laugh and even mock her.

All she wanted was to disappear. She literally ran out of the house in tears.

Only the lord knows how Tara, in freezing weather, wearing such a skimpy costume while roofies and alcohol were in her system, managed to walk to the police station.

After explaining what happened, she sat in the lobby and waited patiently. She was told once the police chief got back in, he would take her statement and she would be escorted to the hospital to do a rape kit.

Once the chief arrived, however, he seemed pretty intent on getting back home. Of course. Jim Hopper was never one to take his work seriously.

“Hopper, this is serious!”

“What is it this time.”

“Tara Newman was raped.”

#stranger things #stranger things oc #tara newman #hawkinsona #stranger things fanfic #daniel newman #stranger things 2 #eddie munson #hawkins #hawkins high ballet team #hawkins lab #hawkins high

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