Pretty As A Peach

And Twice as Sweet Tessa Calloway, 22. [closed rp with backtohawkins]

[tessacallovvay]

[GRACIE DZIENNY, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER] who’s that? oh it’s [THERESA “TESSA” CALLOWAY]. i hear they’re [22] and are known as [THE SOUTHERN BELLE] around [THE COUNTRY CLUB]. they’re also a [SECRETARY] at [CITY HALL]. they’re known to be [SELF-ASSURED AND OBSERVANT] and [NOSY AND MANIPULATIVE]. some people say they remind them of [the honey bee sitting on a pitcher of sweet tea on a hot summer day, debutante balls and white lace gloves, smiles that don’t reach the eyes, the sharp scent of a fresh lemon and the sting of its juice in your eyes.].

Basics

full name: Theresa Rose Calloway

nickname(s): Tessa to everyone, Tess or Tessie to family

age: 22

date of birth: January 18th

hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana

current location: Hawkins Indiana 

gender: Cis female

pronouns: she/her

orientation: Closeted bisexual – she refuses to recognize her attraction to women at the moment.

occupation: Secretary to the City Manager

Family

Father: Kenneth Calloway II

Mother: Patricia Calloway

Siblings: Kenneth Calloway III (older brother) & Rebecca Calloway (younger sister)

Backstory

If Tessa had her way, she would have never left New Orleans for po-dunk Hawkins, Indiana. But, unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice in where her father’s political aspirations took him. He had it in his mind that he was going to become a mayor, then a state representative, then a governor and well, sweetie—that just wasn’t going to happen in New Orleans. He was from Hawkins originally and, what would look better for the campaign slogan than seeing the prodigal Calloway son's return? So, at the age of 16, Tessa had her entire life uprooted and found herself in the middle of Boring, USA.

Or at least, that’s what she thought until the various… tragedies befell the town. Not a year after moving to town, people started turning up dead, that man who worked at the Radio Shack was mauled by what the police said were dogs? Then, the only place that made Hawkins bearable, the Starcourt Mall, burned down which just made everything so much worse. And people died, but whatever. Sure, Mayor Kline was arrested for it and his arrest allowed her father to finally win the elections he needed to get the ball rolling, but where was she going to get her hair done now?

Upon graduating Hawkins High, Tessa was accepted to her mother’s alma matter—Louisiana State University, where she majored in Communications. More importantly, she rushed and successfully joined Alpha Delta Pi, as a legacy of course. She enjoyed her four years—she made lifelong friends with her sorority sisters, graced every important party and social event with a beautiful new boy on her arm, and even managed to squeeze classes into her busy schedule. When it was all said and done, Tessa graduated with a diploma and… didn’t have much of a plan. College had been everything she’d dreamed of, and it had gone by in a blink of an eye. And what did she have to show for it? Aside from a string of disgruntled ex-boyfriends and backstabbing “sisters” not all that much.

Tessa returned to Hawkins and took a job as a secretary to one of the city managers at Town Hall. Her father being Mayor had nothing to do with it, no, not at all. Since working at Town Hall, Tessa’s enjoyed keeping up to date on all the gossip floating around Hawkins—were they ever going to get another mall? Did you hear that Bruce in the police department was seeing that lady at animal control? What a dog. She likes her job well enough, if only because she’s slowly becoming more and more aware of the dirty little secrets Hawkins likes to sweep under the rug.

Wanted Connections:

They’re My Best Friend: Tessa is vapid, shallow, and materialistic but even she needs friends. Particularly a best friend. In high school, she was one of the “It Girls” of school and always had a small trio of girls who were desperate for her approval. But, life after high school works a bit differently and popularity really doesn’t matter. Tessa needs a best friend—hopefully one who can take her down a peg. Maybe she’ll even learn something from them and become a better person.

High School Rivals: Tessa’s the type to hold a grudge and being back in Hawkins brings back all those wonderful high school memories. Maybe your character and her were just two people who would never have gotten along, the type who would have always clashed no matter what. Or maybe she bullied your character—she’s the type who would have. I’d love to explore a situation where the shitty people in high school have to come to terms with their past actions.

Irritating Siblings: Tessa has an older brother and a younger sister—I’d love to see either of them around in any capacity!

General Plot Interests:

I’m really interested in having Tessa find out more about Hawkins and what’s really been going on in town—either slowly over time or just getting thrown in the deep end. She’s more resilient than people would think and push comes to shove, she might actually be able to do something in a fight.

As far as her personal development and growth, I’m hoping to have her develop over time from a Regina George kinda gal to more of an Elle Woods. She’s not a nice person but she’s got the potential to learn and become a better, kinder one.

That said, I can also totally see her just becoming even worse! It all depends on what happens to her and who she surrounds herself with. Tessa grew up surrounded by toxic, entitled, selfish people her entire life—it’s hard to separate yourself from that.

[tessacallovvay]

colemontgomeryx​:

A humorless smile pushed up the corners of Cole’s mouth at her question. Well, at least he wasn’t completely crazy. The recurring nightmare he’d been having about Adam, though… that made him feel like his mind was splintering. Had he hit his head hard enough to cause hallucination? Or insomnia? He supposed both were possible, though the doctor Lucas had taken him to had assured him that the symptoms of the concussion would be gone in about a week. 

Cole’s eyes snapped up to Tessa’s face and offense crossed over his features. A prank? She couldn’t be serious. “You’re fucking with me, right?” Cole scoffed. “Tessa, why the hell would I throw myself into an open grave and give myself a concussion for a prank?” He wasn’t going to go so far as to say something pushed him into the grave, although that’s what it felt like, but he certainly hadn’t fallen in on purpose. 

.

At Cole’s credulous reaction, Tessa regarded him coolly. Inside though, she was calculating what she’d gotten from Lucas vs what she was seeing from Cole. The two of them had fallen into that grave, both had gotten hurt quite badly. But while Lucas had said it was nothing but a prank, Mr. Know-it-All was adamant on it being anything but. Interesting. “A prank gone wrong. Accidents happen all the time.” She said, echoing the excuse Lucas had given her. Did Cole know about what Lucas had talked about that night? Or... better yet, did he remember anything specific?

[tessacallovvay]

rcbinbvckleys​:

having grown up in hawkins, it was no secret that the shops in town left a lot to be desired, but that was part of the charm. if you were looking to dive into the hottest new fashion, hawkins was probably the furthest place that you would go. not that robin knew a single thing about fashion, she usually just wore what was comfortable and what was least likely to garner any unwanted attention. 

 "oh, uh. i’m not really here on business.“ not the kind of business that would require her going all the way down to city hall, anyway. robin knew tessa was only trying to blow her off, and that just wasn’t going to cut it. "this’ll only take a minute. i wanted to thank you for getting us out of trouble. you know, with callahan?” perhaps it would prove to be a mistake, that robin had given tessa way more credit than she was worth. but it was still worth trying, right?

.

Tessa resisted the urge to roll her eyes-- a lady did that in private, never where anyone important could see, her mother had always told her that. Of course she knew that Robin wasn’t here to ask her about city budgets or the manager’s meeting schedule. But, she hadn’t expected Robin to thank her. Pausing, Tessa stared at the other girl for a brief moment. People didn’t thank other people unless they had ulterior motives. Buckley didn’t strike her as the conniving type, but she’d met more unassuming girls in her sorority.

“It wasn’t no thing, darling, believe me.” Tessa said with a shake of her head. “Callahan and the rest of those boys in blue, they won’t bother me. You and the rest of the... people there, just benefited off being at the right place with the right person.” It still irked her that Callahan hadn’t actually cared about who she was, but she’d be sure to let Daddy know about what had actually happened at the cemetery. Even if she herself didn’t have a clear picture on what happened that night, she’d make something up that he’d believe.

[tessacallovvay]

mmuscles​:

an unspoken exchange passed between tessa and himself as they both began to realize what type of person the other was. thad hadn’t been expecting to run into someone else of such high esteem while in hawkins, but he couldn’t say he was so angry that he did. since he stopped in town, thad thought for the first time in his life he felt completely out of place. these weren’t his people, they weren’t even people, they were nuisances. tessa on the otherhand, thad thought he could grow fond of her. 

where someone else’s contradictions would have been unwelcome, thad embraced tessa’s. she was like him. she understood. and that was that. smugly, he stared from her neck to her ears, “do you like diamonds?” he asked, always a businessman. “i could get you a rockin’ discount for a couple of rocks, bring that neck from bare to bangin’.” his dad knew plenty of jewelers, it wasn’t an insane stretch for thad to try and get her a deal. but it sounded too scripted, so he casually added, “but only if you wanna help me find my car.”

.

Diamonds? Now that made Tessa stand just a little straighter, though she continued to play it casual. “Diamonds may be forever, but I’m a pearls kind of girl.” She said with a smile that was almost sincere this time. “Grace Kelly said it herself-- ‘A pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens.’” And Tessa Calloway knew she was nothing less than a queen when it came to Hawkins.

Glancing around, she shrugged. “I’ve got some time, it can’t be too hard to find a car around here. What should I be looking for, Thad?” She asked. If she’d learned anything from her college experience, it was that you could tell a lot about a man by his car. Thad was a man of money and not his own-- her favorite kind of man. The real question was... Benz or BMW?

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

califorrnia? the only people lucas knew from california was max’s family and…max hadn’t been there that night. had she? he didn’t think so, but it was all so jumbled someone could’ve told him she’d been there and lucas would’ve believed them without much argument. he flashed her a smile and leaned back against the wall, studying her as he flipped through his book absentmindedly. “yeah, it is pretty boring. every couple years a kid disappears or something, but he always finds his way back.” and the time there was a ‘mall fire’. and the other time there was a chemical leak. and you can’t forget the earthquake! but that’d been a few years, now. hawkins had been quiet. 

“it livened things up, right?” 

.

The question had mostly been rhetorical-- and ironic, to a degree. Her father had divulged more than a few stories about the troubles that haunted Hawkins over the phone, since she’d been back, over a glass of brandy in his study. He’d griped about how nothing was ever easy here, how it never had been. There was always something happening. So, Lucas’s words didn’t ring quite true to her ears. But, Tessa ignored it. Instead, she tucked away that little insistence that Hawkins was a normal place in the back of her mind. Lucas Sinclair, just what were you playing at?

“I suppose you could say that, if you consider scaring people out of their minds “lively.” She said haughtily.

[tessacallovvay]

rcbinbvckleys​:

𝐖𝐇𝐎: robin buckley + @tessacallovvay​ ! 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: downtown hawkins

truth be told, the get together at the cemetery hadn’t required a lot of planning. there were a select few that robin had invited, and acquiring the beer was the easy part. what she hadn’t counted on, was tessa showing up on her own accord. in all honesty, none of them questioned it or asked her to leave because well, she was the mayor’s daughter! and she bought some more beers which had definitely been a welcome addition to their party.

robin initially hadn’t been sure what to make of her. throughout the course of an evening, her opinion had changed multiple times. but ultimately when it came down to it, tessa had saved their sorry asses from being arrested by officer callahan and that was worth something at least. so maybe she was crazy, but that’s why she’d ventured downtown in the hopes of seeking her out. just to say thanks. eventually robin thought that she spotted her coming out of one of the storefronts. “hey, tessa! wait up.”

.

Retail therapy was precisely what she needed after the terrible night at the cemetery. And while the shops in Hawkin’s didn’t hold the same appeal of other stores out of town, Tessa hadn’t felt like venturing out of town right now. There were too many questions looming over the town and she hated to be the one without the answers. So, she’d resigned herself to shopping around suburbia’s finest and had contented herself with a promising new pair of shoes.

Shopping bag in hand, Tessa emerged from the store where she was caught off guard by the sound of her name. Just who was-- turning, Tessa’s face shifted into an expression of vague disinterest and irritation. Oh. It was Robin. Wonderful. “Sorry, honey, I’m just a little busy right now.” She said, faux politeness dripping from her every word. “If you need something, I’m at City Hall from 9 to 5, I’ll be more than happy to talk to you then.”

[tessacallovvay]

colemontgomeryx​:

For the first time in his life, Cole was thankful for the mundanity of his job. Usually, by 11 a.m. he’d be bored out of his mind, hoping that anyone would walk through the doors; but after what happened at the cemetery, he’d rather not speak to anyone. His mind was too busy playing the ‘vision’ over and over again. As he plucked the string of an acoustic guitar, he wondered if he was going insane… and if he was, if anyone would notice.

Hearing the door jangle, Cole stifled a groan and was at the counter in two long strides. Pasting on a smile, Cole surveyed the customer. Tessa. He’d known her in high school, of course, but they’d never really spoken… until Robin’s 'kickback.’ A pit formed in his gut as he wondered if that’s why she was here; or, worse, if she hadn’t experienced anything at all and needed help finding a guitar pic, or something.

“You got lucky, we’re usually slammed this time of day,” he said, dryly. “What can I do for you?”

.

Mr. Sarcastic, as always. Good to know somethings hadn’t changed since high school. And, just like high school, he was doing his own... thing here, at this dingy little music store. Yawn. Tapping her nails on the counter, Tessa smiled, “Just wanted to chat, that’s all. About that little kickback you were at.” She said, glancing discretely around. She’d already talked to Sinclair about what had happened, but there was something that didn’t sit right with her about his answers. It made sense, but... it didn’t feel right.

“What sort of gross prank were you pulling that night, hm?” Tessa asked. She’d asked Lucas and he’d freely admitted to it, though he’d sworn he’d worked alone. She wanted to test a little theory of hers.

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

had that worked? it seemed like it’d worked. lucas exhaled on a sigh and gave tessa what he hoped was a guilt-ridden smile. “yeah, i guess they didn’t think it was very funny, either. good thing i’m planning on studying engineering, huh?” he let his gaze flicked down to the book he was still holding, thinking perhaps the conversation was over and he could try getting back to studying, but-

“who?” lucas could’ve kicked himself. the entire night was so murky to him, he could hardly recall who else had been there with them. in fact, until this conversation, he hadn’t even realized tessa had been there, too. he just remembered robin inviting him. wherever robin was, steve wasn’t far behind. and he knew cole montgomery was there because…you didn’t just forget falling into a grave with someone. “i’m not sure. i didn’t invite people to hang out. i just…showed up.” he neglected to remind her that robin had been the one to organize the get-together. “but she wasn’t. just me.”  

.

Tessa let out a long suffering sigh, very much done with this little chat. So it had been a prank. A joke. One in incredibly poor taste, particularly when it involved graves and shoving people into them. But, in the back of her mind, something really didn’t feel right about the whole situation. Someone... had said something about spiking the drinks. About Robin spiking their drinks. But here Lucas was claiming that he’d done this all on his own. Hm. “Let’s hope whatever designs you come up with are better planned out than your jokes.” She replied.

Who was... an excellent question. Faces, names, they were all hazy. She could only just remember the barest hints of the whole thing. “Some girl with a California accent?” Tessa supplied, not entirely certain she was even right about that. At his continued denial that anyone else was involved, Tessa shook her head. “Is life in Hawkins really so boring you had to go around falling into graves?”

[tessacallovvay]

mmuscles​:

the accent that flowed off her tongue was much thicker than thad was expecting. then again, he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting out of this interaction to begin with. momentarily stunned, thad stood there with his mouth hung slightly open. while she lectured him, he fully clocked that this girl was wealthy and part of him felt bad. he didn’t know how long it would be that he stuck around in hawkins, and he could really use some people other than nancy who got it. 

his demeanor shifted as he stuck out his hand for her to shake, “thad bradshaw.” he introduced. he would never apologize, but thad would offer her with an explanation, “okay, i did say excuse me.” he huffed, but didn’t dwell on the fine print. “but whatever, this town is a total dump, i gotta motor but i can’t find my car.” he circled back to his initial intent in stopping her, “if you help me,” he started, then vaguely followed up, “i’ll make it totally worth your while, babe.” he wasn’t flirting with tessa by any means, but he figured giving her a compliment would boost his chances of getting help.

.

At this point in life, Tessa expected men to fall over tongue tied in her presence. The only reason the boys in Hawkins didn’t was because they were corn-fed Midwesterners who wouldn’t know what class was if it hit them upside the head with a Tiffany’s bag. So, it was gratifying to see that familiar slack-jawed expression on an unfamiliar face. “Charmed. Theresa Calloway, but you can call me Tessa.” She said, shaking his hand delicately. Thad.

At his insistence that he wasn’t wrong, Tessa rolled her eyes. “Mhm, I’m sure you did, honey.” He might have, but she hadn’t been paying attention. As the man kept talking, Tessa folded her arms across her chest. How exactly did someone go losing an entire car in a town like Hawkins? And he called her a space cadet. “Worth my while, hm? I really doubt that you can.” She replied.

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

his instinct was to correct her. steve and robin weren’t like that and words traveled like wildfire in hawkins. the idea that tessa could tell the wrong person that he and the others had been…desecrating graves? what even had happened that night? lucas couldn’t remember and whenever he thought about it for too long, he got a throbbing headache. either way, he didn’t like the idea of smudging his friends’ good names. there was another kind of hive-mind in hawkins that had nothing to do with the upside down. just ask eddie munson.

…but at the same time, it was a good cover story, he supposed. lucas pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he leveled tessa with a stare. he’d dm’d his fair share of shorter d&d campaigns. he knew that sometimes the players said or did things that threw the plan out the window. he could roll with it. probably. “it was kind of funny.” he grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand and clicked his tongue before saying “i was just trying to scare robin and steve. you guys just got caught in the crossfire.”

there. now it was just his good name in the mud. that was fine. he wasn’t planning on sticking around all that long anyway.

.

And now the nerd was trying his best to stare her down. It was like watching a puppy playing wolf, honestly. So cute. And pathetic. It seemed like he was trying to bolster himself up, for whatever reason. Did he not think she would have guessed that the loser brigade might have something stupid in store for one another? Tessa met his gaze with cool disinterest, her head tilted imperiously. “Piece of advice? Don’t go into comedy if that’s your idea of funny. Steve Martin you certainly aren’t.” She said. There was something... off about the whole thing though. A joke, a prank, it all made sense to her. But she remembered pulling out her flask, shaken by... something. A vision. And she remembered Lucas’ hands taking her flask, too.

“Well, you certainly succeeded with that. They didn’t seem too happy with whatever stunt you pulled.” Or with each other for that matter. “That other girl... California.... whatever her name is. Was she in on that too? Or was it all just your idea?” She asked, wondering who else she’d need to give an earful to.

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

lucas’ eyes arced toward the ceiling reflexively. “that’s bullshit. it’s a roleplaying game, not a cult. and it prepares you for anything because the dungeon master can throw anything at you at any time. once, mike threw out a demogorgan and-” he trailed off lamely, both because he was sure tessa could not possibly care less about d&d and because that particular campaign had been the beginning of everything. clearing his throat, he shoved his good hand into his pocket and lifted that shoulder in. a half-shrug. “i was a boy scout when i was little, too. expect the unexpected, you know?” 

.

Looks like that touched a nerd nerve. Once a geek, always a geek, and Sinclair was proving that. “Dungeon master and demo...things. Right.” She said flatly before laughing at his next excuse. “A boy scout? How charming. Good for you, really.” Sighing, Tessa shook her head. The specific memories of what had happened that night... they were hazy, strangely so. But she remembered that Lucas had seemed strangely prepared for everything that was being thrown their way. 

“Look. I just want to know what sort of prank you and your... little friends were trying to pull. Because frankly, hon? It wasn’t funny.” She said. Because what had happened the night, it must have been a prank. Some gross joke the loser of this town decided to pull for no reason. “It obviously backfired on you.”

[tessacallovvay]

dvstybuns​:

WHO: Dustin Henderson & @tessacallovvay​

WHAT: Carrie Stans Rise

WHERE: The town library

The library was a sacred place to Dustin. It held all of the keys to the universe - all of the scientific knowledge he might need to help figure something out with an experiment. When school started in the fall, Dustin was sure the campus library would be where he spent a fair amount of time when he wasn’t in classes or the science labs. For now, though, the town library would serve as a place to help him research whatever the hell they had seen in the woods. 

After smiling and waving at the librarian - who scowled at him in return - Dustin headed for the microfiche to check out old newspaper clippings. If there was some mention of some thing similar happening in town before, Dustin was determined to find it. On his way back there, though, he spotted someone studying dreams. Most of the time, Dustin would just let that go. After all, that was much more in line with psychology, which while interesting, wasn’t Dustin’s expertise. Still…part of him couldn’t help but wonder if it was connected to the big mystery in town. Nightmares had been a warning sign before, after all. Maybe they were starting up again? 

“Bad dream?” He asked, glancing at the book in front of the blonde. She was pretty, but something about her clothes and expression already made Dustin wary. He had never been well-liked by popular girls, after all. The Snow Ball of 1984 would never be a happy memory for him like it had been for most of his friends, despite Nancy’s attempts at helping. But, despite his caution, Dustin knew he had to ask, just in case it was related. “Have you had any like, headaches late? Or anything like that?” 

.

In the aftermath of Robin Buckley’s truly terrible party-- which, Tessa really shouldn’t have been surprised-- sleep hadn’t come easy. She valued her beauty sleep above all else but when sleep came with visions of a stage and spotlights, of a faceless yet strangely familiar girl pulling a rope to unleash a torrent of blood down on her... it was hard to shut her eyes. Which was why she was in the library, thumbing through some hippy book about dreams. As if that would help her at all. But, she needed her sleep and these nightmares showed no signs of stopping.

Speaking of nightmares, a waking one approached her. Dustin Henderson, dork extraordinaire, had the audacity to walk up to her. Rolling her eyes, she turned sharply to face him, smiled broadly, and replied, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, darling.” Nosy, much? Flipping through the book, her fingers paused when the page fell open to an illustration of a woman drenched in blood, hands outstretched.

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

for some reason, he followed her. it wasn’t like he had much of a choice when she looped a hand around his wrist. lucas glanced at the books around them and laughed quietly at how deserted this section was. he reached up to smooth down his hair, just for something to do with his hand, and cocked his head slightly to one side. 

care to explain? he wasn’t sure. the last time he’d dragged somebody into the world of superpowers and the upside down, he’d almost lost them, so he was a little gun-shy about it. he could sort of hear steve’s voice in his head, that warning tone from the graveyard…but at the same time, if the rest of them had seen things like lucas had, maybe they needed to be prepared?

it was confusing. he wasn’t sure what to say. in the end, he settled for “i play a lot of dungeons and dragons.” as if that explained it all.

.

Tessa eyed Lucas carefully, locking onto the way he seemed to avert his gaze, how he held himself. Cagey, like he had something to hide. And when he gave some mumbling excuse of an answer, well. That wasn’t going to cut it. “Dungeons and Dragons? The devil worshiping cult game?” She said, incredulous. “How exactly would that prepare you to be shoved into graves?” She was as religious as any of the other Calloways-- they said their prayers, they attended Sunday chapel, and Daddy always made sure to leave a large, visible donation on the collection plate. She was a good Christian girl, but even she had her doubts about the devil working through a stupid board game to make people do his bidding.  

[tessacallovvay]

mmuscles​:

WHO: thad bradshaw & @tessacallovvay​ WHAT: thad tries to thad but tessa earns his respect by being $$$ WHERE: near city hall (june 18th-ish)

thad still had nowhere close to an idea of where anything in hawkins was, which meant close to each time he had taken his car out for a spin outside of the motel six, he’d gotten terribly lost. he wasn’t looking for any place in particular, but once he got to walking around, he’d lost which way he’d parked. he was pacing outside of the steps to the city hall, mulling over what to do when he near instantly noticed some blonde babe crossing his path, “hey! you– girl! excuse me–” he began chasing after her. she seemed out of it, which was annoying, but thad could work with this. she had been the nicest dressed person he’d seen in hawkins so far, which could only meant she came from money. well– he would be working with it a lot better if she was actually listening to him. slightly more aggressive, he tried again, snapping as he chased after her, “hey, space cadet? i’m talking to you?”

.

As much as Tessa hated to admit it, what had happened in the cemetery had rattled her. Hard. The... vision, or whatever, it still stuck in her mind no matter how she tried to push it from her memory. She hadn’t gotten much sleep in the night since and though she was hardly the type to walk around with bags under her eyes, Tessa knew she wasn’t in top form. Which was why she didn’t notice when some loser nobody tried to get her attention. She wanted to get to city hall-- more importantly, she wanted to get to the pot of coffee waiting in the break room.

But, her thoughts of coffee and relaxing at her desk were abruptly interrupted by a shout and... was he snapping at her? Like she was the help? Pursing her lips, Tessa spun around, irritation growing. “Excuse me?” She said, hand resting on her hip. “Are manners not something they teach people round here anymore, or are you just naturally this rude?” She asked, leaning forward. “Here’s a piece of advice, hon. When you’re talking to a lady, try starting with a “Hello” or “excuse me” or even a “Pardon me, miss!” if you really want her attention.”

[tessacallovvay]

sinclairss​:

lucas sure as hell wasn’t going back there. he briefly considered doubling back to his house for the book he’d left at home, but he didn’t really feel like getting another disappointed look from his mom. she’d been shaking her head and clucking at him since he shuffled into the kitchen the morning after the party, cradling his arm and mumbling that he needed to see the doctor. getting injured in a school-sanctioned sporting event was one thing, but no one in his family bought lucas’ half-assed excuse of tripping down the stairs.

so that was why lucas was scoping out the shelves when tessa arrived instead of huddled at a study table. he’d just snagged the book he needed from the shelf when she spoke. “uh.” he shifted the book in his good hand, the other arm tucked into his chest by a sling. he hadn’t exactly been avoiding the group from the cemetery, but he hadn’t gone looking for them, either. it was all too weird. but he would take just about any excuse not to do his homework so…”okay, sure.”

.

Tessa briefly registered Lucas’ arm in a sling-- hm. He’d gotten hurt or something that night. She hadn’t really been paying attention to that. She was more focused on the fact people were getting pushed into open graves and the terrifying visions they’d all seen. Whatever, he seemed fine now. At his mumbled nod of assent, Tessa’s smile widened. “Thanks, sugar. Follow me.”

Grabbing him around the wrist, she led him back towards the autobiography section of the library. As she suspected, it was completely empty. No one cared about what boring people wrote about themselves. “So. You seemed awful familiar with the things that happened the other night. Almost like you were prepared. Care to explain?” She asked, arms folded across her chest.

[tessacallovvay]

Who: @tessacallovvay & @sinclairss

Where: the library

Tessa ran a perfectly painted nail along the spines of the row of books, eyes focusing on the other patrons. She wasn't here for knowledge, not from a book at least. She wanted to find Sinclair. He clearly knew more than he'd let on the night at the cemetery and she was intent on finding out just what he knew.

Which is why she was in the library on her lunch break. If you wanted to corner a nerd, you had to go where the nerds were. And what other place would that be than the library? From what she'd heard, Lucas Sinclair was a reformed nerd who'd decided that basketball was his way out from the loser hell he was going to if he stuck around the likes of Dustin Henderson and Mike Wheeler. Good for him, but a nerd was a nerd, no matter how many laps around the basketball court you did.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tessa spotted a flash of movement. Lips curling, she plucked a book off the shelf at random before walking up to him. "Lucas, imagine seeing you here." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Care to chat?"

[tessacallovvay]

who: @tessacallovvay​ & @cvffeeandclues​

where: the police department

Checking her lipstick in the compact mirror she kept in her purse, Tessa did a once over on her appearance. Flawless, as always. She smiled to herself before pushing through the doors into the police department's main office. She breezed past the uniforms, her city hall badge hanging out of her purse like a hall pass. Some of the boys in blue blustered and puffed at her walking by them, but she smiled and nodded and continued unimpeded down the hallway towards records.

When one of the officers tried to make her pause and explain herself, Tessa smiled widely. "I'm here to look up some police records regarding an old case the city manager's taken an interest into. Just need to take a peak, hon, and I'll be out of your hair." She said before brushing him off and walking into the record room. Easy as pie. It seemed that way, until she noticed someone else was already in here.