Hi All, this has been bouncing around in my head for a little while and I've always thought Alex and Simone had an interesting dynamic.
Set in season one and definitely pulls from some of the plots but not necessarily in order.
I don't own any characters or quotes from Star. Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see this continued.
It's not for the money
Alex sat on the back stoop of the salon, there was something about the way her father looked at Carlotta when he entered the small shop that made her feel sick to her stomach. For a brief second, her father paused, and Roland Crane never paused. Alex heard the patio door clang behind her and a curly blonde haired young woman sat down beside her, "You good?" Star asked, she didn't look at the other girl sitting to her right.
Alex took a deep breath, Star had already given her shit for lying to them and she wasn't exactly looking to relive that, "Yeah."
"Good," Star replied, "cause we gotta job to do" she told Alex before standing and heading inside. Alex let out the breath she had been holding, thinking to herself that she should be more upset about her parents had busted in, spilling her truths without he even having to open her mouth, but all she could think about was the strange look in his eyes. She sighed to herself with the harsh realization that she had to begin rebuilding everyone's trust and it wasn't going to be easy.
Alex sighed as she pushed herself to her feet and slowly followed Star back into the salon and up to the room they shared. She sank down onto the dingy bed that was so different than the one she grew up with, and yet somehow this bed seemed warmer. She leaned across the bed to pull her laptop towards her, purposefully ignoring the side eye from Star who was sitting lining her lips in the mirror. Dressed in lace panties and a black bra with an oversized sweater hanging over her petite frame, Star's blonde curls were tied back into a loose bun that fell out in all the right places. Star pursed her lips before turning to Alex raising her eyebrows as if to indicate that Alex should stop staring. "What?" Star asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she popped her hip out in impatience waiting for an answer.
"Nothing," Alex shook her head and looked away from Star. The girl was her polar opposite in every way, which often caused Alex to question how she got here in the first place, but she didn't really wonder, Star had believed in her when no one else had and somehow, this place, these people, felt more like a family than the one she had grown up with.
"You got your head on straight?" Star asked eyeing her up. Star wasn't one to worry, but Alex was acting weird, and she needed her at her prime and no less, "I ain't gonna ask again."
Alex looked back and nodded, "I said I'm good," she replied, the lie tasted like poison on her lips, but she swallowed it down.
Star kept her eyes on Alex a beat longer than normal, "Cool." She replied, turning away to pull on some baggy white joggers with a black strip down the side. "Gonna find our next gig, wanna tag along?"
"I -" paused thinking of an excuse that Star would accept, "gotta work on this song, I'll catch up with you later." Alex replied slowly as she watched Star shrug before disappearing down the stairs. Alex sighed as she closed her laptop, not convinced Star believed her, but there was something she had to do.
Carlotta tossed some towels into the dryer when Alex appeared in the doorway. "Hey," Carlotta greeted without looking up from what she was doing.
Alex swallowed the lump in her throat, she hated small talk and figured she might as well get right to the point, "Do you know my dad?"
Carlotta didn't look up, "Of course I know him, don't everyone?"
Alex knocked her fist gently against the wall, "You know what I mean."
Carlotta exhaled and looked at Alex, giving her a once over, she sighed, "Yeah I knew him, but that was a long time ago."
"How long ago?" Alex asked calmly, but there was no mistaking the dangerous glint in her eye.
Carlotta grimaced, "I dunno, 15, 16 years ago?"
Alex nodded, looking frustrated, "He know Mary?"
"They ran in the same circles for a bit." Carlotta replied slowly, not liking where this was going.
"Okay." Alex replied as she turned to leave.
"Hey," Carlotta chased after her, "where you going girl?"
"To get some answers." Alex answered without turning around.
Alex sat in a coffee shop across from her father, wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, she unfolded her crossed arms to take a slow sip of her coffee, after a moment she placed the cup back on the table, "I'm going to ask you a question, and for once, I just need you to be straight with me."
Roland nodded and after a beat leaned in, elbows resting on his knees with his hands clasped together, "Alright."
"Did you-" Alex struggled to find the words, after all, this was crazy wasn't it? "Did you ever have sex with Mary Davis?"
Roland raise his eyebrows and learned back, offering only a shrug, "Who?"
"She was in a group called Mixed Harmony, back in the 90s." Alex pushed on.
"I don't know Alex" Roland replied, seeming tired with the conversation already.
"It's important." Alex pushed.
"Why?" Roland asked coldly, even though it was clear that he was no longer interested in entertaining the conversation.
"Because I might have a sister." Alex replied and Roland looked at her.
"You might have a lot of sisters." He replied nonchalantly, standing, "Are we done here?"
Alex got to her feet, "No, we're not done."
"What do you want from me?" He snapped. "Mary and I hooked up a couple times, we partied a bit, never heard from her after that."
"That's because she's dead." Alex snapped back.
"So what? I'm supposed to feel bad because some junkie overdosed and left her kid? I don't, and I'm not giving this kid money."
"It's not about the money," Alex breathed.
"It's always about the money." Roland replied,"You should know that by now," he pushed his sunglasses up further onto his face before walking away without another word. Alex shook her head in amazement of how he could be so selfish when her phone started to ring.
Alex entered the hospital, "Where are they?" She demanded of the people in the waiting room.
"Star's in there with her now," Carlotta replied as she moved towards Alex with open arms and guided her towards a seat.
"What happened?" Alex asked looking between the older women.
"She got into some pills." Cotton replied.
"Jesus." Alex muttered.
"Those girls are a mess." Cotton added and Carlotta shot her a glare as she moved towards the nurses station.
"I'm going to need your daughter full name please." The nurse told Carlotta gently.
Carlotta frowned, "Simone, Simone Brown."
"And how old is she?"
"Sixteen." Carlotta replied.
"Frequent drug use. Any history of psychiatric problems?"
"I don't think so, no."
The nurse looked up at Carlotta, "You don't think so?"
"She's a teenager." Carlotta snapped, "They all crazy."
The nurse frowned, "Well, we're trying to determine if this was an overdose or a suicide attempt."
"She has been waking up having nightmares." Carlotta offered, "Waking up screaming and stuff."
The nurse nodded and made some final notes, "I'll need to make a copy of your insurance card."
Carlotta fidgeted uncomfortably, "I uh, I don't have insurance right now."
The nurse raised her eyebrows, "The emergency room alone is going to cost over $5,000. Obamacare has some very affordable options for low-income families."
"Who said we were low-income?" Carlotta shot back as Cotton appeared at her side.
"Come on Mom." Cotton guided her mother back to her chair.
"How we gonna pay for this?" Carlotta asked, sinking down into her seat.
Alex frowned as she pulled out her cell phone and headed towards the parking lot, against her better judgement she dialled her fathers number.
"Go."
"Dad, I know what I said before but Simone is in the hospital. She overdosed and she's in the hospital."
"Who is Simone?"
"She's the girl I was telling you about." Alex replied sharply, dangerously close to loosing her patience.
"What did I tell you?"
"I know, I'm sorry," Alex replied as a rouge tear rolled down her cheeks, "trust me this is the last thing I want to be doing right now but can you just, please come down here."
"Come down there, and do what?"
"I don't know, pay for the hospital bill." Alex must have sounded desperate because her father sighed on the other end of the phone, "So you'll come?" Alex asked hopefully.
"I'm not coming down there" Roland replied begrudgingly, "I'll transfer you the money and that's it, text me how much you need."
Alex let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in as she hung up the phone but a ball of anxiety formed in her stomach as she realized the next thing she had to do was have a conversation with Star.