𝔚𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡 . 𝔊𝔢𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔉𝔞𝔫

ii. star hudson

Star pulled her jacket tighter as she sat at the police station, shaking in her seat between Nancy and George.

They've been there for an hour and Star had been holding back her tears the entire time. She couldn't even close her eyes, the image of Tiffany haunted her like a ghost. The Sheriff walked out and called her into his office, she didn't make eye contact with him as she tried to calm her shaking down.

"So the town's screw up, a former convict, a city girl, Nancy Drew and you, the Hudson heiress," Sheriff placed a to-go cup of herbal tea in front of her and she knew her dad got it for her.

It was easy to tell, her name had been smudged on it or her nickname he gave her when she was a little girl Starfire. They used to play hide and seek and every time he called her Starfire she would giggle and give away her hiding spot.

"I wasn't there when she died, I have an alibi," a pit formed in her belly as she stared down at the drink in her hand. The herbal tea was supposed to calm her but it didn't seem to work.

"But you were in the kitchen more than any one else and you don't exactly belong there," she chuckled. He sounded just like George, "How do you know where I belong, Sheriff?" She leaned back in her seat, her eyes sleepy as usual when she tapped her nails on the cup. She was using each tap to count her breaths, each one to ease into her pain and swallow it whole.

"I don't but I know you don't work there." He spoke and she shook her head, planning her lie.

"I was actually just about to throw my hat in the ring. You can ask George if you'd like." The sheriff called her in and Star didn't meet her eyes. She had the nail of her thumb in her mouth, chewing anxiously. All she kept thinking about was Tiffany Hudson was dead and how she lost another mother, for a moment she blamed herself.

Once is an accident, twice felt targeted. Ever since she found out about her mother's death when she was seven after someone asked her if her mom abandoned her, she felt sick to her core. She remembers how she asked her dad and he sat her down to explain it to her, she didn't understand that then but she was jealous of her younger self. Whoever said ignorance is bliss knew what they were doing.

"Is it true you were gonna give Star Hudson a job? And lying to the police is against the law." Sheriff McGinnis reminded George as she looked at the dark haired girl on the chair. Their eyes met swiftly before George turned to McGinnis. Star had no idea what she was about to say but she hoped for the best.

"Yes, Star Hudson is our newest hire." She said and Star fought back the urge to thank George, knowing the girl probably somehow had her own interest at heart. McGinnis looked between them and they batted their eyelashes, George bored and Star tired.

"Well, your dad is outside with a whole army of lawyers so you can go." McGinnis gestured towards the door and Star pulled George out with her. When the office was far enough behind them, Star spoke.

"I hope you know I wasn't lying back there. I'll see you tomorrow." George left the prescient first, Star followed when someone grabbed her. She jumped a little until she realised it was her dad. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

He was more nervous than she was, she could tell, she felt it practically swimming around him. She rubbed his back and told him she was fine, that everything would be fine. They got into his car and he drove them home, they didn't speak, Ryan was a very talkative person and so was Star but as they grew up, they grew more silent with one another.

Star stared out of the window, watching the stars in the sky. When she was little they used to try and count them all together, she was four and he was twenty one, they were wide eyed and believed the world was theirs. Someone crushed that hope, a father, a grandfather. Sometimes Star didn't recognise Ryan when she looked at him, it was like looking in a mirror and not recognising your reflection.

Star wanted to bring Tiffany up but that would lead to tears they couldn't afford. Everett taught them that. "I wanna start working at the Claw." She spoke up. He didn't seem to take in her words for a while and she wanted to repeat herself.

"Work and online school? Won't that be a little too much?" She shook her head. "It'll keep my mind off things." And a job meant an income and she needed that. She needed to finish college and get a real job, she needed to get out from underneath Everett's thumb as fast as possible.

"Hey, how about you throw an air mattress down in my room and crash there like you did when you were a kid." Ryan suggested and she laughed, there was a time when she was younger or up until the fifth grade where she was too scared to sleep alone so she'd throw an air mattress out next to her dad's bed. She was scared of the dark, she swore she felt watching her and sometimes she could still feel eyes on her.

"Sure." The eyes on her felt like they doubled and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight so maybe it was best she pulled out something that comforted her as a child.