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As the girls of Big Trouble warmed up to begin rehearsing their new dance routine, Joelle rushed into the studio to tell the girls about the deal she had just made. "Valentinaaaaaaa!" Jo literally jumped for joy as she prepared herself to announce the wonderful news.
"You know you my best friend, right?" Jo asked, clasping her hands, excitedly, together.
Val nodded as she looked up from the lyrics on the paper she was studying. "Well, I got you a gig at the Rubicon! All these stars are gonna be there!" Jo announced. Val's jaw dropped. She was quite surprised and never knew that Jo would ever do something so kind for her.
"Jo, thank you! But— ahem, I— I really shouldn't do that. Especially since we've gotta work on Big Trouble now more than ever." Val was very appreciative, but she couldn't just drop Big Trouble to start her own career just like that.
"No, you have to!" Jo exclaimed.
Star, who was silent until that very moment, spoke up. "If she ain't comfortable doing it, don't force her, Jo." Star chuckled.
Jo placed a heavy hand on her hip and tilted her head. "Mylene is going to perform there too. She's getting a shot to land a role in some movie Misty Holloway was supposed to play in." Jo told. Star then turned her head slowly at Valentina and narrowed her eyes.
"You're going to perform at that damn gig and you're going to steal that bitch's light." Star spoke passionately. She absolutely hated Mylene. Ever since they first fought, they never seemed to get along. Both of their strong ideologies and desire for stardom caused them to always clash.
Valentina sighed. "Yeah, sure. Whatever." She shrugged.
"You have to sing, though. And you gotta be sexy." Jo informed.
Alex and Simone began to giggle from where they were silently sitting. Valentina rolled her eyes at them. "Oh shut up." Val scoffed.
Star clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I'll doll you up!" Star instantly offered.
Valentina smiled kindly at her friend. "Fine. I'll figure out a song to sing by tomorrow." Val noted.
"Great. Oh! And I forgot to add... I got a record producer that's been wanting you and Star on his label for a while now: Roy Asheton." Jo added.
Star smiled devilishly. "That means that he's also Mylene's producer, huh?" Valentina shook her head in disappointment at her vengeful friend.
"Yeah..." Jo cringed.
* * *
Later on that night, Joelle took Valentina with her to the Get Down Brothers' show in celebration of their new deal with Roy Asheton, the record producer. The two were jamming and dancing along with Shao's beats and the other brothers' rhymes when a boy neared Jo.
"You want some dust?" He asked subtly.
Jo shrugged and pulled out a bill, discretely trading the money for the drug. Valentina only realized what she had done when Jo turned and waved the little bag around. "You want some?" Jo offered.
Val scrunched up her face in disgust. "Fuck that shit. Ain't that shit bad for you?" Val questioned.
Jo, once again, shrugged. "I'm just trying to have a little fun tonight." She cackled then sniffed the crack. She instantly felt the effects and began to dance wildly, jump and shout for Shaolin while blowing air kisses at him. Shaolin simply chuckled and smiled down at Jo as he looked at her from the stage. Valentina scoffed then continued to dance, keeping an eye on her friend while doing so.
A few moments later, Jo began to hallucinate and stumble a bit. Valentina instantly stopped dancing and grabbed her by the arm to support her. "Woah woah woah." Valentina spoke.
Valentina's weak arms simply could not hold Jo's body, so Joelle collapsed to the ground. Shaolin quickly caught sight and he hopped off of the stage. Simultaneously, Dizzee fell off the stage as well. Shao pressed his hand to Jo's forehead, then began to shake her. "Wake up, Jo. Yo, what the fuck. Wake up, Joelle!" Shao shouted.
"She was fucking smoking that shit!" Shao exclaimed as he continued to shake her body vehemently.
"It was the fucking dust, man." Valentina felt herself tear up, knowing she should've stopped her friend from sniffing that poison.
Shao got up and stomped away as he noticed a boy smiling... the same boy that sold Jo and Dizzee the drug. "The fuck you smiling at, nigga?" Shao growled as he pushed the boy.
"Look at this shit, man." The boy who sold the drugs said. Valentina looked up and eyed the boy. She recognized him as Little Wolf, one of Regina's exes. Little Wolf and Shao began to argue back and forth.
Eventually, someone called for an ambulance to take everyone that was hit by the laced dust to the hospital.
* * *
Valentina sat in the waiting room of the local hospital as she waited to hear any news about Joelle's state. She had already informed Michael of his sister's state, and he was already on his way from Manhattan. Valentina was picking at her nails when a short and slim lady with a clipboard walked up to her.
"Are you with Ms. Tealer?" The lady asked.
Valentina nodded and sat up straight, nervous to hear the news. "Well—" the lady began, but was interrupted when another voice butted into the conversation.
Valentina instantly recognized it as Michael's voice. "No she's not. I'm Joelle's brother. She's just a friend." Michael scoffed disappointedly in Val's direction.
Valentina felt a bit hurt, but she brushed it off because she knew that he was simply scared in that very moment. Michael and the thin lady with the clipboard spoke in private on the other side of the waiting room about Joelle's state. Based on Michael's facial expressions, Valentina knew that Joelle was fine.
Once Michael was done speaking with the lady, he begrudgingly plopped himself in the seat next to Valentina. Valentina reached for his hand to comfort him, but he snatched it away. "What the hell is your problem?" Val cursed.
"You let her take that dust." Michael stated.
Valentina huffed. "What the hell was I supposed to do? I'm not her parent and she was happy." Val asked.
"I don't know, maybe take the bag away? Sell to another person? Throw it away?" Michael's sharp words were dripping with sarcasm.
"Whatever, you'll forget about all of this in the morning." Val shrugged, returning to pick at her nails.
Michael scoffed. "My sister almost died, and you think I'll get over being angry with you for letting her poison herself while you did who knows the fuck what? You know Val, you should go. I don't think I even want to be with someone that's careless and reckless." Michael growled.
Valentina's heart felt like it had tore into pieces when he said those venomous words. She wanted him to take it back to apologize, but she couldn't express that without sounding like an asshole. So all she said was: "Okay, then."
