#imagine had the fight led to the gun being thrown out the window. had henry seen that richard was shot. had the ambulance been too late..

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

sometimes i think about what would have happened if richard had died instead of henry and the rest of the book had been narrated the song of achilles style and it hurts

[ubernoxa]

The Token: A Guns an’ Roses Fanfiction

Chapter 13: Halion

Story Summary: Story inspired by the movie She’s the Man. A female Duff is tired of dealing with the bullshit of trying to make it on the strip as a female bassist. In a desperate attempt to make it big doing what she does, she cuts her hair and mascardes as Duff. What’s the wors that could happen?

Chapter Summary: Michelle/Duff realizes how fragile her lie is.

(Masterlist)

Taglist: @viralwolf02 @littlemisscare-all @smokeandmirrorz @aratbaby @slashscowboyboots @queen-crue @achiweyow @bitter-13-suite @white-lightning-625

I wouldn’t be lying when I said that I thoroughly enjoyed the limo ride that Walter’s father had paid for to drive us to dinner. I almost felt like a rockstar. ALMOST.

As I sat in one of the bright red leather seats drinking a glass of champagne, I could still feel the silk fabric of my periwinkle A-line dress slowly tightening around me. It was almost snakelik. I was it’s prey, and it was getting ready to go in for a kill. The more I moved, talked, or laughed the tighter it felt.

Luckily for me, this wasn’t the first time I wore a tight fitting dress. I was a child of the strip, I was in Pixie, tight clothing was nothing new to me. This though, this was different.

I fidgeted with the headband that was strategically hiding the hairline to my now brown wig. Earlier that day, Macy had come home from work and dyed the wig for me knowing full well that bright blue hair would put Walter’s father in a foul mood. We had worked so hard to stay on his good side, and we weren’t going to throw all of that away because of a stupid wig.

There is no possible way for me to simply describe Walter’s father. He is a rather odd man, but odd in an overly professional way. He is a lawyer at a record company, and his job was focused on making sure the record company wouldn’t get sued. So yes, his uncle hated rock stars and countless lawsuits they would cause by bei absolute unprofessional idiots.

Before you ask, yes I had thought of using him as a connection for getting a record deal, but as I said before he really hates rockstars.

If he ever asked, I worked at a coffee shop and was not a part of a band. If you asked him, I actually hated rock music and didn’t play any instrument. I was the quiet and shy coffee barista who would one day marry a husband and raise a happy little family with two children, a boy and a girl. It was a beautiful lie. It was a simple life that I could have one time chosen, but it wasn’t for me. I knew I had to take the risk of becoming a rockstar; otherwise, I would regret it and live as a shadow of myself for the rest of my life.

Macy gently tapped me on the side with her elbow. I sent her a warm smile as a thanks for bringing me back to reality. I quickly looked back and forth, earning a confused look from everyone in the limo.

“Sorry, just zoned out for a couple minutes,” I faked a giggle in an attempt to soften the blow that I had actually grown incredibly bored of their conversation.

“No worries,” Henry cooed as he gently pushed the hair that was cascaded in front of my shoulder to behind it.

It was a sweet gesture, but it wasn’t entirely welcomed. Ever since the day in the music store where Steven practically told Henry that Izzy and I had fucked in the closet of the music store, Henry seemed to be acting like we were dating. Henry’s annoying actions were worth the price though, and I would do it again with Izzy if I had the chance.

Was it impulsive? Yes.

Was it immature? Yes.

Was it stupid? Yes.

Would I do it again without any hesitation? Yes.

“We’re here,” Henry said, guiding me out of the limo.

It was a beautiful venue. I noticed some paparazzi standing outside the door, creeping through the windows trying to get a picture of some celebrity that was probably trying to mind their own business inside.

That was the part of fame I didn’t look forward to. I had heard stories of some musicians breaking paparazzi cameras or telling them of fuck off. I couldn’t blame them. They just wanted their privacy, something rockstars or any celebrity would never get.

I felt a flash towards our direction quickly followed by some shouting. Panic flooded my bones as I stood paralyzed by the blinding lights. After a couple of deep breaths, I calmed myself down. Once I had collected myself, I looked over to see the questions were thrown at Walter’s father and not me. As quickly the panic had come, it left. All I had to do was follow Henry into the restaurant.

“Is it true that Halion, the rock stars who made your career, have walked away from the record company to pursue better options?” I heard a man yell amongst the small crowd.

Before we could enter the building, Walter’s uncle replied, “First off, they did not make my career. I have been doing this long before they were even born. Second of all, yes they left the company due to creative differences. There are no hard feelings, and we wish them the best.”

Walter’s father was the embodiment of class as he talked to them and shortly headed inside afterwards. This couldn’t have been the first time he had dealt with this. We then were able to sit down at a table that was decorated with elegant silverware and a deep purple tablecloth. Elegance was an understatement, I felt like a queen as I sat down at the table.

“Vultures, bunch of damn vultures,” I froze as Walter’s father cussed under his breath. So there was definitely more to the story of Halion leaving the band, and I would bet my bass that nothing that came out of his mouth was true when he was talking to the paparazzi.

It’s kinda poetic that Halion was one of the bands his record company watched over. Not only did I used to date the bassist, but Halion was a rock band from Sunset Stip. Heroes isn’t a word you would use to describe them because they were far worse that Motley Crue when it came to how they interacted with groupies, and sadly I had to learn the hard way. Despite their tendencies, which are common amongst rockstars, many of the bands on the strip still looked up to them. Why? Because they made it big. Even Pixie used to look up to them, once again, despite them being incredibly sexist.

“Don’t worry father, they’re just desperate to know about company business because they are talentless swines who can only leach off of others,” the air was caught in my lungs once Walter finished speaking. I forgot that I wasn’t the only one wearing a mask. While Walter was never the outgoing funny guy like Steven, he still was nice and had a good heart, to an extent. It was clear that Walter had expectations that his father had put onto him. I don’t know who I pitied more, him or me. My mind slowly wandered toward the thought of my own parents. What would they think of what I’m doing? Would they scream at me? I’ve done worse before, maybe I’d be okay?

I continued to look over the menu and attempt to not gawk at the prices. It was rather clear that between the 5 of us, we were going to spend more money than the price of my monthly rent for the apartment.

“Does anyone plan on ordering seafood tonight?” I couldn’t sense the poison or frustration that once laced Walter’s fathers words as he spoke. We all shook our head no, and he ordered some wine that apparently would pair well with our steaks.

I didn’t protest as the waiter poured me a glass. Yes, I wasn’t 21, but I didn’t complain. I had my fake on me, if I was asked but part of me was hesitant to use it. Had Walter’s father forgotten how much younger I was than his son? Granted it was only a couple of years, but I was 20...not 21.

Laughter erupted from the entrance of the restaurant, and when I looked to see who was the source of it, my stomach twisted. As if they were Beetlejuice, Halion was currently being led to a table not too far from the one I sat at. I made sure to keep my eyes on the menu as they sat down three tables over. To the naked eye, someone might not notice it, but I had personally been with Halion enough when they were trying to hide their drunken state. Part of me wondered how long they would last here before they would get kicked out. Wouldn’t be the first time they were ‘asked to leave’ as the waiters would put it.

I shot a quick glance over towards Halion as they sat at their table with what appeared to be groupies at their side. Like I said earlier, they were classic rockstars. My heart sunk as I recognized two of the faces of the girls who were draped over Halion’s shoulders. Despite the makeup she wore, covering her entire face, and the new clothing that left little to the imagination, I recognized her. No matter how much Betsy changed herself, I would still recognize her. It had only been a couple weeks since Guns N’ Roses took their gig, but even Cindy who was draped around the lead singer of Halion had changed too.

It was only for a moment, but when I locked eyes with Betsy my heart shattered into a million pieces.

I don’t know why the tears began to fight the dams I had built to keep them in.

Not here, I couldn’t cry here.

I couldn’t cry in front of Walter’s father because he would want to know why I was crying. If he had found out that I was a part of a band, he would evict me.

I shared a quick glance with Macy, who sent a concerned look my way. Not only were two member of Pixie here, but one of them was draped across my ex-boyfriend, someone who I foolishly believed could make my dreams come true.

I took a couple deep breaths before I spoke, excusing myself from the table and heading towards the nearest bathroom. I felt his eyes on me as I weaved through the restaurant. I felt Nyx’s bright blue eyes on me.

The moment the bathroom door closed behind me, shielding from the world, I leaned over the bathroom counter with only my hands supporting me.

I couldn’t tell what hurt worse, the fact that Betsy was draped around my ex-boyfriend or what she had turned herself into. Gone was the powerful kick ass drummer. She was reduced to nothing more than a groupie who barely wore clothing. I was honestly surprised that Cindy and her were let into the restaurant.

I internally cursed at myself when I heard the bathroom door open. I should have locked it. I looked over to see Betsy locking it behind her. It was clear she didn’t want us disturbed.

“What? Are you afraid that your new boyfriend will be walking in on us? You know it wouldn’t be the first time he walked into a woman’s restroom,” I snapped at her, keeping my voice hushed.

“When people asked you if he a tualy did that, you denied it!” Betsy shot back in a voice mimicking mine. I could tell that she wasn’t mad about that, but she was directing her anger through it anyway.

“Well of course I did. He would have broken up with me if I didn’t.”

“Ohh Michelle, you’re more pathetic that I thought you were,” I didn’t have to look at Betsy to know that she was rolling her eyes at me.

I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped my lips and now filled the bathroom.

“Me? Pathetic? He promised me that Pixie would open for them for their next tour!” I shot back. I knew I was acting like a totally bitch, but I didn’t care.

“Hmm, but we didn’t open for them.”

I looked over at her as she flashed a smirk at me.

“You’re a real fucking bitch.”

“I’m nothing compared to you,” she spat back, but now it was my turn to send a stupid smirk her way.

“Of course you are nothing compared to me. You never have been and you never would be,” I shot back.

Silence once again filled the bathroom. The only noise that could be heard was the muted conversations from the restaurant that was beyond a door. The conversations that felt like a world away.

I watched as Betsy slowly walked towards me and whispered into my ear, “Don’t forget that I know your dirty little secret. With only one sentence I can destroy EVERYTHING you have ever worked for. I’m currently dating Nyx, the bassist of Halion. I’m sure you’re familiar with how much sway he holds. All I have to do is whisper that one sentence into his ear, and you’re done. You think your name has been run through the mud before? Just wait until I’m finished with you! The funny thing is that people will believe anything I saw about you. Your reputation as a whore is already well known, so any little lie would be believable. Now the question is, do I start small with the little white lies or do I go straight to the big bombshell and work my way from there? Maybe I’ll start with Izzy, you two seem close. Trust me when I say that I will take great pleasure in watching your life crumble to pieces.”

I stood speechless as I watched her leave the bathroom, laughing.

Was this the beginning of the end? Was she really going to tell everyone that I was masquerading as a guy on Sunset Strip? Was she going to tell the world I was Duff?

With Nyx at her side, she had the power to destroy everything I had ever created. I once again held onto the bathroom countertop. Not only to help stop the shaking, but to make sure I wouldn’t collapse on the ground.

Bottom line I was fucked.

[trendingnewsb]

5 Ways The Past Was Even Crazier Than You Thought

Everyone’s had a jerk ruin their day. But go back a few centuries, and you’ll find that the world was built for jerks — jerks who could screw with other people’s lives and rarely suffer any consequences. OK, maybe it’s not so different from today. Regardless, whether it was starting fights on the beach or pretending to be a ghost for criminal purposes, the past was a ludicrously awful place. Take how …

5

People Used To Celebrate Christmas By Getting Drunk And Rioting

Modern Christmas involves awkward interactions with estranged relatives and eating a worrying amount of food, and that alone stresses us out. But that’s nothing compared to mid-19th-century America, when the holiday season was spring break crossed with Die Hard. Youths brawled, riots broke out, and the streets became holly jolly battlefields. More people dreaded Christmas than looked forward to it, because people called “fantasticals” would go out of their way to make life fantastically miserable for others.

Back then, Christmas was more of a public holiday, where you’d get out of the house to watch a horse race, go skating, etc. But if you were young and working class, you’d get drunk, set off explosives, fire guns, stage mock battles, block off roads, blast trumpets, sing, and generally try to make as much noise and chaos as humanly possible all day and night, often while cross-dressing or in blackface. If someone objected to the racket, well …

Via Johns Hopkins Univ. PressThis is back when Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards men were typically pleas for mercy.

Read Next

5 Translation Fails That Led To Comedy And Madness

What if you decided to stay indoors? No problem, the chaos would come to you. During an activity called callithumpian, people would play deliberately shitty music while going from tavern to tavern demanding free booze, and they’d beat the stuffing out of anyone who said no (or who didn’t offer enough). The authorities were generally helpless to stop this, and police who tried to intervene were sometimes attacked as well. To be fair, there were a lot of complicated class and racial issues at work during all of this, but it was probably tough to appreciate that if you were getting the crap beaten out of you for not giving away enough free booze to violent mobs.

4

18th-Century “Pranks” Were Flat Out Dangerous

Old-timey pranks put our modern-day YouTube wangs to shame. One fun example was giving someone an explosive disguised as charcoal so you could chortle heartily when their fireplace blew up.

Other “jests” included vomiting on beggars and attacking them with dogs, knocking away people’s lanterns so they couldn’t see in the dark, nailing people’s doors shut, just stealing shit, or getting drunk and rampaging through the streets while breaking windows, knocking people over, and presumably yelling “Merry Christmas!” The Enlightenment’s formula for comedy was “misery plus other people, and that’s it.”

H. AlkenThough we have to admit, a few people really made an art of it.

Elderly and disabled people were the preferred targets of these wacky shenanigans: One “celebrated aristocratic prankster” organized a dinner staffed by all of the stutterers he could find, just so he and his friends could make fun of their speech impediments. Other dinners featured waiters who had bad legs or arms, so they could be yelled at or “thrown downstairs” for spilling food. Internet trolling almost seems quaint by comparison, doesn’t it?

3

People Used Ridiculous Disguises To Commit Crimes

While modern ghost enthusiasts are largely confined to low-budget reality TV shows, belief and curiosity in the spirit world used to be more widespread … which of course meant that people were there to take advantage.

Sometimes it was just for fun, like in the case of a young 18th-century scholar who was in the middle of writing a local history when he decided to pretend that a well was haunted for “his own amusement.” In 1621, Henry Church, with the help of some London magicians, pretended to be a ghost to convince his wife to give him her inheritance. One 17th-century conman pretended to be the ghost of a suicide victim said to be haunting a establishment so he could scare off gamblers and steal their money. Yep, an actual Scooby-Doo plot played out in reality.

Running Press PublishersZoinks, indeed.

Then there was the infamous 1762 Cock Lane Ghost. Long haunting short, William Kent and his lady friend Fanny rented a room in London. Fanny died, and then their landlord, Richard Parsons, got his daughter Elizabeth to pretend to be Fanny’s ghost. “Fanny” made weird noises and claimed to be the victim of arsenic poisoning, which made Kent look like a murderer. A media circus erupted, and while an investigation eventually discovered the truth, Parsons first sold tickets to witness the ghost and received donations from people who felt bad that his building was haunted. “Fake Ghost-Haver” used to be a valid profession, and you didn’t even have to film it.

But it wasn’t only ghosts. In the Channel Islands, the thing for hip 17th-century youths to do was dress up as werewolves and throw stones at people’s doors in the middle of the night, with women who were “already sexually compromised” being their preferred target. Authorities were already suspicious of young people who gathered in groups at night, so think of this as an insane 17th-century version of Footloose. Alternatively, people would wear the fabricated heads of horses or donkeys, drape sheets over their bodies, and use cords to make the jaws on their heads move and make noise. And then they’d chase people around and try to bite them. Imagine coming home from a hard day of peasantry, only for some deranged furry in your yard to try to take a chunk out of your ass.

piola666/iStockYup, this gag was already old 400 years ago. Sorry, edgy YouTubers.

2

Australia Had An Epidemic Of Psychotic Beach Bums

There’s always that one jerk at the beach, blasting music, spreading his stuff over five of the best deckchairs, getting obnoxiously drunk, and generally ruining your day. And in Australia from around the 1880s to the 1910s, the beaches were dominated by those assholes. Known as larrikins, Australia’s beach bullies would turn up by the dozens or even hundreds and then proceed to piss everyone off. Larrikins would start fights, take over facilities, and generally not be satisfied until they were ruining everyone else’s time. Often while naked.

In one well-documented case, about 60 larrikins crashed the seventh annual picnic of the Amalgamated Journeymen Tailors’ Association, a name so old-timey that a monocle has spontaneously appeared on your face just reading it. They started small, stealing a soccer ball and refusing to give it back, but soon escalated into crashing a dance pavilion, where they hurled their friends into other dancers. It should go without saying that most of them were drunk as hell for all of this.

The BulletinThese guys? Drunk? We refuse to believe it.

Larrikins had also crashed another dance party a couple of days earlier. The police were informed, but were helpless to intervene. Whenever they tired to arrest a larrikin, the others would either cause chaos elsewhere as a distraction or shower the cops with stones. At one point, they severely injured a woman who happened to be near an officer. While today we limit our riots to important concerns, like protesting institutional violence or celebrating a big sports victory, “we really want to piss off these dancers who are politely minding their own business” used to be due cause.

1

In Victorian England, Attacking The Police Was A National Pastime

The modern public’s relationship with the police is complicated, but both sides are best friends compared to how things were in Victorian England. In the 1870s and ’80s, baiting police officers was practically the national hobby. Methods of trolling included setting booby traps with tripwires, leading bobbies on merry chases, and straight up attacking police officers out of the blue.

In 1880, a drunk by the name of Joseph Broxup played an extended game of runaround with the police, quickly attacking them and then shutting doors in their faces when they chased him. This was a bit of a trend, as a Leeds constable named Prewer seemed to spend all of his time haplessly chasing around after people and then getting his ass kicked.

The Crown Court of England and WalesYou cant look this good without making some enemies.

Other miscreants would get their dogs to attack police officers, sometimes for the sheer hell of it. Police were technically allowed to enter private property to do their jobs, but people were so resistant to the idea that constables were reluctant to investigate domestic violence, because often the only thing the abuser and the victim could agree on was that the police should fuck off. The police would even get shit for doing objectively helpful things, like returning mislaid property or pointing out doors that had accidentally been left unlocked and open.

Maybe this was all because the police themselves were less a Thin Blue Line and more Police Academy, spending a good chunk of time getting drunk instead of showing up for their shifts. It seems like sober policemen were more the exception than the rule, although given that the alcohol probably dulled the pain inflicted by random passersby for no apparent reason, maybe we’re confusing cause and effect here.

And you know why you can’t “pretend” to be a ghost anymore? Ghost costumes have gotten too darn adorable, that’s why.

Support Cracked’s journalism with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.

For more, check out 5 Underreported Jerk Moves By Famous Historical Figures and 29 Insane Pastimes That Prove History Was Terrifying.

Follow us on Facebook, and we’ll follow you everywhere.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_25543_5-ways-past-was-even-crazier-than-you-thought.html

from Viral News HQ https://ift.tt/2IMdavD via Viral News HQ