Buttered Popcorn

Chapter 3.5: October 31, 1986

I found my way to the kitchen and pulled a plastic cup from the stack of red solos. After searching for vodka and finding it, I mixed it with minimal amounts of the first soda I could find, which happened to be orange Crush.

I fucking hated orange Crush.

"Hey! You showed!" Steven walked up to me, opening his arms dramatically and beaming with his bright smile. "Yeah, once I told my roommate about this whole thing, she wouldn't let me ditch." I shrugged. "You brought your roommate? Where is she?" He began peering out into the sea of people, but I wasn't sure why. It's not like he knew what she looked like, anyway.

"She's the blonde on in all black grinding up against that guy right there." I pointed to her, but he didn't seem to follow. "Just- Look." I said, chugging almost all of my newly-made drink and throwing it in her general direction. It hit the girl next to her and she began causing a huge commotion, but luckily got Les's attention.

Once I caught her eye, she gave a wide smile and waved. I nodded to her and motioned for her to come to where Steve and I stood. "Hey! I'm Les, Jimmie's roommate and best friend." she held her hand out, which Steven took eagerly. "Totally glad you guys could make it! Do you want to meet my band?"

"Oh my god! Yes!" Les chirped, the big grin never leaving her lips. Steve looked to me for approval, to which I just gave a shrug, "Sure."

"Alright! Go to the second door," he pointed down the hallway, "It should be cleared, if not, kick them out. I gotta go round 'em up. 10 minutes?" he asked. We nodded and he disappeared into the crowd.

After making another drink for the both of us, Les and I walked down to the door Steven directed us to. As we opened it, we found a few people smoking out of a bong and passing it around. There was a few mattresses thrown haphazardly around the room- I guess this is where they slept. "You guys want a hit?" one of them asked, holding out the bong to us. "Hell yeah, I do." I said, sitting on the floor and beginning to light up.

Time passed quickly and soon enough, Steven appeared with 4 other guys behind him. "Beat it." one of his band members said to the guys in the room. The dude beside me groaned and got up, shoving past Steve and his band filled by the rest of the guys. "Screw you."

"You guys too." the member nodded to Les and I. "No, dude, these are the girls I wanted you to meet." Steven said, entering the room and closing the door behind the last guy.

"You pulled me away from that girl just so I could meet some of your chicks? Fuck this, man." The guy that was complaining about meeting us had long red hair that looked really soft and was dressed in very casual attire for a halloween party. Guess he didn't get the memo.

"Chill, Ax, let's meet 'em then we'll leave." a tall guy said. "Alright, so go ahead, ladies." Steven stepped aside, leaving Les and I facing the group of men. "I'm Les, it's a pleasure." She stood up from her spot on the mattress closest to me and held out her hand to the member that was first in line, which happened to be the whiny bitch.

He smirked as he shook her hand then brining it to his lips for a small kiss. Oh, so now he wanted to be nice? Les made her rounds with the guys, shaking each of their hands and offering her sweetest smile.

"And I'm Jimmie." I nodded to them, not bothering to get up. "-Formerly known as the chick that punched the shit out of Slash at the strip club a few weeks ago." Steve added with a proud smile. "That was you?" the redhead asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Already gettin' in good with the band. Thanks, Steve.

"At your service." I nodded. "You hit like a bitch." the head of curls spoke up, lighting a cigarette and avoiding eye contact. "Wanna see an actual swing, motherfucker?" I got up, fixing my rings that wrapped around my fingers on my right hand. As soon as Les saw this, she jumped in. She knew what that meant.

"Jimmie, take it down a few. It's fine, you don't even know him." she mumbled to me, bringing me back down to sit next to her on the mattress. "He'll get to know my fist real well if he keeps fucking talking to me like that." I muttered back, only low enough for her to hear over the muffled sound of the music. "Be nice." she pleaded.

"Alright, tiger, let's chill out." Steve chuckled awkwardly, shifting between his feet. "Get your band in check, man." I nodded to the shirtless curly-haired man who was chuckling, puffing on his now-lit cigarette. "On that note, I'll introduce them," he started.

"Here, we have-" "W. Axl Rose, lead singer." the redhead interrupted. "You're the lead singer?" Les giggled. "Damn right. Best in the business." 

I couldn't decipher if he was cocky or confident. Maybe both. I mean, I hadn't even heard of their band before Steven told me. Are they even in the business? He had an insanely deep and soothing voice, but it still didn't take away from the fact that he was a dick to us without even knowing our names.

"This is Duff McKagan, our band's bassist and your local drunk." Steve said. The tall blond waved to Les and I over the heads of the rest of the band mates with a crooked smile. I liked him already.

"This here is Slash, the lead guitarist. Don't mind his attitude, he's just drunk. He's usually really chill." Steve assured. The dude gave me a smug look before his eyes moved to Les, which I could only imagine was undressing her at that very moment.

"And our rhythm guitarist is Izzy Stradlin right over here." The dude was clad in a white button up that was covered by a black vest and scarf, along with black skinny jeans and boots. He silently nodded to Les and I through the smoke that was a consistent trail coming from his lips. Les batted her eyelashes a bit, but I only returned his gesture.

Now that I noticed, all of the band was wearing a semi-normal outfit, nothing even close to resembling a costume. Even Les looked alright in this setting. While I was dressed head to toe in red leather, I looked like a complete fuckwit.

"Obviously, I'm Steven-" "Obviously." I muttered to Les sarcastically, to which she chuckled before we both tuned back into what he was saying. "And I'm the drummer."

"Cool. Uh- It's been a real pleasure, guys. Especially you, Smash." I smiled sarcastically, getting up. "It's Slash." he corrected, grumbling while the other guys chuckled. "Sure, Smudge. I'm gonna go score some weed." I stated, pushing past the boys guarding the door. "Hey, I'll join!" Steve added.

I turned back to Les who sat on the bed, eyeing all of the guys with a certain glint that I knew too well. I gave her a look that read 'don't try anything' and she communicated that she understood. No she didn't.

"Hey, Izzy, is it?" I placed my hand on the shoulder of the guy, facing the opposite way from him as I was about to walk past. "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid please? I'll owe you one." He nodded, ashing his cigarette on the wall. "Thanks, dude."

They seemed alright, but nobody I'd normally hang around. Not yet, at least.