[Shen Xia] Britannia Rose

Isabella threw away the broken stockings, and let down her shoulder-length curly hair. She casually drew a pick-up eyeliner on her eyes, and then applied a dark-colored big glitter eyeshadow. Then, blood-like scarlet The matte lip glaze outlines her round lips. With just a few strokes, Isabella has changed from an elegant aristocratic girl to a rebellious girl with problems. She put on a pair of gothic black A crucifix dress, just long enough to cover her bleeding knees.

At night, Isabella quietly walked into a pub in Cambridgeshire, where the band club she founded with her university classmates gathered.Born in the royal family, she has been proficient in various musical instruments since she was a child, and she has dabbled in piano, violin, even cello and harp.But her favorite is the drum set. She is obsessed with the rhythmic drums of heavy metal rock music. With the ups and downs of the music atmosphere, she finds a sense of unconstrained freedom in the wanton flying drumsticks.

This bar is the hottest in Cambridgeshire. Some students can't write their papers during the day, so they come here for a drink at night, temporarily forgetting the burden of their studies. Isabella's band, Fallen Rose, is a super popular star combination here.

As night fell, the long-handled wrought-iron chandelier at the entrance of the bar shone with warm yellow light. She greeted the bar owner familiarly, and then ordered a cocktail.

"Is the show still on time at eight o'clock today?" The boss patted the bartender brother on the shoulder, signaling him to make a good bartending for Isabella.

"Not sure, John may be late for class." Isabella tapped on the table with her fingertips in a bored manner.

John Openshaw, the lead singer of the band, is different from his melancholy temperament who loves music. He himself is studying chemistry and is facing graduation this year.

The bass player of the band is from the Department of Economics and is Isabella's senior, and the guitarist... She is sure that this person must be an undercover agent sent by McCoff!It's not that she didn't want to replace this person, but John has a good relationship with him, and he found him, so Isabella has no reason to kick the guitarist out.

When the wine in Isabella's glass was almost finished, John Openshaw finally came. While apologizing, he beckoned the bartender to bring him a glass of spirits to relieve the cold.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Isabella glanced at her watch and said, "It's 15 minutes later than get out of class time, what did you do?"

"My new roommate, let me bring him a cup of coffee." John cleared his throat and sat next to Isabella.

"What?" Isabella frowned, she couldn't believe her ears, "Tell you to bring him coffee all the way? God!"

"Yes...but he's actually not bad." John smiled helplessly.His eyes were a little erratic, and Isabella keenly caught the trace of unnatural expression.

"Don't listen to him say that," the bass player curled his lips, "I heard that guy is a freak in chemistry."

"Weird?" Isabella asked curiously.

"Ever since he went to college, his roommates have been able to form a football team. No one wants to do experiments with him, because he only needs to look at it and know all the information about you. You have no privacy in front of him. Words!" The bass player senior took a sip of her wine and complained, "That's how I broke up with my ex-boyfriend."

"Sorry?" Isabella didn't understand.

"He pointed out to my face that my ex-boyfriend slept with my girlfriend that night."

"Oh, this is so sad..." Isabella clapped her hands reassuringly.

"It's okay, some places are quite strange," John scratched his head, and he forced a smile, "It's good to get used to it, he's just bad at his mouth."

"Come on, John. Everyone knows that weirdo has been a loner. He's never had a friend, doesn't have one, and won't ever have one!"

"Okay, okay, should we go on stage? It's 9 o'clock in [-] minutes. I think we can sing the Beatles' rock music tonight?" The guitarist whose identity has been seen through by Isabella He changed the subject a little bit stiffly, and Isabella took a deep look, and he suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

"Okay...uh, how about the Beatles classics?" John said anxiously, and he clicked on the downloaded accompaniment tape from his phone.

"Oh, it's a song from Guns N' Roses!" The bass player looked at him in surprise, no matter how slow she was, she found something wrong with John Openshaw, "What's wrong with you, John?"

"I'm sorry, my hand slipped...it's this one," John hurriedly clicked on another song, this time it was finally right, he smiled stiffly, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"No, you don't seem to be okay at all..."

The bassist's unfinished words were interrupted by John, who picked up the microphone and stood on the stage, announcing the official start of Fallen Rose's performance.

This performance was not perfect. The lead singer was distracted frequently. Although it was not fatal in a noisy bar, everyone in the band could tell that John was not thinking about singing. Can't hide it.

Singing two pieces in succession, Isabella's head swayed up and down with the beat of the music, her golden hair sticking to her face messily, the song entered the chorus, and the more dense and compact drum beat set off the fiery atmosphere in the bar. Atmosphere, the frenetic night is about to reach its climax.Isabella tossed the drum stick in the air, then twirled a flower smartly, and hit the ride cymbal hard.The men and women in the audience applauded, their red cheeks were stained with alcohol, most of them couldn't tell the level of the band, as long as there was a tune, they were willing to join in.

Listening, the sweat on Isabella’s forehead dripped down her cheeks, she was panting slightly, playing the drums is physical work, unlike an elegant piano, you have to sit in front of the keys in a tuxedo, with a graceful posture and an elegant demeanor , at any time is as solemn as playing the piano in Vienna.

Isabella glanced at the audience in the audience, and she left the stage quietly from the backstage.Sweat wet her back, and Isabella carefully wiped her forehead and neck with a tissue. She took out a thin rubber band from her pocket and tied her hair into a small braid.Back at the bar, John Openshaw is gloomily drinking a Cuba Liberty cocktail.

"What's wrong with you?" Isabella knocked on the table, she stopped John's words, "Don't say you are fine, John, they can all see it, do you think you can hide it from me?"

John Openshaw smiled wryly, he bit his lip, he seemed to be thinking intensely in his mind, finally he opened his mouth, he sighed slowly, the panic and panic that could not be concealed in his words.

"I don't know where to start... this is so bizarre, I hope it's just me thinking too much..."

The author has something to say:

Guess which case I want to adapt the original book

I have the guts to change Conan Doyle's original work【Akimbo】