Assault With a Deadly Weapon || N.H / 1D

30.

Song recommendation: 400 Lux by Lorde
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I wish they would just kill me already.

Not because of my job, but because I was expected to go shopping with Josephine and Daniella. It's not that I didn't like them, in theory, they were my friends, but I don't think Ophelia ever would've spoken to these girls outside the operation. They were nice people, as nice as any spoiled twenty-something year old girls could be. They just weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Not to sound pretentious or anything, but I spent a good thirteen years surrounded by mentally clouded rich kids. I thought I had moved past that stage in my life.

"Arabella what colour dress are you going to wear?" Dani asked from the back seat of the Range Rover that Styles had let me borrow for the day.

"I'm not sure, I was thinking something maybe like a royal blue." I shrugged. "But that's totally susceptible to change, depending on what we can find."

"You use big words as if we know what they mean." Josephine laughed from the passenger seat.

Which word? Susceptible? Was that a big word?

My high school English teacher was always giving us lectures on the importance of education. As I've said before, my high school was full of rich kids who would've rather been absolutely anywhere else. Very often you'd hear the phrase: 'Why are we learning this shit?' To which my old decrepit English teacher would reply with a bony finger shaking in the air:

"Every single one of you has had a conversation with an adult who has no idea what they're talking about, even if you don't realize it. Some people just like to spew shit out of their mouths and call it intelligence. The whole point of your secondary education is to give you enough basic knowledge so that other people don't have to dumb-down the conversation so that you can understand it. If you're not even going to attempt to try in this class, you better get really good at bullshitting, you'll need it."

He was very old. He gave us that speech so many times that I don't think I could ever forget it. His voice haunted my dreams at night.

"The only thing to fear is fear itself? Fuck that. I'm scared shitless of stupid."

He swore a lot for a guy teaching a bunch of seventeen year-olds now that I think back on it.

"How long are you guys planning on spending here?" I wondered.

"Until we find outfits!" Dani said as if I was insane.

"Don't you just have stuff in your closets already?"

"It's a seventieth birthday! You can't just show up in something you've already worn." Jo shook her head.

"I mean, it's more sustainable that way." I brought up.

"It's a party, not a charity event. Lighten up." Jo scoffed.

"Right." I let out a breath. "Just in France I used to wear everything vintage. I haven't been shopping in ages."

"Then we'll get you right back into the swing of it!" Dani exclaimed sweetly.

I did appreciate how welcoming these girls were. Even if they weren't on the same wavelength as I was, they were still incredibly nice. I had to learn to look for people's feats, not focus on their flaws. I'd learned that with Niall. Yes, he was a little annoying at first, he had a problem with boundaries, and he was intimidating, but once my vision cleared, I saw that he was intelligent, caring, hilarious, and so incredibly strong. I didn't want to make the same mistake with anyone else. If I could go back in time, I'd take back every stupid insult I'd ever uttered to him. We might've ended up friends a lot sooner than we did, and I would've had more time with him before I left.