Perilous (Harry Styles)

chapter 1

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

- William Jennings Bryan

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I belonged to that kind of people who said they hated surprises only to get to know the surprise.

There was nothing worse than being told "oh, it's a surprise!" without knowing when and where you would get to know that surprise.

So yes, I hated surprises but only because I was far too impatient to wait for them to be revealed.

But sometimes you could guess surprises. For example, when your boyfriend did his very best to keep you from going home and when your best friend acted mysteriously.

I wasn't talking about their behavior in general. No, I meant their behavior a few days before my 20th birthday.

Even my parents were dodging my questions and attempts to make them spill the secret.

But the moment my sister instantly ended a call when I entered her room, I figured it out.

A surprise party for my birthday. Of course. What else would make everyone act like Sherlock Holmes?

There weren't any clues in our house, but they probably hid the balloons and festoons and everything else at Lisa's.

Now the most important task was to make me stay away from home long enough to set everything up.

That was the reason why Harry insisted on my company for the day.

I was currently on summer break for two months. Today was July 1, my birthday. And I wasn't allowed to go home.

It has been nearly two months since the incident and most reminders were fading away.

But Harry had one last mission to accomplish. "I want to get a tattoo over the scar."

"I don't think they can just ink across the scar," I told him, my eyes fixed on the Crêperie to my right.

God bless French people and their Crêperies.

"Zoey! Oh my god, it really is you! Happy birthday, honey," a squeaky voice called my attention before a fragile figure ran into me.

Astonished, I hugged the girl back. She let go after a few seconds and I finally could see her face.

"Jade?" I asked, uncertainty evident in my voice.

"It's been so long now, haven't seen you in ages," my high school friend rambled on. "Do you have a few minutes? We should get a crêpe and talk a bit."

"That's a great idea. Z, just meet me at the tattoo parlor whenever you're ready," Harry spoke up before I had a chance to decline Jade's offer.

"Oh, hi, sorry, didn't see you. I'm Jade," Jade introduced herself to Harry, outstretching her hand.

Harry shook it, smiling honestly at her. "I'm Harry." On that note, he made a parting gesture and disappeared into the tattoo parlor down the elevator in the mall.

"Woah, he's hot," Jade commented, her eyes on Harry until he disappeared. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the Crêperie.

At least I would get something good to eat now.

"So, how did you meet?" Jade asked, starting a long conversation.

My initial doubts flew away and I started to really enjoy myself. After high school, Jade and I hadn't kept much contact but we had always gotten along.