Ryder playfully offered me his arm, which I gladly took. He escorted me towards a table. Ryder then picked up two flutes of champagne and offered me one. I sipped it as I viewed the ornate interior. Everything was grand and screamed expensive from the gold plated windows to the frescos above.

"So, dude." Ryder's surfer dude voice rang out. "What's up? How you enjoyin Vienna?"

"It's nice. Ali and I went sightseeing a little. Have you been here before?"

"Me? Nah, bruh. Furthest I've been in east Europe is Prague. Wait, which is further east? Prague or Austria? Point is I've never been." He shrugged. "Ahh, look at who the wave dragged in." He pointed at the McAllisters entering.

They greeted everyone they passed and faked smiles. At least I know Alicia was faking one. She subtly searched the room for me. Once our eyes locked, she showed a real smile. It was only momentary because someone had entered into a conversation with her.

"Ha! Look at you makin her all soft and mushy." I lightly pushed Ryder's shoulder. "Can't believe this is the first time we're speaking and stuff. You're dope, dude!"

"Ya, it's weird. I didn't have any classes with you, so we never got a chance to actually speak. I know Zara wasn't looking out for my best interest... I'm confused because I thought her parents 'approved' of you."

"Approve?" He chuckled. "Gods no. They are sort of warming up to the idea, but I'm not their first pick. They're even still trying to pick suitors for Z! Like how disrespectful, dude." He huffed.

"How'd you and Zara meet?" I inquired.

"Ah! That's really funny really." He ran a hand along his man bun. "You know Shawn?" I nodded. "Ya so we play hockey together. I had lost a competition to him... he only scored one more goal, but it was so close! Anyways, since I lost I had to cleanup after. I was putting away the goals because there was a private practice right after and that was..."

"Zara?"

"You guessed it! Gold sticker for you, brah! So I totally made a fool of myself. I was so distracted by her that I wiped out on the ice. I woke up to stars and an angelic face. She was peering over me with annoyance and that was when I knew I was in love." I gave him a really face. "Ha Ha! Fine! I kept coming to practice everyday and offered to be on cleanup duty so that I could find excuses to talk to her. She kept blowing me off and threatened that if I don't stop stalking her then she'd hire a hitman to kill me. But, I didn't care. I was smitten, especially since she was playing hard to get. That was 2 years ago, though." He drank the rest of his drink.

"And I know you two finally got together recently. Why don't her parents like you?"

"Because I'm too unrefined or some shit. They also say I have feminine hair." I laughed as he pointed at his bun. "Totally should've made a manbraid to give her dad a heart attack. They're also not a fan that I'm a ginger."

"Why? Because you don't have a soul?" I smirked into my glass.

"That must be it!" He snapped his fingers and laughed with me.

We were chit chatting until a business partner of Ryder's family approached him. He wanted to talk about private matters, resulting in Ryder excusing himself. I suddenly felt awkward as I was standing by myself. I sipped the champagne and tried not to look out of place. I wasn't lonely for long, though.

"You really are an angel." I turned with a smile.

"And you don't look too bad yourself." Alicia smiled at that.

"Sorry I had to leave you with Ryder... though, I think he's the one I should be apologizing to since he could only tolerate your presence for so long." She teased.

"Ya, he was desperately trying to ditch me the moment you guys left." I joked back. "How'd the pictures go and your parents?"

"Well, my mother wasn't happy with our tardiness. She's going to be in for a real treat when she sees you and Ryder. Z and I may have forgotten to tell her that you guys were coming." She laughed as my eyes widened. "She will not be making a scene, so don't worry. Actually, smile and wave." She spun me around to see an older, but still stunning, blond woman glaring at us.

"She's plotting my impending doom, isn't she?" I plastered on a smile and waved.

"She's definitely considering the most painful of tortures." Her mother forced a smile and waved. "But, she will not be doing it now." Ali spun me around to face her. "I wish I could kiss you, but I have to keep up appearances. But when I get you alone..." She trailed off suggestively.

"Bonjour. Comment allez-vous?" We turned to see a woman in her early 20s accompanied by a man.

"Tres bien, mais sommeil peu. Et toi?" Ali immediately answered.

"D'accord-"

"Qui es la femme belle?" The man directed his question at me. Unfortunately, I had no idea what he was saying.

"Tu ne parles pas française?" The woman scoffed at me. "Comment non raffiné." Her and the man laughed.

"Your actions are most caustic. Instead of continuing in your native tongue, perhaps you should show your culturedness and modify your tongue. Do you not speak English?" Ali spoke with a bite.

"Sorry, but as a neuroscience major, I can state that your friend's IQ is low if she can't even communicate in another language." Her and the guy laughed.

"Wow, neuroscience you said?" Somehow, Zara had wormed her way into the conversation. The woman proudly nodded. "Jeez... what a big name for a little degree." The man and woman's jaws dropped.

"Excuse me?!"

"It's a branch of psychology, right?" Tamsin had now arrived. The woman nodded at Tamsin's question. "We rest our case." The woman looked ready to argue. "Sho sho." Tamsin motioned in a dismissing manner.

"Whatever, she's probably a prostitute and that's why she's so lowly educated." The woman tried one last jab.

"Do not call her a prostitute!" Zara demanded. "We are not a middle class family. Put some respect on my family's name." I smiled in thanks at Zara. "If anything, she's a courtesan." And just like that, my smile dropped and I glared at her.

"Adieu." Tamsin motioned for them to leave, which they finally did. I looked at Tamsin in confusion as to why she defended me. "Hey, she looked like a clown with her uneven makeup on her face and neck. I'm not allowing a clown to mess with us. That backwater French lady had the nerve to think she could even speak to a member of my family." And now we are back to bitchy Tamsin. "Anyways, mother has summoned the both of you." She gave Ali a knowing look.

"Unfortunately, she'll have to wait." Tamsin raised a brow at her sister. "We can't miss the entertainment." She motioned to the ballet dancers who were walking to the middle of the stage.

Everyone began to watch the performance. Ali took my hand and led me away from her siblings, up to a balcony. We leaned over the railing and watched the performance below. I saw Tamsin whipping her head around in an effort to find us. Even their mother began glancing around the room.

The rest of the evening was exciting as we avoided running into her family. We'd even dance together and twirl away from her mother or Tamsin. Her mother was distracted when she caught sight of Ryder and Zara. I think she was about to have a heart attack having to deal with Zara and Ali. Tamsin gave up trying to catch us when Laurens asked her to dance. Gemma and Chico were in their own world as they danced the night away.

After waltzing with each other, we snuck out of the party and went back to the hotel. I attacked Ali's lips and pushed her against the door. I grabbed her hair as I pulled her down so I could properly connect our lips. Things were getting heated, when the door was swung open. Ali and I yelped since the force of the swing plummeted us to the floor.

We glanced up to see Ryder and Zara attacking each other's mouths. They were so engrossed that they failed to notice us on the floor. Well, they noticed us when they tripped over us. The four of us were just looking at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. After a minute, Zara and Ali pointed to the two rooms and nodded.

Ali then took my hand and dragged me to a room while Zara took Ryder to the other one. Let's just say that the rest of the night was a competition on who could be louder.