Christina swished around her champagne and looked off into the distance. The stars in the night sky danced over the ocean water. She stood put her hand on the rail of the outdoor pavillion and let her mind drift.
She was startled out of her daydream by a hand on her shoulder. She looked back and saw Giovanna smiling warmly at her.
"How are you feeling?" Giovanna asked.
Christina shook her head, "I'm…good. Just bored honestly. This isn't my usual crowd, I'm sort of out of my element."
Giovanna laughed, "I'm sure you'd rather be with your artsy photographers, taking pictures of rare flowers. Sometimes it's good to switch it up though, Tina."
Christina rolled her eyes, "I guess. I wish Etienne was here…"
Giovanna bumped her shoulder, "So the truth finally comes out! You're just bored because your boyfriend isn't here."
"He's not—"
Giovanna waved her hands, "Yeah, yeah I know. And he never will be if you keep being scared."
Christina sighed and turned back toward the ocean.
"Do you ever think about how other people feel before you just blurt stuff out?"
Giovanna walked away slowly and called out, "Your feelings don't affect the truth."
Money ran up to Christina, panting, scaring her once again.
She put a hand over her chest, "Jeez Money, you too?"
Money stood up fully and smiled, "Sorry. I got tired of shaking hands, I needed an excuse to relax for a second. Are you drinking that?" He pointed at her glass of champagne.
She handed it to him and he guzzled it in a few seconds.
"So how's your faction war going?" Christina asked.
"Faction war?" Money guzzled, "I don't know if I'd call it that. It's more like a faction beatdown. Unless we have some kind of miracle, I don't think I'll be shaking hands for much longer. And Lionel—" They both looked in the direction of a man with a short afro wearing a tailored white suit, "—couldn't care less, he's pretty much conceded already."
"That sounds awful!"
Money shook his head, "Unfortunately it's worse than I'm making it sound. All of our sponsors and partners are here, I'm really counting on Etienne to make a splash."
A woman in a short white dress and gloves came up and grabbed Money's hand.
Money turned to the woman, "Sorry Ellie, I got caught up in conversation," He turned back to Christina, "Tina, my friend here just told me she wants to be a photographer. I thought, 'well why not introduce her to the best photographer I know!' So Ellie, meet one of my best friends Christina—"
Ellie's eyes got big after looking at Christina for a few seconds, "Oh my gosh, are you Photo Morgana? I follow you on Instagram, I love your work!"
"Oh…thank you. I appreciate it," Christina responded shyly.
"Let's go—" Money was cut off sharply by the low growl of a car engine echoing all around them.
The sound silenced every conversation in the outdoor pavillion. Every attendee rushed toward the staircase, bumping each other to see the vehicle.
The growl of the car increased in pitch and volume, shaking every glass in the venue.
Christina felt as the rail she had her hand on shook violently. She walked over to the stairs leading to the street and sat down. She watched as a red Ferrari Testarossa drove in circles, kicking up obscene amounts of dust.
A smile spread wide across her face.
The car slid into a reckless stop right before driving onto the sidewalk. After the dust settled, the doors finally opened. Etienne stepped out of the drivers seat wearing a white tailored three piece suit with studded white gloves. He strutted into the venue, the sound of his two tone penny loafers the only thing audible.
He walked over to Lionel and smiled warmly.
"Aren't you gonna say welcome back, big cousin?"
The venue exploded into overlapping cheers, yells and conversations.
Lionel wrapped his arms around Etienne, embracing him tightly.
"What's Lyle up to these days?" Etienne whispered.
"Nothing good. Still acting out to piss off Mom and Dad," Lionel spoke matter of factly, like each word was precisely picked.
Lionel tapped Etienne on the chest, "You got pretty shredded while you were out there, huh! Think you could take me?"
Etienne stared into his soul and every facimile of friendliness was dropped for a split second.
Lionel shrinked back before attempting to return to normal. He put his hand out, "We'll talk later little cous."
Etienne shook his hand and the smile returned to his face, "I can't wait!"
Etienne reached down and tapped Christina on the shoulder. She bounced up and hugged him.
"Oh my gosh, Prince! You look so great!" Christina beamed.
Etienne put his arm around Christina and started to walk around the venue.
"They haven't been boring you too much, have they Tina?" Etienne asked, "These stuffy events have never really been for us."
Christina laughed, "You always used to make me sneak off with you when your parents made you go to galas like this. I'm sure Money is happy you're here. Let's go see what he's doing!"
Etienne stopped her, "Before we do that, what are you doing next Sunday?"
Christina blushed, "Umm…nothing! I don't have any photo shoots or anything so I'm free all day!"
Etienne let go of her, "I went out with Money on Friday, but I want to go out with you and Gio on Sunday like we used to. Let's hit the arcade in Portland!"
Christina smiled, "I like the sound of that!"
Money ran up to him and dapped him up, "Prince!"
"Before we start shaking hands with the big wigs and sponsors, where is this other faction you're fighting against? I'm not seeing a lot of new faces here."
Money sighed, "Most of them didn't show, they're hosting their own beach front event near Arcadia. Their leader is here though, suprisingly, probably trying to steal away what sponsors he can."
Money pointed to a handsome young man with pale skin standing in the middle of a crowd of people.
Etienne's jaw nearly dropped as he got a better look at the man.
"His name is Julian Mason. And he's the leader of the new faction: the Suffrages."
Etienne recognized him by a different name. It echoed so loud in his mind it was distracting, "Melpo."