I think my face is going to be permanently red from the events that happened earlier. Ali had originally called to ask me to attend a party with her. After I said yes, things got a little heated over the phone. I was so caught up in pretending that my fingers were Ali's, that I didn't hear the door open.

The only thing that got my attention was the shriek out of Rosé's mouth the moment she turned the lights on. I let out a shriek to rival hers and scrambled to pull the covers up. Unfortunately, my foot got caught and I went tumbling out the bed. Rosé kept pointing and laughing since I was naked from the waist down.

I yanked the rest of my covers down to drape over my lower regions. Rosé was still teasing me this morning about the incident. She refused to end my suffering since she found my flustered state to be amusing. It also wasn't any easier when I had heard the chuckles from my phone.

"You look redder than a tomato." KJ sat in the seat next to me.

Taylor and Michael quickly agreed with him. I just groaned and said I had to run here. They seemed convinced enough and dropped the subject. Michael moved to sit beside me once Taylor had struck up a conversation with KJ. I think she likes him, but he's absolutely oblivious to her feelings.

KJ was retelling his fencing match that he won. I had no idea what he was talking about, but either Taylor did or she was pretending to. She was focused and hanging onto his every word. Michael nudged me and motioned over to the pair. I smirked and nodded.

Michael and I spent the free period chatting about random things. He claimed to be very good at cricket. I teased him about how the game was knockoff baseball. He actually educated me and said that cricket originated way before baseball. He concluded by stating that the imperialist Americans were at it again in exploiting another countries' culture. We both laughed at his statement. I agreed and asked him to explain the basics of the game, which he happily obliged.

I was walking to class when I felt an arm around me. I smelt the sweet floral scent and instantly knew it only belonged to one man.

"Hey, girlie!" Leon greeted me. "What do you have planned later? Cher, Hailey and I are thinking about going shopping later. You should tots come."

"I'd love to, but I have an event tonight." I politely declined.

"Nonsense! You tots need an outfit for the event, right?" I reluctantly nodded. "So we need to go shopping to get you one. How else would you get something? And what event?"

"I figured I'd just borrow something from Ali and it's a gala thing." He halted. "What?" My forehead creased in confusion.

"Gala? You said Gala right?" I nodded. "Do you remember which gala?"

"Umm... think she said something about a Hof something?" I thought long and hard. "I was a little distracted and wasn't really paying attention." My face heated up when I remembered this morning's events.

"The Hofburg Silvesterball?" I snapped my fingers and nodded at Leon. "That ball is like a scene out of a movie: think waltzing into a palace to the sounds of Viennese opera sounds, an unobstructed view of fireworks at midnight, and first-class dinner served on pristine porcelain. The Ball promises a high-calibre itinerary that will wow its glamorous guests with its opera ballet, waltz performances, and the ever popular public dancing quadrille. I've longed to go, so I'm def jealous of you." He narrowed his eyes at me. "But that def means we need to get you a dress stat!" He cried out.

"Viennese? As in Austria?" He nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But she said it was tonight? Then again, she tends to get her days mixed up which is weird since she's like a business mogul." Leon drowned me out and started listing the criteria for my dress.

The rest of the day went relatively quick. Ali had told me she had gotten the dates mixed up and that the event was on the weekend. She did blame Tamsin for the incorrect information, though. I was about to ask if the event was in Vienna, but my friends whisked me away before I even had the chance to kiss her.

Once Leon had let the cat out the bag, all the girls wanted to join in on the shopping trip. They took me to several French and Italian boutiques. I tried on an array of dresses, but they weren't extravagent enough for Leon's liking.

Hailey and Taylor were getting frustrated. Since they were on shoe duty, they couldn't find anything that complimented my dress if I didn't have a dress. Rosé and Cher wanted to toss Leon out the window since they needed to find me jewelry. The only person who was chilling on her phone was Hyde. She had no interest in coming, but one look from Cher and she was motioning us to the car.

"It needs to be great! I want all eyes on her, no one else! She needs to make the McAllisters look like peasants, no offense." He briefly spared me a glance as he rummaged through the racks. "People, I need help." The staff immediately flanked his side and started searching for whatever Leon was describing.

"Why can't I be like you and carefree?" I sat next to Hyde.

"Because I'm not dumb enough to date someone who's family is in the top 10 richest families in the world." She chuckled when my mouth dropped open. "You really didn't google her at all?" I shook my head. "Dang, do you even know what companies her family owns?"

"Yes, yes I do." I proudly stated. "I admit that, when I asked, her sisters were confused how I had no clue how they amassed their wealth. They also asked a similar question. Is it normal to Google people you date?"

"When they're as loaded as her... yeah." I was about to ask another question, but Leon's squeal caused us to turn.

"Trust me in this, babe." He pulled out a long, light pink dress. It had a narrow bodice that poofed out at the end. Lace flower petals decorated the dress. Overall, it was absolutely stunning. "If you're drooling at it now, just wait till you put it on. Then, we'll all be drooling and Hyde will create a puddle." She glared while he laughed.

Leon and Rose ushered me into a room to change. I stared at the dress in a challenging way. There was no way I could get this on without any help. Leon dramatically sighed as he started to strip me.

"Hey, girl. I enjoy this view as much as a blind man loves seeing. Granted, you have a stunning body... but it just doesn't do it for me, ya know?" He cocked his head to the side. "Come on, one step in."

I rolled my eyes and held Rosé's hand as I stepped into the dress. Leon and her squatted down and pulled the dress over me. They started to smooth out the material, leaving Leon to zip me up. I twirled around to look at them. They both held wide smiles and led me outside.

"Everyone!" Leon clapped to get everyone's attention. "May I present, the lady of the manor." He escorted me to a podium to stand on.

"You look beautiful."

"Stunning."

"Ya, I'd rail you."

We all stopped and stared at Hyde, who merely shrugged. Leon clapped and began ordering everyone to get to their jobs at finding me shoes and accessories. He then demanded the seamstress to make alterations at once.

Everyone frantically ran around while Hyde kicked her feet up and drank the complimentary champagne. I was wondering what to do, but Leon came behind me and started messing with my hair. According to him, he had a vision as to what my hair would be. He also stated that I had to wear purple eyeshadow with a bold lip.

Miraculously, everything was done in an hour. The seamstress looked like her hands were going to fall off from how fast she made the alterations.

"Wait, how are we paying for all of this? I can't afford any of this and I'm not having any of you pay." I especially looked at Rosé.

"I may or may not have taken your girlfriend's black card." Rosé absentmindedly waved. My eyes widened at the sight. "I didn't steal it! I told her we were going dress shopping for you, so she gave me her card to pay for it. She also said we could pick up some other stuff, a way of thanking us for taking you out." Rosé had a devious smirk. She was truly going to make Ali regret giving her free reign of her credit card.

Leon snatched it from Rosé and the two made their way to pay for my stuff. Because it's expensive and shit, the boutique will deliver the dress to Ali's house. Leon and Rosé wasted no time racing out to shop at another store. Everyone, those two especially, did not hold back on the price and amount of clothing they bought. I just shook my head at them.

The week finally came to a close with us flying out after our Friday classes. We took a private jet as usual. The only difference was that everyone's dates were also flying with them. Ali's parents were already in Europe, Germany to be exact. Because of that, they'd meet us the day of the Ball.

Laurens and Tamsin were quietly sitting while two masseuses worked on them. The pair had cucumbers over their eyes and acted as if we were at a spa. Tamsin claimed she needed to be zen if she had to endure a weekend with Ryder and me. She literally hired two masseuses just because she could. That girl truly is something else.

Zara kept slapping Ryder's finger away because he kept poking her. She once bit his finger and then smiled widely when he winced in pain. She was attempting to do work, but he made it his personal mission to annoy the shit out of her. At one point, she scrunched up sheets of paper and threw them at his head. She then took a fresh piece of paper and sliced it across his joints until he received over a dozen paper cuts.

Gemma and Chico thought they were in a competition to see who loved the other more. They kept going back and forth. Gemma refused to sit in anything other than Chico's lap. She had her arms loosely wrapped around his neck as she kissed his cheeks. Chico responded by peppering her face with kisses. He decided that he would win the competition by pulling out his phone and then opening the notes app so he could read the love poem he wrote about Gemma. Gemma was practicing giving him heart eyes as she swooned with love.

Ali was asleep on my shoulder. She had a long day of school and meetings, so she was exhausted. I found her soft little snores to be absolutely adorable. What always worried me was that her breathing was airy light. Whenever her snores would halt, I'd panicked and place my finger under her nose so that I could feel the air exiting. I had a little PTSD from her heart attack.

I was truly amazed at how they all had the same last name, but couldn't be more different. Gemma was a lovesick puppy, Zara was savage little shit, Tamsin was a sassy bitch, and my Ali was an angel. Well, maybe she wasn't an angel, but to me she was.

We were an hour to land when everyone woke up. We were all groggy and not at all excited to deal with the excitement surrounding the gala. I'm not sure how long we're staying, but I hope we can at least sightsee a little.

"I'm bored!" Gemma whined. "Let's play a game!"

Gemma didn't wait for anyone's response. She sprinted around the jet to steal everyone's phones. She then removed the cases and stacked the phones in a cross like shape. Gemma stood back to assess her work before calling everyone over. We all amused her and gathered around the table.

"Iphone jenga!" She announced and began to play.

Tamsin and Laurens refused to play the childish game while Ali just wanted to eat. I kept catching my breath every time it looked like one of the phones would fall. Gemma being Gemma decided the game would be more exciting if she had the phones on the very edge of the table.

Everything was going well until we hit a particular area of turbulence. Gemma screeched, Ryder and Chico stumbled, Laurens clutched onto Tamsin, Ali fell into a seat, and Zara was eating without a care in the world.

The turbulence caused the phone tower to collapse. One of the phones decided to take a tumble and crack when it collided with the floor. Chico's drink then spilled all over the phone, causing it to short circuit. I groaned in annoyance. Out of all the phones, why did it have to be mine?

"I'll buy you a new one." I heard Ali say.

"Sorry." Gemma batted her eyes.

Curse Gemma. It was impossible to stay mad at her. The captain's voice came over the PA, announcing that we should sit since we'll be landing soon.