Victora Gilhime

Ariel took in a fresh breath of air and moved over and found a young girl standing there with her arms crossed and looking angry. Ariel frowned and looked toward the ballroom. The girl let out a breath of air pushing hair behind her one ear. Feeling like the girl was upset she went over to her.

"Are you okay?" Ariel asked her and the girl turned and looked at her. She gave a roll of her eyes and Ariel realized who this was. Victoria started to sign to her. Ariel could luckily understand sign language simply because she'd wished to learn it a while ago. Not like she had anything else to do being stuck inside. Her parents had let her take a few classes too.

'I'm bored and want to leave but my father has to talk to all of this fake jerks who want money for this and money for that. Wish they would shut up and leave us alone, but what do you care, you can't understand me just like the rest of these people.'

With sign language it wasn't really sentences, but hand signals that represented the words and things. Still Ariel understood it like she had spoken out loud.

"Actually I can." Ariel said signing as she spoke. "I learned it seeing that I was stuck in my home most of the time with nothing to do and a perfect sister that got everything. You should be careful whom you sign too, you never know." Ariel warned with a smile.

'Right a more perfect sister than you, you look like you walked off the cover of a magazine. I bet that you get up extremely early every day to look your best.' This Victoria seemed a bit jaded and angry.

"I sit behind a desk for most my day. Staring at a computer, no one cares what I look like. Don't you like getting dressed up and looking nice?"

'I like comfy clothes and a good book. More interesting than the snobs I normally have to hang out with.' Ariel laughed, and the girl smiled at her.

"I agree, though I do wear nicer clothes when I work. Natasha doesn't want me to embarrass her if I have to leave or something." Ariel said blushing a bit and looking away from her for a second. She was used to talking with her close circle of friends. She reminded herself to be careful too, Victoria was an important person. Her father was.

'Is your sister nice? I wish I had siblings.' Ariel just chose to sign now, because she didn't want someone to hear her.

'She is difficult. She is very used to getting her way in all things and to her I am very lacking as a sister.' It probably wasn't smart to tell this girl these things, but what did it matter? Ariel had a good feeling about her. 'See my parents thought that I should have been a better daughter as well. They thought every failure just proved how useless I was. So don't always judge a book by it's cover, everyone has a story to tell.' Victoria seemed to think for a moment about her words.

Ariel turned her arms over and showed the scars there. Victoria had a shocked look touching the soft skin. A few of the marks that had faded. Normally she didn't share, but with this young girl it felt okay. She could see someone as lonely as she was. Perhaps Victoria just needed to see that status did not mean perfect.

'Why? That is horrible.' Her gestures showing her immediate anger. She wasn't sure why she shared, she just kind of did.

'Because they wanted me to be better, to be more like Natasha.' Ariel sighed. 'Guess I never managed it.'

'But you are so pretty and seem nice. How could they not love a daughter like you? My dad tells me how pretty I am all the time and gives me what I want.' Ariel smiled at her. People sure liked to remark on beauty. To Ariel there was more than that.

'You're lucky.' She signed. 'He won't be around forever and you should really cherish him, be nice to him and not get angry.' Ariel said. Both my parents are gone, and I feel that perhaps I missed a chance to really show them who I was and what I can do.'

'Well they burned you, and stuff. Did they do other things?' Victoria asked. She liked this woman. She was much more real than the others that she met here. She'd noticed this Ariel Standish from the moment she and her father came in. She was one of a few very pretty women in the room. Victoria was jealous, she wanted to be that pretty. To have men wanting her one day the way that they wanted Ariel.

Seeing the odd shaped scars and hearing her story, she would never have guessed she'd had any hardship. Perhaps that was why she was more real, and her comments about her father touched her. Her words were sincere, but how could she miss people that hurt her? It made her appreciate her father more and the things that he did for her.

'Well they've faded now.'Ariel told her, but she still had several scars on her back. Along her sides. 'Just for things I didn't do right, or not up to the standard my family wanted.' The worst beating she had ever gotten had been when she was ten.

Ariel had gotten angry that Natasha and her friend were making fun of her. That they took what Ariel had and didn't share with her. They said mean and hurtful things. She'd shoved Natasha's friend and then her sister and took what she'd wanted back.

She would never forget the sting of that belt. There were two longer white scars and one almost square one from where it had torn into her skin. They'd bled horribly, and she had been confined to her room for nearly a month for attacking her sister and her friend. She did not share that with Victoria though.

'That is horrible, they shouldn't have done such things. But now you don't have that done right? Malachi Vento seems nice. Plus he's very cute.' Ariel laughed at that and nodded.

'Oh he is, both. Very handsome, and he actually bought me my dress. Me and my sister don't always get along but she is marrying him soon.' Ariel like this signing, kind of nice to have a private conversation in the open.

'Why? You look better with him. I saw the two of you dancing before, he likes you. Watches you like a man normally does a woman.' Well that was awkward. Victoria was clearly very straight forward.

'I'm sure he doesn't look at me as you say. Ariel said with a smile. My sister is much prettier than me.'

'Doubt it. Bet she doesn't know sign language.' Victoria told her.

'No, she laughed at me for learning it.'

'Well she is stupid. You are smart. I like you. What is your number, I want to text you and stuff. I don't have a lot of friends. I want you to be one.' Ariel smiled at her.

'Sure.' She took Victoria's phone and put her number in it and then a note with her personal email address. 'Like pen pals, it'll be fun.' Victoria gave her a wide smile.

"Victoria." Came a deep voice and they both looked up at Gilhime who stood there. "Why are you out here?" He asked sternly.

'Talking to Ariel.' Ariel liked how she signed her name, but just stood there. She gave him a head bow of acknowledgement. He just stared at her for a moment.

'I was worried when I couldn't find you.' He signed to her. Victoria looked annoyed but turned to Ariel and gave her a goodbye and moved off with her father.

"That was neat." Lee said from where he was standing. Ariel looked over at him in the doorway. She put a hand to her chest.

"How long have you been there?"

"The whole time. It's my job. You two were pretty animated there for a bit."

"Girl talk." Ariel supplied with a smile and Lee rolled his eyes as they went back inside.

"Where did you disappear too?" Malachi asked Ariel as she came up to him and the others.

"Just talking, like I'm sure the rest of you have been doing."

"Something like that." Cameron commented still looking around the room. His gaze met his father's across the way. Then they both looked toward Alectro. Whom they were most concerned about. Though they didn't really think that he would be stupid to try something again so soon and with all of these people. Someone would notice something.

"She was talking with Victoria Gilhime." Lee supplied. "Who knew she could sign language." They looked at her.

"You talked with Victoria Gilhime?" Malachi asked her. "She doesn't really talk to anyone. Even when they can sign." Clearly he was impressed.

"Why, have you tried?" Sally asked him.

"I know just a little, and no I've never tried to talk to her. However I've seen others around her age and a few adults try and talk to her. She normally blows them off."

"She seemed alright to me. She just didn't seem to want to deal with someone being false with her." Ariel said giving a shrug.

"Just making friends all over." Sally joked. "Soon you'll replace me."

"Never." Ariel assured. "No need to worry." Sally smiled and Cameron gave a sigh.

"Think we can manage to scoot out of here soon?" Deirdre asked as she came up to them with Alec.

"We were just thinking about that." Cameron supplied. "It's these two that seem to be holding us here most of all, I mean Alec's such a chatter box and all."

"I don't need useless rambling to sound intelligent." Alec supplied his eyes glued to his phone again, and hitting a button looked up.

"Well with your nose in your phone every five seconds I don't think you can even have a full conversation." Lee commented and the others laughed.

"Important people have much to do. Am I right?" He asked Malachi with a gesture and Malachi smiled.

"They'll never understand." Ariel was smiling when she felt a tug on her side. She turned and looked at Victoria who had appeared at her side. She was smiling and started to sign to her.

'I'd like to dance with your date.' Ariel laughed and glanced at Malachi.

'That is his decision. I thought you were going with your dad.' She rolled her eyes.

'He thinks I'll fall apart once out of his view. Just tell him he has to dance with me. He's cute and Helena Salvanta just told me that I would never be able to dance with someone like him. Good looking men and powerful ones don't look at scrawny girls who are mute.'

Helena Salvanta was just a bit younger than Ariel was. Probably the second richest person here, simply because she was married to a rich man. After the Salvantas and Gilhime it was all over the place with their standings in money.

'She said that they'd just want me because of my name.'

'Well she's shallow anyways,. All she wanted to talk to me about was the designer dress I wore and gossip about others. I don't think that she liked me much.'

Ariel turned and looked at Malachi. She was smiling and moved slightly so that Victoria was standing right next to her.

"Malachi, this is Victoria." She said and he looked from her to Victoria. Then gave her a smile that was charming and a head nod. She smiled back at him. "She would like a dance with you if you'd be so kind."

He looked at Victoria. Frankly was a bit surprised by the sudden request but he didn't show it. He'd watched the two of them signing. It was all too fast for him to even comprehend for sure, but he thought he got it. He'd noticed Ariel's gaze move over toward where Helena Salvanta was standing. He knew that she didn't like the Gilhimes all that much.

"I would be honored to." He stated. "Never really cared for Mrs. Salvanta anyways." He signed what he knew and Victoria smiled. She took his extended hand beaming and moved out onto the floor with him. The others looked at Ariel waiting for her to explain.