Victoria forced a polite smile on her face as she tried to make herself as invisible as possible while her two aunts, sisters of her dad, chatted with the hosts. Unfortunately, while both her parents were out of town Victoria was placed under her aunt Caroline's care and that meant attending enough dry, stuffy dinner parties that it should be considered torture. Party is the wrong term for whatever this is, she sighed, I'm pretty sure parties are supposed to be fun. This night the Suttons were in Liverpool, visiting some old family friends that Victoria had never even heard of before. As the adults droned on and on about politics and other equally dull topics, the young girl started looking around, letting her eyes take in the richness of the room. Suddenly, she noticed another girl in the room who looked about the same age as her. Why didn't I see her before? She felt herself smile earnestly this time; she rarely ever had company her own age during gatherings like this.

Quietly, being careful not to disturb the adults' conversation, Victoria made her way over to the blue-eyed girl and offered a wide smile. "Hi, my name's Victoria. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm so glad to see another kid. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to for the night."

When her parents told her they were going to yet another dinner party the night she recovered from her illness, Rhea wasn't surprised. She knew the only reason they hadn't left while she was ill was because it would make them look bad. Parents leave their sick child to go to a party would make for very bad gossip. 

But what surprised Rhea was that they thought to take her along with them. They "wanted to show everyone that nothing can beat a Bishop." Those were the direct quotes of her mother. Rhea sighed but knew there was no point in arguing, so she let her newly hired nanny pick out a dress for her. Angelica, the nanny, found a maroon dress that would bring out Rhea's newly dyed hair. Rhea shrugged and put it on before following her nanny out the door. She held on to her parent's hands as they Apparated away, none of them paying mind to Angelica. 

The second they got there Rhea's mother rushed off to the bathroom to see if any of her extensive makeup was ruined, while her father headed off to chat with his colleagues. Rhea was, once again, left all alone so she headed to the buffet table to grab something to eat before finding some children to talk to. As she was getting her food, a young girl approached her. Rhea looked at her is distaste, thinking the newcomer was at a lower status, thinking that the Bishops were the highest on the status chain. But the girl either seemed to not notice, or not care about the look Rhea gave her, as she proceeded to introduce herself. 

"Hi, my name's Victoria. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm glad to see another kid. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to for the night."

Rhea raised her eyebrow but decided that it would impolite to simply ignore the girl. "My name's Rhea. Rhea Bishop," Rhea said haughtily. "What's your family name?" Rhea added on as a question, wanting to know it this girl was worth associating with. 

When Victoria had approached the other girl, she also noticed the food and was a bit surprised at how hungry she was. What she didn't notice was the look of distaste the other girl gave her as she approached, and even if she had noticed Victoria would have likely ignored it completely. She was also a bit surprised by the other girl's response, it was so practiced and formal that for a moment she was worried talking to the girl would be just the same as listening to the adults. She tilted her head when the other asked for her family name, she wasn't sure anyone has asked her that before. "Oh, I'm a Sutton. My parents are William and Elizabeth, but I'm her with my aunts Caroline and Margaret Sutton." She rambled a bit, as was usual when she was excited, though she was slowly beginning to lose her excitement of making a new friend. 

After answering the girl's questions, Victoria moved to begin filling a plate with food. Still hoping to salvage a conversation she turned back towards Rhea trying to quickly think of something to talk about before noticing the other girl's hair. "I like your hair by the way, it's a really pretty colour," she mentioned honestly, "and it looks great with that dress," she added, letting her love for fashion lead her mouth. 

Rhea raised an eyebrow as she listened to the girl introduce herself. Hm... A Sutton... Why have I not heard of them before?

The other girl, Victoria her name was, piled her plate high with food and Rhea looked on with disgust and a faint look of... jealousy? Yes, jealousy, for her father never let her eat that much food at a time, instead making her take dainty servings. Rhea stared at the single serving of salad on her plate and then back at Victoria's. She sighed but grabbed a fork and started to eat. 

When the girl complimented her hair, Rhea scowled. "This isn't my real hair," she explained. "I hate it. I just wanted to see how it would look like if it was red, temporarily, but I messed up on the spell and now it's permanent." Rhea turned to examine the girl and shrugged. Victoria had brown hair and brown eyes, but even with the common color the girl's eyes were piercing. 

As Rhea had never heard of the surname Sutton before, she assumed that Victoria didn't have the traditional pureblood parents - Muggle-hating, reputation-caring, look-focused. The redhead felt a tiny surge of jealousy go through her, but she instantly erased it. 

Victoria then complimented how well her hair went with her dress, and Rhea shrugged. "Thanks, I guess. I didn't really have a choice in wearing this dress. It's kinda uncomfortable, and I would much rather be at home in my pajamas." Rhea debated whether to talk more, but then decided not to. She knew that if her parents got wind that Rhea had spilled that she was still feeling a bit under the weather and she'd gone to a party, then she would be grounded forever. So Rhea shut her mouth. 

"The food's good, though," Rhea changed the subject. She prodded at the lettuce and tomatoes on her plate, before casting a longing look at the meat on the table.