Ariana POV

        After talking for most of the night, we all retired to our rooms and slept. The next morning or should I say afternoon, I woke up to the heavenly smell of food. I crawled out of bed and threw on some clothes and slowly made my way to the kitchen.

        "Anything I can help with?" I asked.

        "No dear" Donata replied. "Besides, you are injured."

        "I'd still like to help."

        Donata sighed "Then go out and tell the men that it's almost ready."

        I smiled as I hobbled out of the kitchen on my crutches and out to the front patio to tell them that the food was ready.

        I was happily chatting with my Grandpa and Giovanni, when a car pulled up the driveway. We were all shocked to see my parents get out of the car. I wanted to go and crawl into a hole, but I couldn't escape fast enough.

        "What the hell happened to you?" my mother yelled in an accusing tone. "This is why we can't take you anywhere! You always get into trouble!"

        "It was just a little accident" I nervously replied.

        My mother looked over at me. "If it was just a little accident, then why are you using crutches?"

        I smiled and chuckled rather awkwardly "I sort of broke my ankle."

        My mother let out a heavy sigh. "Just go" she said trying to get me to leave. "I've got other problems right now."

        "Why? What's going on?" my Grandpa asked.

        "Lena was assaulted in Venice last night. Some girl ran into her and ruined her dress on purpose and then insulted her in front of everyone."

        "Maybe it was just a misunderstanding" I offered. "Venice could have very busy streets."

        "Please!" my mother started screaming. "This was an obvious attack on her! When I find the girl who did this to her, I'm going to press charges."

        Good thing she doesn't know it was me, otherwise I would be dead right about now.

        We all went inside and ate the wonderful meal that Donata and Domenica prepared for us. Thankfully, everyone was smart enough not to mention the Masquerade in front of my parents. The last thing I need is for my mother to get even more angry at me.

        We retired to the living room to talk once we had finished eating. I don't know how long we had been sitting there chatting when my sisters showed up. My Grandpa and I both rolled our eyes as my mother quickly rushed over to them like they had been gone for years. My mother brought them over to the couch I was sitting on and basically kicked me off it.

        Geez! Did she forget that I was injured? I knew she cared about them more than me, but you would think she would care about me just a little bit considering my situation.

        Nope! She wanted to hear every little detail about my sisters' experience in Venice and my sisters were more than happy to tell them everything. While they were recounting the little accident that Lena and I had, my phone began to ring.

        "Sorry" I said as I quickly answered the call. Of course, both of my sisters and mother gave me a death glare like I had just committed a horrible crime. "Hello?" I turned my attention to the phone.

        "May I please speak with Ariana?"

        "This is she" I replied.

        "I was hoping to discuss your prize from last night. Is this a good time?"

        "Of course!" I happily replied. "Just give me a minute to get to a quiet place where we can talk." Giovanni helped me up and I hobbled into the kitchen. I grabbed a pen and paper and sat at the table. "Okay, I'm ready."

        "As you know, you have won an all expenses paid trip to Korea. The trip is for one week and you are allowed to bring up to three guests with you."

        "Okay" I said as I jotted down some notes.

        "We will have an itinerary that you will have to follow, but there will be a fair amount of free time built in so that you can do things on your own. Also, there will be a film crew that will be following you around at times. I hope that is okay with you."

        I perked up when they said that we would be filmed. I usually don't like my picture to be taken, so having myself being filmed felt a little awkward. I sighed a little and said "I don't see why that would be a problem."

        "Great! If you don't have any questions, we can start planning the trip now."

        "Okay!" I happily smiled. "I'm currently in Florence on a family vacation, but we are set to depart this Saturday. Anytime after that would be good."

        "I see, well the soonest we could possibly arrange things for would be the following week. Would that be a problem?"

        "No, that's fine. I can just stay here an extra week."

        "Okay, so the flight will be from Italy to South Korea. Have you decided who you would like to bring with you?"

        "Yes!" I smiled. "I'd like to bring Giovanni and Domenica DeBlasi."

        "Okay" he paused for a moment. "Where do they live and what is the best way to contact them?"

        "I'm currently staying with them, so you could use the number I gave you."

        "Very good" he sounded pleased. "I'm going to run this by our travel department today and you should be receiving a call within the next few days to verify all your personal information to book the flights. Be sure that all three of you are available for the call."

        "Okay!" I happily screamed. "Thank you very much!"

        "It is our pleasure. We look forward to seeing you in Korea."

        He ended the call and all I could do was just sit at the table with a dumb smirk on my face. Giovanni came back in after a while to check on me. "So, what is going on?"

        "You, Domenica and I are going to Korea in a couple weeks. I hope that is okay."

        "Are you kidding?" he was shocked.

        "And who said that you could go to Korea?" my mother said as she walked into the kitchen.

        I sighed. This is why I didn't want her to know about it. "I won a trip to Korea, so I'm going" I replied.

        My mother just stood there thinking for a second before saying "You can go, but only if you take your sisters with you."

        "No way! This is my trip and I'm not going to have them ruin it for me!" I argued back.

        My mother walked over and slapped me across the face. "That is no way to talk about your sisters. Besides they are more experienced with traveling and it would be better to have them with you." She looked me over and said "We don't need you getting into another little accident."

        I stood up defiantly. "I am not taking them with me! This is my trip! I have a right to choose who I go with!"

        "And I'm your mother! Either you take them or you can kiss the trip goodbye."

        "I'm not a little kid anymore! I can take care of myself! I'm going to Korea and I'm not taking them with me!" I grabbed my crutches and left the room. I can't believe she thought she could dictate my life like that. I don't care if she is my mother, I'm not going to let her ruin this trip for me. This is the first time I get to do something I want to do without anyone interfering.

        A few days later, I got a call from the guy to book our flights. We all happily gave over the information and he said that we would call back to give us our flight times. I was so happy that this was actually going to happen.

        Unfortunately when he called back, he had some unexpected news. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that we can't bring you out for almost two weeks. Is that still going to be okay?"

        "That's fine!" I replied, but I was still a little disappointed. I really wanted to go and I was tired of dealing with my mother.

        "Where will you be at that time?"

        I looked over at Donata and asked "Do you think I could stay here a little longer after my family leaves?"

        "Why? What is going on?"

        "I won a trip to Korea, but they can't arrange the trip for another two weeks. I was planning on bringing Domenica and Giovanni with me."

        "That's fine, you can stay as long as you like" she smiled.

        "I'll still be in Italy" I quickly replied over the phone.

        "Okay, since we already got all the information from you earlier, all we need to do now is book the flights."

        He quickly finished booking the flights and then called me back with the date and time. He also told me that we would be able to pick up our tickets at the airport. I thanked him for everything and told him that I look forward to meeting him when we arrive.

        "That is very kind of you. I look forward to meeting you too. We'll see you in a few weeks."

        Saturday quickly came and I was glad to see my mother and sisters leave. "Are you sure you are going to be okay by yourself?" my Father asked.

        "I'll be fine. I'm a big girl now" I smiled and he chuckled a little.

        "If there are any problems, call me right away. Okay?"

        "I got it" I smiled and gave him a hug. "Have a safe trip home."

        My mother and sisters glared at me one last time before they passed through security and I knew that this wasn't going to be the last time they tried to interfere in my trip. I quickly shook it off and happily returned to the DeBlasi's home with Giovanni and Domenica.

        The weeks passed by fast and the three of us were finally on a plane bound for Korea. I'm so happy! I can't wait to see what they have in store for us.