Sydney was actually relieved to see Ricardo, and that relief prevented her from rolling her eyes as he charmed his way through small talk with her grandfather and the other adults standing by. She would be forced to here from Alan later on about how Ricardo was "such a pleasant young man" and "someone who is really going places in life" like she had heard so many times before, but for now, it was worth it. A text from Jane indicated that her go-to girl was with Sienna, and until she figured out how to respond to Jane's plea for her to make nice with Sienna, she needed someone of value to be seen with. As much as she liked to downplay Rick's looks and power to his face, she knew just as well as he, that he was the male version of her, social wise. He was probably the only person in the upper east side who could get away with the things that she could get away with, and maybe, the only person who could call her out on those things without her feeling threatened.
When her grandfather had become consumed in a conversation with someone else, she met Rick's gaze and allowed her formal smile to shift into a smirk at his expected and charming compliments. "Well, aren't you a gentleman, today?" she said, faking a flattered tone. If she didn't know Rick so well, she would think he was charming, and while she didn't doubt that she was the most gorgeous girl in the room, she was too keen on his flirting to take it to heart. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for most of the Constance Billard student body who would probably spread their legs right then and there if Ricardo said something like that to them. "Walk with me," she continued, slowly pacing away from her grandfather and the dignitaries he was conversing with. Still smirking, Rick conceded and stepped in line with her, nodding to Mr. Vale as they went. If she wanted to speak with Rick on a real level - which she wasn't sure she wanted to do - she needed to be away from the ears of the people that both teenagers were forced to keep good impressions around. She was tempted to ask Rick why he didn't bring his little boyfriend around with him. Vincent was noticeably absent and she was sure that if anyone knew where he was, it would be Rick. Sydney never hesitated to call Vincent out on being a bit of a follower around Ricardo. They were close to being equals, but it seemed like Vincent's true personality always faded when he was around Rick and trying to... impress him, or maybe more accurately, live up to his "player" persona. This normally involved him either brushing off Sydney or Sienna, and even though Sydney sometimes got a laugh out of him doing it to Sienna, there was a part of her that was bothered by it too. Only because she had received that treatment too, and the good friend inside of her felt like one of them deserved Vincent. If he was playing her, Sienna at least deserved his real love, and if he was playing Sienna, she deserved his true love. He couldn't be messing around with both of their heads and get away with it. She didn't always feel this way, but sometimes, when she was being sensible, she knew that she would rather Sienna walk off with true love than neither of them. Today wasn't one of those days, though.
She plucked a champagne glass from the hand of a waiting server, offering them a small smile of appreciation as she headed further into the event. Her phone was buzzing yet again with messages from Jane, and this time, while it still made her feel guilty for putting the brunette in a tight spot, her smirk widened. Of course Sienna was desparetely searching for anyone to be her friend at this point. Stooping so low to befriend Victoria Walsh! If Sydney wasn't standing next to the nosy Ricardo Slim-Helú, she probably would have chuckled aloud. "Did Daddy send you to drop off his check?" Sydney asked distractedly as her fingers tapped against her phone screen in response to Jane. Laughing again at her inquiry, Rick replied, "Daddy drops off his own checks. I'm just here to look pretty,", which, even with Sydney barely paying attention, elicited an eye roll from her. She didn't think anyone could call her conceited in the presence of the King of Saint Jude's.
To: Jane
Poor thing... she always has been desperate for attention
And I told you that I'm going to talk to her Jane. You know I wouldn't lie to you
Maybe she did really feel guilty for not being the best friend to Jane lately, or she was feeling detrimentally cocky after hearing about Sienna's desperation, and now, as she got closer to the back of the ballroom, seeing it with her own eyes. Either way, it gave her the confidence to separate from Ricardo and approach the girls on her. "If you must. Don't do anything I wouldn't," Rick responded after she insisted that she needed to excuse herself "to take care of some business". And business was exactly what it would be. No, she wasn't going to apologize to Sienna like Jane wanted, because as far as anyone outside of their circle knew, there was nothing for her to apologize about. She would, however, give Sienna the chance to apologize for herself, or, if she wanted to continue to play games, at least get credit for being the bigger person in Jane's eyes.
"There you are, Jane. Your dad was looking for you," she said as she approached the girls from the opposite side of the table. She didn't acknowledge Tori or Sienna yet, only giving Jane a smile that was probably more icy than she wanted it to be. Adrian hadn't been looking for Jane, but she needed a reason for approaching the table, and with the recent exposure of Jane's eating disorder, it seemed to be a valid excuse that her father was trying to check up on her. "He said something about the food being served soon and wanting you to eat with them." She maintained an innocent tone to her voice, but she knew that was an unnecessary thing to say to get rid of Jane. Especially with the way it had been brought up in the first place... this was another act of insensitivity. It was just hard for Sydney to not act that way, especially when she needed to seem big and bad in front of Sienna, to remind her of who she was messing with. Sydney didn't want Jane to be at the receiving end of her coldness, but it spoke greatly when the defenseless girl who was supposed to be her best friend was. She glanced at Victoria next, not attempting to be discrete as she looked her up and down. "If you see Charlotte, tell her that the decor in here looks wonderful. One day in and she's already proving herself to be the best class president we could have had," she smiled. Another low blow? Yeah. Did Sydney care? Definitely not. Lastly, she glanced towards Sienna. "Have a moment to chat?" If the girl dared to say no, Sydney was going to have to pull out the big guns and send her packing just like she had with her dumb, blonde little friend.