---

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Jane had returned from the Oregon treatment facility a week ago, but she was still trying to keep up with the healthy habits and lifestyle choices that were recommended there. As she stood in front of the full length mirror, part of her desperately wanted to return to her old ways. She stood in just her underwear and couldn't help but to pull at the nearly non-existent areas of fat on her stomach and legs. The thought of gaining weight still made her want to die, but she was getting better and she knew that she had to stay positive and be happy with herself for all of the progress that she made over the summer.

Although Jane was sure that she had missed a lifetime's worth of drama having been gone for most of the summer, part of her was glad that she was so disconnected from everything. While she loved how exciting her social life was, drama included, she knew that she needed the time this summer to focus on herself, but that was over now. Part of her was eager to hear about everything that had happened, but part of her wanted to remain in her own secluded bubble where her only enemy was herself. Out in the real world, she had a fair amount of people who she didn't like who reciprocated those feelings.

One was Daphne Peterson, the biggest know-it-all in Manhattan. She was extremely bright and liked to flaunt it, and after Jane took it as an invite to copy off of her test papers during sophomore year, she went from simply being an annoying teacher's pet to an enemy. It was really Jane's fault for copying off of her in the first place, but she was awestruck when the girl began to trick her into copying down incorrect answers, causing her to miserably fail a couple of exams, and purposely embarrassing her in front of their class. Jane wasn't completely stupid but between her own personal problems and the drama in her social life, school was never a priority. Besides that, the endless supply of cash that was funneled into her bank account made it seem pointless to even get a job.

Jane had been struggling for the last hour to find the right outfit for the First Day Back School Mixer and after her stepmother Nicole's voice rang out over the intercom telling her to hurry up, she settled on black harem pants, a black tank top, denim jacket and black heels. She wore her glasses, which were normally replaced by contacts when she was going out, but she felt like if she made her outfit look more studious, maybe it would rub off on her actually educational habits this year. While she loved picking out her own clothes, part of her was glad that starting tomorrow she would be more limited to her choices because of the school's dress code. Even though she had only been home for three days, Jane had spent much of that time on 5th Avenue, raiding nearly every store she passed.

Once she was dressed, she grabbed her bag and pulled her phone out and texted Sydney, remembering that she had promised to meet her at her house so they could go to school together this morning. She had reminded Sydney to invite Sienna and Vivienne, but Jane was unsure if Sydney would have. It was known within their close circle that there was a little bit of tension between Sydney and Sienna, although Jane was unsure of what was causing it. Whatever it was, it made some situations a little bit awkward. Even though Jane would consider herself to be closer to Sydney, she was still really good friends with Sienna which meant that the three of them hung out frequently. Viv was Sienna's best friend and a good friend of hers and Sydney's too, so the four of them were pretty much a clique, even if they all weren't as close with each other as it may appear to the rest of the world.

To: Sydney Vale
"Be there in fifteen! Are Sienna and Viv coming? Excited to see ya :*!!!"

As Jane hurried down the large staircase that went through all six levels of her townhouse apartment, she nearly ran into Nicole who stood at the bottom with her hands placed on her hips in an all too familiar stance. Normally, Jane would have expceted her to lecture her about how she needed to start being more punctual and that time management was essential, but instead her young stepmother had caring look on her face. She reached out and took Jane's hand in a genuine, but awkward movement, before saying, "Jane, honey, I know that things have been rough between us but I hope these past eight weeks have helped you. Your father and I are going to be here to support you and we know this year is going to be great for you." Jane wanted to pull away from her grasp but really was trying to be better in all aspects of her life, not just regarding her eating disorder, so she allowed Nicole's hand to linger on hers for a moment. After a few seconds, she tried to put on her best genuine smile and offered a "thanks" before hurrying past the woman and out of their home.

Her family's driver, Charlie, was waiting in front of the building and gave Jane a small smile before opening the backseat door for her and allowing her to get inside. He was an older man who had been her father's personal driver for as long as she could remember and after knowing him for so long, Jane had grown to like him. He was a good listener and never told her father where he was really picking her up from on some of her more crazy late nights, which made him trustworthy too.

"Look who's back," he said with a small chuckle and he pulled off. "Nicole told me we're headed to Ms. Vale's. Is school starting for you girls today?"

Jane smiled a brushed a ran her fingers through her dark hair which was pulled back in a ponytail. "Yeah, I was in California for the summer but school officially starts tomorrow. Today's just like, a little introduction to the year," she said cheerfully. It was the excuse that she had given her friends for why she was gone, so Jane knew that it was safer to just keep the story as that for everyone.

Sydney's building was only a few blocks away from Jane's, so she easily could have just walked, but she preferred being driven there. It was quicker and less than five minutes later, the car stopped in front of the building. Jane thanked Charlie and stepped out, but lingered in front of the building for a minute before passing the doorman and buzzing up to Sydney's apartment. She hadn't seen Sydney, or most of her other friends, since July and although she was close with Sydney, the idea of being thrust back into Sydney's whirlwind of drama made her stomach churn.

It was the first day of school. Even if classes weren't going to be in session today, it was the first time that Sydney would be returning to Constance Billard since classes had ended in the spring. She was more than excited to begin her senior year at the school, knowing that this year not only would she be the most popular girl in her grade level, but in the entire school. Last year she was still envied by most, but there were girls a grade above her who had the upper hand, simply because they were a bit older. Sydney didn't mind it though. It seemed like the proper order of things and now that there was no one above her, she was ready to take her rightful seat as Queen Bee of the school.

Because today's mixer didn't require students to adhere to the dress code, Sydney opted for a casual, yet classy outfit of a Lilly Pulitzer sweater, dark J. Crew jeans and navy Chloé flats, accessorized with a gold bracelet and earrings. After showering and getting dressed, she decided to let her hair fall in its natural blonde waves rather than spending time straightening it or styling it differently. Her hair dresser would be coming over later to help her get ready for her party anyway, so it seemed useless.

Once she was finished getting ready, she made her way down to the kitchen. Unlike many of her friends, Sydney never grew up with a nanny or a full staff at her beck and call to make her breakfast or take care of her. It wasn't that her grandfather couldn't afford it, because he definitely could, but he preferred to play a larger role in his grandchildren's lives since he was the only parental figure that they had. For most of her life, Sydney would wake up every morning to the smell of hot pancakes or crispy bacon and find her grandfather hovering over the stove making them himself. He was so caring and as Sydney grew older, she really began to appreciate how much effort he put into her life.

Today, however, her grandfather was not home. He was spending a week in Europe on some press tour for a new comedy series he was producing, and considering that her brother Samuel had left for California a few weeks ago, the house was pretty quiet this morning. Sydney grabbed an apple and a bottle of water and perched herself on one of the bar stools that bordered the island in her kitchen. She glanced up at the clock, surprised that Jane hadn't arrived yet, when suddenly her phone buzzed from inside her bag. As she glanced down at the screen, she read Jane's message which stated that she would be arriving shortly and was wondering whether she had invited Sienna and Vivienne over as well.

Although Jane had suggested it the previous day, Sydney never followed through with extending the invite. She really didn't do it with the intentions of excluding Sienna and Viv in a mean way, because she had enjoyed her summer with them for the most part, but Sydney hadn't seen Jane in months and wanted to be the first one to see her. Jane had been in California visiting her old nanny and other friends, supposedly, but Sydney found it strange that she didn't bring her cell phone or computer. She considered the ideas that maybe Jane had gotten a nose job and was trying to adjust to her new look, or maybe she had some secret boyfriend out there that she didn't want anyone to know about. Whatever it was, Sydney wanted to be the first one to find out about it. Besides, if Vivienne was going to be Sienna's butt buddy, Sydney would make Jane hers. It sounded petty, and Sydney knew it, but even though she and Sienna acted like great friends in public and Sienna had no reason, in Sydney's mind, to be mad at her, she constantly felt like she had to one up the girl.

Sydney didn't bother to reply to Jane's text message and within a few minutes, the intercom in her apartment went off, signaling that someone wanted to get into her apartment. Sydney allowed access, knowing it was Jane, and she quickly tossed her almost-finished apple into the trash and grabbed her bag and headed to the door to greet Jane. When the door opened and her friend appeared in the entrance way, Sydney instantly hugged her.

"I missed you!" she squealed, releasing Jane after a second and allowing her to come in. Rather than asking Jane how her summer way, Sydney got right to the good stuff. "I totally forgot to invite the girls but it's fine, we'll see them when we get there. I wanted to hang out and fill you in on everything that's went down while you were gone, but you're so late so we'll just talk on the way and I'm sure Sienna will catch you up on all of the gossip." She slung her bag over her shoulder and closed the door behind them. She assumed that Jane would take her comment about Sienna as just being a friendly reference to their mutual friend, but Sydney meant for it to be a dig at how dramatic Sienna could be. It was one of the major reasons why Sydney didn't want her finding out about her and Vincent. She imagined that Sienna would act like she had murdered her entire family, or something.

Sydney lived only a couple of blocks away from Constance Billard, so she usually just walked there. Today wasn't any different, especially since she wanted to spend the extra time catching up with Jane. The air outside wasn't cold, but was refreshingly brisk; one of Sydney's favorite indicators that it was the start of fall. She flipped her hair behind her shoulders and looked over at Jane as she walked. "You are so not wearing heels to my party tonight. You're already like half a foot taller than me without them and I don't want to look like one of those people on 'Little People, Big World'," she stated.

---

Like Sydney, Sienna Alvarez didn't live too far away from Constance Billard. In fact, she preferred the three block walk towards her private school instead of an unnecessary drive by the chauffeur. So, when she awoke the morning of everyone's first day back, she was not in any particular rush. In fact, you might say that she was having a little fun.

"Aaaannnnddd that's how it's done, boys!" Sienna exclaimed and dropped her remote controller in a rather self-assured manner. On the flat screen of their living room, the screen was split into three sections with only one highlighted as the obvious winner. And with the little triumphant dance Sienna currently partaking in, it was obvious who the winner was.

"Put some clothes on, munchkin." Ricardo, Ricky at this point, spoke with a rather bitter tone, the frown on his face prominent as he seemed to mull over how she constantly beat him at his favorite video game. Alfonso simply grinned; he wasn't particularly surprised. This wasn't the first time Sienna had beaten them and speaking of, said diva beamed at her older brothers, clutching her pink fluffy towel to her curvy form.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game. And you owe me twenty, Ric!" She yelled the last part over her shoulder as she headed back up the stairs to return to her room and finish getting dressed. The first part of Sienna's summer had been spent in Atlanta where her mother was shooting for a new film that would be coming out some time after February. She visited some family in Florida and then went on a cruise for a week. However, the latter part was all about her own career and she had to make an appearance at iHeart Radio. Which, to be completely honest, was the best part of the summer. She performed, took pictures with fans, attended the Teens Choice Awards earlier, and even spent a good amount of time with Vivienne. She attended luncheons with Selena Gomez and Nina Dobrev, and then happened upon Paul Wesley and Stephen Amell back at Comic Con. Sienna didn't know about the others, but she had a lot of fun this summer.

The one thing that was apparent, she decided as she finished the last details of her outfit for the day, was that she didn't miss Sydney much. Sure, they had fun. When it came to shopping, Sydney was definitely one of the people Sienna would love shopping with. But she just wasn't...missed. And at some point during the summer, she really did want to miss her. She wanted to feel bad about not thinking of someone who was considered a friend. But she wasn't and she didn't. She missed Jane and vowed to give the girl a big hug when she saw her. Thinking of her friends, Sienna grabbed her phone only to see a text from Lyric.

To: Lyric
From: Sia
No thanks, hon. Walking with my sissy! :D

With that sent, she also sent a text to her other best friend, Vivienne.

To: Vivienne
From: Sia
Gonna be leaving soon. Tamara made breakfast. Want anything?

Satisfied with that, Sienna glanced at her full length mirror, appraising her attire. She had decided to straighten her hair yesterday since she had not made any plans and then braided it rather loosely over her shoulder for the party later. She didn't want to go to some salon; didn't see the need. Instead, the natural waves later would be enough. She hadn't even showed Vivienne the dress and a small squeak escaped the wide smile without her thinking. Grinning, she grabbed up her bag and left her room, anxious to see if her baby sister was ready to go.

Vincent's apartment was considerably nice for a New York apartment, but nothing compared to the other Upper East Side apartments that his friends resided in. When he first started attending Saint Jude's, the idea of not being as wealthy as his peers bothered him, but Vincent had grown to like his small apartment, especially considering that he lived there alone. His father paid the rent but lived on Long Island with the rest of the family, and while Vincent's personality had probably most noticeably changed for the worst since coming to New York, living alone also brought on a strong sense of independence in him.

Having spent an entire summer sleeping as late as he desired, Vincent was pleasantly surprised with himself when he managed to wake up to the sound of his alarm. He actually preferred waking up early over sleeping in, but that usually wasn't an option after his typical summer nights of heavy drinking and overnight visits from girls. Today Vincent gave himself a little bit over an hour to get ready, which was the perfect amount of time for him to take a quick shower and put on clothes, and make a BLT.

Cooking was always something that Vincent had taken an interest in, although he rejected the hobby as a preteen after his father told him that only women and gay guys cooked. His mother encouraged it though, and Vincent actually found that the skill lured girls in rather than turn them off. His ability to cook a nice dinner or bake a cake apparently made him even more charming and attractive or quality "husband material". The amount of girls who would sleep with him after a homemade meal negated any shame that Colin's remarks about him being a housewife might have brought on.

After scarfing down the sandwich in only a few bites, Vincent brushed his teeth and headed out of his apartment, down a few flight of stairs and onto the street. His apartment was in one of the less luxurious buildings in The Upper East Side, which was convenient today because the school mixer was held at Constance, but made for a longer commute to Saint Jude's which was located in Brooklyn. It was only a ten minute walk from his apartment to the girl's school and as he approached the building, he spotted Sydney Vale and Jane Lynch walking towards the school from the opposite direction.

"Well, well, well," he said, a smug grin appearing on his face as he stopped in front of them. "If it isn't the queen of the social scene and the gorgeous heiress who seemed to fall off the radar this summer," he said, stepping between them and placing an arm around each of their shoulders as he walked with them back towards the school. "The summer treated you two well," he added, obnoxiously eyeing their bodies. "By the way, have you ladies seen the new Gossip Goddess blog? We'll have to keep our future hookup on the down low, Jane. Don't want those details leaking out to all of Manhattan."

Persephone clicked away from Gossip Goddess' most recent blog post. With a sigh, Sephy realised that this year was definitely going to be far from drama-free. Junior year had been so simple - Gossip Girl gone and nobody, like Gossip Goddess, trying to replace her. But then again, if Sephy was so determined to be noticed this year, a surefire way of doing that is to get onto Gossip Goddess' radar.

Standing up from her seat at the desk, Sephy turns to face her floor-length mirror, straightening out her outfit and combing flyaway strands of hair back into place with her fingers. Sephy really had to look her best, especially since it was her first day back at school.

"Sephy, breakfast!" One of the twins shouts up the stairs, for most people it was near impossible to tell them apart just from hearing their voices alone as they sounded so similar but nevertheless, after living with Marcella and Juliet all of her life, Persephone could easily tell that it was Marcella who had called for her.

"Be there in a sec Marcie," Sephy calls back, giving her appearance a final once-over before rushing out of her bedroom, into the hallway, heels clicking as she walks down the old oak staircase. Walking into the second-floor bathroom, Sephy has a quiet deliberation on whether to wear contacts or glasses before finally settling on her trusty glasses; contacts were too much hassle so early in the morning.

After adjusting her glasses to make sure they sat perfectly straight on her nose, Sephy makes her way down one more flight of stairs to the kitchen and living room, the Soung family currently resided in one of the largest penthouse apartments in all of Manhattan, while originally it was three separate one floor flats, Sephy's father, Samuel, worked his real estate magic and her mother, Winifred, worked her flair for interior design so that their home can now boast three floors.

Entering the kitchen, Sephy turns her attention towards her parents who were both sitting at the dining table, sipping their coffees.
"Good morning father," Sephy greets her father before turning to face Winifred "Mother."
She then takes a seat at the table, deciding upon sitting next to Marcella. A bowl of granola and yoghurt was then place in front of her, decorated prettily with all types of fruit. "Thank you," Sephy says graciously to their live-in Chef, Jaques. Sephy actually enjoys cooking and preparing meals of her own but her father wouldn't hear of it. 'We're high society people and therefore we should act as such' He would say to which Sephy, after being told this over and over again, finally agreed to.

Once she had finished her meal, Sephy excuses herself from the table politely, making sure not to disrupt the currently calm atmosphere.
Picking up her school bag from the table in the hall, Sephy suddenly remembers something and turns back to her to dining table, "Oh, Father don't forget I have a tennis tournament after school which you promised you'd go to" Sephy reminds him, excited that he'd finally be able to see her play after having to cancel so many times before.
"I completely forgot about that, sorry Persephone, I already have a meeting scheduled for then that I just can't cancel last minute - Next time though." Samuel says, barely looking up from his newspaper which he seemed to be incredibly interested in.
Nodding, Sephy bites her lip; feigning a smile, she says "Sure father, I understand," then facing her mother asks, "Mother, can you come?"
"Oh Darling you know I'd love to but I'm just far too busy for that, but like you father said, another time." Winifred replies gently a slight hint of guilt on her face, but it was nothing that would make Sephy feel any better.

It was then that Sephy's phone buzzed with an incoming text, realising it was Sebastian, she quickly read it and replied:

To: Bastion
From: Sephy
Alright, see you guys soon x

"Ok well I have to go, goodbye" Sephy calls out to her family, Bastion and Daphne might not have arrived yet but there was no way Sephy was going to hang around the apartment anymore, she didn't want her parents to see the disappointment her eyes held. Instead, she opted to wait for her friends on the stairwell of her apartment complex.

Upon hearing the buzz of the door, Sephy stands up, adjusts her glasses and opens the door, a small smile on her face.
"Hey," Sephy greeted both of them, not in the happiest of moods but trying her best to be as cheery as possible for her friends.

---

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---

"And I thought I was the drama queen! Are you done yet, Esmee?" Sienna inquired pleadingly, her expression exasperated. After getting dressed herself, she went to check on Esmeralda only to find her younger sister tossing her third outfit back into the now messy closet. She had even contended to looting Sienna's closet in search of the perfect first day outfit, despite Sienna's insistence that the first three tries were pretty damn fabulous.

"Sorry, not all of us wake up flawless, okay?" Esmee retorted before settling on the very nice high-waisted leather skirt and deep red top that really brought a sense of sensuality to her olive complexion and brown eyes. Her dark curly hair, much like Sienna's natural hair color, was shoulder length and fell in very tightly coiled curls. She was glowering at her older sister as she slipped into some very tasteful heels.
Despite their closeness, it was very much evident to Sienna that her sister was going through some image problems. It might have something to do with Sienna's popularity and the fact that Esmee was trying so hard to come up with an image without her big sister's help. But everyone knew that no one would forget that Esmee was Sienna's little sister and that wasn't going to change, even after Sienna graduated. Without even making a move, Sienna allowed her sister to unravel her braid and her luscious locks tumbled down her back. Esmee only offered a, “The braids ruin the outfit,” before grabbing her own bag.

"Well, hurry up before mom wakes up. The last thing I need is some speech about images or a dinner date with Vincent's parents." One part of the summer consisted of Sienna's mother reminding her that just because she and Vincent were no longer dating, it didn't mean that the friendship between their families should change. In a way, she was right. Sienna thought of Vincent's mother as another mother and their closeness wasn't something she could just choose to forget about. But she also knew that this was her mother's way to somehow get the two back together. Like that would ever happen, she mentally told herself. However, a deeper part of her mind retorted that - if given the right circumstances - she probably would. Not that she wanted to be thinking of this or him at a moment like this.

Grabbing Esmee before she could decide that she wanted to change again, Sienna made her way back down the stairs, shaking her head in amusement as Ric tried to beat Alfonso in another game. The girls walked into the kitchen, smiling at Tamara who was busy finishing a stack of pancakes for the boys. They didn't real need her around as much since they all knew how to cook something to some degree, well Sienna didn't, but she was going to keep that to herself. The best she could do was a bowl of cereal or toast with butter and jelly.

"Eating anything?" Tamara asked and while Sienna definitely chose to grab the delicious and freshly baked muffins that Tamara had made, Esmee decided upon an apple and a bottle of water. Sienna couldn't lie. She loved food and eating was just something she loved to do. Besides, the dance classes she helped at for charity and her constantly being on the move kept her metabolism high and her body unable to gain more than one or two pounds. She also filled two to-go mugs with sweet iced tea, one for herself and another for Vivienne. They even had a mug reserved specifically for the gorgeous blonde that was pretty much a part of the family.

"You can fake all you want," Sienna said as she carefully placed the two muffins in a small little bag before putting them in her new purse. "But I'm hungry." Esmee made a face and Sienna planted a huge kiss on her cheek. She then grinned at Tamara. "Thanks, see you when we get back." After a promise to be good, the sisters were off, eagerly talking about their wishes for the new school year.

A few blocks away, Jake Desai sat in a very prominent Upper East Side cafe. He was never that much of a fan of Starbucks, only ever drinking there on occasion. Instead, he favored these smaller but privately-owned businesses with their own special recipes and brands of coffee beans and tea leaves. His favorite tea, which he was currently nursing in a nicely sized mug, was the piquant yet sweetened flavor of chai mixed with milk and a bit of honey. Unlike some of the other students, he actually did live in Brooklyn and the commute here was never something he enjoyed. However, his mother wanted to stop by the cafe on the way to her museum and said workplace was close to his current location, so why not? He hurriedly dressed, escorted the older woman, and was currently working on the edits to his script for his short film.

Jake didn't really need to be all the way on this side of New York. In fact, his school was closer. But, while the idea of escorting his mother - who was more excited about his first day back than he was, mind you - was one thing, he also wanted to check on two of his favorite people - Daphne Peterson and Persephone Seoung. While they all weren't the best of friends, they were pretty damn good ones and he appreciated them enough to make the trek to Constance. With that in mind, he saved what work he had left, stored his computer away in his bag, and then hurried to leave. Thinking quickly, he sent out a text to his two friends on his way out the door.

To: Daphne, Persephone
From: Jake
You guys on your way to school yet? Be there soon :)

"Esmee, watch out - !" Just as the words flew out of Sienna's mouth, her sister's thin frame impacted with the near equally thin frame of the male exiting the cafe and Esmee ended up dropping her bottle of water and half-eaten apple. The male immediately apologized.

"Sorry about that," Jake exclaimed, eyes landing on the Alvarez siblings. Both pretty much twins with one having dark hair and the other - Sienna, obviously, because Jake would be an idiot to not know who Sienna Alvarez was at this point - having honey blonde. Esmee squeaked, a rather adorable blush coating the apples of her high cheeks.

"N-no, it's my fault. I...wasn't looking where I was going." She replied. Jake smiled kindly and Sienna watched with a raised eyebrow as her sister's blush deepened surprisingly and Jake picked up her items. Thinking quickly that the girl wouldn't want an apple that had touched the busy Manhattan streets, he threw it away and handed her the bottle. Esmee quickly snatched it from her grasps. "Uh, thanks. See ya, Sia. Waiting for Care." Esmee didn't even give either of them the time to fully respond before she entered the cafe in a flash. The two blinked in surprise before Jake nodded with the smallest of amused smiles on his face.

"Well, um, see you...around." He told her and she nodded in kind. Now alone with her two travel mugs, Sienna pulled out her cell and continued on her trek, watching the male from earlier disappear into the busy crowd. Her phone rang for a minute before someone answered and she smiled.

"Hey, Viv. So, Esmee abandoned me and I have muffins with sweet tea and I'm also about to be in the lobby of your building. You should come down and walk the rest of the way to school with me...I mean, because you obviously love me and such."

---

Jane returned Sydney's hug but just as quickly as she entered Sydney's apartment, she was led out. While Jane didn't mind being late, and frequently was, she knew that Sydney didn't like to miss out on anything, and arriving somewhere late could lead to that happening. So, she didn't protest her friend not welcoming her in and in fact, it was probably for the best. Jane loved Sydney's grandfather but whenever she came over in the morning, he always insisted that she have a plate of whatever it was that he was making Sydney for breakfast. She always politely declined and it never ended up being a big deal, but the whole situation still made her anxious. She wasn't even sure if the patriarch of Sydney's family was home, but avoiding the potential of it happening was easier than risking it.

It probably should have been suspicious when Sydney said that she accidentally "forgot to invite the girls", meaning Sia and Viv, but Jane didn't think too much into it. She was glad that Sienna didn't question her about her summer, although she expected it to come later on, and only hoped that when she was Sia and Viv, that they would do the same too. While she had the lie planned out, she didn't want to have to go into detail about it. Things might get fuzzy and she didn't want anyone to be suspicious of her.

When Sydney commented on her height, Jane was at first quiet, knowing that she had planned on wearing heels later on, but Sydney's little people comment got a laugh out of her. Syd was a good six inches or so shorter than her but it wasn't so much that she was irregularly short that Jane was tall. "If that's the rule, then I need to stop by Barney's after school to buy flats or something," Jane replied. Although Sydney's demand probably would have been taken as her being controlling, Jane was used to it and it was just another excuse for her to go shopping. "So who's coming tonight? I feel so out of the loop. You better not have made a new best friend while I was gone!" Besides the regular people who they hung out with, Jane was curious to know who else would have been invited to the Kiss On The Lips party that Syd was hosting. It was hard to tell who Sydney genuinely liked and who she was just being fake to in order to see if they were worth her time, so it was always interesting to see who ended up getting invites to her parties.

Just as Constance came into vision, so did a few familiar faces, including Vincent. Jane rolled her eyes but couldn't help but to smile as he approached them and turned on his charm. Jane was so used to his sexual and arrogant nature that she didn't even bat an eye when he slipped his arms around her and Sydney and called her out on being gone all summer. Luckily, he switched the topic to the new Gossip Goddess blog that had popped up. Sydney had mentioned it at one point during their texting conversation the previous night, but Jane had never viewed it. Although she really was trying to remain drama free, she was intrigued by the idea of it and couldn't help but to want to know what was written on there.

"I don't get with people who hurt my friends," Jane replied, rolling her eyes again at his comment about them possibly hooking up in the future. It wasn't like Jane hadn't thought about hooking up with Vincent before, but as long as she was sober she made her best effort to reject all of Vincent's advances. Not only did she think it would be disrespectful to Sienna, one of her close friends, but she knew that Vincent used all of his cute little pickup lines on any other girl he laid his eyes on too.

---

---

Vivienne Hudson breathed heavily as she ran rigorously. Her ponytail bobbed back in forth it's movement matching her breath. She sighed as she slammed her hand on the button that slowed it to a stop. " Four and a half miles" She said aloud. She pulled off the sweatband that protected her recent blow out.

The blonde took a swig from her victoria's secret from the bottle before pulling out her headphones and trudging back to her room. Immediately she went into her bathroom and turned the shower water on. As she stripped she gazed in the mirror. She earned a killer tan in Ibiza that summer which made her already piercing pale blue eyes stand out even more. Her hair had lightened in the sun and contrasted well with her golden almost bronze skin. But the biggest change from over the summer were her breast. She was prescribed a hormone pill that took her from a B-cup to a C-cup. She started taking the pills after she spent a week in Monaco with Sienna. She spent the summer traveling and doing some modeling. She hung out with Carters family in France. She topped the summer off with a major shopping spree with her birth mom. She did her signature cheeky grin before stepping into her shower and let the water run over her body.

Twenty minutes later she emerged out of her shower, her skin dewy with water and her breath minty. She walked back into her room and slipped on a pair of lace panties and a Saint Jude's hoodie. She walked downstairs into the kitchen where her sister Jenny sat at the kitchen table and her dad's new boyfriend Sven leaned against the countertop. " Hey" She said as she pulled a blender out of one of the cabinets. "Hello beautiful" Sven said in his thick accent. Her sister said nothing. She rolled her eyes as she pulled her fruit out of the fridge. She placed some fruit in the blender before turning to Sven and saying "Can you see if Daddy's awake? " When Sven left she took out the grinder and placed one hormone pill and one diet pill inside. Once they were thoroughly crushed she put the mush in the juicer, then the juice in the blender. "Wooow didn't you tell Daddy Warbucks that you were done with those?" Jenny sneered.

" If I was you Annie I'd mind my own business. You can be sent back to the orphanage." She said turning around. She walked back to her room with a triumphant grin on her face.

Back in her room she started to get dressed. Vivienne pulled on a pair of high waisted jeans that fit snug and emphasized her toned bottom or as Vincent liked to call it, her bubble butt. She pulled on a snug corset top without bothering with a bra then pulled a jacket on top of it. She let down her hair letting it fall down to the deep dimples that dotted her back. She pushed her long bangs behind one of her ears so she could put on her makeup. She lined the bottom of her eyes and coated her eyelashes in mascara then completed the look with her favorite Chanel lip gloss. But where were her red pumps?

" Daddy!" She yelled from her bedroom all the way to the living room of their penthouse apartment.
"Yes my love?" He called from the living room.
"I can't find my red pumps that you bought me last week "She said in frustration.
"Jenny has them" He said in confusion "You let her borrow them"
" Jenny!" Vivienne screeched as she entered Jenny's room. She saw the shoes dangling from Jenny's feet as the girl lay on her stomach and snatched them from her.
"Don't touch my stuff "She gritted out before slipping them on her feet. Her phone buzzed and Viv grinned. She dropped the grin when she glanced at Jenny however.
" I don't have time for you or this" She said turning away from her sister.

"Obvi I love you I'm here walking in pumps aren't I? "She said flipping her long pale blonde hair over her shoulder. She looped arms with her friend as they walked toward the school.

A few minutes later the girls arrived at the school. Viv grimaced when she saw Vincent. "You want to talk to the girls? "She asked.

---

Sienna offered her best friend the widest of smiles. With a flip of her honey hued hair after their arms linked, she handed Vivienne her travel mug and the two beauties made their way to school. They didnt really need to speak too much about each other's summers. They had spent the last few days together and talked the night before. Content to simply walk with her best friend, Sienna sipped the cool and refreshing liquid, smiling a little while the sweetness caressed her tongue languidly.

"So, let me tell you how - "

Vivienne cut her off before the words could fully leave her mouth, directing Sienna's attention to the campus grounds. A few feet away, Vincent stood with Jane and Sydney, his arms around them both. Sienna's grip on her mug tightened, a rather impassive expression overwhelming her countenance. A twinge of something akin to jealousy swelled up within her but she shook her head, smiling rather forcedly at Vivienne. Sure, she hated the easy way Vincent seemed to be able to interact with Sydney, but she was over it and over him. Or, at least, she wanted to be.

"Please, this is our senior year and I'll be damned if he ruins it," she told her most trusted companion before leading Vivienne over to the two girls and the boy who broke her heart. Not giving a damn and knowing eyes would be on them, Sienna practically squealed when she was close enough to the trio. "JANE!!!" Sienna practically lunged at the brunette, pulling her into a fierce embrace. She really had missed Jane. They usually had fun together during breaks and she left Sienna alone and there needed to be some kind of explanation.

"I missed you and FYI, you have a lot of explaining to do," Sienna chided playfully and winked at Jane. She then turned to Sydney and Vince, her smile directed more to the blonde. "Hey, lovely! Hello, Vince. How were you guys' summers?"

Sydney didn't even acknowledge Jane's comment about going shopping after school for a new pair of shoes. She knew that Jane's walk-in closet sized shoe collection was worth tens of thousands of dollars, so needless to say, the girl could find shoes that would suffice without buying new ones. Even if she truly didn't have a pair that would work, there was no way that Sydney was going to tag along with her. Jane's shopping trips weren't in and out things where she could just focus on purchasing one item and then leaving. No, when you went shopping with Jane, you had to have a large block of time reserved for the affair. With her party only hours away, there was no way that Sydney was going to fall victim to Jane's "I'll only be ten minutes!" ploy.

When Jane brought up the guest list, Sydney shrugged. "No one noteworthy." She had made the guest list about a month ago, a few weeks before her brother left for graduate school, with him and Nicole Peer. He had been very good friends with Nicole during their high school years, and coincidentally, she now happened to be Jane's stepmother. Although Sydney knew how much Jane disliked her, Nicole actually seemed really nice and Syd wasn't sure why there were issues between the two of them. Maybe it was because Sydney grew up without a maternal figure in her life, but the idea of having a girl only a few years older than her as family seemed nice. Sydney had inquired with Nicole about Jane's whereabouts during that hangout, but she brushed past the subject, only stating that she was "spending time on the west coast".

Although Sydney was in control of who was and wasn't invited, she didn't object to some of the suggestions that Nicole had. When they passed Daphne Peterson's name, Sydney explained that Jane didn't get along with her so she didn't plan on sending her an invite. However, Nicole insisted that Sydney invite her, reasoning that Jane needed to stop being involved in trivial drama with people. While Sydney knew that Jane wouldn't be happy with the decision, she had sent an invite to Daphne, but even with the extended offer, she was unsure if the girl would even come. Daphne and Jane's ongoing feud was well known to most people, especially Sydney who constantly had to hear about it from Jane, and although Sydney would side with Jane, she didn't personally have a problem with the other girl. Since the brunette hadn't brought it up, Sydney figured that she didn't know about Nicole's interference in the invites, but she wasn't going to mention it either.

The thought of the unnecessary drama seemed to fit the scene because just after Sydney spoke, Vincent approached and greeted the girls in an overly warm manner. She offered him a wary smile which quickly disappeared when Jane replied to his advance with a comment about how she would never hookup with him because of what he did to Sienna. Jane didn't know about Sydney and Vincent, but her comment still felt like a personal attack on Sydney's actions. Her hookup with Vincent while Sienna was dating him happened years ago and no one but the two knew, but the mention of Vincent cheating still made her tense up. She tried to keep the past in the past, but it was so hard when everyone kept digging it back up. Vincent's additional note about the Gossip Goddess blog didn't make her feel any better. She had heard about what the original Gossip Girl blog was about- who hadn't?- and after checking out the page for herself, it seemed to give off the same gossip and drama-y vibe. Sydney didn't mind people talking about her in a lot of ways because she knew that when so many people know who she was, there were bound to be some who didn't like everything she did. However, the idea of secrets being revealed didn't sit well with her and the one involving her and Vincent probably topped the list.

To make things even worse, before Sydney could even respond to him, Sienna and Vivienne appeared. In Sienna's motion of grabbing Jane into a tight hug, Sydney managed to slink out from under Vincent's arm, and stood on her own. She returned Sienna's smile and greeting, trying to make her voice sound authentically cheerful. "Hey! Mine was pretty laid back. Mostly just hanging out in the Hamptons and stuff," she offered, playing with her hair as she glanced around, trying to see who else had arrived. Normally she would have wanted to indulge in conversation with her three closest girlfriends but with Vincent and Sienna being there, she felt uncomfortable, and not in the same way that other people did, just knowing that they had broken up. When no one caught her interest, she returned her attention to the group, hoping that Vincent wouldn't make things more awkward for them, or if he did, that she could casually find another group of people to talk to.

---

Vincent's smile only grew when Jane brushed off his advance as being against her morals since she was friends with his ex, Sienna. He knew he would break her at some point as long as he continued to hit on her. In his mind, he was irresistible to every girl that knew him. It was just how long it took them to realize that which differed from girl to girl. Although he could have bragged to Jane about how she was really the only one of Sienna's friends who he hadn't gotten with, he knew not to do that. Jane didn't know that he had slept with Sydney and Sydney didn't know that Sienna knew that they slept together, so allowing one more person to know would complicate things ten times more. However, he did glance over at Sydney to see what her reaction would be to Jane's comment.

What probably made the whole situation worse was that the one time that they hooked up years ago wasn't the last time. After it ruined his relationship with Sienna, they stopped for a while, but last year things started heating up again. Even though he was no longer dating Sia, he didn't want her to know about the more reason occurrences of him getting with Sydney. While they acted like enemies in public, Vincent didn't want to hurt Sia any more than he already had and it seemed like one of those situations where "what you don't know can't hurt you" was relevant.

There most recent hookup was about a month ago. Sydney asked him to be her plus-one to attend an exclusive Emmy's after party in California. Her grandfather was the creator of SNL, which had won a couple of Emmy's that night, so the family was invited to one of the bigger parties and Sydney didn't want to go alone. Although Vincent tended to be a jerk around his peers, he was surprisingly poised and well mannered in front of people he felt were important and Sydney knew that between his good looks and personality, he would make a good impression. However, after a few drinks, they ended up in a bathroom together and one thing led to another. It was something that neither of them intended for anyone to know, but the encounter made Vincent feel even more guilty than he had before.

He tried to act like he was over Sienna and by flirting with numerous girls in front of her, he had succeeded in doing so for the most part. Still though, it was her who he would drunk text. It was her who he thought of at night before he fell asleep and really, it was her who he imagined marrying. She was different than other girls, even Sydney, but Vincent felt like he had dug himself in too deep and that there was no turning back now.

When Sienna and Vivienne came over and greeted them, Vincent offered a smile and wave. "I'll let you kids catch up," he said, excusing himself from the group once Sienna began to embrace Jane and talk to Sydney. Although they were all part of the same friend group, he felt unnecessary being there, assuming that they would probably blab on and on about irrelevant girl things.

He walked away from them and towards the school building as he pulled out his iPhone and texted Colin.

To: Colin Clay
"Dude, where the fuck are you? Jane's got this hot smart-girl look going. You better seal the deal on that one before I do."

---

Vivienne smiled proudly as her best friend addressed Vincent. She hugged Sydney tightly and tucked one of her perfect locks of blonde hair back. Vivienne might be manhattans untouchable princess in most people's eyes but among her friends she was the most understanding and the most affectionate.

She grinned at her friends, so happy to have the group back together again. [color=872657]" Oh I missed you guys."[/color] She tuned to Jane [color=872657]" You went MIA which I totally understand. I hid in France with the Prestons for like a week while people were hounding me down down about my relationship with Justin"[/color] She flipped her hair and glanced for prying ears. [color=872657]"He's a sweetie we made out but truth be told he is no where near over Selena. But he did put me in his music video."[/color] She added with a shrug.

She was going to tell them about her hormone treatments, hopefully before gossip goddess did but she saw an old friends face and stopped.

---

---

---

Carter Preston awoke with a careful yawn. Leah laid under his arm her thick dark curls lay on his arm. He attempted to ease out of the California King bed without waking her but it proved unsuccessful because as soon as he sat up and eased to the edge of the bed he heard "daddy!" and Leah's tiny honey colored arms wrapped around his neck. Carter grinned at his baby girl, the light of his life. He stood up and carried her to the kitchen.

His sister CiCi sat on the kitchen counter but she hopped off immediately at the arrival of her niece "Morning sugar" She said in her honey sweet southern drawl. CiCi had the most prominent accent of the siblings because she went back to Texas every Summer. CiCi lifted Leah out of his arms and twirled her around.
"Hey!" A voice rang out making everyone drop their smiles, well everyone but Leah who squirmed in delight. Carlotta walked up to Leah and kissed her on her plump little lips before grabbing some green muck from the fridge and walking back to her room.

Emily woke up next. She trudged into the kitchen and grabbed a waffle of a plate. She put it in her mouth then left. Emily was far from a delicate sleeper or a morning person. She grumbled and mumbled and glared from the depth of her thick curly blonde hair.
" I'll get Leah ready"He began but she threw her hand up and shoo'd him away. So he went back to his room and after a quick shower and freshening up pulled on an outfit. It was a simple denim shirt and some khaki pants with a pair of loafers. He ran a hand through his hair with gel but then he was done. As he exited his bedroom he saw that Lea's nanny had arrived. So he kissed the top of his daughters head and whispered " I love you to the moon and stars and back" in her ear.

Carter walked to school he didn't live too far and he tended to see people on the way there. Unfortunately today he walked by himself. He spotted all his friends and a retreating Vince as soon as he approached the school. He smiled as soon as he made eye contact with Viv. He approached the group with his famous crooked dimpled grin. He kissed Sienna on the forehead, and waved at Jane before asking " Hey ya'll enjoyed your summer?" and laying his arms around Viv and Sydney.

---

Jane's phone had went off, signaling that she had a text, so she didn't see Sienna and Vivienne coming until Sienna's arms were already wrapped around her. It was a pleasant surprise though, and with her phone still in one hand, she returned the tight squeeze. "I missed you too! I told Syd to invite you and Viv over this morning but she forgot. We didn't even have time to talk much though, but she said you would catch me up on everything," Jane said happily. Her comment about having "a lot of explaining to do" for going missing got a nervous giggle out of Jane but luckily, Vivienne also approached with her. While she also called Jane out on going "MIA", she quickly related it to what had happened to her own summer where she spent a week off the social radar in France with Carter Preston's family.

Jane always found it to be peculiar how Carter blantantly cheated on Viv and got another girl pregnant in the process, but they still managed to be very close friends. In fact, Viv was the godmother to the girl who was a product of the affair! It was so strange, especially when comparing it to the similar, but less intense, cheating situation between Sienna and Vincent. That didn't even result in a pregnancy but they were still at each other's throats most of the time. She guessed that the relationships were just different. Sienna and Vincent had known each other since they were kids. They grew up together, their families were very close and everyone around them expected them to stay together for longer than a year or two, if not forever. Viv and Carter had dated for a similar length of time but had only known each other since high school started, since Carter had lived somewhere else for most of his childhood.

"Bieber?" Jane asked, after Viv spoke about some Justin guy. After she said added Selena Gomez's name in there, she was sure it was the singer. "Ew Viv, he looks like a lesbian. You could do so much better!". For most people, the talk of one of their friends looking up with a mega-celebrity like Justin Bieber would have been huge news. It was definitely interesting and not exactly something that most girls at Constance could brag about, but most of them had connections in some way or another so talk like this was just the daily gossip.

Vivienne's father was a fashion photographer and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, so it wasn't surprising that Vivienne ended up associating herself with many of them. She was frequently invited to exclusive parties and did know quite a few famous faces. Although her mother was a Broadway star and her father some big shot in the government, Sienna's music career had really allowed her to make her own name. Sydney's grandfather had created Saturday Night Live which meant that she had access to many celebrities as well. Jane's father had a net worth that probably exceeded that of all of their parents combined, and his hotels hosted tons of events for the rich and famous, but Jane usually just associated with her New York friends. She couldn't stand the way she looked in most pictures that she took of herself, so dealing with a hoard of paparazzi chasing her and taking unflattering photos to be seen by millions was a horrifying thought. So, she didn't mind being fairly unknown to the media world compared to her friends, and her father preferred it to be that way too, especially based on Jane's past behavior.

She turned back to Sienna. "Harry Styles, on the other hand, is one musician that I wouldn't mind hooking up with, and I know you have connections there," she said playfully. She remembered Sienna had opened for one of One Direction's concerts and had been bugging her every since to get him to show up to one of her parties.

Just as soon as Vincent excused himself from the group, Carter appeared and just as Vince had placed his hands over her and Sydney, Carter did it to Viv and Sydney. He offered her a wave which she reciprocated and gave Sienna a quick smirk after Carter kissed her. It was just a forehead peck, but Jane knew that Sienna had been crushing on him and while she was doing well at the moment to restrain herself from bringing it up in front of him, she couldn't help but to acknowledge it to Sia with a glance.

She then remembered that her phone went off a few minutes earlier, and saw that it was just Nicole, reading: "Make sure you eat a well balanced lunch today :)! xoxo". Jane rolled her eyes and quickly deleted the message. She knew that Nicole meant well and was trying to mend their relationship but Jane didn't need her advice and she quickly strayed away from that conversation and texted Bastion.



It was the first message she had sent him since before leaving for the treatment center and by the texts that he had sent her while she was gone, she knew that he would be curious as to where she was. Her father insisted that he had went along with the lie that she was just spending time in California with some family, but she was unsure if Bastion of all people would believe that. They had grown up together and it was unlike Jane to disappear without a good explanation, at least to him. Despite worrying about having to explain herself, she was excited to see him. He was like a brother to her and she had really missed him after being gone for so long.

---

Sienna grinned, the faintest hint of dimples appearing in her cheeks as Jane returned her affection. She released the brunette and glanced at Sydney, who had actually responded. Sienna, of course, caught on to the fact that Sydney happened to "forget" to contact herself and Vivienne, not that Sia was actually complaining. To be completely honest, she was perfectly fine with being "forgotten." Not like it hurt anyone, anyway. But she did offer a genuine smile to Sydney's response.

"We all make mistakes, no biggie," she told the blonde in regards to not being called this morning. Even her voice seemed authentic enough to not arouse suspicions. As Jane and Vivienne seemed to talk a little about their summer, which seemed to be more of a two-and-two conversation, Sienna decided to be nice and remain focused on Sydney. "Besides, you were here with Gossip Goddess wreaking havoc and such, did you here about Madeline? She was one of the drama kids. Got pregnant by Mr. Whitlock. Guess who's not teaching here this year."

Yes, despite the fact that she had spent her summer away from New York, Sienna had heard all about Gossip Goddess. The tweets from classmates and well, the fact that everyone in New York visited this brand new blog lured her to the scene. And well, you would be an idiot not to have known about the original Gossip Girl blog and all the drama that entailed. Sienna was rather fascinated with the prospects of it. Her entire life was pretty much in the public eye in the first place. One more social networking site where drama was randomly stirred up would not hurt her. Well, unless...something else happened...

Brown eyes subtly followed Vincent as he walked away, a small tick in her jaw as she watched him leave. For once, neither of them were at one another's throats. Instead, they were...civil, even. But...no, she didn't want to concentrate on that, not now. Not when she was with her favorite three people in the world. She tuned back into the group convo when Jane made a comment about Justin Bieber looking like a lesbian. Sienna wrinkled her nose in distaste, wrapping an arm around Jane.

"Please, he looks like a child," Sienna corrected and eyed Vivienne distastefully. The fact that Vivienne would even consider giving Justin Bieber the time of day just...didn't sit right. "Besides, Selena's hardly thinking about that boy. We only go for men." Sienna even winked at Jane when she commented about Harry Styles. "Again, that's a boy, but I'll see what I can do." Sienna reached into her purse to retrieve her and Vivienne's muffins, her stomach grumbling slightly at only having some yogurt and strawberries this morning. Just as she handed the treat to her best friend, a pair of lips pressed themselves against Sienna's forehead and she was struck dumb for two seconds, looking up to see Carter's gorgeous blue eyes.

Yep, Sienna was definitely trying to restrain herself from squealing. Her cheeks were aflame and the wide smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth could hardly be contained. She spied Jane giving her a very knowing grin and she had to lower her own gaze for a moment, handing Vivienne her muffin quickly. Despite her growing affection for Carter, Sienna couldn't help but still be wary about pursuing him, especially when Vivienne was around. At the end of the day, Carter fucked up. At one point, even Sienna had commented that he was no better than Vincent in that regard and it felt highly hypocritical for her to develop a crush on a guy who did the same thing her ex did to her to her best friend. But the biggest difference was that at least Carter acknowledged that he fucked up and took responsibilities for his actions. One tearful night later, Vincent was calling Sienna a bitch for being mad and screwing one of the girls from her math class twenty four hours later. At least Carter understood that he made a mistake and currently had to care for his child.

"Hey, handsome. Seems like the summer treated you nicely. And how is that precious little angel," she replied to him with a now demure smile, picking at the crystallized sugar shards atop her own muffin. "And summer was great. Despite the fact that some people abandoned everyone for France." Sienna smirked pointedly at Carter and bit into the soft treat in her hands.

---

---

"Morning," Sebastian was awoken but a soft but unfamiliar voice, followed by a kiss.
Sitting up in the large king-sized bed, Sebastian rubs his eyes, trying to recollect what had happened the night before. All he could remember was going to a club, drinking heavily and some girl - What was her name..Bethany? No, Brooke?
He shrugs, it doesn't matter either way, she wasn't going to be around for much longer.

Slipping on a pair of nearby boxer shorts, Sebastian turns to face the pretty girl, smiling at him.
"Uh, morning..Brooke." Sebastian replies, confused as to why she wasn't gone already. He made it quite clear to every girl who stayed the night that they shouldn't be there when he wakes up.
Frowning, the girl shakes her head, "It's Tiffany," she hisses, clearly annoyed at Seb.
Damn, not even close, he thinks.

"Ah yeah, of course, Tiffany." Sebastian says nodding, making his way toward the en-suit bathroom.
Turning on the shower tap, he turns to face Tiffany, who had followed him to the bathroom.
"So you should probably be going now, right?" Sebastian says, a command masked as a suggestion.
Laughing bitterly, Tiffany rolls her eyes at Seb, "You're such a dick Sebastain." She growls, clearly hurt. Tiffany then walks back to the bedroom and redresses.

After hearing the front door slam, Sebastian smirks before stepping into the shower and washing. Some girls can be so difficult to shake, he sighs, honestly, how thick can one girl be?
Once washed and dried, Sebastian throws on a random outfit from his wardrobe, which consisted of a simple checked shirt, jeans and black boots.

It is then that Sebastian's doorbell rings, hoping it wasn't Tiffany come to shout at him like a few girls had done in the past, Seb hesitantly opens the front door. Peering out to see his father's assistant, "You're looking good, Christine," Sebastian says in greeting, his eyes following the curves of her body.
"Keep trying, Seb." Christine retorts playfully before handing his a thick envelope, "I only came here to give you this months allowance."
Seb sighs, pretending to be hurt, "And here I was hoping we could have some fun," he says before taking the envelope, him and his father might not be close but as long as Sebastian Sr kept the cash flowing, Sebastian Jr would carry on dating the insufferable Hazel Crown and just generally stay out of his father and his new family's way.

"Sweetheart you're still in school, I like men - Not boys," Christine laughs, shaking her head, "Speaking of school, aren't you meant to be in it now?"
Sebastian had completely forgotten. He had been enjoying his summer far too much to think about going back to that dump.
"Shit, yeah." placing the money in his safe, Sebastian walks out the door and past Christine.
He then turns back after getting a few paces ahead of her, "You can't resist me for long," He calls back to her, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

Deciding to walk to school for once, Sebastian arrived at the gates in ten minutes as he hardly lives far away.
Noticing a group of familiar girls, crowding around one edge of the school grounds, Sebastian places his signature smirk once again on his face before walking towards them.
"Hello ladies," Sebastian says to the whole group, his aura dripping with charisma, before turning to face Sienna, "I missed the fun we had last summer this year, Sienna," He smirks, knowing the this would most likely provoke her. Then, turning his gaze towards Jane he sends her a sly wink, "You should keep those glasses," Sebastian tells her, "I like them."

---

Sienna's entire demeanor shifted as soon as Sebastion appeared. Her entire body tensed, her grip on her travel mug tightened instinctively,and she tried to look everywhere but at the male. She even pressed herself a little closer to Jane imperceptibly. Despite how bold and rather cheery Sienna could be, all of that felt trivial when in Sebastion's presence. His aura, though alluring and charming at times, hinted at something that tugged at her survival instincts and overwhelmed her. She had out-rightly avoided his advances when she was with Vincent. She had been safe. And then, that one night where her safety net snapped, so did her resolve.

And she's been trying to pretend like it never happened.

Obviously, Sebastion decided that today was not the day to pretend. "Oh yeah, I loved that club. What was it, Utopia? We hung out the opening night that year," she stated in a hopefully authentic voice that dropped with fond remembrance. She grinned at the others, a sort of giggle on her glossed lips. "You guys missed it! I had a blast!"

---

"Boys, it's time to get up!" Colin's mother's cheerful voice rang out, causing him to stir only slightly. He was exhausted and wasn't ready to get back on the early wake up schedule that the school year required. It took him around ten minutes for him to manage to pull himself out of his bed and in that time, his two younger brothers had already hopped out of the bunk beds they shared on the opposite side of the room.

"School, school, school!" his youngest brother, Max, shouted as he pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. He was probably the wildest of the bunch and never seemed to have a shortage of energy, whether it was seven in the morning or eleven at night. Mikey, the oldest of the three adopted siblings had already gotten dressed and left the room by the time that Colin got to the closet. He shuffled through some button down shirts that were hanging before going to his dresser and pulling out a simple blue t-shirt and black pants. He knew that today was the first day back with all of his classmates, as well as the first time he would be seeing his longtime crush, Jane Lynch, since before summer break, but he didn't want to look too overdone. He figured that it was better to look clean cut and simple than to overdress and make a fool out of himself. His family wasn't broke, but they didn't have extra room in their budget for the frivalous and unnecessarily expensive clothes that his friends could indulge in. Luckily most guys didn't care about that type of stuff, but he still felt like it was better to just accept where he stood than to try to be something he wasn't.

After showering, he put his clothes on and made his way out to the kitchen. His father was already gone to work but his mother stood over the oven, placing pancakes onto his sister Calista's plate. She smiled when she saw him coming in and made a plate for him as well.

"My homemade, organic blueberry pancakes," she explained, handing it to him. "You know, they're Mikey's favorite," she said, motioning to her second son who sat at the table. She leaned closer to him and whispered with a wink, "and they're sugar-free for Max".

Colin laughed and quickly grabbed a seat at the table with his siblings. The pancakes smelled delicious and just like with all of his mother's other meals, Colin was quick to gobble the pancakes down. "Dude, second grade is gonna be awesome," Colin said to Max, ruffling his hair. "And Mikey, you've got Mrs. Becker for fourth grade, right? I had her back in the day. She used to be pretty nice but I don't know now man, she's probably getting old and cranky," he added with a grin. His mother lightly slapped the dish towel she was holding against the back of his head. "He's joking, Michael. Mrs. Becker is going to love you,". Colin nodded in agreement but as soon as Monica turned her back to them, Colin dramatically shook his head and mouthed "no way", getting a snicker out of Mikey.

After finishing his glass of water, Colin said goodbye to his siblings and headed to the bus stop. He lived in midtown which meant that he usually spent thirty to forty minutes commuting each way to Saint Jude's in Brooklyn during the school year. Today's school event was being held at Constance Billard, Saint Jude's sister school, which was located in the Upper East Side. It was around three miles from his apartment and although Colin didn't mind walking there, as he frequently did when he went to hang out with Vincent or other friends who resided in the area, he knew that it would take too long and opted for the bus. Because of all of the stops and the typical New York traffic, it still took around twenty-five minutes for him to get there. The bus stop that he got off at was about a block from the school and by the time that Colin got off, he had a text from Vincent, telling him to hurry up because Jane was there.

The mention of Jane brought butterflies to his stomach. She had disappeared without good reason this summer and even though Colin didn't have her number to inquire about it himself (not like he ever would, even if he did), he had heard through Vincent that she spent all summer in California. Colin had convinced himself that she probably had some wealthy boyfriend there and that even if when she did get back for school, his chances of her liking him would have decreased even more than before she left.

When he saw her standing with her friends, he new that Vincent was right. She was gorgeous and as much as she turned him on, he still felt like he had no chance with her. Rather than approach her and deal with his sudden awkwardness that always seemed to make a grand appearance whenever he was in Jane's vicinity, he headed over to Vincent who was standing by the school's door.

"Hey man," he said with a half-wave as he approached Vince. He nodded his head back towards Sienna, Sydney, Carter, Vivienne, Jane, and now Sebasitan Jardine. "I don't know if it's just because I haven't seen her in a while or if it's those glasses, but dude, she's hotter than I remembered. You think you can talk to her for me tonight?" he asked, not wanting to seem too desperate, although he knew that Vincent already knew just how badly he wanted her.

As Daphne, Bastion and herself exchange pleasantries, Sephy's phone goes off with a new text - This time from Jake, to which she replied:

To: Jake
From: Sephy
Kk we'll wait, hurry! :) x

Sliding her phone back into her bag, Persephone turns back to her two friends in front of her, "That was Jake, he said he'd walk with us," She explains before asking, "So, how were your summers?" Thinking back to her hectic vacation. Persephone had begun the Summer with an internship at Elle magazine, working in the fashion department, which proved much harder than Persephone had previously expected. She had hoped to simply be a currier and perhaps answer the phones a couple times but no, they thrust her right into an advice column with another intern - A very cute intern, named Caleb - who, after she had asked for his number at the end of their internship together, had regretfully told her he was gay, although, he would 'totally date her if he wasn't so into guys' - Which Sephy supposed must have been a compliment of sorts.

Then, later in her summer 'vacation' [although you could hardly call it that as it was neither relaxing nor stressless], she had attended her elder sibling, Cornelius' wedding. It was definitely a stunning affair, and his bride looked beautiful in a lace gown, and so Persephone couldn't help but get a little jealous, seeing her father praise Cornelius so highly in front of all the guests and talk about how lovely Mai-Anh, Cornelius' now wife, was.

And of course, there was the times where Sephy hung out with Jake which she thoroughly enjoyed, as even though they were 'friends' before, Persephone and Jake had never actually hung out like they did this summer, sometimes in a group [which would include Bastion & Daphne], and occasionally on their own. Something else happened as well, during these group meetings - aside from growing closer to Jake - Persephone found herself developing strange and foreign feelings for Bastion, which was weird, she used to only ever regard him as a friend; they were only brought together by Daphne. If she wasn't their mutual friend, perhaps they never would have spoken. And yet, Sephy couldn't help how she felt, and she wasn't sure whether that was ok with that or not.

Although there was always a bit of tension present between Sydney and Sienna, even if it was only Sydney who felt it, she was glad to be back with all of her girls again. They always had so much fun together and being with them reminded her of how excited she was for the party tonight. It was going to be the perfect start to a perfect senior year, or at least Sydney hoped it would be.

Sydney maintained a friendly smile when Jane brought up her "forgetting" to invite Sydney and Sienna over and she was glad that Sienna didn't make a big deal out of it. "I was working out the final details for tonight and it totally slipped my mind," she commented, glad that the conversation quickly switched gears after that. "Hey! I think Justin is kinda cute," Sydney objected when Jane ignorantly compared his look to that of a lesbian and Sienna, less offensively corrected her and said he just had a childish look. "I would have went for it too when I met him last summer, but he was still with Selena then too," she said to Vivienne with half a smile.

She met the singer at the end of the summer last year when he hosted SNL. Her grandfather and most of the cast wasn't too fond of him but Sydney had a short conversation with him and he didn't seem like the arrogant punk that the media made him out to be. Vivienne and Sienna obviously knew his personality better than she did though, but she at least found his appearance to be attractive.

Sydney maintained her smile as Carter appeared and wrapped his arms around her and Vivienne. Carter was one of the nicest guys that she knew. Not only was he respectful, intelligent and responsible, but he was also attractive. They had been friends since he started dating Vivienne and had continued to be that after they broke up, but once Sydney heard from Jane that Sienna was interested in him, she also developed a sort of affection for him too. She knew that it was probably more of a desire to compete with, or steal from Sienna, than a genuine romantic crush, but she wouldn't admit that to anyone. "Mine was good too," she responded to his question. "But I definitely missed you and Leah. That baby is probably so much bigger than she was last time I saw her!" Sydney had always admired Carter's dedication to his daughter. It was brave of him to take on such a role when caring for a child probably wasn't exactly the biggest dream of most teenage boys.

Before their conversation could go any further, another familiar face appeared. It was Sebastian Jardine, someone who Sydney didn't know particularly well personally, but knew much about reputation-wise. Jane had always warned her against getting too close to him, claiming that she had "friends who said he was bad news" but his bad boy persona was intriguing. He wasn't her usual "type" of guy, but she considered the idea that maybe a new school year would mean new experiences too.

Sydney raised an eyebrow when his first comment was to Sienna about past "fun" that they had. She had never heard of the encounter and didn't believe that whatever Sebastian was talking about was as innocent as the club opening that Sienna tried to explain it to be. She didn't call Sienna out on it but added it to the list of things that she would scope out later on. After he complimented Jane on her glasses, Sydney gave her a gentle elbow to the side and a confused look. Jane insisted that he was basically a villain but she really only saw the charming side of him.

She caught sight of Jane's iPhone screen and saw that she was texting Sebastian Arrendale. Sydney rolled her eyes and didn't hesitate to announce it to their group. "She's texting the other Sebastian. Sorry Seb, but it looks like she's more interested in your name twin than you," she said, her tone a bit spiteful towards the boy but typical for her. She liked to see how people would react to her bitchiness. Some were intimidated and backed down instantly but others, the ones who she would either click well with or clash immensely with, liked to play the game too. Seb was one of the ones who know how to counter her comments, but in an intriguing way. There were others, like Lacey Cartier-Porter, who did it in a way that just pissed her off.

---

After departing from the Sienna and Esmee debacle, Jake headed in the direction of Persephone's place, having checked his phone the second he turned away from the popular girl. While Sienna had made the turn leading to one of the more contemporary and stylish apartment complexes - Jake could only dream of living in such luxury - he took the other turn, away from Constance. Luckily for him, walking had never been a big deal and his desire to gain recognition this year prompted him to partake in a little more exercise.

So, onward he walked in pursuit of his friends, hands shoved deep in his pockets now that the cool bite of the fall breeze seemed to want to swipe the warmth from his cheeks. Jake Desai had never been a fan of the colder weather. Sure, it gave him an excuse to wear his infamous amount of scarves more and he wasn't looked at like an idiot because he was drinking hot tea in the summer. But he never truly adjusted to the wintry hell which was New York. The snowy days were always the worst, always because those used to be the times when Vincent would get a little "playful," as the asshole would call it, in his tormenting and Jake winded up slipping on the somewhat icy pavements one too many times. Plus, it was cold, he was stuck wearing more leathers that he could actually appreciate, and he couldn't take in the world the way he wanted to.

The other times, when the sun's rays were warm enough to cause fire to lick up his veins and motivate his spirit to actually get up and do something, he would live. He and his camera would leave his mother to her own craft and he would explore. He found more cafes in New York (you'd be an idiot if you didn't know that there were more than just Starbucks in New York!), filmed and photographed many sites and tourists, and find himself in neighborhoods that he probably wouldn't typically find himself. Those were the days he preferred, especially this summer when he spent a few days with Persephone. Which was actually, though he would joke that they weren't, one of his summer's highlights.

Those musings led him to his friend's house where the trio stood at the door, talking probably about their individual summers and such. A genuine smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he approached them, a sort of contentment at being in the presence of people who actually weren't dicks, imbeciles, or just truly not the sort of company Jake would prefer. "Hey, guys. Sorry to hold you all up. You guys ready?"

---

Jane only looked up from her phone for a second before returning her gaze to the screen. In those few seconds, she had spotted Sebastian Jardine a few yards away and she hoped that maybe if she kept her head down, he wouldn't notice her. That wasn't the case though, because within a minute, he had joined their little circle and was talking to Sienna about something they had done in a previous summer.

She didn't think too deep into what Sebastian said and hoped that he would continue his conversation with Sienna about their memories at Utopia. Of course, he didn't, and as she lifted her gaze away from her phone and towards him, he gave her a wink and complimented her on her glasses. In response, she made a mental note not to wear the glasses out again and offered him a weak smile. It was the first time that she had seen Seb in months and she could only imagine that he would be eager to sell her more Adderall. The pills were an old guilty pleasure. While their intended use was to assist people with attention deficit disorders, one of their side effects was weight loss and after learning that, Jane was eager to start taking them. Her psychiatrist wouldn't prescribe them to her for the obvious reasons that she didn't have ADHD and was being treated for losing too much weight already, so she turned to the only person who she knew could get them for her: Sebastian Jardine.

She had never outright told him that she had an eating disorder and really, Adderall was a typical go-to prescription drug for students who wanted to ace a test or focus on studying for finals, but Jane knew that Seb wasn't stupid. She had asked him before buying the first time if he could confirm that they would help her lose weight and after that, it was hard to cover up her need for them with some phony excuse that she wanted to start doing well in school. So, she assumed that he probably knew but because of their agreement, he had kept her disorder and the fact that she even knew him well, a secret from everyone else.

After all of the work she had put into recovery over the summer, she knew she couldn't start taking the pills again. It would be the push to sent her back down the slippery slope of her eating disorder. Even though part of her wanted to get back down to her unhealthy goal weight, the healthy part of her knew that she was okay where she was. She was healthy and fairly happy, and was motivated to stay that way. However, she knew Seb. She knew that he wouldn't be pleased with her refusing to help fuel his business. He thrived off of her disorder and now that she wanted to abandon that, she was going to be abandoning their silent agreement too, and Jane knew that he wouldn't react well to that.

She was glad that her phone went off again, directing her attention away from Seb as she read Bastion's response. The mention of him being with Daphne made her mood go from bad to worse. Being away all summer meant that Jane didn't have too many good comebacks on hand, not like her normal ones were very good anyway. However, she did want to see Bastion so she wasn't going to let her ruin it.



Just as she hit send, she felt Sydney leaning over her shoulder and before Jane could nudge her away, she took a cheeky shot at Seb about how she was more interested in conversing with Bastion than him. It was true, simply because Bastion was more than a genuine friend and Seb was now an enemy, whether he knew it or not, but Jane didn't need Sydney to make a point out of that. She knew that it was just Sydney's personality. She wasn't trying to be disloyal or mean by throwing her under the bus, but just liked to cause little problems to see how people would react. Still, Jane wasn't in the mood for it, especially with everything else going on. She focused her eyes beyond the group, hoping that Bastion would arrive soon so she would have a reason to cheer up again.

---

Viv winked at Jane as she commented on him looking like a lesbian. "I promise he's very much man " She said with a giggle. She was enjoying herself, was being the operative word. She stopped when Seb arrived and started doing his asshole antics. When he began to antagonize Sienna she stepped in. "Don't start the school year out being a dick Seb " She said stepping away from Carter. She heard Carter's rich chuckle. He knew what was about to happen.

See, Viv was a super sweet girl but she was also a very powerful girl. She may not be the head bitch like Sydney but people didn't mess with Viv. She stood in front of him with her hand propped on her hip her piercing eyes fixed in a glare and her perfect plump mouth turned downward. " Don't start this year trying to be something your not" She chastised "Some people may think your the big bad wolf but I know your just a dog. That being said I will kick your ass this year if you pull that attitude crap you pulled last year"

She was going to chastise him farther but she knew that gossip goddess was always watching and she really didn't want to be portrayed as a bitch. To those who watched it would seem harsh but it was really just tough love.