Hartford wasn't a small country town with a population of five thousand that depended on the variety of farms to provide food, jobs and an income for the population and where secrets were hidden under the friendly, laid back and warm exterior. It wasn't a place where people would rely on one another to get by in life, and it certainly wasn't a place where morals and honour were upheld. Instead, people would more often than not put their foes darkest secrets on show, letting them become humiliated in front of the entire populace of the upper-class suburb, whispers, snickers and sly glances following them as they made their way through their day, every day as revenge for what they had done. It was a place where, if you earned less than $500,000 every three months at least, you were shunned and ostracised from society. It was a place where there were only backstabbers, and where power and money would get you anywhere and everywhere. Two families reigned supreme, and their word was law. It was most unfortunate that they were fighting a dying battle that had raged for thirty years.

"Nobody knows the exact story. Rumours are, not even the people who are involved really know what happened. They're just fighting for fighting's sake," a blonde haired teenage girl told her best friend, chocolate brown eyes wide in awe. "So many people have embroidered the story, that nobody knows what's true anymore." Her friend looked at her.
"Well? What happened? Why do you think that this stupid feud is going on and 'dividing our society in two'?" she asked, quoting some ridiculous gossip columnist.

"Well…" the girl said slowly. "I suppose I can tell you what mum and dad think happened, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true."

"Well, duh, Sherlock. I do take history, you know. I've learnt that not everything is true just because somebody says it is." The girl, Natalie, paused. "Well, that, and we've grown up in the age of the Internet." The first girl, Danielle, laughed.

"You'll make a great magazine writer one day. In the meantime, maybe you can use the story for your history essay!" she joked. Natalie glanced at her.
"Please don't make jokes!" she begged. "Just stick to telling stories." Danielle mock sighed.
"OK, well, according to my parents, the story goes a little something like this…"

'Well. Richard Gilmore and Janlan DuGrey were, apparently and surprisingly, best friends once upon a time. Their mothers would drink gin and tonics together, and their fathers scotch or whiskey, and they would play cards or pool or just get together and talk about their day to day lives, so it seemed kind of inevitable that they would turn out to be best friends. They met while they were still in diapers, and would have little baby spats over dummies, blocks, and whatever else it is that baby boys like to play with. So anyway, they ended up going to Chilton together and then to Princeton together. During their years at Chilton, a third member of their group came along, a girl called Michelle Horner. They adored her, and treated her like a little sister. I guess it would get pretty tiring of having two guys being so over protective of you all the time, but apparently she handled it pretty well, and usually thought it was kind of funny when they would pull the Big Brother- meets- The Godfather act with all of her boyfriends. According to my mum, who was a pretty close friend of Michelle's, Michelle was pretty easy going and loved it when the two of them goofed off, although I bet nobody can imagine them doing something so… laid back. Of course, there's all these stories of them going around at Princeton wearing nothing but ties for a month, so then again, I suppose you can…'

'Anyway. On the night of their graduation, they were all excited, understandably. Janlan's parents agreed to let him have a graduation party at their place afterwards. And of course, he had to invite the whole entire graduating year, plus a few extras, because it was a feat he knew that would be impossible for Richard to beat. Of course, you can't have a party without alcohol, so he had like, a heap of kegs, and some wine and champagne, and vodka, and pretty much anything else he could find that had alcohol in it, and everybody went on a drinking spree and got smashed. They also had to drive home, and not many of them got home safe. They were either involved in car accidents, or pulled over by the cops and spent a night in a cold prison cell. No matter what way you dice it, it's still a pretty dismal end to your 'great night.' So anyway, the end of the party comes, and Michelle and Richard are still there, car less, of course, but their parents want them home so they can celebrate, 'cause for some strange reason, the party apparently finished at something like nine thirty or ten, which is pretty early. But then I suppose it's graduation, so people want to go and celebrate with their families. So Janlan agrees to take the two of them home, despite being so drunk he can't tell the difference between a wardrobe and a toilet. Apparently he peed all over his mother's clothes, mistaking her wardrobe for his bathroom. So they get into his car, this big, huge Humvee that likes using lots and lots of petrol, and they begin to drive home. Only, on the way home, a dog runs across the road and Janlan's forced to brake suddenly, and he skids and goes sliding head first into a tree. Michelle ended up on life support in hospital for days, and she almost became paralysed. When she woke up, she wanted nothing more to do with them. One mistake had nearly cost her her life, and she wasn't going to risk pulling any more mistakes.'

'Janlan and Richard were gutted by it. They both had really loved her, and argued with her for ages. 'You shouldn't keep us from being in your life, you're our best friend!' and 'People make mistakes, but we should all be able to move on and forgive them,' stuff like that. But she refused to talk to them anymore. So they began quarrelling with one another – 'You shouldn't have let me drive drunk!' 'You shouldn't have been drinking in the first place, you knew you had to take us home!' yadda yadda yadda. They couldn't agree on anything anymore. And both blamed the other for what had happened, so both couldn't stand to be around one another anymore. They swore they would never be friends again.'

"So that's why there's this big feud now?" Natalie asked Danielle. Danielle nodded in reply. "Wow. That's so…"
"Stupid?" Danielle replied.
"Romantic," Natalie said, ignoring her.
"That's not all," Danielle continued. "They forbade their families from having any contact with the other, they were that angry. Only now, Richard's granddaughter is

being sent to the school where Janlan's grandson goes, so this should be very interesting. Especially as neither realises or knows it. And because the grandchildren have never met before, they will never even know they're fraternising with the enemy. Until it's too late."
"Who says they'll become friends?" Natalie asks.
"It's like a modern romance story, a la Romeo and Juliet style. They won't just become friends; they'll fall in love. I can guarantee it." Natalie looked at Danielle.
"OK. You're on."