It was all a bit strange. She'd always admired the Upper East Side. The glitz, the glamour, Gossip Girl. It had been her dream to be known. To have her name plastered across website pages and text blasts. But it was so far from her mind now that she hardly remembered why she had strived for it in the first place. She boarded her plane an ex-Queen. Hated and shamed by her fellow New Yorkers. She departed a nobody. London didn't know her. They didn't follow her every mistake. They didn't care about her.

And Jenny Humphrey loved that.

She slipped into the doorway of her new dorm room with a sigh and a smile. It had been a long trip. Her dad had called four times and left voicemails just checking in. But she had made it. And she was more than happy to sleep off her first night before calling anyone. She pulled off her black boots, took off her dangling earrings, and passed out the moment her head hit the pillow.

By mid-day she'd ventured into town with a map and half a pack of cigarettes. She was bound to get lost. She had known it from the moment she left the campus of her new college. But Jenny was alright with wandering. She didn't feel like anybody was watching her, and she hadn't been able to experience that in a long time. She fussed with her fishnets and pulled her leather jacket tighter before deciding it was time for a smoke.

Click, click. That damning feeling of a lighter that has run dry right at the moment you need it. She cursed to herself and threw the plastic to the ground in spite.

"Oi. Need a light?"

She turned to see a man with a crooked smile, hand outstretched with an etched Zippo. He was pale, plain, but something about him held her interest. Perhaps it was the notion that he would never have made it on the Upper East Side. Perhaps it was the glint in his eyes that told her he was looking for trouble.

A short stride to his place and a friendly smile. Jenny inhaled the first drag and looked at him closer.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a good meal, would you?"

He smiled, eyes traveling her thin frame, and offered an arm. "I'm headed to meet some mates for a drink. Might as well come along before the scoundrels come out."

She was hesitant. It wasn't likely that he was taking her somewhere with any other intent than to get in her pants. Or make a mockery of her. But then, it wasn't Manhattan. She was just a tourist. And he was offering her an invitation. She'd sworn off drinks after Chuck Bass. But perhaps just this once, she'd be daring.

"Who the fuck is she?"

Jenny stiffened at the animosity. She was clearly intruding on something and she wasn't ready to cause drama just yet. She stopped in her tracks but Cook pulled her along. He wasn't letting go of her so soon.

"Shut up, Naomi. She's not here for you."

The tall blonde felt eyes running over her and a discomfort boiled in her stomach. Already she was unwanted. She just wanted to leave. She could turn away and find her way back to the college without causing any trouble.

"Fuck, Cook. She's fit. Sit down. Have a drink."

She obliged, not wanting to insult Cook or the brunette who had invited her. Silence. That crooked smile. Already his features were becoming more attractive to her. She smiled politely and stared at her hands.

"This here's Freddie, JJ, Naomi, and Effy. And this is Jenny. She's here from New York. So I figured we could show her a good time. Britain style."

A smile across Effy's face helped her to relax a bit. Only Naomi seemed turned off. Perhaps it was common. Perhaps the girl was just turned off to the idea of any new person. She'd seen it plenty at Constance. Even in Hudson. But she had been known in Hudson. She'd been revered as royalty. Hudson had been too close to New York for her to disappear. There was far more water separating her now.