"Hey sweetie," Ryan grinned as he noticed his daughter at the kitchen table on his way to work. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah," Haley mumbled. "Lots of work."

"Anything I can help with?" Ryan offered.

"Not really. You can proofread when I'm done, if you want," Haley replied. She swiveled her laptop so he could see what she was working on. "History paper," she explained with a smile.

"Not my forte," he laughed. "But I'd be happy to. I'll be home around seven, okay?"

"Yeah," Haley nodded. "How's Thai for dinner? I'll order?"

"Fantastic," Ryan grinned. "Call the office if you need me, honey."

"Bye, Dad," Haley said, waving. Then she paused. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?" Ryan asked, coming back into the kitchen.

"That tie really doesn't work with the outfit," she said. "I can't let you leave the house like that. I could never forgive myself."

"Alright," Ryan groaned. He came back moments later, displaying a striped navy-and-blue tie. "This one good?"

"Better," Haley sighed. "I swear, you'll never get it right."

"Maybe someday," Ryan said, his jaw stiffening. Jesus. She was just like Marissa. She really was.

"Hey, Dad?" Haley said, all of a sudden serious.

"Yeah?"

"Did Mom ever help you with your ties?" Haley asked. Once and a while her curiosity got the better of her. She knew her dad hated any questions involving her mom—he had given her the story that she'd left them, when she had been a baby, and he had never heard from her again. A partial truth. But she always wondered. Who she was, what she looked like. There were no photos of her, no signs of her, nothing. There was just her father, drowned in his work, obviously still in love with the woman who was completely gone. Haley had always known that he made himself busy to get away from his lack of a love life and the pain her runaway mother still caused him.

"Sometimes, sweetie," Ryan said casually, trying to avoid the conversation. Haley could tell. But he couldn't help how his heart burned when he realized how aware Haley was. She was growing up. "Now I better run. See you tonight!"

"Bye," Haley whispered. For the first time, she doubted her dad. She wondered how much there was to the story that she didn't know. How much her dad wasn't telling her. And why he wasn't.

"You'll be okay on the plane by yourself?" Marissa asked again.

"Yes, Mom. Take a breath. And duck, paparazzo at three o'clock," Elly said, raising her eyebrows in the direction of a short man with a camera, shooting away so he could get his paycheck from Star or Us Weekly or one of those rags. Marissa grabbed Elly's hand and pulled her to a more secluded spot behind a column. Elly sighed. It had always been their life. She had gotten used to the sunglasses and the hiding. She hated it; but it was the way it was. She knew that.

"And you're sure you want to go stay with Grandma Julie in New York, over going to rehab? There are some really nice places, and—" Marissa began.

"I'll be perfectly fine. There's probably more of a social scene in New York than Minnesota or wherever you'd send me," Elly laughed.

"But you're going to be good, right? No drinking? No big parties where there is drinking? Just studying and making some nice, quiet, friends?" Marissa asked hopefully, though she knew that it was her daughter, it was Elly, and that was probably too much to ask.

"Of course. Wouldn't you say that Chelsea is studious?" Elly retorted sarcastically, referring to best friend, probably the only one with a bigger hard-partier reputation than Elly herself and set of celebrity parents of her own. Chelsea's mom was a big-time actress; her dad was an ex-rock-star.

"Right," Marissa laughed, though even Elly's joke scared her. "You're sure you're okay with the name? You remember your story?" To keep Elly's story and her background a secret, Elly was going to enroll in school in New York with a fake name. She would be known as Elly Avery instead of Elly Cooper. Marissa's publicist had concocted a background for her client's daughter, which involved being a wild-child from Denver.

"Of course, Mom."

"Right," Marissa laughed. She began to tear up. "I guess this is it. Have a really good flight, Ell. Call me when you land. And have an amazing time, okay?"

"Okay," Elly said.

"I love you," Marissa smiled, hugging Elly tightly.

"Love you too," Elly replied, hugging her back.

Marissa watched her daughter walk through the gate and out of her sight. She hated watching people she loved disappear. Hated watching them slowly fade away, erasing themselves from the story of her life. They always did.

Five and a half hours later, Elly walked off the plane and immediately recognized her Grandma Julie. Julie still had her same face (thanks to some Botox and a facelift or two) and the same hair (thanks to a good salon with good dye) and the same personality (which needed no help at all). Elly had always liked her grandma, even if her mother didn't get along with her perfectly.

"Elly! Sweetie!" Julie called, rushing over. "Welcome!"

"Thanks," Elly smiled. "Are we going to your apartment?"

Elly had never actually been to her grandmother's apartment, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Julie made visits to LA several times a year, but Elly had never visited. In fact, Elly had never been to New York. Once and a while Marissa went for a shoot or for fashion week, but Elly was never brought along. She had never thought it peculiar until just then.

"Of course," Julie smiled. "We'll just grab a cab, your mom said your stuff is being shipped."

"Should get here tonight," Elly nodded.

"Perfect. Then we'll go?"

Elly looked around her, at the business, the excitement, and the noise of New York City.

"Perfect," she said, smiling to herself. And she followed Julie.

"So, school tomorrow," Julie smiled. "You excited?"

"It's going to be hard, isn't it," Elly laughed, knowing that Marissa had enrolled her at a prestigious private school. She went to a good school in LA too, but it was also the type of school where the more famous your parents, the less work you had to do to get by, and everyone was out partying all night, every night.

"Yep," Julie nodded. "The Parry School. Doesn't that sound nice? Very classy, respectable. Sort of like the Harbor School, you know?"

"The Harbor School?" Elly asked confusedly. "What's that?"

"That's where your mom—" Julie froze, biting her lip. Harbor was very much on Marissa's don't-bring-up list. She cursed herself mentally. She had been given very strict instructions from Marissa about bringing up her past. "Had a cousin who went there."

"Mom has a cousin?" Elly asked interestedly. "I didn't know that."

"She, um, died," Julie said, smiling to try and keep up her lie. Then she realized what her lie was about and put on her sad face. "Terrible car accident. She was a heavy drinker. Alcoholism, it runs in the family, you know. So don't start, okay, Ell?"

"Course not," Elly smirked, even though she knew Julie knew about her drinking. "I'd never."

"Good," Julie said firmly, glad she put a little life-lesson into her lie. She felt slightly less guilty about spitting out a complete mistruth to her only grandchild. Well. Sort of. "Here we are."

They went upstairs and Julie showed Elly her new room for the time being.

"Do you like it?" Julie asked.

"Of course," Elly said, smiling at the purple and white room. "It's great. Thanks."

"Sure, sweetie," Julie nodded.

"Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to lie down," Elly explained.

"Oh, of course. If you're hungry, we can have dinner, or not. I know it's been a long day."

"Yeah," Elly lied. Lying, as well as alcoholism, seemed to run in the family. Julie left the room.

Elly pulled a shiny silver flask out of her vintage Fendi purse. She twisted the cap and tilted it back, letting the cool, burning liquid sear her throat. She chugged it for a moment, and then set the flask back down on the table, a bit dizzy and discombobulated.

Then she grinned, and picked the flask up again.