AN: Wow- thank you all sooo much for the reviews! I appreciate them! In case you're confused about any of the characters that I made up, I'm posting character summaries at my blog, so just check it out if you're confused. If you're still confused, tell me, and I'll try to clear things up a bit. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

Two days later Rory looked in the mirror, making sure she looked every bit the part of a perfect society heiress. Not a hair was out of place. Her black cocktail dress fit her figure wonderfully, making her look gorgeous. Her makeup was done perfectly. The jewelry was light and appropriate. She hated it.

A chuckle broke her from her thoughts. She spun around to see Jake.

"You always did hate having to play the part of the perfect princess."

She smiled slightly. "You know me too well. But you clean up nice. It's been a while since we've been at one of these society functions together."

"Yes, it has." He replied softly. "Shall we?" He offered her his arm, and they began to walk down the hall towards the stairs.

Rory took a deep breath, inwardly preparing herself to play the familiar yet strange role of Hayden Heiress. For the past several years living with her mother, being away from Boston, she had a regular life. Now, she was facing her past. Her cold, secret past.

She noticed many familiar faces as she stepped onto the marble floor below the stairs. There were the Masons, and the Vanderbilt's, and the Goodrich's among various other millionaires.

Jake leaned in, his warm breath tickling her neck as he spoke, "So who do you think is the richest person in here?"

She bit back a laugh, elbowing him sharply. "Jake!" She hissed, never allowing the fake society smiled to leave her face.

"What?" He asked in feigned innocence.

It was an old routine with them. To amuse themselves over the years at boring society functions they would make bets as to who was the richest, who was having an affair with who, who was doing this, who was doing that. They could go on forever.

Rory leaned into him a bit. "I missed you Jakey." She told him playfully, before noticing Mrs. Cousen. "Oooh… do you think she's still doing her chauffer?"

"I heard she is!" A voice said from behind them.

Rory shut her eyes in embarrassment, mentally kicking herself for allowing someone to over hear her conversation with Jake.

"Shannon!" Rory exclaimed, a smile lighting up her face. "I've missed you sooo much!"

The two girls shared a giant hug.

"I've missed you so much! I'm so sorry about Gran Francine." Shannon told her, pulling away slightly with a sad expression on her face.

Francine and Straub Hayden had been two of the only real people in the Boston elite. They cared deeply for their grandchildren and their friends, and always put them before any money or business. They had adopted Rory and Josh's friends as extra grandchildren, often taking them on family trips with them. The loss of Francine was not only felt by Josh and Rory, but also by all their friends.

"Me too. Too bad dad doesn't give a damn." Rory muttered, still faking a smile for the adults in the room. After all, a Hayden couldn't let the public think something was wrong, now could she?

The tall red head in front of her nodded sympathetically. Shannon could relate. All their friend's could, actually. Shannon O'Leary was a tall, thin red head from Ireland. She had moved to Boston with her parents when they were in the 5th grade. It was common knowledge that her mom popped pills and her dad's business trips always included his secretary. It was also common knowledge that his secretary's five year old daughter was half Irish.

She and Rory had quickly become friends in the 5th grade, when no one else wanted to be her friend. The other children at Easton Elementary Prep School had made fun of her for her accent. Sure, at first it was tough to understand her, but they managed. Rory had always told her friend that her accent made her exotic, and to pay no mind to what other's thought. From the first day they met they were the best of friends.

"Come on, at least if we have to play Stepford Wives tonight, we may as well have some alcohol in us." Shannon said, steering both Jake and Rory to Christopher's study where they knew they would find a large stash of liquor.

Rory laughed, "Some things just never change." She shook her head. Shannon was the first of the group to get drunk, and the first to introduce everyone else to they wonders of alcohol. With her around, there was always a drink somewhere near.

They crept into the study, but to their surprise it was already occupied.

Shannon, Jake, and Rory burst out laughing, shutting the study door quickly.

"You started without us?" Rory pouted, shaking her head and taking a seat in a plush leather chair.

Josh smiled, handing his sister a drink. "Please, you expected me to stay out there longer than necessary? Besides, according to daddy dearest, this is your party to host."

"Nuh uh." Rory contradicted. "He said there would be a dinner party here tonight. Besides, he's out there. He can handle it. I have to host the other events, I may as well sit this one out a bit."

"Always trying to get out of playing your role, aren't you Hayden?" Another voice spoke up, interrupting the siblings.

"Shaun!" Rory said, turning around and seeing the other occupants of the room. "Clem!"

She quickly got up and hurried to hug them both.

"Well it's about time you noticed us!" Clemency chastised her, a teasing grin on her face.

"Well, it looks like the group's all complete." Rory commented, looking around.

The six of them: Shaun, Josh, Jake, Shannon, Clemency, and Rory made up their own clique. They had been the popular kids in their high school. They were all extremely wealthy, and from the bluest of blood.

They had known each other most of their lives. Jake was born mere months before Rory and Josh. The Pittman's were great friends of the Hayden's. They had always gotten along, and Rory knew Francine and Josh's mother, Eliza, both secretly wished for Rory and Jake to marry someday.

Clemency Hines was the daughter of Charles and Claire Hines. They lived in Boston for several generations, so it was only natural that Clemency and Rory had been set up on play dates from a very young age. The short, thin blonde haired girl was the apple of her parent's eyes. To them, she could do no wrong. Unfortunately, they didn't want her to have a career of any sorts. She was permitted to go away to college, but she was expected to marry a rich man of their choosing soon after graduation. That caused her to be bitter towards her parents. She never let them know that she didn't want what they wanted for her. Instead, she played the part of the perfect socialite and got her education. Once graduation came, she intended to get a job with a company and work her way up. She didn't see marriage being on the horizon for a very long time. Her friends were her sanity through her whole charade.

Shaun Colten was a tall, athletic blonde haired guy. He had vivid blue eyes which captivated people. His relationship with his parent's was not much better than the other's in their group. He had moved from San Francisco to Boston with his family in the 3rd grade. He was on Josh and Jake's little league team, and the three quickly became inseparable.

A few years later, once Shannon arrived, their group was complete. They were six of the best friends. They were all fiercely loyal and protective. When you hurt one of them, you dealt with all of them.

They continued to hide out for a few moment's, reminiscing about Straub and Francine. The door opened and they all quickly hid their drinks.

"Relax, it's just me." Jason Nestle, a good friend of theirs from high school, told them. "I just wanted to let you guys know dinner is starting in a few minutes. You may want to get out there before you're busted."

With that, he shut the door and the six friends quickly put away any evidence that they had ever been there.

"Ready?" Rory asked the group, standing by the door, her hand on the door handle.

"Let's go." Jake said, taking her arm once again. They led the group out of the study and walked towards the crowd in pairs: Clem and Shaun, Shannon and Josh, Jake and Rory.

Rory went to grab a glass of champagne of a table, and brushed hands with someone.

"Sorry." She said, pulling her hand away and reaching for another glass, not looking at the man next to her.

The blonde man that had been reaching for the glass looked up in shock at the woman standing beside him. What was she doing here? "Ace?"