Chapter 3

As soon as Rory heard Logan's voice whisper "Ace," she froze. She took a deep breath, blinking, and continued to take a glass, just as she had intended. She certainly hadn't expected Logan to show up here. She was suddenly all too grateful for her years of training to be an heiress; it gave her a great blank social mask. She knew this would be the true test of whether her dad had failed to raise her to society's expectations or not.

Straitening, her face now blank save for a fake, polite smile, she looked up at Logan. "Logan, I didn't expect to see you here." She told him, opting to start with honesty.

Logan looked at her in confusion. She hadn't expected to see him here? He certainly never expected in a million years that his Ace would be here, at the Hayden mansion. He knew that the Hayden's were a very powerful family; even more so than his family was. They had some of the bluest blood in the country, and money to match it. While their family fortunes had always been large, Straub Hayden had been well known for growing that fortune to almost unbelievable numbers.

"Well, I can honestly say I didn't expect to see you here, either. Are Richard and Emily here?" He asked her, thinking that would be the only explanation for her attendance.

"No, they are not." She informed him, not divulging more information than she had to. She was rather enjoying his confusion.

-GG-

A few feet away Jake, Josh, and Shannon had been detained by the Multinsi's, who were asking them how they were enjoying college. They made polite chit chat, attempting to get away without being rude.

While Josh and Shannon were participating in a semi-conversation with Martha and Mark Multinsi, Jake noticed Rory's face go blank as some blonde guy began speaking to her. He knew that look on her face; it was her uncomfortable, 'I'm only being polite but I want you far, far away' expression. He always rescued her when she had that look on her face, just as she rescued him when he had his on. She was often bothered by male gold diggers at these parties, just as he was bothered by their female counterparts.

He quickly excused himself, crossing the few feet to where his ex girlfriend stood, looking poised and confident to the average eye. Yet he could see just how upset she truly was.

"Darling, your father was looking for you. You know, we must mingle." He told her, wrapping his arm protectively around her waist and pulling her close to him.

Rory looked up at Jake in relief. "Jake, this is a friend of mine from Yale, Logan Huntzberger. Logan, this is Jake Pittman." She made the introductions just as she was taught, watching as Jakes arm tightened around her a bit more when she introduced Logan.

After the awful dinner with the Huntzberger's, and later after her and Logan's break up, she had told Jake all about her relationship with him. Needless to say, he hadn't been pleased.

Logan watched the couple closely. "Well, it's nice to meet you." He said, holding out his hand for the other man to shake. He noticed that Jake's grip seemed to be rather tight. Uncomfortably so, in fact.

"So how do you and Ace here know each other?" He questioned, intentionally throwing his nickname for her in there.

Jake smiled. He really didn't like anything he had heard about this guy, and he didn't like meeting him, either. "Well, Rory and I here go way back. You could say we're the loves of each other's lives." He smirked, knowing that unless this guy standing in front of him was a true idiot, he would be affected.

And he was. Love? No. That was impossible. His Ace wasn't in love with another guy. They may have been broken up for a few months now, but still. She never mentioned this guy. Obviously, if she never mentioned him to her friends, then he couldn't be that important. Besides, they had only been broken up for a few months. That was not, at least in Logan's opinion, enough time to fall in love with someone. Then again, Logan was pretty sure he fell for Ace during their first debate.

Rory could see the wheels spinning in Logan's mind, trying to get a grip on all he was seeing and hearing. She almost felt pity for him. If he was reacting like this simply over her mere presence, who knew how he would react once he found out who she really was.

Jake cleared his throat, jarring Logan out of his thoughts. "If you'll excuse us, we have matters we must attend to." With that being said, Rory and Jake left Logan standing alone, confused.

Once they were a few feet from Logan, Rory let out a sigh of relief. "I never, ever in a million years expected to see him here." She told Jake, shaking her head slightly and leaning into him for support.

Jake wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him. "Well, he's a Huntzberger. They have money. More than the Gilmore's, but less than either of us. I guess it should have been expected."

"Yeah, I guess so. I wonder if anyone else from Yale will be here?" Rory mused aloud, scanning the party quickly.

They headed over where Shannon and the rest of their group stood. "They don't know who you really are, do they?" Jake questioned her.

Rory shook her head. "No, I never told them."

Jake didn't respond, but he knew that some of Huntzberger's friends would be there. After all, the rich ran in packs, so to speak. He knew she would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Let's get you a drink. I'll bet Shannon has something strong in her flask." He told her as they arrived to the group.

-GG-

Logan watched in shock as his Ace walked off with some other guy. Some guy who apparently knew her very well. What was she doing here?

"Hey Mate, what are you doing here by yourself?" Finn questioned, walking up beside Logan.

"You'll never guess who I just saw here." Logan told him, his mind still fuzzy from the encounter with Ace and her mystery man.

"Who? The Hayden Heiress? I haven't met her yet, but I hear she's a real Siren."

"Rory." Logan replied, shaking his head.

"As in Gilmore?"

"One and the same."

"What's she doing here? Is she with Richard and Emily?" Finn asked, obviously just as confused as Logan was.

"That's the weird thing, she's here with some guy, and he said something about her father, but she's not with her grandparent's." Logan told him, trying to remember what all had been said during their short conversation.

"Come on, Mate. Dinner's starting. We'll figure it out when we get in there. We can ask around. Maybe get Colin on it; he's good at finding out details." Finn shrugged, reaching for his flask. He grinned devilishly. "The Hayden Heirs are going to be making speeches, we can finally get a look at this Siren our family's want to marry us off to."

"Yeah, let's go." Logan agreed, heading into the dining room where everyone would be served their meals. At least he could try to find out some details as to why Rory was here during dinner. Plus, he wanted to keep a close eye on her and that Jake fellow she was with. He didn't like how close they appeared at all.

AN: Thank you all sooo much for the reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know what's going to happen next chapter already, but after that it's a little foggy... so if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know! Let me know what you think! Thanks!