Author's note: The next chapter is my favorite so far! Can't wait! This one reveals the beginning of the big secret though. Enjoy and please review! I'd love to get some suggestions, or just tell me your favorite part so far!

[ Good point, ella12! Where is Serena? Let me search through my tops while I wait for more juicy news! You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

Serena glanced up from her homework as her phone beeped yet again. The screen said "7 messages from Gossip Girl." She didn't even open the texts, just set the phone down and went back to the history homework she was doing.

Ever since this morning, Serena couldn't get what Miranda had said out of her head. She'd felt so lost all summer, not sure where her life was going. She's spent so much time during the last year trying to be a good best friend to Blair and a good girlfriend to Dan, that with her and Dan's breakup and Blair's summer in France, she'd had no idea what to do.

She'd spent as much time as she could relaxing, but she eventually went crazy with boredom. Her mother had encouraged her to find some kind of internship or take summer classes, but the idea of school work had made her feel physically ill… but the idea of school work had made her feel physically ill.

But the idea of modeling again, without a complicated situation with Blair to get in the way, to sound amazing. But, she knew she'd have to butter up her mom for her to agree to let Serena start trying out for modeling jobs.

So, she was, like a lame freshman with nothing better to do, working on the little homework she'd received and getting ahead in the reading for her history class. Her mom would be home in a few minutes, and she was already nervous for their conversation.

[ Sorry, guys, there's no even remotely legit sightings of Serena. Maybe she has something she has to do at home tonight. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]

Jenny had planned on spending most of the evening with Eric, but when her dad had called saying she needed to come home, the worry in his voice had convinced her to do what he said without complaining.

She has just walked into the loft with Eric, laughing, and saw Dan and her dad standing around waiting for her. Her laughter tapered off, "What's going on? Has something happened?"

Dan shrugged angrily, "I don't know, why don't you ask Dad? He wouldn't explain why he knew Miranda Dunkirk until you got here."

Rufus sighed at his son's anger, and Jenny immediately sided with Dan and acidly said, "Well, Dad?"He ran his hands over his eyes and said, "I think you two should sit down."

Dan turned around to grab a stool, while Jenny stepped over to Eric, "I'll text you later, when I know what's going, okay?" He nodded and reached out to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly, "I hope everything's okay."

She let go of a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and smiled weakly, "Me too." He smiled encouragingly, "Talk to you later," and walked out of the loft. She stood frozen for a second, silently cursing herself for the tingling where he'd touched her.

Then she turned around and went over to sit next to Dan, "Ok, Dad, what the heck is going on?" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before starting to explain, "I apologize in advance for keeping this from you two. Allison and I fought about it a lot, but I decided it was her decision in the end, and…"

He trailed off and glanced up at Dan and Jenny, and then looked back down at the ground when he saw their stony faces – the Humphrey family didn't keep secrets from each other, and he felt awful for breaking the unspoken rules.

He let out a sigh and continued, "But, since Miranda is coming here, I can only assume this is the reason why, so I think I have to tell you now, even if your mother would rather I didn't../"

He looked back up at them, more confident, "Your mother always told you that her parents died in a car crash, right?" They both nodded – Jenny was a little excited, hoping her guess was right, and Dan was still just confused.

"Well, that's not true. Her parents are still alive, along with her brother."

Dan was still lost, "Wait, mom doesn't have any siblings." Rufus shook his head, "No, she does have a brother. And her maiden name wasn't Hathaway, it was… Dunkirk." Jenny let out a squeal, "No way!"

Dan looked at her, half angry and half confused. "Why are you excited ? Mom and Dad lied to us our whole lives and you're excited that we come from a rich family?," he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well, sor-ry, excuse me for looking at the silver lining!" Rufus cut through their bickering, "Well, it doesn't matter anyways, because your mother's family disowned her before I even married her, so don't think she's coming to give us money, Jen."

"No, Dad, there's this post on Gossip Girl…," her voice trailed off as she ran to her room to grab her laptop. Dan stared after her, amazed at her tendency to act like a 3 year old.

He turned back to his dad, "Why did they disown her, Dad? Because of you?" "No. I mean, I wasn't exactly their ideal choice for their daughter, and they weren't thrilled about her plans to live in Brooklyn and be an artist, but…"

"What, they wanted her to go to college?" "Partially. But it was more about her doing something structured with regular pay, even just something like modeling or acting where you weren't sure about whether you'd get a job… but even that only worried and upset them. It was her choice to end contact with them that ultimately made them disown her."

Jenny had just walked back in with her laptop under her arm, "Wait, what!? Mom was the one who chose to have us be poor?"

"Jenny…" Rufus could see a temper tantrum coming, as Jenny slammed her laptop onto the couch angrily. "Jenny, it wasn't like that. She hadn't even thought about kids when this happened, she was just sick of her parents trying to control her life. She saw the money as a sacrifice she was willing to make. Your mother has always been a very independent woman. She refused to let her parents have anything to hold over her head."

Jenny was still sulking, "Then why didn't she apologize when she had Dan so she could let her family live better?" "Because she didn't want her family influencing you kids. From everything she's told me, they're obsessed with money, fame, and power, and don't care about each other very much."

Dan jumped in, "I know it's weird for me to be defending them, but how do you know that isn't just mom's bias talking?"

Rufus shook his head dismissively, "No, I trust you mother." "Like you trusted her not to sleep with someone else?," Jenny said acidly.

Rufus immediately lost his temper at the low blow, "Go to your room right now Jenny!" She shrugged nonchalantly and grabbed her laptop on the way out, "I wanted to get away from you anyways."

She walked calmly to her room, then burst into tears once she shut the door. She couldn't stay there for one more minute. She pulled out her phone and hit the second speed dial.

"Eric? Can I please come over? I need to get out of here."

[ Where is M rushing off to? I think we'll all find out pretty soon. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl. ]