Note: Apologies for the delay in getting this out. Life events took over. Hopefully I will be able to keep this story up.

"B! S! you're here!", a voice shrieked drawing the attention of the slightly tipsy duo that was Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen that had just arrived at the penthouse.

Serena laughed, whilst Blair only stared, a look of utter disdain covering her face as they watched the over eager freshman girl approach them, clearly desperate to get on their good side. Although, as the girl got closer, Blair put on the smile she had perfected over the years. To the untrained eye, it suggested a sense of innocent benevolence, a look which had fooled many a teacher into perceiving the young Miss Waldorf as a model child. Unfortunately for Amelia Harwood, she too had been duped, and after greeting reached out to draw Blair into an embrace. She soon realised her error, when Blair whispered in her ear,

"Honey, I strongly suggest you curb your enthusiasm," Blair said, now looking down at the girl coldly as she drew away, "If you want to last in this world, a certain amount of class is required."

The girl froze, crestfallen at the reprimand that she had just received, as well as mortified by laughter emitted by the older girls who were now surrounding them.

Waving her hand, Blair proceeded to dismiss the girl, "You may go now," before continuing to make her way further into the crowd, linking arms with Serena, but now also accompanied by her fellow juniors. Kati an d Isabel.

Serena could only laugh at Amelia's misfortune. Whilst a small part of her wanted to sympathise with the girl, ultimately, it was a key lesson that needed to be taught. Even if you idolise a peer never show it otherwise your chances of gaining respect and moving up the social ladder decrease magnificently. Instead, becoming a minion or completely fading into the background are your only options.

She and Blair had entered high school already well-versed in the art of social warfare, that was how they had managed to oust the reigning queen Riley Thompson. Blair had worked on undermining Riley's social capital with the girls, and Serena, being the most physically developed freshman had put her assets to good use and drawn the attention of Riley's boyfriend. Subsequently resulting in absolute humiliation and cementing Blair's status as Queen, and Serena taking up the It-Girl mantle. In other words, it took guts to rise up the totem pole, and Serena, figured it was better Amelia learnt that now, in a much tamer setting, than later.

Serena, was drawn back into the girls' conversation at Blair's mention of Nate, as they reached the bar.

"Have you guys seen Nate?" Blair questioned Kati and Is, "He texted me when he and Chuck got here, but he hasn't replied since."

"Last I saw him he was playing pool with some guys," Kati replied

Sighing Blair checked her phone again before saying, "I'm going to go and look for him. Are you coming?"

At this Serena scoffed, "Shockingly, playing third wheel to the two of you does not appeal to me and I doubt fourth and fifth are inviting positions either," she said, gesturing at Is and Kati as well, who were nodding in agreement. As much as she loved Blair and Nate, hanging out with any couple was nowhere near how she wanted to spend her last night of freedom before Ivy Week, especially when there were wandering eyes and temptation.

"Yeah, it is not exactly ideal," Is agreed, "but those Dalton lacrosse guys are here and Captain Abercrombie and Vice Fitch are calling our names.

"Well, I'll stay here, I am way to sober right now" Serena said as she beckoned over the bartender.

"Suit yourself," she vaguely heard Blair say. Serena had quickly become distracted by the 6 foot something delectable man approaching her.

"Can I help you?" the deep baritone said further piquing her interest.

"Definitely," she smiled.

-GG-

"It's open!" Dan shouts entering the living room as Vanessa walked into the loft.

"You really need to work on your security. It could have been some crazed lunatic of the street," she told Dan shaking her head as she took off her coat.

"Could've?" Dan joked as he made himself comfortable on the settee.

"Funny," Vanessa raised her eyebrows, "Didn't anyone tell you not to bite the hand that feeds you?", she said as she dangled the take out bag in front of him.

"Chicken chow mein?" Dan queried.

"Of course," At that, Vanessa reached in and produced the goods to the joy of an eager and starving Dan.

The two had been best friends for going on 6 years now, they'd first met in middle school when they were eleven. In a weird twist of events, Vanessa had been the loner out of the two of them. She was too much of a tomboy for most girls, but still too girly to just hang out with the boys, especially as they were all beginning to hit their teenage years. Whilst Dan was never popular (he had been a know it all even then), his soccer skills had afforded him leniency and allowed him to largely blend in with all the other kids.

They had met a couple of weeks into the first term when Dan had defended her against the 'mean girls' of their year and had been largely inseparable ever since. She was now one of the few people from Brooklyn who Dan still considered a good friend after he moved to St. Jude's for high school. He was glad that she had been able to come over tonight, not simply to save him from the boredom of a Friday night in, but because he'd again got used to hanging out with her all the time throughout summer and he hadn't seen her since school had started. Plus he was hungry and felt way too lazy to cook so the food was an added bonus.

"So what film were you thinking," Dan said picking up the mini-selection he'd rented from the store. "I've got the Pursuit of Happiness, Casino Royale and The Departed"

"Ooh that's hard," Vanessa sighed, she had already decided which one she wanted to watch but she couldn't resist the opportunity to test his patience. "Will Smith is hot but he's not exactly looking too great in that one." Vanessa said pretending to weigh up the choices. "So really it's between Daniel Craig and Leo, although The Departed does also have Damon. Now he might not have the body of a Bond but, he's not exactly bad to look at. What would you say?"

"Are you kidding me right now," an incredulous Dan stared at her, "Which part of me screams teenage fan girl?"

Vanessa laughed at how gullible he was, "I'm just joking, Scorsese all the way."

Relieved Dan went to put The Departed into the DVD player, "Thank you! I knew we were friends for a good reason"

Vanessa smiled as she watched him. She loved the easiness of their friendship. Once they'd reached high school, she'd grown more confident and had managed to make quite a few friends but no other friendship compared to how comfortable she was with Dan.

"Want me to turn out the light?" he asked as he set the film to play.

"Yeah, for the genius that is this film I want as close to the full cinematic experience as I can get."

-GG-

Chuck inwardly congratulated himself on another, soon to be, successful conquest. He had this particular freshman, if memory served her name was Jenny, eating out of the palm of his hand. With a stream of compliments it had been easy to lure her away from the crowd and he knew that he'd soon be able to get her to go with him to one of the bedrooms, where they could truly be alone.

". . . it can be annoying at times, but I really love sewing and making clothes so it's always worth it in the end. Especially at parties like tonight." Chuck forced himself to tune back in to the conversation, she was due a positive comment.

"Well, I must say you look absolutely divine," his voice dropped at the end as a blush spread across her face.

Jenny could hardly believe the turn this party had taken. She had barely been able to get an invite and now here she was with Chuck Bass giving her all of his attention. His reputation definitely preceded him as she had heard many a girl lust after him, but had also been privy to the tears that followed any actual encounter.

The two teenagers were startled as a couple of guys crashed into them, one obviously having had too much to drink was being held up by Brett Danton, who was arguably the Nate Archibald of the freshman year having made Varsity lacrosse already.

"Sorry man," the green eyed jock said once he realised who he'd collided with as he stabilised himself. "Hazing means I'm responsible for this guy," he said with an apologetic smile on his face as he then looked to the girl Bass was with, surprised he recognised her as Jenny Humphrey. He'd seen her around school a couple of times, and whilst he'd noted she'd been one of the few girls in their year to hang around with Blair and her crew, she'd always been relatively nice as opposed to constantly switching from bitchy to flirty like the others. Plus he remembered one time in the library where'd he actually heard her offer to help the librarian put away the books her group had left strewn across one of the tables. She definitely didn't seem like the kind of girl who normally fell under the spell of Chuck Bass and Brett couldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed.

"No problem, but you should probably hurry along then," Chuck replied, drawing Brett's gaze away from Jenny as she looked down to the ground slightly unnerved by his stare.

Refocused on the task at hand Brett reaffirmed his hold on the senior as he began depart but not before the drunken boy could shout to Jenny's utter embarrassment, "Do your thing Bass! I expect details!"

Noticing that Jenny's head had dropped, Chuck quickly attempted to right the situation, "Sorry about that. That guy's an idiot"

As much as Jenny wanted to act cool in that moment and shrug off the guy's comment she was worried by it. Chuck seemed nice and she liked him but she also knew his reputation and was not prepared to become another notch on his belt.

"I know, but I don't want people getting the wrong impression," she responded shyly.

At this Chuck knew he had to pick his words carefully or all his effort would be wasted. He had to first reassure her the girl that he was interested in more than just one good night, even if he wasn't. Then, once she became hopeful and convinced of the potential for an actual relationship forming, she'd be more likely to succumb feeling that she would be the special girl he needed to cure his 'bad boy' persona. So Chuck gently stroked Jenny's chin, lifting her face and looking deeply into her eyes before softly saying,

"Trust me. I know you're not that kind of girl. You're smart, beautiful and clearly extremely talented and I'm honoured that you've gifted me with the opportunity to see all of that."

Jenny found herself beginning to crumble at those words, whilst a part of her knew he might just be playing with her, considering the way her heart was racing clearly there was another side to her that absolutely loved the validation and adoration he was bestowing on her. And, honestly she thought she could drown in the abyss that were his dark brown eyes. as he got closer his lips moments away from grazing hers . . .

"Ahem"

Chuck nearly cursed when there moment was once again broken, this time by Carter Baizen clearing his throat from behind Jenny.

"Can I help you," he stated the disdain clearly evident in his tone of voice.

"Honestly, no. Although I do believe there is an AA meeting around the corner from here that has your name written all over it," Carter replied, taking delight in the opportunity to wind up Bass before returning to his actual reason for going over. "Now you, on the other hand," he said pointing at Jenny, "you should probably come with me."

"Did Dan tell you to keep an eye on me" Jenny said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Carter and Dan had started a surprising friendship in their freshman year. Whilst Carter was still very much a trust fund baby, he had never really bought into the drama of the world he'd been raised in and took every chance he could to rebel. Making friends with the scholarship kid from Brooklyn as opposed to his fellow heirs and heiresses had fit that mould. The two had actually found that they really enjoyed each other's company and a bromance had quickly developed with Carter becoming a regular presence in the Humphrey household.

"Of course he did," Carter snorted, "Ordinarily I would have left you to do your thing, but Bass . . . really" he said with a condescending frown. "I thought you knew better than that."

"Do you two know each other," Chuck said surprised at the obvious familiarity between them.

"Oh you picked a really smart one here J" Carter sarcastically commented.

"Leave him alone Carter," Jenny said before turning to Chuck and saying, "he's friends with my overprotective brother. But he's going now."

"Am I really?" Carter replied, preparing to stand his ground.

"Fine, you can stay, but we are going to go elsewhere," Jenny said turning to leave but stopped by Carter's hand on her arm as he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"J, I know you think you know what you're doing in this world, and most of the time you're right and I've had your back with Dan. But Chuck ..." Carter shook his head, "... he's not a good guy"

"I can handle myself. I don't need Dan and you as his eyes when he's not here watching over me."

"Fine," Carter said letting her go as she walked away with Chuck who had a victorious smirk on his face.

As much as Carter knew Jenny should stay away from the man whore that was Chuck Bass he had to trust her, plus he knew that anything short of throwing her over his shoulder and marching her out of the party (an action far beyond his pseudo brotherly duty), wouldn't help anything if she had made her mind up. Although he was worried that in his attempt to keep his promise to Dan, he'd strengthened her resolve to throw herself into all things UES even if that meant Chuck Bass.

-GG-

"So, when are you going to take me out," Serena said exuding confidence as she knew she had Liam the bartender exactly where she wanted him.

The bartender grinned as he leaned forward over the counter only to be interrupted by the presence of tall blonde guy.

"Am I interrupting something?" Nate queried even though he knew exactly what was going on. He'd seen Serena's tell-tale satisfied smirk enough to know exactly what it meant.

"Of course not." Serena replied happily as she looked between her two boys, "Liam, here was just asking me when I'm free. I was thinking Wednesday, 8 o'clock?"

She was very aware that she was pushing Nate by the way he began to tap the counter with his fingers despite the rest of him remaining completely composed.

"That works for me." the bartender agreed.

Nate pulled out a stool as he took a seat and watched as the two exchanged numbers, before the guy moved to the other side of the bar to take orders.

"You do realise it's Ivy Week?" Nate said.

"How could I forget, it's all everyone's talking about," Serena rolled her eyes, "My mum and Blair have been harassing me nonstop about Brown. I'm sure you've received the same treatment about Dartmouth"

"This is too depressing a topic," Nate said as he reached over and downed Serena's drink, causing her to laugh.

"See what I mean. You're tense just at the thought of it. This is why I'm going to need Liam as some sort of release midway through," Serena then turned to Nate before uttering sultrily, "That is unless you're offering to take his place?"

Even though he was aware that she was kidding, he couldn't help but imagine it and suddenly he felt rather flushed but managed to not show it and respond coyly with a raised eyebrow, "I might just take you up on that offer."

"Well played Archibald," Serena was surprised at his ballsiness, "You've definitely had more to drink than I thought. Finally decided to let loose I see?"

"A little."

After seeing Chuck go after that girl Nate had decided it was about time he let go a little and have some fun doing things he wanted to do. He'd turned off his phones and had been hanging with the guys and their multiple pitchers of drink before he'd spotted Serena at the bar.

"Well then, maybe we should go somewhere quiet and iron out the details

"You know Blair's looking for you, right?" Serena asked. She'd felt the turn in the conversation and was wary of where they were heading.

"I figured she was," Nate nodded, "I'd prefer to just hang with you right now though." He then proceeded to turn on his stool to face the girl who had somehow managed to capture a part of him like no one else. Suddenly feeling brave with what he could only describe as liquid courage, he reached over and took her hand into his, resting both on her knee.

"Nate," she whispered, "What are you doing?"

"I don't see you pulling away"

Sighing, Serena did exactly that and stood up to Nate's chagrin but he rose up to meet her anyway.

"You're crossing a line," she stated firmly.

Running his hands through his hair, Nate nodded, "I know. Can we just go somewhere to talk?" Once he took this step Nate knew they wouldn't be able to go back but tonight he didn't care. "Please?" he begged an earnest look on his face.

Serena couldn't help but feel shaken by the serious look in those blue eyes. As much as she could see that going with him would not be the best decision, there was a desperation and conviction in his eyes that she'd rarely seen and before she knew it she was saying, "Okay," and he was grabbing a bottle of wine and leading her out to the secluded roof of the penthouse.

-GG-

Vanessa nearly jumped as her phone began to buzz in her jeans pocket, before reaching in to grab it so that she could read her text.

"What is the matter with you?" Dan asked, grabbing the remote to pause the film, shocked by her sudden movement.

"Nothing. Keep watching, I just need to make a call," Vanessa stated, getting up and heading into Dan's room for some privacy. She was very confused as began to dial Jenny's number, her text had read 'Need to talk to you ASAP. Please don't tell Dan'.

Jenny, who was now hiding from Chuck in one of the penthouses en-suite bathrooms, was relieved at how quickly Vanessa had responded to her emergency text. She couldn't believe how quickly she had managed to get herself into this situation. After leaving Carter, Chuck had taken her to one of the bedrooms. They'd started off just talking and she could admit that she was naive in thinking it would stay that. Chuck had quickly made a move and before she knew it they were on the bed kissing and it had all begun to move a bit too fast for her. Now here she was, having mumbled an excuse and escaped to the bathroom leaving a waiting Chuck on the bed.

As much as she wanted to blame Carter for her predicament, ultimately it was her own pride that had forced her into attempting to prove she could look after herself. It was that same pride that had her calling Vanessa as opposed to Dan or Carter to help get her out of it.

"Thank you so much for calling me back" Jenny whispered into the phone.

"It's cool. You want to tell me what's going on though, and why you don't want Dan to know?" Vanessa queried.

"I'm with a guy," Jenny admitted.

"Oh ok. I guess that explains why you don't want your brother to know, but why are you calling me if you're with someone?" Vanessa was confused.

"Because, technically I'm not with them" Jenny attempted to explain only to get cut off by Vanessa's assumption.

"Girlfriend?" Vanessa guessed.

"No, nothing like that, but he does have his fair share of exes." Jenny was now pacing up and down the ridiculously large bathroom. "I mean that I am currently hiding in the bathroom talking to you while he is outside on a bed"

Vanessa's eyes widened at this little bit of information, "Oh wow,"

"Exactly" Jenny responded.

She was now worried, Jenny was practically a little sister to her and at the age of 14 she knew the girl was nowhere near ready for sex, especially if it wasn't with a guy she was in a relationship with. Jenny had never even had a boyfriend.

"You're not planning on . . . you know" she asked cautiously.

"No . . . no way," Jenny shot down that suggestion. "That's why I'm in here. I like this guy, but he pretty much defines what it means to be experienced and I think he expects more and I'm not sure what to do," she rambled, "I mean. I only spoke to him for the first time tonight. Obviously I've heard about him before but it's not like I really expected something like this to happen at my first real Constance party. I'm only 14 I can't . . ."

"Okay, stop panicking. You can handle this." Vanessa said in an attempt to calm the nervous girl down. Rambling was definitely a Humphrey trait and she knew if she didn't stop it soon Jenny would work herself up into a frenzy. "Just go back in there but have some boundaries in place."

"What do you mean," Jenny frowned.

"I mean know what you are and aren't prepared to do." Vanessa hoped Jenny wouldn't ask her to go into details.

"What if I've already hit my limit?" Jenny mumbled.

"Then try and keep it there." Vanessa explained, "Hopefully he'll take a hint, but if he doesn't then you've got to be clear and just tell him. If he still can't take it, then honestly Jenny, he's not worth it and you should just get out of there."

There was silence on the other end of the line as Jenny digested what Vanessa was saying.

"If you want though, I can come get you now though if that makes it easier?" Vanessa said worried by the silence.

"No, it's okay. I've got this" Jenny concluded, "Plus Carter's here so if it gets too out of hand I'll just have to find him."

"If you're sure." Vanessa replied.

"Yeah I am," Jenny nodded, trying to psych herself up face Chuck. "Thanks for doing this."

"Anytime. I still talk to my sister all the time for advice about this kind of stuff" Vanessa said.

"Unfortunately I've only got Dan and I can't exactly see him being able to handle this," Jenny joked.

Vanessa laughed at this, "Agreed," before her tone shifted to one of a more serious but also comforting nature.

"Don't get worked up about this. You're a strong girl Jenny, you can handle a hormonal teenage boy. But anytime you think you can't, I am here"

"Thanks V. I should go though, I've been in here way too long," Jenny replied, grateful that she was able to turn to Vanessa.

"Okay, Bye" Vanessa hung up and turned to re-enter the living room only to find Dan standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Dan questioned, arms folded, clearly having heard enough of the conversation to be worried.

-GG-

"I never realised before how great the view was from up here," Nate said in an attempt to alleviate some of the tension that had grown in the awkward silence of their journey away from the party, but it only caused Serena to laugh.

"Seriously," Serena said, "the view? You are talking to me about the view? How long have we known each other?"

"I know . . . I know," shaking his head at himself Nate could only laugh.

"Where's Mr. Confident who managed to get me away from the bar?"

"He needs some liquid courage" he replied, drinking the wine straight from the bottle.

"Maybe we should just head back downstairs," Serena said turning to leave only to be stopped by a firm grip on her arm.

Nat had attempted to plan what he was going to say as they'd left the party, but as soon as they were truly alone everything seemed to vanish from his mind. For the first time, he'd actually begun to think about what would happen if Serena didn't feel the same. She was notorious when it came to drawing guys in only to move on to whoever next caught her eye and as much as he liked to think it would be different with him, he couldn't help but doubt himself leading to the awkward silence they had found themselves in. However, watching her as she attempted to leave Nate knew he couldn't let this opportunity slip.

"No," Nate said as she turned back to face him.

It was a dangerous territory that Serena was in and she knew it, yet she couldn't help herself. What had started off as the normal flirtatious game had quickly escalated and now she felt like she needed to know what it was that Nate felt for her. The crush had been obvious for years, and if she was honest the feelings were mutual but to actually follow through on those feeling would mean so much more. Serena knew she wasn't the relationship kind of girl, she found it very hard to truly trust people and let them all the way in. Many guys had tried and she'd always pushed them away once it became too serious. Yet here was one of the closest people to her, still interested and looking into his eyes she felt a stirring in her heart. She felt like there might be a possibility she wasn't as screwed up as she thought, and that she could not only get the guy, but keep the guy. So, she pushed him further, hoping he wouldn't prove her wrong.

"Why should I stay?" Serena whispered, stepping closer to Nate watching as his gaze drifted from her eyes to her lips and back again.

Nate took on the challenge and roughly brought their lips together, pouring all of his feelings into that kiss as words seemed to fail him.

Clutching at his neck, Serena pulled him in further as her hand slid down to pull at his blazer, tugging it from his shoulders.

-GG-

"I can't believe we are crashing a trust fund party" Vanessa muttered

"We aren't crashing, we're just taking Jenny home"

"I'm not sure what's worse being a gate crasher or a party pooper"

"Can you blame me for wanting to make sure she is okay."

"No, but I can blame you for blowing this out of proportion and separating me from the beauty that is Di Caprio."

"Look," Dan said, "If a guy is trying to force my sister into having sex with that's the kind of thing I think needs to be stopped"

"Okay, that's not exactly what I said," Vanessa rolled her eyes at Dan's exaggeration, "he's just getting a little handsy."

"Because that is so much better." Dan replied sarcastically as Vanessa began to backtrack.

"It's not better, it's just not a big deal, and definitely not enough cause for you to go into ridiculously overprotective brother mode. This is normal, guys always want to push it as far as they can, and we learn how to keep them in check."

At this Dan turned his gaze away from the taxi window and stared at her inquisitively, "Has this happened to you," eyes narrowing.

"Seriously?" Vanessa raised her eyebrows, she knew Dan was protective but it's not like she was his sister. "You know I can handle myself. And so can Jenny."

Running his hands through his hair Dan sighed, "Neither of you should have to and besides, this is different. She's only 14. I don't even see why she had to go to this party". He didn't understand why Vanessa was making light of the situation, regardless of whether or not most girls had to deal with horny teenage boys, that not what he wanted for his sister, especially when she'd only just started high school.

"You wouldn't. You're a boy". Vanessa responded.

"This is far from helping matters"

"Well I don't exactly see how you storming into the party is going to help either. You'll only end up embarrassing Jenny."

At this, Dan just remained silent for a moment, thinking things through.. He knew he might be overreacting but to be honest, he simply didn't care. Vanessa realised that she'd handled the situation all wrong, Dan wasn't just going to let it go and spare Jenny the embarrassment of him rushing in so she tried a different tack So when the cab pulled up at the apartment complex Dan opened the door and started to get out, but turned back to face Vanessa, feeling he had to explain himself.

"I know you think I'm overreacting," Dan said softly, "and you're probably right, and Jenny will most likely be fine. But what if she isn't?"

Sighing, Vanessa had to accept that he had a point and she knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind. "Then I guess we are crashing a trust fund party".

-GG-

"We should head back into the party," Jenny said, fixing her dress.

"You're joking right?" Chuck said baffled, he'd thought he'd had this one sown up, and yet somehow she'd gone from hot to cold ridiculously quickly. "You're aware no one plays hard to get anymore."

Wringing her hands together as she sat on the edge of the bed, Jenny looked over her shoulder to see him resting up on his elbows with an exasperated look on his face, and it just made her feel even more shy. Clearly he had different expectations over how this night was going to go, and there was no way that she was ready to meet them. "That's not what I'm doing . . . I'm just . . . not ready for this. We barely know each other."

Sighing Chuck moved to join her at the edge of the bed and took her hand. "Look, we don't have to have sex, if that's what you're worried about." At this Jenny looked up to meet his eyes, surprised that 'the Chuck Bass' was actually being quite sensitive. "How about, you just help me out a little . . . " he said bringing her hand closer towards him, " . . . then we head back into the party and have a good time."

Disgusted Jenny abruptly stood up and moved away from him, "What the hell is wrong with you."

"What's wrong with me. You're the tease that gets guys all worked up only to bail because you can't handle what you get yourself into."

"I'm not a tease . . . " Jenny started to respond before being interrupted.

"Really," Chuck said disbelievingly, cutting her off as he walked towards her. "Then what exactly did you expect to happen when you came in here with me." Taken aback by his swift change in attitude Jenny was rooted to the spot as he got closer to her, now right in front of her face, squaring up to her as he started to unleash "You obviously know who I am, the desperate blush on your face every time I would gift you with an undeserved compliment proved that."

"You knew exactly what I wanted from you, and being the Shameless; Social Climbing, Slut that you are," Chuck continued, pausing on each word for emphasis, "you were definitely eager to play along"

Eyes glistening, Jenny took deep breaths in attempt to regain control of herself as Chuck leaned in closer.

"So tell me, how does that not make you a fucking tease" he questioned sneering as a tear rolled down her eye. Chuck was fed up of these girls who could talk a good game but didn't have the guts to follow through. All they did was waste his time and effort that could have been better spent on someone else.

"You're pathetic!"

At that Jenny struck him across the face before running out of the room and into the main living room. With tears streaming uncontrollably, she quickly tried t only to run into the she quickly tried to find the exit whilst keeping her head down, only to collide into someone.

Looking up she was horrified but at the same time relieved to see it was Carter.

"Hey," he said, grabbing her by the shoulder and turning her to face him, shocked at her clearly emotional state, "You okay?" he said.

But Jenny wasn't responding, her shoulders were simply shaking as she attempted to reign the tears in. Moving her into a more secluded are he pulled her into a hug, Carter asked, "What happened."

Once again she didn't answer but just buried her head into his shoulders and gave herself over to the tears. She was so embarrassed. She had had such high hopes for this party, this was supposed to be her debut into the social scene where she'd get to know people and really begin to make friends so that she could belong in their world. It was never supposed to end up like this, and she just knew that Chuck would spread all kinds of vicious things about her, just because she wasn't willing to be at his beck and call. In one night all of her hopes for high school had been dashed.

Carter was quickly becoming more and more worried about Jenny as she kept crying. She was normally such a strong willed, albeit, slightly annoying, but still naively confident girl that his mind was running wild as to what could have caused this breakdown.

Barely able to get the words out, Carter asked the question he thoughts were barely able to comprehend. "Did Chuck hurt you?". He could feel himself quickly beginning to anger. He'd known Chuck was bad news but even he could never have though he could sink that low.

"No," Jenny finally said, knowing that she couldn't let Carter believe that otherwise this night could go from bad to catastrophic, "at least not like that. He just said some things cause I wasn't prepared to . . . you know."

Spotting the Basstard across the room Carter began to make a beeline towards him, only to be spun back around by Jenny.

"Don't do anything. I don't want to make a big deal of this," she pleaded wiping her eyes, "I just want to go home."

"It might be too late for that." Carter said as he caught sight of the elevator doors opening.

Looking to see what had caught Carter's eye, Jenny was shocked to see her brother entering the party, clearly searching for her.

-GG-