Hallis is your stereotypical Poor Little Rich Girl. Born in July 1987, she was to be the only child of James Van Cortlandt and Katherine (Kitty) Reed-Van Cortlandt. Though James yearned for more children She spent the first few years of her life with her parents in their penthouse on the upper East side of Manhattan. Summers and weekends were spent in Westchester where her grandmother owned a large estate in Purchase, NY.
Her travails in life began when Hallis was 3. To correct a lisp, her parents hired a private tutor and the little girl began learning French. At the age of five, Hallis began her formal education at the Spence School in New York City, a prestigious academy that caters to the upper crust of America. It was a hard life. For instance, Hallis became fast friends with many of the other girls but it became quickly apparent that Cecily Thorpe was top dog in their social circle, courtesy of her father's larger bank account. But Hallis didn't let that bother her too much. She recognized that sometimes in life there must be sacrifices, and she was better than the *other* girls, after all.
In junior high, further disruptions arrived, proving to Hallis that hers was not to be an easy existence. Enter Soleil, a popular teen movie star, newly arrived at the school who displaced even Cecily from her place in the social pecking order. Hallis had no other choice but to turn to drugs and alcohol to soothe her aching heart. It was fortunate for her that Soleil had introduced the social set to the substances, it meant that everyone else was picking up those habits too. There was peace for a time, but when Soleil was suddenly busted by the paparazzi and sent to rehab, everyone's parents were on the look-out for signs of substance abuse amongst the princesses. No one was spared and Hallis was subjected to the humiliation of a private therapist. Even he didn't understand.
The lack of sympathy for her plight forced Hallis' hand. As the clique moved into their late teens, pain pills and Dom Perignon became hard liquor and heroine. The only bright spot in the wasted plane of early adulthood was that it was no longer chic to have a child in therapy; the regular visits with the dour Doctor Reynolds ended and the princess' parents once more turned a blind eye to their carousing.
It was unfortunate that the heavy hand of malicious fate hovered over her, and it was only a matter of time before bad went to truly bad…or maybe not as bad as it could have been but still pretty terrible. It's true, Hallis could have had her driver take her to the club that night, but chauffeurs were so last year. It is also true that she'd had a little pick me up before getting behind the wheel, but what girl didn't? The party was going to be huge and she'd slept badly the night before! Honestly, she felt horrible when she struck and killed that dark haired boy. Discovering that he was a Latino from Yonkers alleviated some of her guilt, and it was a puzzle to her that others didn't seem to feel the same way. After all, there's always another poor person to take his place, right?
Truly, it was her lot in life to be misunderstood and to be taken advantage of. Naturally, Daddy's money was enough to make certain all charges were brought against Hallis were acquitted but then he had the gall to inform her that he was cutting back her allowance. Over a little brown boy from Yonkers! Showing himself to be a heartless creature, Daddy insisted: she would be allowed a small apartment in Greenwich Village and would be expected to find employment to finance the other aspects of her life.
It was a horror. But Hallis was a fighter. She dragged herself up by the Jimmy Choos to dabble in modeling, acting, designing, and was even courted for her own reality show. It was hard going though; in her heart of hearts, she knew Daddy had never intended for her to even consider becoming "hired help", which limited the options open to her. Of all the people in her life, only her Grandmother still seemed to have any love for poor put-upon Hallis. An open heart and an open wallet. It's true, it wasn't as much as Hallis was accustomed to but beggars certainly can't be choosers. Right?
