Because I'm Worth it (26 page)

Blair sucked cold air in through her nostrils, her freshly glossed lips turning up in a smug smile as she absorbed the information. “We’ll talk about it when you get here.” Clicking off, she sat down on the cold, hard steps and buttoned up her sky blue cashmere toggle coat, pulling the hood up over her head before firing up a Merit Ultra Light. If anyone had passed by on the road, they’d have seen a mysterious girl in a blue hooded coat, looking defiantly sure of herself, even though the plot had changed and the script had to be entirely rewritten.

what we talk about when we’re not talking about love

“Everyone get their coats,” Serena told the ninth graders in peer group on Monday. “We’re taking you out for hot chocolate at Jackson Hole.”

“Don’t worry, we have permission,” Blair added, checking herself out in the cafeteria mirror. She’d gone back to the salon to have her hair touched up and now she looked like Edie Sedgwick from the Andy Warhol Factory days. It was totally far out.

“Wow,” Jenny breathed, staring at her. “You look great.” Jenny was so happy since meeting Leo, she was practically bursting with love for everyone she encountered.

Blair turned around, remembering something. “Have you been checking your e-mail?” she demanded.

Jenny’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes. Yes, I have!”

Blair thought about taking credit for Jenny’s obvious state of complete ecstasy, but it was actually more fun to watch Jenny glow in complete oblivion. Maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible being a big sister after all. She noticed Elise Wells was wearing a tight black cropped sweater instead of one of her trademark prissy pink cardigans. Good. Maybe her mom had finally murdered her father for being such an asshole.

“How are things with your dad, Elise?” Serena asked, practically reading Blair’s mind.

To Blair’s surprise, Elise smiled happily. “Fine. He and Mom went away together this weekend.” She laughed and nudged Jenny in the arm. “But never mind me. I think Jenny has something to say.”

Jenny knew her face was beet red, but she didn’t care. “I’m in love,” she declared.

Serena and Blair exchanged disparaging looks. The last thing they wanted to talk about was
love
. “Come on, get your coats,” Serena urged. “We’ll meet you outside.”

The atmosphere in Jackson Hole on Madison Avenue was thick with the smell of hamburger grease and the tittering sound of gossip. As peer group A walked in and sat down at a table near the large glass windows, Kati Farkas and Isabel Coates huddled together in the back corner, discussing the latest developments with anyone who would listen.

“Did you hear about Nate Archibald and that girl from Connecticut?” Kati asked. She’d had her hair cut short over the weekend and it made her Germanic nose look twice its size. “They got busted for having sex in the broom closet at rehab and now he has to go to private therapy in the city instead.”

“Wait, I thought it was
Blair
and Nate in the broom closet,” Isabel sniffed. She was wearing a sample of Serena’s Tears that she’d gotten from her mom’s publicist friend who worked at
Vogue
. It made her nose run.

“No, stupid. Blair is seeing that old guy, remember? She’s not having his baby anymore, though. She had a miscarriage. That’s why she missed so much school.”

“I heard that Blair and Serena both sent in applications to the University of California school system today,” said Laura Salmon. “They have rolling admission, so you find out which

UC school can take you, like, a few weeks after you apply.” She raised her thin strawberry blond eyebrows. “Hey, maybe we should all do that!”

Not that any of them would
really
have considered going to a UC school.

“So what was it like, being in that perfume ad?” Mary Goldberg asked Serena while the girls in peer group A were waiting for their hot chocolates. Cassie Inwirth and Vicky Reinerson pricked their ears up on either side of her. The three girls had gotten matching short haircuts over the weekend, but since none of them had gone to see Gianni at Garren, their cuts were only pale imitations of Blair’s old one, and
nothing
compared to her new one.

“Cold,” Serena answered. She blew her nose on a paper napkin and then pulled her long, golden blond hair up on top of her head, twisted it into a bun, and stuck a pencil through it to hold it up.

Of course now they all wished they hadn’t cut their hair.

“I’d really rather not talk about it,” she added mysteriously.

Blair leaned across the table. “She and Aaron broke up during the shoot,” she told the ninth graders in a confidential whisper. She sat up straight again. “End of subject.”

The waiter brought their hot chocolates, giant steaming mugs, loaded with Reddi-Wip.

“Can we talk about love now?” Jenny asked tremulously. She glanced around the crowded room. If she was lucky, Leo might even show up so she could show him off.

“No!” Serena and Blair cried in unison. They’d specifically brought the group to Jackson Hole so they wouldn’t have to talk about boys, food, parents, school,
anything
. All they wanted was to sip their hot chocolates and enjoy each other’s company.

Suddenly a hush fell over the restaurant as Chuck Bass waltzed in wearing a fox fur hat and a baby blue pea coat, his monogrammed pinky ring flashing as he passed out pink flyers to everyone inside.

“Be there or be square!” he shouted, drifting out the door in a cloud of Serena’s Tears just as suddenly as he had come in.

The flyer was an invitation to a party on Monday night, and within seconds the entire restaurant was positively humming.

“Are you going?”

“Wait. Do you think it’s really Chuck’s
coming out
party?

“No. It’s his birthday. Can’t you read?”

“But we went to nursery school together. His birthday is in
September
. It’s not even his party. It’s some girl’s. He’s just handing out the flyers.”

“I still think he’s bi. I saw him with a girl from L’École Française on Saturday, and they were practically
doing it
.”

“Who was that guy anyway?” Cassie Inwirth whined.

“You know that site
www.gossipgirl.net
? Well, I think that’s him!” Mary Goldberg announced.

“You think Gossip Girl is a he?” Vicky Reinerson countered.

“No way!” Serena and Blair cried.

You never know.

Disclaimer: All the real names of places, people, and events have been altered or abbreviated to protect the innocent. Namely, me.

hey people!

Not that I’m greedy or anything

By now you’ve all seen the flyer inviting everyone to my party Monday night. And if you haven’t, where have you been—hiding under a rock? Please don’t bother to turn up unless you bring one of the following:

A caramel toy poodle puppy

As many bottles of Serena’s Tears as you can scrape up. I know there’s a waiting list, but I’m addicted!

First-class tickets to Cannes this May

Diamonds

A fantastic sense of humor

Every gorgeous boy in your address book

Sightings

N
and his über-rich, pale new girlfriend on a carriage ride in
Central Park
. Guess she got a day pass from rehab for good behavior.
S
and
B
in the
Les Best
boutique getting fitted for his entire fall line.
V
delivering a manila envelope to the drama department at
Riverside Prep
. You don’t think she actually turned in that film to
D
’s drama teacher do you? Now that’s dedication!
D
and that crazy poetess shouting non-sequiturs out the window of her
Chinatown
studio. Little
J
and her new beau checking out tattoos in
Stink
, an East Village tattoo parlor. Let’s pray they were only browsing.

As for those burning questions . . .

Will
N
and his misbehaving heiress remain a bona fide item?

Will
B
ever
get over
N
? Will she grow out her hair? And—thank God the answer is just around the corner—will she get into Yale??

Will
S
and
B
remain friends . . . at least until graduation?

Will
S
become a vapid, redundant, celery-eating, supermodel? Will she ever stay with one guy for more than five minutes?

Will
J
and her new boy live happily ever after? Will her new best friend try to break them up?

Will
V
ever even
look
at
D
again?

Will
D
keep hanging out with that yellow-toothed poetess? Will
his
teeth turn yellow in the process? Will he actually write a memoir?

Will the rest of us get into college? More importantly, will we all graduate?

Will you ever find out who I am?

Soon it will all become crystal clear.

See you at my party Monday night, and don’t forget to bring at least
one
thing on the list. Au revoir!

You know you love me.

gossip girl