Chapter One
Jenny sighed as she stood in the dressing room of the store, looking at the beautiful pink Gucci dress she wore. She had walked past the store months on end, a longing look in her eyes as she gazed upon the strapless dress. It was just the dress she needed for Blair's upcoming birthday party, to show Blair and the others that she belonged in their elite group. Yet there was no way she could afford it; it was way out of her price range. Sighing once more she slid out of the dress and back into her school uniform, hating the fact that her family was considered 'poor' to the people of the Upper East Side. Stepping out of the cubicle she plastered on a fake smile for her friends, Hazel, Iz and Penelope.
"You're not buying it?" Hazel asked, shocked as she saw Jenny hand the dress back to a worker. Her brain fumbled for any excuse; anything rather than admitting she was too poor to afford it.
"Umm...it's just not to my liking." Jenny shrugged, glancing at the bags in the other girls hands. It looked like they had already found their ideal dresses for Blair's party: stylish and sophisticated, but not overly so no attention would be drawn away from Blair. God forbid.
"That's probably a wise choice anyway. Blair wouldn't be too happy if you took all the attention away from the birthday girl now, would she?" Penelope intercepted, smiling a fake smile of her own. Sometimes Jenny just wished to wipe the smile off the girls face. As if interrupting her thoughts, Jenny's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she groaned to herself as she saw it was her dad ringing her.
"Hi dad, listen I'm kind of busy right now and-"Yet she was cut off by her determined and angry father.
"No, Jennifer, you listen to me. I just got a call from your head teacher, who gladly informed me that you failed your History and English tests! What has gotten in to you Jenny?!"
"Dad, listen, it's no big deal I just –"
"No big deal? Are you going to take that attitude when you head off to college next year? Because believe me, you won't get in! That wretched woman was ever so eager to get rid of you! The only way I could stop her was to convince her to get you a tutor!"
"A tutor?! Are you kidding me?!" She exclaimed, and her friends turned to give her an awkward look. Motioning for them to go on ahead, she stood in the shop doorway as she tried to talk her father out of getting her a tutor.
"No Jenny, enough is enough. I hate what you're becoming; your tutor will be here tonight, and me and Dan will be out so we don't 'embarrass' you or whatever. And you'd better be home before 6." With that Rufus Humphrey hung up the phone, and Jenny took one last look at the Gucci dress, which was now back in the window, before heading home.
***
Jenny sat on the sofa impatiently, waiting for the tutor who was already late. She hated it when people never stuck to times, and it seemed her tutor wasn't that keen on, well, tutoring. Her father had already left for God knows where, whilst Dan had left earlier to hang out with Serena. Looked like their relationship was kicking off again. As she sat fidgeting and picking at her nails, she pondered who her tutor would be; her father hadn't said much, just that it was a boy her age from . Knowing her luck, it would be some nerd who would end up trying it on.
A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, and with a groan she rolled her eyes and lifted up from the couch. She hated the fact that she would have to spend one to two hours each night studying with someone when she could be using the precious time to create a beautiful dress for Blair's party. A loud gasp escaped her throat as she saw who stood at the door.
"Nate Archibald? Please tell me you're not my tutor!" She exclaimed, her whole body shuddering with terror. Nate was Blair's boyfriend, and if Blair knew the two were spending so much time together she would explode.
"Sorry, can't. Can I come in?" He said, and she moved aside so he could step in. His hair was wet with the rain from outside, and as she looked at him her mind numbed with confusion. Seeing her confused look, Nate explained. "Oh, I was out jogging and forgot the time, so I had to run home and get some clothes together. I was hoping I could get changed here, if you don't mind?" She merely nodded and pointed her head in the general direction of the bathroom. With a dazzling smile Nate walked across the apartment towards the bathroom, barely noticing how 'poor' the family seemed.
"Jenny?" He yelled after he shut the bathroom door. Making use of herself Jenny went into the kitchen to put together some drinks, barely noticing that he was yelling her name.
"Oh sorry, what's up?" She yelled, pouring some of her favourite juice into two glasses. Noises of him fumbling about rattled the walls, and she rolled her eyes and tried her best not to laugh.
"I was just hoping...you're friends with Blair, right? So I was wondering if we could keep this our secret; Blair would freak if she found out I was spending time alone with another girl. After everything that happened with Serena, I think we're kinda on rough ground now, you know?" His voice trailed off as she pondered his thoughts, and as she was about to reply Nate screamed from the bathroom.
"Nate? Nate, what's wrong?" She yelled, dropping the glass to the floor as she rushed over to the bathroom. As she opened the door she couldn't help but laugh at the sight before her; Nate, only in his Jeans, had tripped over the small rug on the floor and landed in the bathtub, the shower head falling on top of him as he looked on bemused.
"This is so not funny." He said seriously, but seeing the look on Jenny's face his own features softened until he was laughing too. "Are you gonna help me up?" He asked, attempting to slide up in the bath as he held on to the shower head. Jenny moved forward, still laughing as a grin spread across Nate's features. With a flick of his hand he turned the shower head on, aiming it at Jenny who screamed at the contact with water. "Gotcha!"
"Nate, Nate stop!" She yelled in-between burst of laughter, her hands going up to cover her face instinctively. Attempting to step forward she slipped on a small pool of water, stumbling towards the bath and falling on top of Nate. The sudden contact knocked the shower head out of Nate's hand, moving away and spraying them both with water as they sat in the bathtub, laughter overcoming them both. They had always had some sort of bond, being close ever since they had met and Nate had left Blair's birthday party to be with her. And he was once more happy to have a close relationship with Jenny yet again.
***
Jenny smiled softly as she changed into her favourite pair of grey jogging bottoms and a black vest top. Tugging her choppy locks back into a messy bun she laughed at the thought of the two of them in the bathtub, laughing hysterically as the water splattered them. If all her times with Nate as her tutor were going to be that good, then she couldn't wait for the weeks ahead.
"Jenny, are you almost ready yet?" Nate moaned from the other side of her bedroom door, and he smiled as she opened the door to see him leaning against the frame.
"Depends, do you intend on actually teaching me anything tonight tutor?" She asked, cocking her head to one side as she stared into his deep, gorgeous eyes; most girls would kill to be in her position right now.
"Come on." He laughed, taking her small hand in his softly and tugging her towards the sofa. She smiled at the gesture and thought that having a tutor may not be so bad after all.
A/N: So, first fanfic. Im a big Jenny/Nate fan, and when I saw there weren't many fanfics for them I decided to write my own. Let me know what you think! Jen x
