Hey everyone, Gossip Girl 2.0 here.
Now our favourite Upper East Siders are in their late 30's and happy in their Xanax-popping, work-ridden, glamorous lives, our attention is now turned to their children, their children's friends, and everyone around them. Heres to the next generation of the UES!
Spotted
T getting off the train at Grand Central. Ahh, nostalgia. Reminds me of another Upper East Side princess who abandoned her kingdom only to return just in time for school. The apple definitely doesn't fall far from the tree. We can only guess where she spent her summer. And we know it wasn't with her boyfriend.
Ha, spending a day out in New York with his younger sister. How cute. On the lookout for your runaway girlfriend, H?
Tr and C, getting cosy on a bench in Central Park. But will their summer romance come to an end now school has started?
C and A, competing for E's affections, as usual. Come on, girls. You guys have been friends forever, but if history repeats itself, you'll soon find that three's a crowd. And someone always ends up kicked to the curb.
See you tomorrow, beautiful people! Its September, and you're never gonna want to wake up, especially when it ends.
You know you love me, xoxo Gossip Girl
"Harrison Bass, wake up. You have school in exactly one hour and you shan't be late on the first day, not if I have anything to do with it."
Harry groaned and pulled his duvet over his head. He hadn't inherited his mother's devotion to academics and he certainly did not feel the need to wake up at 6:00am to get to somewhere he didn't want to be.
The pillow underneath his head was snatched and used to repeatedly hit him.
"Okay, Mrs Hamish, I'm up!" He jumped out of the bed and smiled at the plump, unsmiling, British maid innocently. She gave him a look that said 'I will poison your cereal if you get back in that bed.' He was pretty sure she knew he had slept with her daughter when they were fourteen. It would explain why she treated his siblings like they were God's gift to the world, and treated him like he enjoyed killing small animals in his spare time.
He stared at his uniform, ironed and hung from the silver handles of his closet, and felt his heart lurch. It wasn't school he felt slightly nervous about, he realised. Of course not, something as juvenile and unimportant as school did not phase Harry Bass. It was her. He knew she was back, he'd seen the Gossip Girl post the previous day. He wondered if she'd seen it, and if she had thought he really was looking for her.
He wasn't denying it.
He turned his shower on, letting the water wash his thoughts away.
Tallulah India Rose Humphrey.
The name sounded elegant, pretty. It drew to mind a girl who enjoyed floral print and pink and ballet.
Tallie stared at her reflection as she stood naked in her bathroom. Her hair was a dark brown, blonde just at the very tips. She slid her fingers through her hair, pausing when she got to the soft golden colour.
Four weeks earlier
"What hairstyle were you going for, honey?"
Tallie stared at the mirror in front of her. The hairdresser, Mary-Lynn, snapped the bright pink bubble gum in her mouth and held out her scissors. As were most Upper East Side teenagers, Tallie was used to getting her hair cut and styled regularly at the Ted Gibson on Fifth Avenue. Now she was in an old, run-down white trash salon in New Jersey, which she stumbled across on a back alley next to a bar.
"Keep the length. But change it. Make me look different. Like a different person."
"You sure about that honey? You look beautiful just like that."
"Bleach it. Please. I want to be unrecognisable."
"Okay. But that will destroy your hair, and its in such lovely condition. I'm obliged to tell you this. Salon policy."
Tallie was surprised that the salon actually had any policies. But one word stuck out to her.
"Destroy. Destroy my hair. Please."
And just to make sure the women would shut up, she tossed a hundred dollar bill on the small magazine rack next to her.
Tallie sighed as she raised the scissors to her hair and snipped off the blonde, cutting away any evidence left of her entire summer. Who was she kidding? It would take more than a haircut to erase her summer. A lot more. A bottle of vodka, perhaps.
Or two, she thought as she buttoned her crisp white Oxford over her lacy black bra. She looked at her reflection. Her legs looked too thin. She'd always been extremely skinny, but she was now, quite literally, like a skeleton. Her ghostly white skin clung to her bones unhealthily, her eyes appeared slightly sunken, and she had massive dark bruises underneath both eyes.
She opened a nearby drawer to find her mother had filled it with all of her favourite makeup items and sighed. Her mom would freak if she found out Tallie had gone to school looking like she'd rolled out of bed. She pulled out a tube of mascara, trying to apply it with the hand which couldn't stop shaking wildly. She ended up poking her eye several times, but at least it wasn't smudged. She tried rubbing a little concealer below her eyes, but it seemed nothing could hide the dark circles which had been there all summer. Oh well.
She pulled on the tiny plaid kilt, long black socks and her brother's old oversized school sweater. The sweater hadn't given her the effect she'd hoped for; instead of making her look healthier, more filled out, she looked even more skeletal than before. She shrugged at the mirror and grabbed her bag and walked slowly out her door. I don't care. I don't don't don't care. She paused outside her kitchen, staring at the door, before going in.
Her mother had already gone to her business meeting. Her father was probably at the office. Her maid wasn't there. She had taken Tallies' younger siblings to school. The only other person in the room was her older brother, who was eating a stack of pancakes the size of a wedding cake. He dropped his fork when he saw her.
"Tal."
She stared at him. "Noah."
He stood up slowly and walked towards her. His face was expressionless, his bright blue eyes empty. He placed both of his hands on her arms, and she waited for him to shout, scold her, tell her off. Anything. But instead her stared at her for a second that felt like an hour, and pulled her in, hugging her tightly.
Pretty soon she was sobbing into his school jumper, crying as hard as she could, feeling the most emotion she had in a while.
Since she had walked into her oldest brother's bedroom only to find him hanging by his neck from one of the oh so stylish wooden ceiling beams, his skin already cold, his heart already still.
"All summer...so much happened...everyone is so angry...I couldn't face it..." She sobbed. He nodded understandingly.
"I know, Tal, I know."
She sniffed and stood up. "Is Mom angry? Dad?"
"Tal, they think you spent the summer in some hippy soul-healing retreat place in Goa. They think you were trying to help yourself, Tal. I kept track of you, I had my P.I. have someone follow you around the country. I covered for you, but you need to promise you'll never do anything like that again."
Tallie nodded, wiping her eyes gently with the back of her hand. Luckily she'd worn waterproof makeup. She'd had a feeling that she would end up needing it.
"I promise."
"Are you sure that you're gonna be okay, Tal?"
Her brother looked worriedly at her, switching off the engine and leaning forward. Noah was one of the only people she knew who actually drove a car; in fact, he probably was the only person. The traffic problems in New York didn't bother him, he said, and he found driving relaxing. Also, he refused to pay any attention to the class issues and stigma that surrounding it. That was one of the big differences between Noah and Aiden; if something bothered Noah, he would quietly do something about it and get on with his day. Aiden, on the other hand, would get angry. He was always angry, always brooding, never relaxed. He refused to just let it be. And in the end, it was what killed him.
"I'm fine, N," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. But she made no attempt to actually get up, instead just slumping back in her chair and staring straight ahead. He smiled sadly and put his arm around her.
"You're gonna be fine, Lulu," he whispered, using the childhood nickname she despised. "I know its hard. I understand. Its gonna be weird just carrying on like nothing ever happened. But you have to, you know? Because you know what happens if you don't?"
She looked up at him, daring him to say it.
"You end up like him. And it sounds harsh, and I shouldn't say it, but you don't wanna end up like Brother Dearest. Aiden was a good guy but you know what? He was selfish. And a coward. And that's not you, okay? You're none of those things."
She nodded. "Right. Right. Okay." She nodded again and quickly checked her turned to her brother and nodded again, squeezing his hand before hopping out of the car.
He winked at her as he pulled his car out from the sidewalk, driving away swiftly. She panicked for a second as the car disappeared from view, leaning against the familiar brick wall next to her and taking deep breaths.
"Long time, no see, Humphrey."
"Long time, no see, Humphrey."
She closed her eyes for a second, wishing, hoping, that she wouldn't have to deal with the shrapnel she had left behind only minutes after entering the school.
When she opened her eyes, she was looking into the cold, guarded expression of the one and only Mr Harrison Waldorf-Bass. She stared at him for a second, his good looks not escaping her for even a second- not even now, after everything- and suddenly she had regained her senses, the dizzying, sad cloud around her head instantly disappearing.
"How you doing, cousin?" she asked, knowing it would piss him off. He narrowed his eyes, waiting. When she didn't answer the silent question hanging in the air between them, he grabbed her wrist, and she gasped, jerking back at the quick contact.
"Where have you been, Tal?" he asked, his eyes furious, searching hers. She shrugged, trying to seem as nonchalant as she could.
"Soul-healing retreat. In, uh, Thailand," she lied, not meeting his glare. He laughed coldly.
"Thailand. Right. Because Serena told my mom you were in Goa. As in, Goa, India." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, his face suddenly seeming as tired and drawn as hers. She studied him for a second. He still had his trademark messy hair, monogrammed cufflinks; but his face was pale white, he had dark circles under his eyes to match Tallie's, and his eyes seemed darker than usual. You shouldn't find it attractive, you idiot, Tallie scolded herself. She frowned at him.
"I don't know what to tell you, Harrison," she said, forcing the cold tone in her voice to reappear.
"Why?" he hissed, and her heart dropped at the angry, vulnerable tone in his voice. "I would have been there for you, Tal, I - " he looked around, checking if anyone was in earshot, but thankfully no one had noticed them yet. "- I know that you found him, Tal, and I know it must have been hard." She closed her eyes, her heart thudding, wondering who had told him. He edged closer and took her hands in his, threading his fingers through hers. "I get why you ran away, and I don't care. I missed you, Tallie. I love you. Let me help you Tallie. Please. I love you."
Tallie sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. She opened her eyes and he was standing close to her, his eyes soft, his touch warm. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to step into his arms and let him take all the pain and the sadness away. But she knew now, knew that relying on other people emotionally would only get her hurt. And she couldn't let that happen, not again. She had to destroy everything else, destroy it before it destroyed her. And she couldn't let him destroy her. She already cared too much. It had already gone too far. She let go of his hands and watched them swing by his sides, and looked back up at him, unsmiling, unforgiving.
"Thank you for your support, Harrison," she began. His face dropped. "But I'm fine. I don't need your help, or anyone's, for that matter."
"Stop. I know what you're doing. Don't push me away, Tal. You can't run away from this like you do with everything else. Don't do this," his voice and eyes were pleading, and he pushed his hand through his hair. In the way that he did when he was stressed. In the way that she loved.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And then she gave him her best, most obviously-fake, bitchy smile.
"Nice catching up, Harrison. I'll see you at your mother's party tonight."
And with that, she slipped under his arm, and hurried towards the steps of Constance. And straight into the restroom, where she burst into tears.
"I love you," he finished, his heart beating fast, his insides clenching. He hated being vulnerable. Her eyes opened, and he'd never seen them so dark, so tired, so fed up. Her brows were furrowed, and he wanted to take his finger and straighten them out, to make her feel better. Harry may have hated feeling vulnerable, but he'd never seen his girlfriend - (ex-girlfriend?) - look so vulnerable, ever.
She looked even worse than last time he'd seen her, at her brother's funeral. She had darker circles, almost black, worse than his own, under her eyes as if she hadn't slept since the last time he'd seen her. Her skin was pale, her hair hung limply down her shoulders, her cheekbone was bruised - but the worst thing was how painfully thin she looked.
The sweater she was wearing - already oversized - looked clownish on her, enveloping her, hanging to near her knees. Her collarbones jutted out sharply as she leaned her head back on the wall and closed her eyes, her eyelids purple with veins, and what he could see of her wrists seemed to be about three centimetres wide.
Her hands were bony as he held them, and the worst thing was her legs. Pale, ridiculously bruised all over to the point where it seemed intentional, patterned like some sort of morbid fashion trend, and down to the bone. The black knee high socks which he usually loved so much were hanging limply, baggy, seemingly about to fall down.
Harry didn't know much about clothes, despite his mothers career choices, but he knew that socks weren't meant to be baggy. She looked worse than the bony, anorexic models constantly hanging around his home and his mothers workplace. He was used to the worrisomely-skinny, he'd been conditioned to the girls he'd grown up with who ate next to nothing, his mother's colleagues, the girls he knew, his sister's and mother's own thin frames…but he'd never seen anything like this. She looked malnourished.
He waited, his heart breaking for her, and she opened her eyes suddenly. His heart dropped when he saw the expression on her face. She let go of his hands and he let them drop limply to his sides. She watched them swing sadly and looked back up at him, her face expressionless, her eyes empty.
"Thank you for your support, Harrison, but I'm fine. I don't need your help, or anyone's, for that matter." she answered coldly. No 'I love you, too'. No 'I need help, please help me'. He stared at her, anger spiking in his chest. This was what Tallie did, she ran, from everything that scared her. He wouldn't, couldn't, let her do this now.
"Stop. I know what you're doing. Don't push me away, Tal," he begged, hating the way his voice was pleading. "You can't run away from this like you do with everything else. Don't do this." He wanted to grab her, gather her in his arms and take her in his limo and to a hospital, and then back home where he'd get Mrs Hamish to cook a million meals all for her.
"Nice catching up, Harrison. I'll see you at your mother's party tonight." She smiled at him coldly, her eyes still empty, and suddenly she ducked underneath his arm and rushed away.
"Dammit!" He punched the wall, hurting his hand, but he didn't care. He reached into his pocket but there was nothing there; no cigarettes or weed or flask or anything. He groaned.
"Harry, man, whats up?" He sighed. Usually, he would have been more than happy to see his best friend. But sometimes Harry felt Jesse Archibald knew him almost too well. Their friendship had been written in the stars, planned, it felt, before they had even been born, and while Jesse was Harry's best friend and confidante, sometimes this felt like a hindrance, and now was one of those times.
"Jesse," he replied, attempting to look happy to see him.
"So, was that Tallie? You guys back together? I haven't seen her since the funeral, man. My mom was worried sick." Harry held back to urge to roll his eyes, but he understood Jesse would probably be curious about his cousin's disappearing act.
"She's, uh," Harry wondered what to say. Tallie obviously wasn't okay. "She's dealing with it in her own way, man. And, uh, we're not together." Jesse's eyes darted up to Harrys and back down, obviously deciding not to press the subject. Harry was grateful, and suddenly felt guilty; Jesse was probably just trying to deal with his cousin's death too. Everyone in their circle was.
"Sorry to hear it, dude, you guys were good together. Anyway, we better be getting to assembly, we're already late," Jesse said, nodding towards the school. Harry did his best to smile gratefully and followed Jesse up the marble stairs, keeping his head down and trying his best to dodge anyone who may recognise him. He wasn't in the mood for a friendly catch-up.
Tallie shifted uncomfortable on the hard wooden bench in the Constance and St Jude assembly hall. When the St Jude's boys started to flood in, she swallowed and stared down at her lap. Thankfully she had managed to slip in to the assembly hall unnoticed through the small side entrance her father had told her about, and no one had seen her hidden at the back of the hall yet. But now, she could feel his eyes burning on her, and she looked up, keeping her face expressionless. His eyes were daring her to smile, grimace, wince, something. But she simply just looked at him, unable to take her eyes off his face.
She loved him, of course. She always had, she always would. Every time he looked at her, her heart would drop and twist and break. She loved him so much, all she wanted to do was scream and run across the hall, into his arms.
But she couldn't. Love held little worth in a broken girls heart. That is what's she kept telling herself. Destroy everything before it destroys you. He deserves better, let him move on.
"Hello, girls and boys, welcome back, bonjour, sit down, order, please!" Mrs Williamson sang as she walked onto the stage. Everyone in the hall automatically quieted down, some of them smiling amusedly at the older women. "Now it has been an eventful summer, and I hope you have all thoroughly enjoyed it. I know a lot of negative events have occurred over the vacation, and I would like to remind you that the school therapist is always available, and we will offer group therapy as always to anyone dealing with specific problems. Like a drug problem, teen pregnancy, family death..."
Tallie felt a few of her peers glance at her, quickly looking away before she could react.
"But in spite of everything, we have all got to push toward and make the most of what the schools offer you! There are many new electives, programmes, classes, clubs and activities this year and I would like all of you to take part in at least four or..." She took on a harder tone. "Or you may face expulsion for failure to comply with the schools requirements, is that understood?" There were groans from the back of the room, and Tallie felt a sense of relief. More extra clubs and activities meant less time spent at home. Mrs Williamson carried on with her speech and annual September pep talk, but by this point everyone had switched off, and were either whispering silently or communicating in some way.
Tallie casually looked to her right, where the boys sat, and saw Harry staring brazenly right back at her. She almost rolled her eyes, despite herself. Did he have to make this more difficult than it had to be? She could already feel her resolve slipping as she stared into those bright green eyes, watched those perfect brows furrow and saw him run his perfect hand through his perfect hair in frustration. Infatuation is an awful thing, really. She tried to watch and focus on what Mrs Williamson was saying, but anxiety crept up in her heart until she couldn't take it anymore. She slowly, subtly creeped out of the hall, and Harry turned his head just in time to see her run towards the infirmary, the only door near the assembly hall.
Stupid, stupid teenage hormones. Tallie could barely take her eyes off Harry now as she walked into the huge room in his house where his mother's party was being held, keeping her head down and her face covered by her phone. She hadn't see him for months, excluding this morning, and his beauty never failed to overwhelm her. He was beautiful, no doubt about it; he had modelled for several clothing companies under his mothers influence, many fighting for the chance to feature him.
He hadn't noticed her yet. He was walking slowly, but not too slowly, next to Jesse, talking heatedly, pausing every few moments to smile or laugh. He looked happy. It surprised Tallie how weird it felt to see him smile, without being there with him.
"Tallie?!"
Tallie slowly turned around to see Zoe Watson standing behind her, smiling widely and holding her arms outstretched. Tallie gave her a small, tight smile and stepped into her embrace, but when she smelt Zoe's fresh summery, raspberry and daisy perfume, which Zoe had been wearing since 3rd grade, she suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia for her younger self; the days when she would run freely through the New York streets and not care who saw her, the days when she could run up to her dads office and he would pick her up and spin her round and round, the days when she did put have a care in the world.
Tallie had been hiding in the infirmary all day, telling her that she had 'stomach cramps'. The nurse had obviously realised that Tallie wasn't ready for school, and had asked one of the girls to set up a webcam so Tallie could watch her lessons from the bed in the infirmary. The same girl had been up to deliver Tallie's assignments. She had stared at Tallie with wide eyes and an open mouth, and hurried off before Tal had a chance to thank her.
"So, what have you been up to?" Zoe asked. Tallie looked sideways at her, wondering if she was genuinely asking or if she was looking for gossip.
"Oh, you know. This and that. I went to India. I- oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-"
Tallie stopped talking. She'd walked right into a tall, suited boy, she just hasn't realised which one. She gulped. So much for admiring from afar.
"Tal." His eyes were wide, his hair disheveled as always. He kept opening his mouth as if to say something, and then closing it as if expecting her to say something first.
She couldn't say anything so she decided to stare at his feet; he was wearing black loafers with white socks, a combination she despised unless it was gracing the feet of Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake. Good, she thought. Something about him I can hate. She slowly looked back up at his face.
His eyes were surveying her body, her tiny wrists, the way her skin clung desperately to the bone. She licked her chapped lips self-consciously, and moved to the side to let someone past. A small group of people were now gathering around them, but pretending they were just standing around innocently.
Neither of them said a word. They just stared at each other, each glance saying a million words, until Jesse came up behind Harry.
"Hey, man, do you wanna go and-" Jesse stopped mid sentence when he saw his cousin standing there. His poor heart sank. He had never seen her look so ill. She was just so skinny. Her eyes were huge and empty as she watched him, and he almost felt the urge to cry. He stepped forward, holding out his arms, waiting for her to either duck away or give him a quick hug. But she did neither; she walked forward and clung to him, and burst into tears.
Henry watched as Jesse led his cousin away from the party's watchful eyes. The crowd slowly dissolved, no doubt feeling guilty about adding to Tallie's troubles. He couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. He felt bad, of course, but he wanted to be the one to gather Tallie in his arms. But he decided that as long as someone was there for her, he didn't mind.
Tallie couldn't help but burst into tears when she saw her sweet, naive cousin's face crumple into a look of sadness and pity when he saw her.
He gathered her in his arms and led her out of the room and into the garden. He stood there patiently, rubbing her back, until she stopped crying and looked back up at him, her eyes still watery.
His heart broke a little more. His cousin never cried. Sure, she cried at movies- subtly, behind a cushion or blanket or even a teddy when they were younger. She had cried when their grandmother had died. But she always had a reason, unlike most of the girls he knew. At the funeral, she had been silent, not even talking to him. It occurred to him that they hadn't actually talked since before Aiden had died.
"Are you eating, Tal?" That was one of the things she loved about her cousin the most; he was so straightforward, no-bullshit, yes-or-no. She shrugged, and tried to regain her breath.
"I try to, I just never feel hungry," she replied shakily. "I'm not anorexic, but I kinda lost my appetite since- you know- I can't eat or sleep and it's kinda to do anything anymore because all I can see is," She sank to the ground at put her head in her knees. "His, feet, just hanging there…just hanging there," She let out a muffled sob and Jesse sat down on the grass next to her. He didn't know what to say, so he just sat there until she put her head up, and when she did, he offered her a joint. She managed a smile, and he smiled back at her.
"I'm here if you wanna talk, Tal. Or if you just want someone to listen to you talk."
"I know. Thanks, Jesse. Do you wanna get back to the party before my parents assume I have run away again?" She laughed and stood up, and he followed her back into the Basses.
Author's Note:
I would like to point out that the main character in this fic is Harry Bass, not Henry Bass. Henry is still present in this fic however he is the older brother of Harry and not a main character.
Just to make reading a little easier, there are 8 main characters in this fic. The adult pairings from the first generation, in keeping with the series, are Blair X Chuck, Serena X Dan, and to tie things together, Jenny X Nate.
The main characters will be referred to in the 'Spotted' column by either their first or first and second initials of their names.
There are other young characters, recurring or minor, who I have not mentioned, and also the parents of most characters will also be present in their individual chapters.
Thanks for reading, guys! This is the first story I have ever published on this site and I am very excited.
I'd love to hear any feedback anyone has, and I will be inserting an Author's Note at the end of each chapter to answer any questions anyone may have. I'd also really like people's opinions on their favourite characters, ships, etc and what they'd like to see more of.
Thanks again! xo