CHAPTER ONE- HAMPTONS AND THEN BROOKLYN
GOSSIP GIRL,
WELCOME BACK UPPER EASTSIDERS, SUMMER WAS LONG AND LUXURIOUS BUT HAD ITS MOMENTS OF SCANDAL. BAD GIRL GONE GOOD NOT MUCH ON THE RADAR, WORD IS THAT SHE SPENT SOMETIME WITH AN OLD CRUSH, GUESS THE SUDDEN BREAK UP BETWEEN LONELY BOY DIDN'T KEEP HER DOWN FOR LONG. B TRAVELED AND WAS EVEN SPOTTED COZYING UP TO SOMEONE OTHER THAT C, WHO WAS SUPPOSEDLY THE ONE SHE WAS SUPPOSE TO BE GETTING COZY WITH. WELL SUMMER IS OVER, AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, A NEW BATCH OF DRAMA FOR FALL. I CAN'T WAIT. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME.
XOXO,
GOSSIP GIRL
Life was different in this world, life was subject to have a different type of meaning when one was filthy rich. The usual life lesson came and then went as quickly as it came, but it never meant that one couldn't dwell in the sorrow of that lesson. She felt as if she was in a little villa away from the hustle and bustle of New York, which she had grown to love, but it only made her appreciate the quietness of places like this. Fluttering eyes seemed to aid her out of her sleep that had become hard to do for the past few months, but she swore with each night that passed that it would get easier if she allowed it to. Just as she opened her eyes to the sun shining through and onto her well tanned skin, she could soon hear her the radio fade into her morning picture of her summers. Sitting up in her bed, she could soon hear her friend come barging into her bedroom.
"Ugh! S, finally your up. I was beginning to think you were going to go into hibernation" Blaire said as flung open the curtains
"Remind me again why you're here? I mean weren't you suppose to be in some foreign country?' Serena asked as she flung a pillow over her face
"Because the that snake tricked me. Of course I did have some wonderful days with a certain pilot, but I don't do pilots" Blaire informed her friend
"Eww! Please lets not go down the road of who you do" Serena said managing to let out a small laugh
"Whatever, but S you have to get out bed. The Hampton's are too beautiful for you to sleep in, we have to enjoy the mornings" Blaire said
"I am. I'm enjoying the luxury and the bliss of summer vacation, that was until you showed up on my front doorstep" Serena said before he friend flashed her scowling look of warning "But I still love you, B" she smiled apologetically
"Get up" Blaire said as she flung the covers back
"Blaire!!" Serena shouted
"S, move your ass" Blaire demanded
He fanned himself as he bared yet another hot summer in Brooklyn looking down at little kids run through the water spraying from the fire hydrants, while he sat out on the fire scape. Glancing back into his room he could see the pile of books that he had to plow through for class come Monday morning, then his eyes drew back to the book that lay across his lap. Hanging his head, feeling overwhelmed by all the work he had yet to finish, just as Vanessa came out holding tall glasses of lemonade in hands.
"You are heaven sent" Dan praised her before he quickly grabbed ahold of one of her drinks
"Glad to see you have thirst buds for other things beside coffee. What is this the third night in a row you've stayed up all night?" Vanessa asked her friend
"I know, I know. I have to get through these stupid books for English" Dan said
"This amount of work makes me glad I go to a public school" Vanessa joked "Why don't you take a break? Stop stuffing yourself with bare pages of authors past" she suggested
"I wish I could, but I can't fall behind in class" Dan said "I need to do well, Dartmouth will be looking closely at this years scores" he went onto say
"And I totally forgot about the center of your universe, the great Dartmouth" Vanessa said "Dartmouth better be worth it, this summer has been subjected to me looking at you stuffing your face with books and not with fun" she said
"Well you didn't have to stay. You could have went with Jen up to where it is that she went' Dan said
"Oh, so now we don't remember said destination, where said ex-girlfriend is at?" Vanessa asked
"You mean the Hamptons. I have no problem saying the said destination, or Serena. I'm fine, I have been fine this whole summer. Did it suck breaking up? Yes, but we're both mature and I'm sure she's moved on" Dan said
'Really?" Vanessa asked
"Really" Dan said
"Okay" Vanessa laughed 'If you can manage to sneak away from the books for tonight, my sister has got a gig down at the Sunshine" she said
"Uh, that sounds…….." Dan said searching for the answer
"Humphrey, do not disappoint me" Vanessa threatened
"Yes, I will go. Yes" Dan answered
"Good. Do you want to grab a bite to eat afterwards?" Vanessa asked
"Don't push it Abrahams" Dan laughed "I'll see you tonight" he smiled at her
"Looking forward to it. The great Humphrey retreats from the books, this should be classic
Retreating from the rampant party that was pursuing out on the beach, Serena came back inside the beach house to change bikinis. Noticing the line of people by the bathroom, she made her way into her bedroom to only find the bedroom being in full use. Closing her eyes in disgust, she instantly began to curse Blaire's name for suggesting to throw this little party that turned into a huge full on party. Realizing that she might have to wait before the party dies down before she could change, Serena soon made her way back out to the beach before she bumped into a blonde haired girl. Knocking down the girls stuff that she carried, Serena quickly bent down to assist the girl only to notice a familiarity in the girl.
"I'm so sorry" The girl said before she came face to face with Serena
"Jenny. Hey! What are you doing here?" Serena asked as she hugged the young girl
"Eleanor had a meeting with a client this morning" Jenny said
"Eleanor?" Serena asked unaware of her relation to Eleanor
"I'm part of this internship program and I was assigned to Eleanor Waldorf. Please don't tell Blaire?" Jenny quickly asked after she explained
"Oh, I won't. I think Blaire's too distracted to even notice any of her mother's business affairs" Serena smiled "So is Eleanor putting you into good use?" she asked
"If you count coffee runs, and the typical pastry run" Jenny sighed
"Oh, I'm sure that's just the test phase of the internship" Serena assured her
"Yeah, that's what Dan says" Jenny said which seemed to instantly freeze Serena. It had months since she had said or heard that name, but it never stopped her from thinking of him but her thoughts never seemed as concrete to actual reality of not being able to say his name like she use to. Hearing his name seemed to remind her of the struggle it had been to get use to not want to hear his voice, feel his touch, or his eyes looking into her soul "Oh, I'm sorry" Jenny quickly said noticing Serena's reaction
"No, no, no. Its fine. I'm fine. Uh, how is he doing?" Serena asked
"He's doing good. I mean he's been hitting the books really hard, but he's doing good" Jenny said
"Good" Serena smiled trying to fight back the tears that were stinging her in the inside "I guess I'll see you at school Monday" she smiled
"Yeah, see you later Serena" Jenny said before she walked off just as Blaire came rushing up to her friends
"What is little Humphrey doing here?" Blaire asked
"Friends. Just friends, B" Serena said
"Are you okay?" Blaire asked
"Yeah, I just really need to get out of this outfit, I'll be back" Serena said before she rushed back inside
Escaping from the loud blare of music that rang in his ears, Dan stepped outside to see if he could get reception just in case his father could be calling him. Running his fingers through his hair he let out a deep sigh as sleep began to wear on him, and he began to feel the overwhelming need of it but he knew as soon as he got home he had to get back to studying. Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly opened up his phone only to see her. He forgot that he had rarely picked up his cell phone in months because his only contact with the outside world had been just Jenny or Vanessa. His eyes soon began to concentrate on that moment. That moment where all the two of them could ever think about was each other, and being together. Now it had seemed to be rare that he even heard of Serena, which was comforting but at the same time disappointing because he hated that they had come back to this. Him being the invisible in her world of the rich and glamorous.
"Humphrey, what are you doing? The best number is about to come up" Vanessa said as she came out to find him staring at her picture "Or you could be looking at old photos of Serena" she concluded
"No, I'm not. I just…I haven't used my phone a lot…I forgot I even had this on there" Dan said coming to a loss of words
"You know its okay" Vanessa said
"Its okay for what?" Dan asked
"To miss her. I know she meant a lot to you" Vanessa said
"V, can we not get into this. I told you I'm fine and I am doing fine" Dan said trying to convince Vanessa but it seemed like he needed most of the convincing himself "I just came out here to get reception" he said before he phone started to ring "See its Jen, she probably just got back" he said before he answered
"Dan, where are you?" Jenny asked
"Hello to you to Jen" Dan replied to his sisters instant demand of location
"Where are you? I don't have enough money for cab fair" Jenny said
"What!? I thought your internship is suppose to provide transportation?" Dan asked
"If they did, I would be home" Jenny concluded
"No need for sarcasm" Dan pointed out "Well where are you?" he asked
"I'm on lane drive" Jenny said as she began to scan around the area "It mostly just beach houses and stuff" she said
"Okay, well I'll be there. Just go somewhere safe and wait for me" Dan said before he hung up "You want to tag with me?" he asked
"Love to but I have to clean up the unruly after" Vanessa said
"Oh, okay. Well I'll call you when I get back" Dan said
"Okay. Be safe" Vanessa said before he sprinted off down the street "And I hope once and for all you figure out your deal" she said to herself as she watched him sprint down the street
It had taken him what felt like hours to follow the directions Jenny had given to him, he turned around so much, the car was all ready pre-set to do so whenever he attempted to. Noticing the beach party that was going on he pretty much knew that Jenny would most likely come over towards this direction since it too was on Lane Drive. Parking his dad's bug, he began to call his sister once again but failed to get signal. Shaking his head in disbelief, he knew he had to resort to asking some drunken kids if they had saw Jenny much less even knew who she was. Walking through the crowd he scanned all over hoping to find his sister quickly while managing to schedule the amount of study time that was slipping away from him. Just he made to the shores of the ocean, he turned back around to see Serena with a group of girls walking his direction. At first he realized he hadn't caught her attention but with the more he scurried, the more recognizable he had become and it was inevitable when their eyes landed on each other. The two stood still for what seemed like hours, just trying to find the words to say to the other after they had spent months apart from each other. Slowly walking up to her he dug his hands into his pockets hoping to find the words as he walked over to her.
"Hey" Dan said shyly
"Hey" Serena said
"I….I'm trying to find Jenny. She called me saying she didn't have cab fair" Dan said
"Oh, I…I saw her early but she had left" Serena said
"Yeah, I tried calling but my phone wouldn't pick up reception" Dan said trying to break eye contact with her as quickly as possible
"Uh…you could use my phone. I mean I get reception, that's if you want' Serena suggested before she extended her phone out
"Thanks" Dan said slowly reaching out to grab the phone then quickly flipped it open to dial "Hey Jen, where are you?" he asked once the young girl picked up
"I'm going back over. I was making my way back over" Jenny said
"I'm over where the party is" Dan said "All right. I'll be here" he said before he ended the phone call "Thank you, for the phone. I have to get better service" he laughed nervously before he slowly began to walk off
"How've you been?" Serena quickly asked stopping him dead in his tracks
"I'm fine. You?" Dan asked
"Good" Serena said "Is that all you came out here for? I mean seeing as there isn't really cabs that take you back to New York" she said
'What do you mean? Jenny said that….and now I'm starting to understand" Dan said soon realizing his sisters fault
"So is it?" Serena asked
"What do you want me to say?" Dan asked
"The truth" Serena said
"Yeah, that's all I came out here for" Dan said "Goodbye Serena" he said before he turned to walk away
With every step he took as he walked away, she could feel him slip further and further away from her and deep down she knew there was nothing she could do. He knew that seeing each other was hard, probably harder for her, but overall he knew that he couldn't see her. Dealing with what they once shared wasn't best for him because he couldn't focus on that, he had spent most of his time last year dealing with issues with Serena, and this year had to be different, it needed to be. Walking over to his car, Jenny stood with a small grin across her face hoping her brother would have some sort of good news.
"Saw you talking to Serena" Jenny mention
"Don't do that again Jen, it wasn't funny" Dan said as he walked over to the door and unlocked the door
"Dan, what did you do?" Jenny asked quizzically
"I walked away from her, I told her I didn't come for her, and that was basically it. It was the most horrible conversation ever in my life" Dan said becoming frustrated
"You can't ignore her forever" Jenny said
"Jen, will you just get in the car, so we can go home. I want to go home" Dan yelled
"No!" Jenny said "Dan, I love you, and I know your trying to block whatever it is that your feeling, and hiding in your books aren't going to help you" she said
"Get in the car!" Dan shouted
'Go talk to her, and then I will gladly get in the car, but until then I'm going to enjoy the party" Jenny said before she stormed off
"Jen!!" Dan yelled after her "This isn't funny" he said as he watched her walk off showing no sign of turning around "I'm leaving you" he then followed
Splashing water on her face, Serena looked up into the mirror quickly to just process her life, process her life at this point. Closing her eyes she tried to just calm down and breath calmly but she knew it was going to hurt. Her heart wouldn't let her just forget about what she just went through, her heart ached even though she didn't want it to. Just as she stared into the mirror, she quickly saw his reflection come up.
"I was wondering when the great Van Der Woodsen was going to throw her annual bash in the Hamptons" The guy said
"Nate" Serena smiled before he quickly walked up to give her a hug
Dan pushed pass people feeling his heart pound with every step he took because it only meant he was getting closer to her. For three months he had the luxury of not seeing her face everyday, he was able to think, he was able to process but deep down he knew he still loved Serena. That's just something he knew that would never change, but it was just hard feeling like that the girl he loved could one day make him feel so much apart of her world, and then instantly push him out to where he was onlooker. Pushing past the last person he thought twice before entering her bedroom, but knew he had to. Opening the door that feeling of an onlooker instantly came rushing back to him as he stood in the doorway watching Serena and Nate in an embrace.