Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize (ex:characters, locations, brand names and occasional chocolate-eating fits of depression) belong to me.

Chapter One

To tell you the truth, graduation's always scared me. Let me rephrase that: The idea of another class of Seniors taking off for college and another posse of Freshmen swarming like moths for attention by the hypothetical 'light' of our society scares the living star-pound-dollar signs out of me.

This could be just another of those traits that my mother passed along to me that I pretend to be grateful for on Mother's Day. See, she's got a fear of being alone. Actually, that's lead to more than just a few failed marriages. Okay, I'm babbling. Nervous habit. Back to graduation.

The reason that I'm particularly nervous about this years class of seniors taking metaphorical flight is because I've known them the longest. See, I'm a Junior. And while it's true that graduation's always been incredibly intimidating, I guess the real reason I'm especially nervous about this year is because of my boyfriend; Dan. It just feels like...after we've fought through so much, we sort of deserve to be together forever and how is that supposed to happen with him leaving me alone this year so that he can go off and find some new hot college girl who probably has a GPA like Dan's, and a super huge list of extra-curricular's, none of which involve a past life of partying, and definitely no Blair-oh, I'm sort of babbling again. Okay, though? This ramble deserves a little explanation.

Blair Waldorph is one of the best evil-genius-in-person I've ever met. She's also my best friend. You can see how she didn't really get along with Dan at first, who is so sweet (and a little naïve). But what you have to understand is that she's been my best friend for sooo long, and her opinion means sooo much to me. That's why I tried so hard for her to like, or at least accept Dan. Oh, damn. I got distracted. Blair's mother happens to be the very, very talented clothing designer, Elanor Waldorf of Waldorf Designs. Anyways-Blair's always had a lot going on in her life- -sometimes I think she likes it better that way- -and over time, she developed a little eating disorder. That wouldn't be so relevant if it weren't because of a fight involving somebody blaming that disorder on me that I'm writing all of my thoughts down now. That way I can decide if I really am even partially responsible.

Personally, I blame said disorder one her new boyfriend, Chuck. He's really great when you're having a really dramatic, traumatic scandal, but as a boyfriend? I don't really know...I think she deserves better. To be honest, I think she was better off with Nate...

God, Nate...

We don't even know where he is right now.

About a month ago, he took off on a boat and he hasn't been back since. Really, nobody would find that nearly as devastating if it hadn't happened right after Blair and he broke up. That's a pretty long story, too...One I'd prefer not to get into, actually. Don't worry about Nate's college options getting thrown off by his being out of school for a few weeks, though. He got accepted early-decision to the University of Colorado. I know. Nobody would have guessed that an Upper East Sider would end up in such a winter wonderland, but I suppose it's not that ridiculous...Nate's always been a little unhappy with his life here.

Since I can't get my mind off of Dan, I'm just going to throw my thoughts into him, which means that you get to hear all about him. Aren't you lucky? (Say yes, please)

Dan and I got together towards the beginning of this year. He's pretty much the polar opposite of anybody I've ever hung out with: The only thing he ever drinks is coffee (too much coffee), he's so, so, so smart- -he got accepted to Dartmouth without even bribing the admissions office! Actually, that may have been more about his monetary status than because of his genius. See, his family isn't exactly well-off. That's not even a bad thing, either. His younger sister, Jenny, is a total sewing genius.

Jenny's become pretty popular over the year. She has breakfast on the steps of the Met with Blair and I every morning, and she gets invited to all the parties. Actually, she manages to get invites to the ones that ban Freshmen, too. I really don't know how she manages that. Well, I guess there was no reason for me to sneak into anything.

I'm not trying to be harsh; it's just that I'm a pretty popular chick. Too popular sometimes. Like when you're trying to spend a nice, quiet night studying with your boyfriend, and suddenly somebody just needs you at this party, and before you know it, you're making an excuse to book it, and you wake up the next morning with a killer headache, and...But don't worry. That's never happened with Dan and I. Promise. That whole thing was before I left- -Actually, that's another story I don't think I need to get into right now.

Oh, hey! Blair just texted me- -she wants me to go to her mothers party tonight. Apparently, she's scored yet another huge business deal. I just hope she won't need any new models! I'll talk to you later, I should run and get ready.

XOXO,

Serena

A/N-So that's the first chapter! Tell me what you think; it's me first time with this genre. Thanks!

Dani